I’ve been a Hunter main for over eight years now – since Destiny 1’s launch day, in fact. Sure, I have a Titan and Warlock, but neither of them has a fraction of the playtime that I have on Hunters. So, if anyone is qualified to go over the best Hunter Exotics in Destiny 2, it’s me.
I’ve separated every single Hunter Exotic in Destiny 2 (as of Season 19) into a tier list. One glance at it should be enough to give you some idea of what’s good in the META, and what you should be avoiding.
Destiny 2 Hunter Exotics Tier List
S-Tier
- Aeon Swift
- Graviton Forfeit
- Orpheus Rig
- St0mp-EE5
- The Sixth Coyote
- Omnioculus
- Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk
These are the best Hunter Exotics in Destiny 2 – and it’s not even close. Each one offers enough value to justify never taking it off, or is strong enough that it’s borderline mandatory at an end-game level.
Aeon Swifts, for example, aren’t too powerful in regular gameplay. When it comes to Master and Grandmaster PvE activities, though, it becomes a top-tier Exotic. On the other hand, Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk is phenomenal at all levels of play. Despite that, I consider both to be S-tier.
The same can be said for the rest of the S-tier Exotics. Each one is incredible in its own right – to the point where you could create a build around each one.
A-Tier
- Assassin’s Cowl
- Fr0st-EE5
- Liar’s Handshake
- Ophidia Spathe
- Workhusk Crown
- Young Ahamkara’s Spine
- Star-Eater Scales
- Renewal Grasps
S-tier Hunter Exotics are the META options. A-tier is a slight step down from that. They’re not META, but each one can be incorporated into a build that works at a level similar to, if not quite to the same efficiency as the S-tier options.
For example, Assassin’s Cowl is an Exotic that, on its own, is arguably better than a handful of the S-tier Hunter Exotics. However, it falls off at Master and Grandmaster levels – meaning it’s only particularly powerful in mid-range level activities. Despite that, you can make it work in GMs with the right Arc build – so it’s deserving of A-tier, but not S-tier due to that restrictive nature.
The same can be said of each other A-tier Exotic. They’re not the best options out there – but they’re close enough to justify using – when the situation and build calls for it.
Related: How to Get the Ace of Spades in Destiny 2
B-Tier
- Celestial Nighthawk
- Raiden Flux
- Shards of Galanor
- Raiju’s Harness
- Gwisin Vest
- Khepri’s Sting
- Lucky Pants
- Oathkeper
- Blight Ranger
- Shinobu’s Vow
The Hunter Exotics in B-tier begin to push into gimmick territory, but still have enough niche value to save them from a C-tier spot. The majority of these Exotics deal with Supers or give you mediocre effects during regular gameplay. This means that Exotic uptime is low or the effect is weak, respectively.
For example, Celestial Nighthawk – which would’ve been an S-tier Exotic back in the day, is only useful during DPS stages of high-health enemies. It affects your super, so it’s only active when your super is online, making it useless the vast majority of the time. Similarly, Blight Ranger has its uses, especially in PvP, but it lacks general utility.
B-Tier Hunter Exotics are useable. Each one has a clear use case, but none of them particularly excel at elevating your general gameplay.
C-Tier
- Knucklehead Radar
- Lucky Raspberry
- Mechaneer’s Tricksleeves
- Athrys’s Embrace
- Mask of Bakris
- Radiant Dance Machines
- Caliban’s Hand
C-tier Exotics really define the line between “justifiably useable” and “troll” Exotics. While every Exotic in the B-tier and up has some sort of justifiable use case, C-tier Exotics really don’t. The exception may be Caliban’s Hand, but I would argue that’s just as gimmicky as the rest of them.
If someone were to join my Fireteam using Shards of Galanor, for example, I would think it was interesting but wouldn’t pay it too much mind. However, if someone tried to join my Fireteam wearing Lucky Raspberry, it’s unlikely they’ll be in that Fireteam for very long once we jump into an activity.
C-tier Hunter Exotics rely on a gimmick, rather than on adding value. Each one offers an effect that seems interesting at first glance but offers little in the way of strategic value when you start pushing those end-game activities.
D-Tier
- Foetracer
- Gemini Jester
- Sealed Ahamkara Grasps
- The Bombardiers
- The Dragon’s Shadow
C-tier Exotics are trolling, but there are a few Guardians out there genuinely insane enough to have an affinity for an underutilized Exotic. That’s justifiable for the C-tier Exotics, it’s not for the D-tier ones. These Exotics, beyond fun factor, have nothing going for them whatsoever. I don’t care if you think Foetracer is the best-looking Exotic in the game – you have no excuse for using it.
Let’s look at Bombardiers. When you Dodge with these, they leave behind a bomb that explodes after a few seconds. That sounds like a lot of fun, and it is – but that bomb is terrible. It does no damage, has no blast radius, and is all-in-all a useless Exotic, something that all these have in common. I can forgive a Mechaneer’s Tricksleeve user – the same cannot be said for these Exotics.
D-tier Exotics aren’t at the bottom of the barrel – they’re not in the barrel at all. None of these Exotics should ever be worth considering, so long as there are no major, world-breaking Exotic armor reworks.
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