Destiny 2: Lightfall introduced Guardians to Strand, a new Darkness element that mixes crowd control with unrivaled mobility. As far as weapons go, Strand weapons tend to roll with Hatchling, a perk that creates Threadlings on certain kill conditions. If you're someone that loves Strand and wants to get the most out of their subclass, a good Strand weapon does wonders.

Fortunately, there are quite a few options available to players. Unlike Stasis, Strand launched with an impressive suite of weapons for Guardians to chase. We'll be looking at ten Strand weapons in this list, showcasing their unique perk pools and what makes them worth chasing over other elemental weapons. We'll also give perk recommendations for those interested in chasing a specific weapon.

Updated February 19, 2024, by Charles Burgar: Season of the Wish has changed the Fusion Rifle meta for PvE with Scatter Signal, a Strand Rapid-Fire Frame that has some of the best DPS perk combinations a Fusion Rifle has seen thus far. We've updated this list to include Scatter Signal and its ideal perk combinations.

Entries are focused on PvE performance. Weapons are in no particular order.

10 Fang Of Ir Yut

How to obtain: Crota's End raid.

The Fang of Ir Yut is a 260 RPM Scout Rifle that packs a serious punch. The Cursed Thrall origin trait is an immediate standout, causing slain targets to explode after you land a powered melee kill. Scout Rifles tend to struggle against dealing with dense groups of adds, so having a discount version of Dragonfly roll on every version of this gun makes it an excellent pick for PvE content.

But that's not all the Fang of Ir Yut has to offer. Rapid Hit and Golden Tricorn is an absurdly powerful combination for both PvE and PvP. Landing rapid headshots will ramp up your reload speed and stability. Land a kill, and you'll benefit from a 15% damage buff for seven seconds.

If you can then land a Strand ability kill, this damage buff increases to 50%. Land a kill, use a Grapple melee to land a second kill, and now your Scout Rifle will hit as hard as most Hand Cannons. This also lets Fang of Ir Yut three-tap in PvP, but triggering x2 Golden Tricorn is tricky in the Crucible. You also have options like Hatchling, Kill Clip, and Keep Away if you prefer more weapon-centric perks.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rapid Hit, Keep Away, Surplus
• Column Two: Golden Tricorn, Hatchling, Kill Clip

9 Until Its Return

How to obtain: Season of the Deep activities.

If you're a fan of Rapid-Fire Shotguns and Strand, you'll want to get your hands on Until Its Return. Not only is this the first Strand Shotgun added to Destiny 2's sandbox, but it's also the first to roll with Overflow and Cascade Point, arguably the strongest and most fun PvE perk combination you can get on a Shotgun.

Running over an ammo brick will give you a whopping 14-round chamber. Land a kill with another weapon, then swap to this Shotgun to greatly ramp up its fire rate for a few seconds, allowing you to expend all 14 shells in a couple of seconds. It's effectively a pre-nerfed variant of the IKELOS Shotgun back from Warmind with the added bonus of dealing Strand damage—letting it benefit from Unraveling Rounds for even more damage.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Overflow, Auto-Loading Holster
• Column Two: Cascade Point

8 Swordbreaker

How to obtain: Crota's End raid.

Swordbreaker is the strongest Lightweight Shotgun in the sandbox currently. It has a stat package that rivals Riiswalker, multiple god roll combinations for PvE and PvP, and is fully craftable. Its origin trait, Cursed Thrall, also gives this weapon some AoE add-slaying potential after you land a melee kill.

PvE players can't go wrong with Demolitionist and One-Two Punch for a melee-centric build. Fire a round into the target to proc One-Two Punch, land the melee kill to proc Cursed Thrall, then go on a Shotgun killing spree. A few kills will refund your grenade, allowing you to auto-reload your Shotgun.

Another good combination is Subsistence and Sword Logic for general add clear, ramping up the gun's damage as you kill tougher foes. For PvP, Slideshot and Opening Shot is a classic combination that never fails. Slide into a Shotgun blast to max your range stat.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Demolitionist, Subsistence (PvE), Slideshot (PvP)
• Column Two: One-Two Punch, Sword Logic, Opening Shot (PvP)

7 Mykel's Reverence

How to obtain: Root of Nightmares raid.

As far as Sidearms go, Mykel's Reverence is a great choice. It hits hard, has great perks, and has solid base stats for players that main Sidearms in the Crucible. With that said, we do not recommend Hatchling on this gun. Despite the perk's popularity, Sidearms are a terrible weapon archetype for triggering Threadlings. They only spawn from precision kills on Primary weapons, and Sidearms are notoriously difficult to land headshots with.

Beyond that, this gun is fantastic. Unrelenting paired with Frenzy or Swashbuckler is fantastic for PvE. Unrelenting gives you a reliable way to heal yourself, and Swashbuckler is quite easy to proc through Grapple melee kills. As for PvP, you can't go wrong with Perpetual Motion and Tap the Trigger for general consistency. Elemental Capacitor can also roll in the first column if you want to buff this gun's Airborne Effectiveness as a Strand subclass.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Unrelenting, Rewind Rounds, Perpetual Motion
• Column Two: Frenzy, Swashbuckler, Tap the Trigger (PvP)

6 Rufus's Fury

How to obtain: Root of Nightmares raid.

