Destiny 2 introduced a few new weapons types into the Destiny sandbox. These included Submachine Guns, Linear Fusion Rifles, Trace Rifles, and Grenade Launchers.

Grenade Launchers, in particular, have seen significant changes since the game's inception. Originally, the weapon category dealt little damage and brought little utility to justify using over Rocket Launchers. Since multiple expansions and updates have gone by, Grenade Launchers are considered by many as a fantastic Special and Heavy weapon archetype. While there is a good variety of Grenade Launchers to choose from, some are much better than others. Here are the ten best Grenade Launchers you should be using in Destiny 2.

Updated March 9, 2024, by Charles Burgar: The March update for Season of the Wish has greatly buffed Grenade Launchers in PvE, increasing their ammo reserves significantly. A new Wave-Frame GL was also added to the Iron Banner loot pool, and it's easily one of the best Special GLs you can use. We've updated this list to account for the March balance changes, and we've added a few new GLs to the list that are sure to impress.

10 Explosive Personality

How to obtain: Occasionally sold by Xur; craftable at the Enclave.

Explosive Personality is one of the best Wave Frame GLs in the game. This Solar Grenade Launcher deals a ton of damage with each shot and even grants its wielder Resilience and damage resistance with each combatant kill.

Auto-Loading Holster and Disruption Break is a solid choice for a utility GL, but you can also turn this weapon into a workhorse with Stats for All and One for All. If you'd rather use Auto-Loading Holster, you can pair that perk with Frenzy for a smooth add-clearing machine. If you love using Special GLs at all, make sure you get a good roll of Explosive Personality.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Auto-Loading Holster, Stats for All
• Column Two: Frenzy, Disruption Break, One for All

9 Regnant

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

While Heavy Grenade Launchers aren't the strongest DPS options right now, Regnant is a fantastic weapon you'll want a good roll of in the event that Rockets or Linears get nerfed. This weapon can roll with the fantastic trait combo of Auto-Loading Holster and Explosive Light.

If you're looking for higher burst DPS, you can opt to craft a roll with Envious Assassin and Cascade Point, emptying most of your magazine in a matter of seconds. It won't top Rocket Launchers for DPS, but this is a fantastic option for slaying stunned Champions or bursting down weaker Nightfall bosses.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Auto-Loading Holster, Envious Assassin
• Column Two: Cascade Point, Explosive Light

8 Salvager's Salvo

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. Costs 75,000 Glimmer, 2 Enhancement Prisms, and 1 Ascendant Shard.

Every PvE fan needs to obtain Salvager's Salvo. This weapon might appear to be a Grenade Launcher, but this weapon carries the spirit of Loaded Question. This Grenade Launcher has a devastating set of perks that make it perfect for all PvE content. And if you love direct impacting Guardians with GLs inside PvP, Salvager's Salvo is just as good at that too.

Demolitionist and Chain Reaction make for a fantastic combination, giving this weapon a degree of crowd clearing potential that is usually reserved for Heavy weapons. Demolitionist means you'll always have a grenade at the ready. If you aren't using a grenade build, consider running Ambitious Assassin instead to fire two rounds before needing to reload. This weapon has everything you'd want from a Special weapon.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Demolitionist
• Column Two: Chain Reaction

7 Wilderflight

How to obtain: Spire of the Watcher dungeon.

Tex Mechanica has yet to make a bad weapon. Wilderflight is a double-barreled Special Grenade Launcher tied to a new Double Fire archetype. This GL fires two grenades simultaneously with each trigger pull for twice the impact damage, and you can release the trigger to detonate the grenades mid-flight as with a Lightweight Frame. Your explosion damage is slightly lower on this gun to prevent easy one-taps in the Crucible, but having a wider AoE can prove useful in PvE.

As for perks, you're looking for Demolitionist and Frenzy for PvE, at least if you plan to slay adds. Generating grenade energy while buffing the weapon's reload speed is a sight to behold. For DPS loadouts, Wilderflight can use Auto-Loading Holster with either Frenzy or Vorpal Weapon for some great added DPS for Rocket Launcher and Izanagi hotswap setups.

As for PvP, you're looking for Auto-Loading Holster and Disruption Break. Fire the grenade at the start of a duel, watch your opponent's shields break, then finish them off with a Kinetic weapon that's now dealing 50% more damage. It won't top Explosive Personality or Fighting Lion for blinting—the act of firing a GL before hotswapping to a Primary—but it's a solid choice nonetheless.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Auto-Loading Holster, Demolitionist
• Column Two: Frenzy (PvE), Disruption Break (PvP), Lead from Gold (for double Special builds)

6 [Tusk Of The Boar]

How to obtain: Iron Banner matches and Engrams.

Tusk of the Boar is a Wave-Frame Grenade Launcher that deals Strand damage, obtained from Iron Banner Engrams. It's the second Wave-Frame GL to roll with Chain Reaction, the other being Forbearance. While Tusk of the Boar doesn't have the same loaded perk pool or origin traits as Forbearance, it still packs a serious punch in PvE content.

A surprisingly good combo with this gun is Slice, a perk that causes your grenades to inflict the Sever debuff when it strikes a target. Enemies deal 40% less damage while Severed, giving Tusk of the Boar some added utility that not even Forbearance can offer. It might not be able to fire a salvo of grenades, but the Chain Reaction explosions make this an easy S-tier PvE weapon.

