Compared to some of our other recommendations for weapons in Destiny 2, the best Destiny 2 trace rifles for PvE, PvP & Gambitin 2020 as of Beyond Light is going to be very short. This is because there are only four in the whole game and they are all exotic!
Even though there are so few trace rifles, each of them do have their unique strengths and weaknesses which factor in when weighing which are better for PvE, PvP, and Gambit in Destiny 2. Let’s break each down, and then go over which you should use, when, and why.
Best Destiny 2 Trace Rifles 2020
Best for PvE: Ruinous Effigy and Divinity
You have two solid options for Trace Rifles as of Beyond Light. Let’s go over the newest one first, Ruinous Effigy.
Ruinous Effigy is perhaps the most unique weapon in the game. The way it works is that you delete an enemy with it, and then that enemy turns into a spheroid relic that you can attack and guard with.
The guard attack will drain the health of enemies around you, the light attack will simply smack an enemy with it, but the heavy power attack will consume the rest of the HP of the relic and deliver a very powerful slam that will wipe red bars and hit orange bars hard as well.
The coolest part of this is that your teammates can pick up the relics too!
Divinity on the other hand doesn’t do as much damage but it’s designed that way since it’s a support weapon.
What it does is as you’re firing, it will create a new critical hit spot that any member of your team can fire into for higher damage. So in any fight where you don’t receive extra-bonus damage from crit firing at something’s head (which is sometimes the case) having someone run Divinity to fire at the Divinity crit spot instead will help the team do better overall DPS.
Coldheart is obtained via a rare exotic world drop, while you’ll need to quest for Divinity.
Best Trace Rifle for PvP & Crucible: Ruinous Effigy & Wavesplitter
Trace Rifles really aren’t the meta in PvP in any shape way of form, but if you insist, we’ll recommend Ruinous Effigy once again, especially if you’re playing something like Iron Banner or Control.
It has an OK time to kill and you can then use the relic to slam down and one-shot anyone that you catch with it. It’s especially fun to sneak up onto a point and surprise anyone there with a big slam from the relic.
Wavesplitter is a void Trace Rifle that up until Destiny 2: Shadowkeep was exclusive to PS4 owners. As of Shadowkeep though it is a rare world drop that can be found by any Destiny 2 player.
Wavesplitter’s unique perk is its oscillating damage that spikes out as the trigger is held. These bursts in damage make it especially effective against guardians as compared to Coldheart and Prometheus Lens.
This Wavesplitter used to wreak havoc on the PS4 crucible PvP scene when it was first introduced but a nerf took it down a few pegs.
However, despite the nerf, it’s still a decent trace rifle and weapon in general in PvP that is effective at pretty much any range if you get the jump on your opponent but especially medium to long-range.
Best Trace Rifle for Gambit: Prometheus Lens & Divinity
Prometheus Lens for one weekend when it was bugged, was the ultimate terror of the crucible which led to the Destiny 2 Laser Tag memes.
It was fixed and eventually settled down into the role it was meant for: a solar trace rifle that can melt groups of weak enemies.
While in normal PvE scenarios, you’re moving around a lot and sometimes skipping groups of tightly packed enemies; in Gambit, they all need to go down which is why Prometheus Lens shines in Gambit more than any other trace rifle.
The longer you fire Prometheus Lens the larger its damaging heat field becomes. You can melt your single target, and soften up anything nearby it.
While there are better options for your exotic slot in Gambit, if you want to use a trace rifle in Gambit and want to focus on a collector/reaper type role, Prometheus Lens will give you the most bang for your buck.
Otherwise, if you’re with a team and want to coordinate on boss phases, use Divinity which is just as useful on the primevals as it would be in something like Grandmaster Nightfall.
That’s all for our best trace rifles in Destiny 2 for PvE, PvP, & Gambit. If you’re interested in learning more weapon recommendations. Check out our all-encompassing lists below:
