5 Best 'Destiny' Weapons to Shoot for in Updated Crota's End

Week one of Destiny: Age of Triumph kicks off on March 28, and with it, Crota’s End gets an updated version at level 42 and 390 light. That means that all of the previous beloved gear will drop up to 400 light, and there will be a special rotating weekly challenge mode for these raids, offering up new rewards. Week two, three, and four will bring updates to the Vault of Glass, King’s Fall, and Wrath of the Machine, respectively, but for the kick-off week, you’ll finally be able to get your hands on updated versions of classic Hive-themed weapons available only in Crota’s End.

Traditional legendary primary weapons that once had elemental damage — like Word of Crota and Oversoul Edict — will now drop without elemental damage, but there will also be exotic forms with the elemental damage that drop only from the challenges accompanying the two raid bosses. As is the case with many raid weapons, these guns will be at their most useful when used within the raid that they come from; they all come loaded with Hive Disruptor, which grants bonus damage to Hive Majors. That being said, especially if you come across the exotic forms, they can each be a force to be reckoned with outside as well.

Here are the 5 best weapons from the Crota’s End raid to hope for:

5. Word of Crota

The Word of Crota is a hand cannon boasting high stability, quick reload, and solid movement speed while aiming down the sights. With a magazine of 12 bullets and max impact, this one packs a punch. Zen Moment also grants further stability when you deal damage, and you can further customize it to suit your own needs by selecting Speed Reload, Explosive Rounds, or Hammer Forged for increased range and accuracy. This gun is a must-have for hand cannon enthusiasts, especially with Phantom Gift, which returns a round to the magazine with three precision hits. The one drawback to it is that Hive enemies traditionally don’t have Void shields, so there’s less synergy at play.

• Word of Crota drops upon defeating Ir Yût, Deathsinger and/or Crota

• Exotic Adept version retains Void elemental damage and drops only upon completion of Ir Yût, Deathsinger or Crota Challenge

4. Oversoul Edict

Oversoul Edict’s base rate of fire is rather high, and it’s only compounded by having Full Auto available. It’s of the low impact and low recoil archetype, but with Fitted Stock and the added bonus to stability, it can fire almost endlessly without kickback. Tacking on Field Scout for a larger magazine is almost a necessity because you’ll burn through bullets, but you can also opt for Snapshot for faster aiming or Fitted Stock for higher stability. The one drawback in the weapon is a relatively poor reload speed, but Field Scout helps compensate for that, as can Pulse Rifle Reloader on your go-to gauntlets. Dark Breaker is its wholly unique ability, allowing you to shoot right through a Hive Knight’s shield. That makes this weapon a must-have, not only in Crota’s End but in any Hive-heavy mission.

• Oversoul Edict drops upon defeating Ir Yût, Deathsinger and/or Crota

• Exotic Adept version retains Arc elemental damage and drops only upon completion of Ir Yût, Deathsinger or Crota Challenge

3. Swordbreaker

Despite having terrible range and impact, especially for a shotgun, Swordbreaker has a high rate of fire, high magazine size (at 6), and a fast reload speed. It comes with Grenadier, aggressively reducing the cooldown of your grenades, and Final Round, rendering a massive damage boost to the final round in your magazine. You also get to choose between Flared Magwell (faster reload), Hammer Forged (increased range and accuracy), and Lightweight (+2 Agility). Any of the three could work well depending on your style. You’ll want to burn through entire magazines to make use of Final Round as much as possible, so a faster reload is useful. But Hammer Forged deftly compensates for the weapon’s more glaring weaknesses, and Lightweight is universally useful for any highly mobile characters, so it’s really up to you.

• Swordbreaker drops at the conclusion of the raid’s second section: Cross the Bridge

• As a Special Weapon, Swordbreaker always comes with elemental damage, so even if there is an exotic version, the legendary is a better option

2. Abyss Defiant

This weapon will absolutely tear through Hive Wizards like nobody’s business — especially in its Solar damage exotic form — with Lich Bane, which disorients Wizards when they’re hit with a spray of bullets. Focused Fire also grants slower rate of fire when zoomed in for higher impact and therefore damage, but the real kicker is one of the fastest reload speeds of any legendary auto rifle in the game. You get the choice between Single Point Sling (switch weapons faster and move quicker while aiming), Counterbalance (lower recoil), and Lightweight (+2 Agility) — but the choice is clear here: Counterbalance will give you a net buff to stability, making it even easier to land precision hits while in Focused Fire.

• Abyss Defiant drops upon defeating Ir Yût, Deathsinger and/or Crota

• Exotic Adept version retains Solar elemental damage and drops only upon completion of Ir Yût, Deathsinger or Crota Challenge

1. Fang of Ir Yût

In its heyday, Fang of Ir Yût was considered the best legendary scout rifle in the game, and that’s in a game where Scout Rifles are consistently one of the best primary weapons. It has longer range and higher impact, making it almost like a sniper-lite at times. Fang will retain its well-rounded stats in Age of Triumph and the always-useful Third Eye perk, which maintains radar even when you aim down the sights. Its unique and somewhat niche ability is Target Mark, which will mark whatever target you hit for five seconds, but you have to choose between that and Spray and Play, which will increase reload speed, making that a better option. You can opt between High-Caliber Rounds (stagger targets at expense of weapon handling), Counterbalance (lower recoil), or Field Scout (more ammo). Especially if you opt for Spray and Play, Field Scout is a little redundant. You’re better off with Counterbalance to make those shots count.

• Fang of Ir Yût drops upon defeating Ir Yût, Deathsinger and/or Crota

• Exotic Adept version retains Arc elemental damage and drops only upon completion of Ir Yût, Deathsinger or Crota Challenge