The Legendary Hand Cannon Tier List of 2024! 【 Destiny 2 】

[@MavenPhoenix]

I accidentally cropped out the bottom 2 perks of the Exalted Truth, the Igneous Hammer, the Zaouli's Bane, and the Luna's Howl. The Exalted Truth and Igneous Hammer's perks didn't matter, but the Zaouli's was missing Explosive Payload and One For All, and the Luna's was missing Subsistence and Harmony. EDIT: Maybe I should have put the incandescent hand cannons higher just like I mentioned at the end of the video. Maybe I didn't give them enough credit.

[@davidgabrieltaylor]

They arent bad but the pool is over saturated so it doesnt matter. This solar season wont last forever so im guessing theyre all dropping down soon enough.

[@scoty_does]

The midnight coup is proof that D3 is around the corner :D

[@markmurex6559]

@@scoty_does How so? Also, why the Coup and not the Crab dik?

[@roadblock99]

You also cropped out perks on the midnight coup, was missing enlightened action and cant remember the other.

[@davidgutierrezzg]

Incandescent might actually be better in a lot of use cases to explosive payload! (Yes I said it :P) So yeah, you have been too tough with Luna's for sure. Incandescent + Subsistance roll is amazing at add clear in any content (at least with a Warlock Solar subclass), the enemies that die out of the explosions also refill the magazine so you basically never reload. Then the roll Incandescent + Heal Clip helps you stay alive in the hardest content, I am really liking Heal Clip in a Hand cannon. You should really check these two rolls if you can :) Zaouli might be slightly better, but by a VERY small margin. The Origin perk is also much much better in Luna's than in Zaouli, it is really a tough call for best hand cannon in the energy slot...

[@legendz11m18]

Disclaimer: there's a lot of disclaimers 😭🤣

[@MavenPhoenix]

💯

[@StangLX351]

😂

[@Hina_Hanta]

33:37 traits like Demolitionist are now based on the base cooldown of the ability. In other words, if you use a grenade with the longest cooldown, you'll receive about 5% energy, whereas the fastest will still get around 10%

[@gryphon123456]

One thing I covet now with incandescent weapons is heal clip. With a solar build and benevolence it means super quick grenades back.

[@Based_Shogun]

I have it on my shiny Luna's and my Igneous. Great guns.

[@FarayLNoob]

Heal clip is not that good for me on hc cuz u will take literally years to reload.

[@АндрейОхлопков-ъ7о]

​@@FarayLNoobas someone who loves forsaken raids and avanguards,this is goatee build bc heal you get from like 3 headshots is just,too good

[@BIackVenom]

But as said in the 1000 disclaimers 😅 it's just the raw hc and not any build

[@ImJuSTaStatistic]

I was tearing it up in an lfg GM last night with Luna’s Howl. Granted all three of us happened to be Phoenix Protocol Warlocks…

[@ebas21]

I love Luna’s

[@deepster8731]

what roll did you have on that luna?

[@ImJuSTaStatistic]

@@deepster8731 enlightened action / incandescent

[@michelleresistance5767]

Round Robin is also great with subsistence + hatchling; the hatchling kills also proc subsistence, and you can get the mag size high enough that you get two bullets refunded per kill

[@erikrpeterson]

I like this one. One of my two crafted and fully enhanced round robins

[@Pocket_Fox]

3 bullets, actually. Enhanced Substance gives you 3 bullets back with a mag size of 11, which backup mag provides.

[@baldheadDamion]

How did yall get round robin redborder? It won’t drop for me for the love of nothing

[@adamgriffin]

Indebted Kindness is my favorite hand cannon 😅

[@lobes117]

Straight up, G

[@yiannisgedeon9038]

same here. but it will simply never replace my ZAOULI'S BANE in that slot. Never :-) So i will happily keep a heal clip incadence copy but never use it over Zaoulis

[@MavenPhoenix]

Graviton Lance is my favorite Scout Rifle

[@bryanwhite7805]

Graviton Lance is a pulse rifle, you don’t really know what you’re talking about do you?

[@chezzydavefan1]

@@bryanwhite7805 surely you're joking, right?

[@nullpointer5603]

MossyMax does destiny science stuff on massive breakdown. He puts out a primary dps chart for minors and elites regularly and precision hand cannons (180s) have the highest crit and body shot dps on minors and elites. Precision hand cannons are so slept on.

[@samvakarian]

they're slept on probably because a lot of folks don't like how they feel (me and everyone I play with included).

[@MavenPhoenix]

I figured. Every time I try them, they always hit harder than I expect

[@danterounds236]

It's over when they slap kinetic tremors on 180s and heavy burst frames. Really all of the rapid fire frames generally they've been drip feeding slowly...

