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Destiny 2 has come far since its original release, with a steady stream of fresh content providing plenty of reasons for the user base to remain engaged. With years of expansions planned, Destiny 2's future is looking bright.

Related: The Best Exotics For Hunters In Destiny 2, Ranked

With plenty of content, weapons, stories, cross-platform saving, and more, there has never been a more exciting time to hoop back into Destiny 2. If you love crushing enemies under the might of your fist, you might want to consider some of these powerful Titan Exotics—a few of which were added in recent seasons. Whether you're a Titan veteran or a newer Guardian, these Titan Exotics are sure to give you an edge.

Updated January 28, 2023, by Charles Burgar: Season of the Seraph didn't release new Exotic armor for any class, but it did make some major balance changes to Citan's Ramparts and Wormgod Caress. We've removed Citan's from the list since it was heavily nerfed in a mid-season patch, replacing it with Wormgod Caress to reflect it working with Glaives now.

10 One-Eyed Mask

Destiny 2 One-Eyed Mask

Vengeance: Highlights the enemy who dares to damage you. Track down and destroy your enemy for an overshield.

One-Eyed Mask might not be as strong as it was during Forsaken, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Far from it. One-Eyed Mask is an Exotic tuned around aggressive PvP play. When an enemy damages you, they'll be highlighted in a red outline. Should you kill them, you gain an overshield for ten seconds. The boost to your shields can make follow-up engagements much more manageable. It works in PvE too, albeit at the cost of using another Exotic that could enhance your abilities.

PvE

Gaining an overshield after a kill in PvE isn't as useful as it sounds. It can be fun to play as aggressively as possible, yet the overshield's strength isn't enough to sustain serious damage in pinnacle PvE content. Since Titans have so many powerful Super and neutral-enhancing Exotics, it's hard to justify using this helmet over other options.

PvP

If you find yourself constantly weak after a gunfight and unable to win subsequent engagements, One-Eyed Mask is for you. The overshield this grants gives you a window to heal or start another engagement, making rapid 1v1 gunfights much more manageable. It won't win you gunfights like it used to, but Titans that don't have a specific build in mind can't go wrong with this helmet. Loreley Splendor is arguably better for staying alive in PvP, although that helmet requires you to play a Solar subclass. OEM works with all subclasses.

Pros

Cons

  • Easy healing and overshield
  • Great neutral Exotic
  • Overshield is weak in PvE
  • Buff is tied to a marked target

9 Wormgod Caress

Destiny 2 Wormgod Caress Titan Exotic

Burning Fists: Melee kills increase melee damage for a period of time. Additional kills extend duration and increase effects.

Defeating an enemy with your melee will grant a five-second buff that greatly increases your damage. At max stacks, your melee attacks will deal 3.5x as much damage, including uncharged and powered melee attacks. This Exotic works with Glaives.

PvE

While it saw a significant nerf recently, Wormgod Caress is still a great Exotic when paired with a Glaive. The bonus melee damage and the Close to Melee perk can deal some serious damage in endgame PvE content. That said, most players will find Synthoceps roughly as effective and requires far less micro-managing to get working.

PvP

You generally don't see Wormgod Caress in PvP due to its low uptime, but it's still a powerful Exotic in the right hands. Using this with Throwing Hammers can be quite effective in 6v6 playlists if you can lead your hammer throws. Beyond that, you're better off using another Exotic like Synthoceps or Loreley Splendor.

Pros

Cons

  • Greatly increases your melee and Glaive damage
  • Easy to trigger with Glaives
  • Tough to use in PvP
  • Synthoceps are arguably better

8 Peacekeepers

Destiny 2 Peacekeepers

Mecha Holster: Reloads stowed Submachine Guns and allows you to ready them instantly. Improves your handling with Submachine Guns and your movement while wearing one. Provides a moderate benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of Submachine Guns.

There's quite a bit happening with Peacekeeper's perk description, so let's break it down:

  • SMGs are reloaded when stowed. Has a short cooldown.
  • SMGs have 100 Handling while in use.
  • You gain +50 Mobility and sprint faster while wielding an SMG.
  • SMGs gain +20 Airborne Effectiveness.

