The 10 Machine Guns In Destiny 2, Ranked

Circular Logic

How to obtain: Terminal Overload Reward (Rotates Daily)

The first Strand Machine Gun in Destiny 2 is a strong weapon with the right roll. This Machine Gun can get both Feeding Frenzy and Hatchling on the same roll, letting you get Hatchlings from precise hits. Since Machine Guns have a lot of aim help, it’s not hard to get precise kills that let them spawn.

Circular Logic is a good choice if you’re looking for a tool that does both damage and clears adds. Using Envious Assassin and Target Lock together is a great way to fight majors, champions, and bosses in Nightfalls. This weapon doesn’t have the highest DPS in raids or dungeons, but it’s very flexible and worth farming for, especially for Strand builds that put a lot of focus on Threadlings.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Envious Assassin, Feeding Frenzy
• Column Two: Hatchling, Target Lock

Fixed Odds

How to obtain:You can get it from the Duality Dungeon or make it at The Enclave.

Fixed Odds is a High-Impact Frame Machine Gun that was brought back to life years after it had been retired. On paper, this weapon doesn’t seem like much, but it can roll with Killing Tally, which is one of the best add-clearing bonuses in Destiny 2.

With this perk, Killing Tally comes back to Fixed Odds. It’s not as good as 21% Delirium, but Fixed Odds is still a strong team with this perk. With three kills, your damage goes up by 30%. This adds to the 40% damage boost Machine Guns got this season. When used with Field Prep, this tool is a machine for getting rid of adds that can also be used to get rid of majors. If you’re a Titan user, you can put on the Actium War Rig to make this gun’s magazine last forever.

Incandescent is a great second column perk that works well with Killing Wind. It gives this weapon a slightly weaker version of Dragonfly that works on all kills. For PvP, you’ll do well with Under Pressure and Rangefinder, which will give you a Machine Gun that is very effective and can easily hit headshots. Even though it won’t beat Commemoration, it’s not a bad choice for the Crucible.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Field Prep, Under Pressure (PvP)
• Column Two: Killing Tally, Incandescent, Rangefinder (PvP)

Qullim’s Terminus

How to obtain: King’s Fall raid.

Qullim’s Terminus is a Stasis Machine Gun with a huge clip and some great extras. Runneth Over, the weapon’s origin trait, makes it stand out from other Machine Guns right away by giving it a Clown Cartridge that kills close teammates.

If you want an add-clearing machine that keeps you alive, Unrelenting with Firefly or Headstone is a great perk combo. If you want to take Qullim’s into the Crucible, Dynamic Sway Reduction and Eye of the Storm make it very easy to get hits from far away. If you can’t stand how slow the weapon is to use, you can also roll with Slickdraw. Overall, Qullim’s Terminus is a great Machine Gun that will serve you well in both PvE and PvP.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Unrelenting, Dynamic Sway Reduction (PvP)
• Column Two: Firefly/Headstone, Eye of the Storm (PvP), Wellspring

Grand Overture

How to obtain: Bought in the Tower from the Exotic Kiosk. It costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 100,000 Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards, and 1 Ascendant Shard.

This might surprise you when you see it on the list. Grand Overture has gotten a lot of buffs over the course of Year 5, making it a very powerful burst DPS weapon for all PvE gameplay. Every time you hit something with this Machine Gun, it loads a high-damage rocket. You can do this up to 20 times. Hold the reload key to send out the rocket attack and kill something 20 times. It’s a weird mix of Machine Gun and Wardcliff Coil that didn’t fit either niche when it came out.

So what? Grand Overture is ridiculously good at destroying Champions and minibosses, and it can even deal good damage to bosses with short times when they are weak. Use the Font of Might and a damage buff to make yourself stronger, and then destroy every enemy on the screen. It’s a bulky weapon that isn’t very good at add clear or PvP, but as a burst DPS weapon, Grand Overture is on par with Parasite and The Fourth Horseman.

Corrective Measure

How to obtain: Do the Vault of Glass raid and fight Conflux, Templar, and Atheon.

Corrective Measure is the closest thing we’ll get in Destiny 2 to a fix for 21% Delirium. This is one of only two Machine Guns that can roll with Subsistence. This means that after a kill, the gun will automatically reload itself.

You can use One for All, Firefly, Adrenaline Junkie, or Thresh with Subsistence. Firefly gives this weapon a unique way to deal damage, since it lets you do Void damage with each bullet and Solar damage after a well-placed finishing blow. Corrective Measure is great for add-clear (especially when Volatile Rounds is active), can take out multiple shield types in Match Game events thanks to Firefly, and is a great workhorse weapon for grenade builds because it can roll both Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie at the same time. Get this gun if you like to throw bombs. Get this gun if you like to use Machine Guns for add-clear. Get this gun if you like Machine Guns at all. Corrective Measure is not going to let you down.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Subsistence, Demolitionist
• Column Two: Firefly, One for All (PvE), Adrenaline Junkie (pair with Demolitionist)

Commemoration

How to obtain: Deep Stone Crypt raid (Taniks encounter).