[@MavenPhoenix]

Oh yeah that sounds insane

[@rexj9698]

I always appreciate your straightforward approach and how you connect stats with your opinions on how the weapons feel to use. Great job!

[@cryptik1538]

Lunas (incandescent/heal clip) is easily A tier as it proves itself in add control and sustainability due to healing off of groups 😅

[@benhorner3518]

I'd put it higher 2nd 2 zaulis bane

[@imLeyt0n]

Well she’s not going to because she took actual pvp perks to pve content with testing the lunas howl. But she is kinda off the rocker when it comes to what perks are actually worth a damn

[@oCcBrutalforce]

@@RaP22 she knows more about HC then you do, peewee

[@bryanwhite7805]

It’s a sidearm, not a hand cannon. 😂

[@viny.8191]

I took heal clip/incadescent luna to GMs and it is very very good, the heal clip also works so good with ember of benevolence if you are running solar (S tier for wellock)

[@leymcdonald1790]

I think Luna’s Howl with Incandescent/Heal Clip is quite good when a regular part time gamer like me tries to solo Warlords Ruin.

[@nathanflinchum1153]

Yeah it’s very strong if you take benevolence. Easy uptime on everything

[@iBeRzErKK]

@@RaP22 Kings fall is a low level content. Try it on masters vs zaouli or sunshot. Feels very different.

[@kddatrapmane]

Doesn’t benovelence only works with teammates?

[@Andrew-yv9kz]

This is really going to help me clean my vault. Can't wait for other weapons types :)

[@MrMightyZ]

Big Job Maven! You’re the 1st to attempt it. I’m SO disappointed by Luna’s that I’m commenting before I watch that it’s F for PVE and C for PVP in my book. Midnight coup had a fantastic rebirth but it takes me 40min per Luna even with focusing so I’m playing some awesome games that aren’t Destiny until final shape drops. (Or plops)

[@mattp8654]

I focused prob 15 of them, went and tried it, and immediately went and unfocused it lol

[@imLeyt0n]

Y’all are literally brain dead heal clip with incandescent is better than half the hand cannons she likes. When she did the test for Lunas Howl she used all PVP perks and not one combination of pve perks like the ones I mentioned against this lost sector. The perks she picks for her guns don’t really make any sense for a PVE hand cannon.

[@imLeyt0n]

Also she always uses strand and never solar to make a lunas shine so if you’re wondering why others rank it so much higher than her tier list is because she is stuck in her ways only using one subclass. It’s kinda weird

[@mattp8654]

@imLeyt0n i actually have that roll.. i saved it cause it sounded cool.. i have a funny feeling it wont hit hard enough but def a great roll on paper But in pvp, i really didn't like it.. havent even bothered with it for pve but ill gove that roll a go..

[@j-meister8710]

Are you going to update the list since there are new hand cannons and returning ones from Final Shape? Would love to see where Better Devils, Something New, Crimils Dagger, Sightline Survey and Bold Endings rank.

[@ELTRYHARD]

Came to see Igneous in S tier and was definitely disappointed. Igneous hits like a truck and it’s always my go to for high level content with just a simple combo of Keep Away / Incandescent / AP rounds and 39 meters of range. Also, Luna’s Howl basically has three perks with Heal Clip / Incandescent / Baby Demolitionist origin trait

[@Symphony10618]

I am a bit confused as to why you decided to judge these hand cannons in a vacuum. We don’t play in a vacuum. Build synergies matter immensely and judging them as if they don’t makes this list very difficult to understand.

[@drewnader1726]

That's exactly what I was thinking. If I played destiny with no Aspects, Fragments, or Artifacts, then I think this would be spot on. Kinds confused by it. I don't think something like Lunas Howl is S tier, but the survivability of heal clip. Along with ember of benevolence is absolutely gorgeous.

[@MavenPhoenix]

I rated the Eyasluna extremely high because of subclass synergy. I rated the Round Robin high because of subclass synergy. I did indeed take synergies into account.

[@Symphony10618]

@@MavenPhoenix I appreciate that point but with some like Warden’s law, it seemed like you excluded synergy with lucky pants even though, with pants equipped it’s best in slot.

[@HandsomeFerret]

As someone who doesn’t get to play much and never had a fatebringer…was pretty happy to get my first shiny Midnight coup with explosive payload and kinetic tremors / frenzy. Great to have to both options on one HC. also rolled cork screw, tac mag, and range MW. happy camper. Thanks for the detailed list video!

[@voodootomato]

Thank you for taking the time to do this!!!

[@Based_Shogun]

Great list! 15:40 mine has rapid hit, explosive, and it's a real workhorse. I always go with rapid hit over other similar perks on precision primaries. 23:25 SFA & MKC is why. Pretty great for ad clear.