PvE

An Exotic focused on improving your weapon's performance isn't particularly useful in PvE. Getting bonus stats for your SMGs is certainly useful, yet it doesn't boost the lethality of your build. If you're looking for a good PvE Exotic, Peacekeepers are not it. Use something else.

PvP

If you use SMGs frequently, Peacekeepers are arguably better than Dunemarchers. The bonus stats on offer here are excellent, making just about every SMG a breeze to use. The buffs to Mobility, sprinting and sliding make these boots a dream for aggressive players—the types of players that'd be using SMGs in the first place. If you love SMGs at all, give this Exotic a try.

Pros

Cons

  • One of the best neutral-game Exotics for PvP
  • Makes you move faster
  • Lackluster in PvE
  • Only works with SMGs

7 Peregrine Greaves

Destiny 2 Peregrine Greaves

Peregrine Strike: All shoulder charge abilities (Seismic Strike, Hammer Strike, or Shield Bash) deal bonus damage when activated in the air.

Ever since the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack nerfed the damage of shoulder charge in PvP, Peregrine Greaves has taken the meta by storm. These boots re-enable shoulder charge to one-shot in the Crucible, allowing you to benefit from all of the tracking buffs they received in December.

PvE

It's still tough to recommend Peregrine Greaves in PvE with how dangerous some enemies are in close range. With that said, using Seismic Strike on a group of enemies in PvE can provide a great panic CC option. If you're playing Sunbreaker, Hammer Strike with Peregrine Greaves deals absurd damage and can disintegrate just about any Champion or major in the game. If you make intelligent use of cover when using these Exotics, you'll be rewarded with one of Destiny 2's hardest-hitting abilities.

PvP

Peregrine Greaves are better than one might expect. These boots allow shoulder charge to one-shot once again, and the specs that have a shoulder charge really benefit from these boots. Striker Titans can blind a cluster of Guardians for an easy cleanup, Sentinels can pair their shoulder charge with Suppression Grenades to shutdown Supers, and Sunbreakers can more easily one-shot someone to proc an Ignite. It's tough to close the gap and get a Shoulder Charge off, but if you can, you'll be surprised just how strong Peregrine Greaves can be.

Pros

Cons

  • Allows shoulder charge to one-shot in PvP
  • Can one-shot Champions and most majors
  • Easy to use
  • Requires high Strength to show its true power
  • Only works with certain melee abilities

Related: Destiny 2: The Best Hunter Builds For PvP And PvE

6 Cuirass Of The Falling Star

Destiny 2 Cuirass Of The Falling Star

Glorious Charge: Greatly increases your Thundercrash impact damage. Gain an overshield that lats longer the farther you travel before striking a target.

Thundercrash mains finally have an Exotic that can turn this explosive Super into one of the best DPS Supers in Destiny 2. This Exotic doubles the impact damage of Thundercrash and grants an overshield if you travel a far distance, making this Super much safer to use and competitive with the likes of Golden Gun and other top-tier PvE DPS Supers.

PvE

You won't find a better Exotic for enhancing Thundercrash. The damage bonus is immense, allowing Thundercrash to exceed the damage of Golden Gun. If your fireteam has a Ward of Dawn Titan already, Thundercrash is your next best Super.

PvP

Thundercrash is an excellent Super for PvP but doesn't get as much of a benefit from this Exotic in that environment. Gaining an overshield as you fly is fantastic, yet you'll be forgoing a natural game Exotic like Dunemarchers while this is on. Swap to this Exotic before using Thundercrash to get the most out of it, although this playstyle is hard to pull off on eighth-gen consoles due to load times. If you don't like hot-swapping your Exotics mid-game, it's best to leave the Cuirass in your inventory.