Chain Reaction will receive a nerf in The Final Shape. If this nerf is significant, we recommend you take Deconstruct over Chain Reaction in the final perk column.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Slice, Envious Assassin
• Column Two: Chain Reaction, Deconstruct

5 Koraxis's Distress

How to obtain: Root of Nightmares raid.

While Rapid-Fire Frame GLs don't have the same sustain DPS values as Adaptives, Koraxis's Distress has such a great perk pool that it remains competitive with Destiny 2's best Heavy Grenade Launchers. It's currently the only GL that can be crafted with Enhanced Surrounded, increasing your damage by a whopping 47% while active. Pair this with a reload perk like Envious Assassin or Reconstruction, and you have a powerful Heavy weapon for boss DPS.

You can take this even further with the weapon's Harmonic Resonance origin trait. This weapon deals bonus damage against Lucent Hive and Tormentors, notably Nezarec and the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon bosses. Throw on three weapons with this origin trait, and Koraxis's Distress deals 10% more damage, the same as Vorpal Weapon.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Assassin, Reconstruction
• Column Two: Enhanced Surrounded

4 Cataphract GL3

How to obtain: Trials of Osiris matches and Engrams.

Cataphract GL3 is the first GL in Destiny 2 to roll with a powerful sustained DPS perk: Bait and Switch. If you deal damage with all three of your weapons, Cataphract will gain a 30% damage buff for ten seconds, 20% more than Vorpal Weapon and a much longer-lasting buff than Explosive Light or Cascade Point. It's also much more consistent than Full Court.

What makes this so notable is that Cataphract can also roll with Envious Assassin in the first trait column. If you equip a Backup Mag, you'll be able to fit a whopping 18 grenades into the magazine, all of which benefit from Bait and Switch's 35% damage buff. This gives Cataphract the highest DPS out of any Heavy GL in the game. It's not even a contest.

Ironically, Cataphract is less desirable for PvP players that already have a good Adaptive GL. Since it's part of the Trials of Osiris loot pool, it can drop as an Adept variant during certain weeks, allowing you to socket Adept mods that improve your Blast Radius or Velocity stats. Paired with perks like Impulse Amplifier and Chain Reaction, Cataphract GL3 is an excellent PvP Heavy weapon to use when you're using an Exotic Primary or Special weapon.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Assassin, Field Prep, Auto-Loading Holster
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Explosive Light, Cascade Point

3 Parasite

How to obtain: "Of Queens and Worms" Exotic quest.

Parasite is a nuclear weapon disguised as a worm-launching GL. It only has one shot in the magazine, yet that single worm is enough to clear an entire wave of enemies. Parasite's main gimmick is Worm's Hunger, a perk that causes your shot to deal more damage and cover a wider area with each kill you land. Kill enough targets, and this worm deals substantial damage, capable of one-shotting Champions or seriously damaging bosses.

The real spice of this weapon comes from its synergy with armor mods. Solar loader mods on your boots can give Parasite an auto-loading property, pairing nicely with its Worm's Hunger perk. Kill a few targets, quickly swap to Parasite, fire a shot to disintegrate every enemy near you, and repeat. It's a powerhouse of a PvE weapon for killing Champions and weaker Nightfall bosses. As for the Crucible, you're better off using another weapon.

2 Forbearance

How to obtain: Vow of the Disciple raid; craftable at the Enclave.

Forbearance is the Wave-Frame counterpart to Salvager's Salvo, firing waves of Arc energy with each grenade. We know this list already has quite a few Wave-Frame GLs, but Forbearance is truly special. It starts with this weapon's origin trait: Soul Drinker. Hits with this weapon cause your next reload to heal you slightly. The more targets you hit, the more healing you'll receive.

This healing turns into a miniature version of Unrelenting thanks to this gun's main traits. The star of the show here is Chain Reaction, causing slain targets to violently explode. This perk can trigger itself as well, so one well-placed shot can clear an entire wave of enemies all on its own. You can support this perk with Ambitious Assassin to load two, sometimes three, grenades into the weapon at once.

And if all of that wasn't enough, this gun is craftable. You can further enhance these perks to buff Forbearance's stats even further. Simply put, Forbearance is the best Legendary GL in Destiny 2 and easily one of the game's strongest add-clearing tools. Not many Exotic weapons can kill enemies as effortlessly as Forbearance, let alone Legendaries.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Ambitious Assassin, Steady Hands
• Column Two: Chain Reaction

1 Witherhoard

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. Costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 100,000 Glimmer, and 1 Ascendant Shard.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to long-time Destiny 2 players. Witherhoard is S-tier in every activity, every build, and every playstyle imaginable. This Kinetic Grenade Launcher fires low-velocity globs of Taken energy at your foes, expanding into a Taken Blight on impact. Direct impacts will stick the blight onto the target and deal constant damage over time.

It might sound mundane compared to other Exotics, yet the simplicity of Witherhoard is its greatest strength. This Taken Blight can serve as an add-killing machine or a single-target weapon. It is the most ammo-efficient Grenade Launcher in the game, clears adds, boosts your single-target DPS, and it can help counter the more anchor-heavy playstyles in the Crucible. Few Exotics can match Witherhoard's sheer utility.