[@stevengaddis1362]

Wow... That's a huge amount of number-crunching and hands-on research you did to parse this down! Well-done! It's definitely going to help me hone down my loadouts.

[@DeuceTreyz]

I've changed most my loadouts with forward thinking going into TFS, heavy on AA and Wellspring guns, especially with me maining Midnight with EP/KT. I think the best roll for Hammerhead is AA with Killing Tally. Great vid Maven, appreciate all the hard work. Can't way too see the content in The Final Shape

[@gormleypeach5809]

Idk if anyone mentioned Demo yet but it was stated in a twab a while back that demo scales on grenades cool down now. So the longer the cooldown the less energy and vice versa which seems backwards but whatever. It's why I've started using almost exclusively scatter grenades on void (unless using controvers) you get them back so incredibly fast compared to vortex!

[@standupmoko9618]

Demo specifically was not shadownerfed, what happened was chunk energy returns from perks / mods fragments were adjusted at season of witch (or wish cant remember exactly) and has a penalty applied the higher the cooldown. On the lowest cooldown nades (firebolt) it still gives the 10%, but on the longest cooldown nades, the penalty goes up to 50% energy chunk reduction, so it gives you roughly 5% from demo instead. Same reason why bomber and the other armour mods give less energy now. This does not affect the % base regen boosts, such as ember of benevolence, only energy chunk returns @MavenPhoenix

[@shiverwolfplays]

Thank you for this! I really appreciate both that it's a PvE list and that you put the tier BEFORE the explanation! It makes it so much easier to focus on the content when I'm not trying to figure out whether it's leading to a good rating or a bad one. And of course it's got your signature clear and helpful explanations - I always learn from your videos.

[@elementstacks]

Maven, you're incredible! You definitely put in a lot of work in your videos!

[@jofeihaynes4848]

"I am sorry to those of you who can never experience this joy." lol, so funny but also genuinly kind. nice

[@Levord1980]

My “Trust” with incandescent slaps EVERYTHING!!!

[@BADHONK1]

Thank you very much for the detailed and great video. I love the way you put all together and explain a lot of details...

[@kylebush5934]

Great video! I love to see your opinions on these things because I feel that we share perk/weapon opinions 90% of the time. This vodeo does seem like it was a ton of effort but I enjoyed it and would theoretically be interested in seeing other wespon types. Only major disagreement I have with the list is that to me Posterity is 100% better than Nation of Beasts. Bray Inheritance is one of the best Origin Traits in the game, Frenzy is the single best perk in the game (and it pairs perfectly with Voltshot), plus I actually like 180s. Shocking to most. Glad to see them not trashed here. Keep up the good work!

[@Boltman35]

I greatly appreciate the time you took to make this list, I try to watch all your videos when I get off of work. Thank you Maven.

[@Hina_Hanta]

24:00 Midnight Coup has Shoot to Loot and Kinetic Tremors

[@Leauxf]

kinetic tremors on coup/hand cannons in general is not great compared to other better perks.

[@Ad-zu8bt]

Lunas in c tier is crazy, it gets heal clip and incandescent one of the best perk combos in the game lol

[@mnmarler]

As so many other comments have said, Luna's Howl with Heal Clip + Inc is an absolute banger and works really well in end game content. The synergy with Benevolence allows for crazy ability up time. Definitely deserving of at least B tier

[@BetIcanStickIt]

Thank you for your time and effort. Much appreciated.

[@d_m_clancy]

Maven's come out swingin I love it! Learned some new things here, thank you. I love my Midnight Coup with EP/OFA personally and would say that the origin trait on Luna's with healclip/incan, for me, brings it much closer to the top. Great work, as always!

[@dougcarey2233]

Great video. Can't disagree with the top of the list, but I think Trust deserves to be in the A tier. It's like Zauli's Bane light. You have Outlaw, Triple Tap, Envious, Rapid Hit, and Slideways in the third column. Nearly everything in the 4th is viable. Its stats aren't bad for a precision frame either. It's Solar, so there's great synergy there. It's even good as a Lucky Pants option, if you want to go that route (Envious and Harmony or Vorpal). The only real downside is having to play lots of Gambit to get a decent roll. Just some food for thought.

[@drewnader1726]

Trust is super underrated. Can't remember the last time I saw someone running it. Explosive payload and surplus is my personal god roll. And yeah, with lucky pants it feels like a pocket xenophage.

[@babyjinx37]

Not an easy list to compile. Awesome job! Greatly appreciated!