Pros

Cons

  • Makes Thundercrash viable in PvE
  • Safer to cast
  • No neutral benefits
    • Better as a swap Exotic

5 Hoarfrost-Z

Destiny 2 Hoarfrost-Z

Glacial Fortification: When using the Stasis subclass, your Barricade becomes a wall of Stasis crystals that slows nearby targets when created. Standing behind this barricade will grant you and your allies increased weapon reload speed, stability, and range.

Your Stasis Barricade is replaced with a Glacier Grenade that has a short center crystal. Standing or crouching behind this crystal grants the benefits of Rally Barricade, also activating any Stasis Aspects and Fragments tied to crystals.

PvE

Hoarfrost-Z gives Behemoths the final piece they needed to feel great in PvE. This Exotic lets you fully live the power fantasy of being an unstoppable force covered in ice, shattering every single thing that gets near you. Weaving Barricade casts into your other abilities becomes natural and lets you set up some truly ridiculous shatter combos. And thanks to the Behemoth's various Aspects and Fragments, doing so grants overshields, damage resistance, and short grenade cooldowns to keep the carnage going. Check out our PvE build around Hoarfrost-Z to get an idea of just how powerful this Exotic can be.

PvP

If you've always dreamed of creating a fortress of ice in the Crucible, this is the Exotic for you. You can use this Exotic alongside Glacier Grenades to lockdown an entire portion of a Crucible map, benefiting from Whisper of Chains and Stasis Shards when needed. The stats bonuses from the Barricade are fantastic as well, although the real strength comes from having Whisper of Chains active while near your wall. It lets you create new sight lines, block passages, all while buffing your weapons. What's not to like?

Pros

Cons

  • Your Barricade acts as a Glacier Grenade/Barricade hybrid
  • Excellent area control in PvP
  • Great ability synergy in PvE
  • Requires a playstyle shift or specific build
  • Partitions your Barricade HP, making it easier to break in PvP
  • Only works on Behemoth

Related: Destiny 2: Tier 1 And Tier 2 Powerful Rewards Explained

4 Synthoceps

Destiny 2 Synthoceps

Biotic Enhancements: Increased melee lunge range. Improved melee and Super damage when you're surrounded.

Titans punch things better than any class in Destiny 2. If you need to shut down an opponent at close range, a swift punch and a Shotgun usually do the trick. For when you need your punches to be stronger and more consistent, look no further than Synthoceps. The increased lunge range and damage these arms provide are nothing short of game-changing for aggressive players, allowing you to clean up enemies with a swift punch in PvE and PvP.

PvE

Synthoceps are admittedly less powerful in PvE due to how dangerous enemies are at melee range, yet the increased damage Synthoceps provides more than makes up for this. With a charged melee ability, Synthoceps is usually enough to let your ability one-shot weaker majors in most activities. Since the buff works in your Super, Fists of Havoc and Sentinel Shield become surprisingly powerful Supers. If you're making a melee build, it's hard to top Synthoceps.

PvP

These gloves are game-changing for PvP, giving your melee attacks a ridiculous amount of lunge range. If you get surrounded, you get a 50% damage buff that's enough to one-shot Guardians. Pair these gloves with a Shotgun for the best results. The sheer aggression these gloves let you get away with is not to be understated. If you love playing aggressively in Destiny 2's Crucible, give the Synthoceps a try.

Pros

Cons

  • Much further lunge range
  • Melee damage buff is great in all game modes
  • Damage buff requires that you're surrounded

3 Dunemarchers

Destiny 2 Dunemarchers

Linear Actuators: Increased sprint speed. Sprinting builds up a static charge. After melee-attacking an enemy, that charge will chain damage to nearby enemies.

Titan mains shouldn't be surprised that Dunemarchers took the top spot. It's an excellent Exotic for add-clear in PvE, enhances your mobility, and is capable of killing weakened Guardians from long distances in PvP. It doesn't get much better than this.

PvE

Dunemarchers deal a surprising amount of damage in PvE, enhancing your melee attacks with chain lightning that can kill most red bars. If you build around your melee ability, these boots will allow you to clear waves of enemies with one or two melee attacks. The increased sprint speed makes your Titan feel less clunky too, a major plus considering how limited a Titan's movement options are.