Rufus's Fury is the only 720 RPM Auto Rifle you'll find that can compete with the likes of Quicksilver Storm and SUROS Regime. That's because this is currently the only 720 Auto Rifle that can get Rewind Rounds and Target Lock simultaneously, an absurdly powerful perk combination that makes Rufus's Fury comparable with most Auto Rifle Exotics at maximum Target Lock stacks.

Rewind Rounds is fantastic since it triggers on its own. Simply aim at the enemy and hold the trigger until they die or you need to reload, whichever comes first. As for PvP, Rufus's Fury is also a solid pick with perks like Perpetual Motion, Demolitionist, Tap the Trigger, and Paracasual Affinity all up for grabs. It won't top SMGs at 20-meter duels, but this gun can surprisingly hold its own if you fight at a distance.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rewind Rounds, Reconstruction, Demolitionist
• Column Two: Target Lock, Paracasual Affinity, Tap the Trigger (PvP)

5 The Navigator

How to obtain: Ghosts of the Deep dungeon.

It's best to compare the Navigator to other support Exotics rather than Trace Rifles. This Exotic weapon fires a Strand beam of energy that Severs foes, reducing their damage output. That alone isn't great, but this weapon grants Woven Mail to allies when they make contact with the beam. And when they gain Woven Mail through Navigator, so do you.

While Lumina might heal and empower allies, the Navigator makes them outright impervious to incoming damage due to the raw strength of Woven Mail. A 60% DR buff you can dish out at will is incredibly strong for all content.

The best part is that severing targets also grants Woven Mail to the user, allowing you gain Woven Mail on any solo build with some practice. While the DPS of this weapon isn't great, the Navigator's utility is simply unmatched.

4 Scatter Signal

How to obtain: Season of the Wish activities and Engrams; craftable at the Enclave.

Scatter Lock is a Rapid-Fire Fusion Rifle that can be earned by playing Season of the Wish content. This weapon is loaded with fantastic perk options for PvE, including the ultimate DPS combo of Overflow and Controlled Burst. Walk over an ammo brick to overflow your magazine, then fire back-to-back bursts with Controlled Burst's bonus damage and charge rate. It's the highest DPS Fusion Rifle in the game, making it a must-own.

If you prefer to use Fusion Rifles against majors, consider using Slice in place of Overflow. This will load your weapon with the Sever debuff the next time you use your class ability, reducing their damage output by 40% (15% in PvP). Combine this with Woven Mail or a similar survivability buff to trivialize GM Nightfalls and Master content.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Overflow, Slice
• Column Two: Controlled Burst

3 Final Warning

How to obtain: Complete "The Final Strand" quest on Neomuna.

Final Warning is a Strand Sidearm that locks onto targets before firing, releasing homing projectiles that deal massive damage to targets. Using this as a traditional Sidearm will only lead to frustration, but when you get accustomed to the weapon's charging mechanic, you'll find that Final Warning is quite powerful.

It's best to use this weapon like a Bow, charging your shots from a distance before unleashing a hailstorm of Strand darts. The damage on offer here is incredible, capable of clearing out fodder enemies and tankier majors in a single burst.

For PvP, Final Warning can be difficult to use but incredibly satisfying when it works. Get used to this weapon's strange Exotic quirk, and you'll find that Final Warning is a perfect weapon for any Strand build.

2 The Immortal

How to obtain: Trials of Osiris matches and Engrams.

This should come as no surprise. The Immortal is a 750 RPM SMG with fantastic base stats, great perks, solid origin traits, and features an Adept variant. What makes this gun so amazing is Target Lock, a perk that ramps up the gun's damage the longer you damage the same target. This greatly increases your damage against majors in PvE and slightly lowers its TTK in the Crucible.

But that's not all The Immortal has going for it. Fantastic base stats allow this weapon to reach 80+ range with the right roll, boosted even further with Rangefinder to give this weapon the same effective range as most Auto Rifles.

If you aren't a fan of Target Lock, Kill Clip makes for a great substitute. And if you don't care about lethality perks at all, The Immortal can be tuned for pure consistency through Dynamic Sway Reduction and Tap the Trigger. The Immortal is the king of SMGs inside the Crucible and stands as one of Destiny 2's strongest PvE Primary weapons.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rangefinder (PvP), Threat Detector, Surplus, Dynamic Sway Reduction (PvP)
• Column Two: Target Lock, Kill Clip, Tap the Trigger (PvP)

1 Quicksilver Storm

How to obtain: Purchase the Lightfall + Annual Pass Edition, available to all players in S21.

While this is technically a Kinetic weapon, Quicksilver Storm's Catalyst converts its damage type to Strand. The weapon itself is a 720 RPM Auto Rifle that fires micro missiles on occasion, similar to the Nanotech Tracer Rockets origin trait found on Neomuna weapons. Unlike those weapons, Quicksilver Storm's missiles build up stacks that let you convert the gun into a grenade launcher.

And this grenade launcher deals amazing damage, capable of destroying majors in PvE and Titan Barricades in the Crucible. Defeating enemies with this GL can spawn a Strand Tangle to use as a grapple point or a deadly explosive device. Paired with the gun's amazing base stats, Quicksilver Storm is a fantastic Auto Rifle for virtually all Destiny 2 activities.