In Season of the Seraph, Commemoration got a new set of perks that let it come with some that are based on the elements. Fans of overshields can now use Repulsor Brace on Commemoration, and Heavy players who want a good way to add clear can now play Dragonfly and Flappy Bird at the same time. If you want a more up-to-date form of 21% Delirium, you can even get Subsistence and Killing Tally.

Fans of PvP might have less to choose from now that Dynamic Sway Reduction and Eye of the Storm are gone. But Commemoration won’t let you down if you’re a PvE player looking for a good add-clearing machine. If you want a boss DPS weapon, Retrofit Escapade is probably a better choice.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Dragonfly, Subsistence, Adaptive Munitions
• Column Two: Rampage, Killing Tally, Unrelenting

Avalanche

How to obtain: The Dawning event.

This year’s Dawning event brings back Avalanche with a new set of benefits. This year’s version of Avalanche is the best one yet. It has S-tier bonuses that make it great for getting rid of adds, hurting bosses, and everything else. And if you are a PvP player looking for a good Machine Gun, the Avalanche has the best base aim assist of any MG in Destiny 2 at 90.

You want the perks Ambitious Assassin and Target Lock. The first one gives you a huge magazine for Avalanche if you get a few multikills first. This lets Target Lock increase your damage as you attack a boss. Target Lock can give you a huge 40% damage boost, which is easy to keep up with Ambitious Assassin’s full magazine. It’s a good way to deal damage to bosses, and it could be useful if Lightfall makes Linear Fusion Rifles weaker. Oh, and Avalanche can get Incandescent if you prefer to use Machine Guns to add clear. Get this gun before the Dawning is over, of course.

Cadence Point is another interesting feature of this gun. Kills or quick hits with another weapon will increase Avalanche’s fire rate for the next five seconds, making it work like Desperado without needing a kill. If you switch between two Cadence Point guns, you can keep this perk up 100% of the time. It’s not a meta DPS contender right now, but if more guns get this perk, it could be. If Cadence Point gives you a roll, you should keep it. You never know what’s going to happen.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Ambitious Assassin, Auto-Loading Holster, Subsistence
• Column Two: Target Lock, Incandescent, Cadence Point (for future seasons)

Xenophage

How to obtain: An Exotic quest found on the Moon.

In Season of the Haunted, Xenophage was made stronger. It didn’t get the damage boosts that the other Machine Guns got, but Xenophage doesn’t need them. This weapon is a powerhouse in PvE. It can kill most big enemies in one shot and does decent damage to bosses.

The real strength of Xenophage is in how easy it is to use. Since this gun can’t hit the head, all you have to do to get the best DPS is hit your targets. That should be easy, since Xenophage shoots exploding rounds that do a lot of damage. With these exploding rounds, you can use mods like “The Wrath of Rasputin” to easily create Warmind Cells, giving this weapon a way to get rid of adds. Once again, Xenophage is a great choice for all PvE content. It’s also not a bad Heavy weapon in the Crucible, but Gjallarhorn and Wardcliff Coil are better.

Thunderlord

How to obtain: Exotic Engrams and sometimes Xur will sell them.

Since auto-reloading was taken away in Shadow Keep, many people have forgotten about Thunderlord as an Exotic. Until recently, that was true. With the huge improvements to Machine Guns in Year 5 and the addition of a Catalyst to Thunderlord in Season of the Plunder, this Machine Gun is finally good enough to use.

Thunderlord is a 450 RPM Machine Gun that fires faster as you hold the trigger down. Every few shots, it shoots a bolt of lightning. When you kill a target, lightning hits will also happen, making this weapon a very powerful way to clear endgame content. More importantly, its Catalyst lets Thunderlord reload part of its gun when it creates a lightning strike. This lets you fire up to 153 shots without reloading. Thunderlord’s continuous DPS is better than most Machine Guns, it clears hordes easily, and it can stun Overload Champions. Simply put, Thunderlord is the best card for your Heavy slot because it can do everything.

Retrofit Escapade

How to obtain: Occasionally sold by Xur.

Machine guns can now be used for DPS. Well, Retrofit Escapade is. This is one of the few Machine Guns that can get the Target Lock perk, which makes the damage you do to the same target go up the longer you hit it. It increases damage by 17% if you hit the same target for a few seconds, going up to 40% if you keep firing at the same target.

This isn’t enough to make MGs a good choice for meta DPS, but Retrofit Escapade has two other benefits:

1. It deals damage from the Void, so Volatile Rounds can help it.
2. It can work the fourth time.

With a damage perk, Fourth Time’s the Charm on a Rapid-Fire Frame is crazy strong. If you use Extended Mag to make your magazine hold more bullets, you can fire almost 200 shots before you have to reload. Hunters should be especially interested because Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk now makes it easy for Nightstalkers to use Volatile Rounds during DPS stages. When you combine all of these parts, you get a Machine Gun with the same DPS as most Linear Fusion Rifles. Retrofit Escapade is a great Heavy weapon that can do a little bit of everything. It will not let you down.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Fourth Time’s the Charm
• Column Two: Target Lock