PvP

Have you ever died to a lightning bolt through a wall? That was probably Dunemarchers. These boots have a hilariously large effective radius that seems to bypass cover. The lightning can clean up weakened Guardians with ease. If the lightning doesn't kill them, you'll be able to kill them with a few shots of a Hand Cannon or your Primary of choice. Coupled with your enhanced sprint speed, it's hard to argue that Dunemarchers are anything short of S-tier.

Pros

Cons

  • Enhances movement
  • Excellent for all subclasses and modes
  • Not as powerful in PvE as in PvP

2 Loreley Splendor Helmet

Destiny 2 Loreley Splendor Helmet

Cauterizing Flame: Your Sunspots heal you. When you are critically wounded with full class ability energy or when you cast Barricade, create a Sunspot at your location.

Casting your Barricade or having your shields break will spawn a Sunspot at your location. Your Sunspots grant x2 Restoration for a short duration, granting you substantial health regeneration that can't be interrupted. This helmet only works with Solar subclasses, although you don't need the Sol Invictus Aspect equipped for Lorelely Splendor to work.

PvE

Loreley Splendor is amazing in PvE, granting you uninterruptible health regeneration. You can easily chain this health regeneration with Ember of Empyrean or even the use of Singeing and Solace. If you build around this helmet, you can have permanent health regeneration. Paired with 100 Resilience and some chest DR mods, Loreley Splendor makes you invincible in most PvE activities. Whether you're farming strikes or raids, Loreley Splendor is a fantastic Exotic.

PvP

While you can't become unkillable in PvP with this Exotic, Loreley's passive healing effect is incredibly useful inside the Crucible. Most players use their Barricade to create cover when gunfights go south, so Loreley further assists you in these situations. If you love One-Eyed Mask and don't mind playing a Sunbreaker, Loreley Splendor is a better pick in most situations.

Pros

Cons

  • Allows you to become invincible in PvE
  • Helps with 1v1 and 1v2 gunfights in PvP
  • Doesn't require Sol Invictus to work
  • Only works with Sunbreaker
  • Requires heavy investment into Barricade cooldown

1 Heart Of Inmost Light

Destiny 2 Heart Of Inmost Light

Overflowing Light: Using an ability (grenade, melee, or Barricade) empowers the other two abilities. Empowered means abilities have faster regen, melees and greandes do more damage, and Barricades have more hit points.

While tricky to use, Heart of Inmost Light is one of the best neutral game Exotics that a Titan can use. This Exotic can single-handedly make your abilities one-shot opponents and give every ability a short cooldown. Whether you play PvE or PvP, this chest piece is absurd in the right hands.

PvE

Empowered provides a massive reduction to your cooldown length, causing most abilities to come back almost twice as quickly. Empowered's enhanced abilities are also appreciated, giving most abilities a damage boost. It won't beat Wormgod Caress or Ashen Wake, but this can be used on any subclass and significantly reduces your cooldowns.

Love Thermite Grenades? Use Sunbreaker's Sol Invictus Aspect and this Exotic for absurdly short grenade cooldowns. Want to turn Destiny 2 into Doom? Use Striker with your favorite melee and the Thruster class ability; it triggers Heart of Inmost Light. Every subclass can make great use of Heart of Inmost Light if you weave your abilities into gameplay, allowing you to benefit from absurdly short cooldowns and hard-hitting abilities.

PvP

The absurdly short ability cooldowns and enhanced ability damage carry over to PvP as well. Heart of Inmost Light won't make most grenades one-shot anymore, yet the ability regeneration from Empowered x2 more than makes up for this. When paired with an ability-oriented loadout, you can rely on your abilities to open or close engagements. Regardless of the PvP playlist, Heart of Inmost Light is sure to impress.

Pros

Cons

  • Fast ability cooldowns
  • Works on all subclasses
  • Damage boost in PvP is minimal

Next: Destiny 2: Top Legendary Weapons, Ranked