Destiny 2: Lightfall opened the expansion with Season of Defiance. After the devastation left in the Witness' wake, Awoken Queen Mara Sov channels her paracausal power at the farm in the EDZ to help you save survivors held captive by the Shadow Legion. Mithrax, Amanda Holiday, Crow, and Devrim tag along to assist with the rescue effort.
As always, the seasonal story also brings limited-edition weapons to add to your collection. These various weapons also come with the Noble Deeds origin trait to further round out your builds. While the weapons can roll decent perks, only the chosen few with great stats deserve a spot in your loadout.
6 Caretaker
Swords have an important niche to fill in Destiny 2: pumping large amounts of damage in a short amount of time. The Caretaker has to go up against the greatest of its class — like the Lament, the Other Half, and Falling Guillotine — to justify taking it over tried-and-tested options. Unfortunately, the Caretaker needs more self-love because its base stats can't compete with the amount of damage top-tier swords output.
However, this sword has its uses for casual content when you can craft it to have Relentless Strikes and Incandescent. Once you have it, Solar builds can cause a chaotic firework show as they blow up the whole map.
5 Racounteur
The Racounteur is a Stasis bow that's a decent non-exotic replacement for Verglas Curve. The craftable bow is spoiled for choice with its incredible selection of perks. For example, the third slot can run Archer's Tempo, Surplus, and Wellspring, allowing you to fine-tune it as a main weapon or as a catalyst for your abilities.
The fourth slot boasts Headstone, Pugilist, and Explosive Head. Headstone is particularly strong for a bow, especially if you're built to shatter crystals. The Racounteur bow is a serviceable primary weapon for Stasis builds that need an additional source of ability regeneration. However, you'll need a weapon with a bigger and faster punch in more challenging content.
4 Royal Executioner
Despite Fusion Rifles lagging behind other weapons, the Royal Executioner is an excellent weapon for its class. The Solar Fusion Rifle can roll Lightfall's hot new perk, Envious Assassin, letting the gun overflow when you score kills with your other weapons. Additionally, it also joins the exclusive group of Solar weapons that can run Incandescent.
The Royal Executioner shines in PvP when you craft the gun with Reservoir Burst to empower the gun when it has a full battery. Envious Assassin synergizes with the perk, giving you access to a deadly accurate mid-range laser beam for a few shots.
3 Prodigal Return
Special Grenade Launchers are a highly sought-after combination in Destiny 2, as you get the potent ad clear without starving on Heavy Ammo. While the Prodigal Return is a remote Grenade Launcher, its unique perks make it a weapon worth crafting. For one good reason, Envious Assassin conveniently keeps the weapon topped off without having to suffer through the clunky reload of the weapon class.
The Arc Grenade Launcher is the only weapon of its class that can roll with Voltshot, giving you access to back-to-back Jolts. It's a must-have for Arc Warlocks because you can take full advantage of the blinding effect from Spark of Beacons. Conveniently, you can trivialize the intimidating Tormentors by pacifying them with Blinds.
2 Perpetualis
Unless you're willing to put in the Sisyphean effort to claim the Strand SMG from trials, the Perpetualis will be your comfortable loadout for the subclass. Threadlocks can craft the gun with Keep Away and Hatchlings, letting them fire away at a comfortable distance while continuously spawning Threadlings.
The Strand Auto-Rifle can also hold its own without a Threadling-focused build. Pairing Zen Moment and Golden Tricorn buff up its raw damage enough to make it seem like primaries are back in style. Additionally, Demolitionist can enable a cheese-y loop of suspending, shooting, and refreshing your grenades to do it all over again.
The Perpetualis and the Synchronic Roulette SMG will be competing for a slot in Strand builds, but the Auto-Rifle barely wins for its inherent ability to put Keep Away to full use. Additionally, its flexible perk pool adds more leeway to complement your builds.
1 Regnant
The Regnant Grenade Launcher is the hottest weapon in Season of Defiance because of its solid base stats, ease of use, and stacked perks. The Heavy Void Launcher has so many strong perks that you'll always have usable rolls. Starting with the third column, Regnant can run Auto-Loading Holsters, Envious Assasin, Repulsor Brace, and Stats For All.
If you can grab the Destabilizing Rounds on the fourth column, make sure your system can handle the light show because the screen is about to bleed purple. The perk causes enemies next to your target to turn volatile after a kill, a welcome ability for a Grenade Launcher. Explosive Light is also a valid alternative if you curate the weapon for priority damage.