The campaign for Destiny 2: Lightfall is set in the previously hidden city of Neomuna in Neptune. An Ishtar Collective colony founded the city after their ship crashed into the gaseous planet. Because of the lack of world-ending threads, the Neomuni thrived and preserved their technologically-advanced golden age, while the rest of the Sol System barely survived.
As multiple forces suddenly threaten the once peaceful city, the Neomuni introduces new weapons to the Guardians to help fight back the invasion. The Neptunian weapons bring a novel batch of traits alongside the latest Strand element—and some of these weapons are welcome additions to your overflowing arsenal.
7 Volta Bracket
The Volta Bracket is a Strand Sniper Rifle sporting an Aggressive Frame. Snipers are in a niche spot in PvE and PvP, taken only during single-target encounters like raids. The Volta Bracket's short zoom and nasty recoil make it an inconsistent weapon for any content, which is unfortunate since you can craft it for Triple Tap and Explosive Payload.
The Volta Bracket still falls short despite its strong trait selection. However, it can still find some use due to the Hatchling trait, synergizing with a Strand build focused on creating Threadlings.
6 Iterative Loop
The Iterative Loop Fusion Rifle is an Arc Fusion Rifle with a flexible set of viable traits. You can craft the weapon for Compulsive Reloader and Voltshot, making it a potent special weapon despite its annoying upkeep. The weapon can also roll Lead from Gold which is excellent for the trendy double special meta apropos of the beefier enemies.
No matter how much you dress it up, it's still a Fusion Rifle. The gun's short range, egregious bullet spread, and negligible damage prevent it from truly shining in either PvE or PvP.
5 Round Robin Hand Cannon
While the days of one-tapping red bars with Hand Cannons are gone, Aggresive Frames (120 RPMs) are highly sought-after in PvP. As expected of its archetype, the Round Robin delivers accurate, lethal damage at mid-range. The craftable Round Robin is a suitable alternative to collecting dust in your vault full of bad Rose rolls.
Pairing Keep Away with Kill Clip or Opening Shot creates a reliable Hand Cannon for your adventures in Crucible, although you'll eventually need an upgrade to compete in higher ranks. Sadly, the weapon's strengths don't translate to PvE, even with the Hatchling trait for the Strand subclass.
Phyllotactic Spiral
Pulse Rifles aren't the best weapon archetype because of their mediocre damage and slow fire-rate struggles to mow down the waves of enemies in PvE content. The Phyllotactic Spiral won't revolutionize the meta; however, it hits harder than any primary weapon should, making it a worthwhile addition to your arsenal.
The Arc Pulse Rifle's above-average damage melts through shields with the Under-Over trait. PvP players can rejoice at the gun's flexibility, offering viable traits like Keep Away, Kill Clip, Tunnel Vision, and Headseeker.
4 Basso Ostinato
The Basso Ostinato is a Void Shotgun equipped with the Rapid-Fire Frame. Its intrinsic trait empowers the shotty to quickly empty its cartridge with a full-auto fire rate. As a result, the weapon hits hard and feels easy to use, especially with its large magazine and swift reload speed.
Basso Ostinato is a treasure trove regarding its selection of effective traits. Lead from Gold, Envious Assassin, and Grave Robber help with the gun's ammo reserves. The fourth slot can roll the powerhouse trait Destabilizing Rounds, which can proc Volatile Rounds without running a Void subclass. One-Two Punch and Agadio also give the shotgun more raw damage.
3 Synchronic Roulette
Most players will have a frustrating time completing one run of Trials of Osiris, much less farming challenges for a godroll on the dominant Immortal SMG. For the average player, the Synchronic Roulette SMG is a comfortable primary for Strand builds. Keep Away and Hatchling is a great trait combo that complements a Threadling build.
The SMG only ranks highly because of the lack of feasible Strand primaries — compared to other SMGs like the Ikelos or Funnelweb, its lackluster for an otherwise amazing archetype. On the other hand, Season of Defiance's craftable Perpetualis is a much more consistent Strand primary.
2 Dimensional Hypotrochoid
Wave Frame Grenade Launchers stay true to their status as add clearing beasts in Destiny 2, even with bad rolls. The Dimensional Hypotrochoid packs a hefty five-round magazine to cover the battlefield within seconds. Reloading won't be an issue since you can craft it for Envious Assassin to have a better flow during firefights.
The Statis Grenade Launcher can also roll the incredible Chain Reaction trait to set off a cacophony of explosions. There's no doubt about the weapon's explosive strength; however, it's up to your loadout if you can facilitate a heavy weapon primarily used for clearing adds.
1 Circular Logic
The Machine Gun buffs propelled the class to score more kills while using less ammo. Having a Machine Gun for every element is always worth it, mainly to provide a steady stream of orbs and to melt down the tougher adds in Lightfall. The Circular Logic represents Strand for the class, and it's made quite an impressive debut.
On the third column, Feeding Frenzy and Envious Assassin keep the bullets flowing. For Strand builds, you'll be spawning Threadlings left and right with the Hatchling trait. But, the Machine Gun can also hit like a truck with Target Lock or Golden Tricorn without accounting for the bonus damage from the Nanotech Tracer Rockets origin trait.