The Ultimate Destiny 2 Exotic Shotgun Tier List: One Weapon Will Shock You!

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In Destiny 2, while the collection of Exotic Shotguns may be relatively limited, they certainly do not disappoint when it comes to potent power and an impressive array of unique capabilities.

As a gamer, I’d say almost every Exotic Shotgun in Bungie’s loot shooter game has some level of importance within the game world. A handful of these are so potent that they’ve redefined the meta (the most effective strategies and weapons) practically overnight.

In a constantly changing universe, the elite items or strategies in Destiny 2 can alter swiftly and significantly.

Or, more casually:

The world’s always on the move, and what’s hot in Destiny 2 can shift fast and dramatically.

From Episode Revenant onwards, we’ve put each Exotic Shotgun through its paces in both the main PvE and PvP events of the game, using builds designed to highlight their strong points and measure their effectiveness. The findings have thrown up a few unexpected results.

The newly introduced gun, Slayer’s Fang, nearly overthrows the established ruler among Exotic Shotguns, though it doesn’t quite manage to do so completely.

8. Lord of Wolves

  • Element: Solar
  • Exotic Perks: Shrapnel Launcher, Release the Wolves
  • Catalyst: Fang and Claw
  • Debut Season: Season 4
  • Best Use: PvE

Originally highly valued as a go-to Exotic shotgun because of its inherently fast firing speed compared to others, Lord of Wolves has fallen significantly behind due to the lack of updates or adjustments to keep pace with power creep over the years, making it quite outdated now.

The weapon themed around “The Fallen” was created before the implementation of ability verbs, making it incompatible with current class designs, particularly Solar’s Radiant, Scorch, and Ignition abilities. Its unique Exotic traits, such as its full auto fire rate and stat boosts, are no longer as effective compared to modern Legendary Shotguns, which can utilize superior perks like Closing Time and Lone Wolf.

It’s wiser to keep the Game of Wolves undisturbed in your storage, gathering dust, until it gets a necessary upgrade.

7. Tractor Cannon

  • Element: Void
  • Exotic Perks: Repulsor Force, The Scientific Method
  • Catalyst: Deeper Pockets
  • Debut Season: Season 1
  • Best Use: PvE

The Tractor Cannon, once an essential support Exotic due to its unique ability to weaken enemies, is no longer indispensable in this role. However, it’s by no means useless.

Regarding this matter, the distinctive feature of the Tractor Cannon’s displacing shockwave continues to stand out, and its consistent capability to weaken enemies remains crucial. This feature makes the Tractor Cannon an indispensable asset during Raid battles, particularly those with enrage timers where optimizing damage is vital.

6. Legend of Acrius

  • Element: Arc
  • Exotic Perks: Shock Blast, Long March
  • Catalyst: Deeper Pockets, Trench Barrel
  • Debut Season: Season 1
  • Best Use: PvE

In my gaming world, during the early days of Destiny 2, powerful weapons like shotguns, sniper rifles, and fusion rifles were reserved for the heavy ammo slot exclusively. Among these, the Legend of Acrius is the singular power shotgun that broke the mold and didn’t conform to this restriction.

Over time, Acrius has been enhanced with several bonuses that make it more attractive than weapons like Heavy Grenade Launchers, LMGs, and Rocket Launchers. This weapon delivers a tremendous force, capable of wiping out clusters of enemies because it can penetrate multiple targets simultaneously through its Shock Blast feature.

Although it may not be as powerful as conventional energy weapons, it can hold its own, particularly once you’ve activated the Catalyst.

5. Duality

  • Element: Solar
  • Exotic Perks: Compression Chamber, On Black Wings
  • Catalyst: +20 Range, +2 Magazine Size
  • Debut Season: Season 12
  • Best Use: PvP

The dual-purpose Shotgun, known as Duality, offers a unique advantage in PvE. It’s not just one thing – it functions both as an efficient tool for clearing groups of enemies (add-clearing) and as a potent single-target Damage Per Second (DPS) weapon, making it a versatile asset in various combat situations.

What really stands out is its performance in Player versus Player (PvP) scenarios. In the right hands, Slug Shotguns excel in the Crucible, but they may not be ideal for close-quarters combat. Instead, try switching to a spread shot when up against opponents at closer ranges. Fortunately, Duality offers both options within a single slot without any drawbacks.

4. The Fourth Horseman

  • Element: Arc
  • Exotic Perks: Thunderer, Broadside
  • Catalyst: And Its Name Was Death
  • Debut Season: Season 10
  • Best Use: PvE

Although it might only have one skill, The Fourth Horseman excels at what it does – inflicting intense damage up close, significantly quicker than any other weapon within the game (theoretically speaking).

In practical terms, the quad-barreled gun, often referred to as a boomstick, is restrained by its four-round magazine and relatively slow reloading time. However, if you require high damage in quick succession, the Fourth Horseman is an underrated weapon for dealing damage that can quickly reduce any situation where precision aiming or long range isn’t crucial, into pieces.

3. The Chaperone

  • Element: Kinetic
  • Exotic Perks: Precision Slug, The Roadborn
  • Catalyst: N/A
  • Debut Season: Season 4
  • Best Use: PvP

Incomparable in range and aim assistance among slug shotguns, Chaperone compensates for its limited adaptability like Duality by boasting extraordinary range and aim assistance statistics, along with one of the most potent Exotic abilities, Roadborn.

If you’re able to hit headshots accurately, the Chaperone weapon will frequently eliminate another player at a distance of 10 meters. When you trigger Roadborn with a single precision kill, it extends to approximately 15 meters, making the Chaperone behave like a pseudo one-shot Scout Rifle in that range.

2. Slayer’s Fang

  • Element: Void
  • Exotic Perks: Nightsworn Sight, Heart Piercer
  • Catalyst: Repulsor Brace, Loose Change, Stats For All, Cascade Point
  • Debut Season: Season 25
  • Best Use: PvE & PvP

Equipped with an impressive array of practical features and delivering strong damage, the Slayer’s Fang is similar to a versatile multi-tool, often referred to as a shotgun version of the Swiss Army Knife.

Using Slayer’s Fang provides the advantage of weakening opponents, granting enhanced vision through walls after a kill, dealing massive damage to individual targets, and obliterating groups of common enemies with its shattering fragments.

To cap it all, you have the option to customize it with any one of four Catalysts, each offering distinct advantages tailored to different requirements, thereby making this Shotgun quite adaptable and versatile in its functionality.

1. Conditional Finality

  • Element: Stasis
  • Exotic Perks: Split Decision, Paracasual Pellets
  • Catalyst: N/A
  • Debut Season: Season 20
  • Best Use: PvE & PvP

In simpler terms, the Raid Exotic – Conditional Finality – is practically perfect, not exaggeratedly so. It’s one of the rare weapons that carries more than one element, and it consistently triggers Ignitions and Freezes with its alternating Solar and Stasis shells. This gives it an unmatched adaptability in PvE (Player vs Environment) combat situations.

In PvP (Player versus Player), Conditional proves just as dangerous as other game elements due to its exceptional maneuverability that makes it easy to use and capable of defeating Guardians with a single Super attack.

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2025-01-21 02:10