[@ThaAlecman]

Waking Vigil was the first hand cannon I ever loved, and Midnight Coup recently became a loadout staple for me. Great job on the vid

[@samvimes9510]

I've really been enjoying Midnight Coup with explosive payload and kinetic tremors, damn thing hits like a truck. Also managed to get Luna's Howl with heal clip and incandescent, but I haven't played around with it enough yet to really form an opinion on it. I don't have a crafted Word of Crota yet, but I do have a roll with repulsor brace and destabilizing rounds and it's pretty fun to use. Been using it a lot with my void hunter.

[@oxsila]

Warden's Law in D tier is something lol. I personally would've put it in A tier. Subjective at the end of the day , especially when you're putting Epochal Integration so low. 0 mention about the tracer rockets origin trait which really helps it. Hmm.

[@arandomcomp2427]

Wardens law reload speed is very bad. Frenzy makes it slightly more usable but still bad. You can get 0 reload with extended mag .

[@okthisisepic9218]

@@arandomcomp2427it’s a Dps weapon… if you wanna reload just use your dodge

[@MavenPhoenix]

Its a pants weapon. It struggles without pants

[@oxsila]

@@MavenPhoenix I don't think it does I use it for Legend Onslaught the entire 50 all the time. Fourth times/enlightened action frenzy is solid. Not S tier, but definitely A tier. If it was really D tier why would it be powerful enough to out dps Malfeasance with the same lucky pants and the same vorpal weapon? Doesn't make sense. Malfeasance is an S tier exotic with the catalyst

[@drewnader1726]

​@@MavenPhoenixTrue. But it's THE Pants weapon.

[@minotaur8426]

You might think I'm insane but Malediction is my favourite hand cannon in the game, I have 35,000 kills on it. The reload is actually super fast with enlightened action and it handles like a dream. Also, since it has explosive payload, each shot counts as 2 stacks. This means you can get to enlightened action x12 after 6 shots. Massively underrated and overlooked handcannon.

[@scottbritton3903]

Nicely done, thanks for the video!

[@theGentlemanCaller73]

I appreciate the time and effort you put into this! Truly. I appreciate your no-nonsense, edit-free videos. I don't think videos need goofy cutaways if the content is strong. Keep up the great work!

[@intheframemedia]

thanks for taking the time very informative 👍

[@timjones493]

Started to use midnight coup on onslaught eith Firefly and kinetic tremors and is a solid gun. Hits the precision on red bars eith firefly and tremos on higher end yellow bars

[@YJSho_Nuff_]

Maven you're hands down one of my top 3 favorite content creators. You keep it real and I pretty much agree with your opinion on explosive payload being that go to on hand cannons

[@thericeisboilingover]

Great video, really appreciate the work gone into this 👌

[@stevenbell3515]

I stopped watching when ikelos hc was rated above epochal and lunas. How you can do a handcannon tier list and not take subclass synergies into account is beyond me.

[@lukedaniel2892]

Like she said they're being rated on their own. But... the point of incandescent is for class synergy that's rhe whole point and it works just fine in harder content I've ran GM with it and out killed my friend using polaris lance in a friendly competition

[@jasonbrown2587]

“I ignored the creators thought processes and justifications and stopped watching when I didn’t agree with them” that’s you. That’s what you sound like. You’re basically saying “I don’t want to learn a new point of view I wanted someone to validate me I could agree with “

[@andrewcoffield5835]

Thanks for your hard work in putting it all together. I have the old version of Officers Revolver with ambitious and timed payload too. Tucked away in my vault I also have the old version of Trust with dragonfly & explosive payload so waiting for unsetting to see what it can do. Thought you were maybe a little hard on the Epochal Integration as it does come with Nano tech tracer rockets.

[@jacobruiter592]

I think your breakdown was pretty thoughtful. Although I am surprised Vorpal didn't elevate Hand Cannons in your rankings a bit more(especially since Vorpal applies to element verbs last I checked). Explosive Payload is a better perk overall for sure(free range and damage across all enemy ranks).

[@admrlsalty]

Definitely a fan of the firefly one for all Midnight coup using chromatic fire makes for some sweet ad clearing and aoe effects!

[@rlfjfk5472]

Great Stuff! Thank you. It was very helpful.

[@Shade23753]

Thanks Maven! Your videos are the best and most informative and I'm glad that someone finally said it on a video Timed and Explosive Payload are S-tier perks in both PVP and PVE!!!

[@domenickbarone]

Thanks for this video Maven! Working a full-time job. I really don't have time to research all this. I appreciate your hard work. I used your timestamps to help clean up my vault.

[@al44tec]

I can’t wait to use all my sunset items…if I didn’t go and delete them haha. Thanks datto!

[@INFINITYREALM]

Thanks Maven! Lunas howl feels so good on controller though, heal and incandescent puts it much higher then C for my play style.

[@sshroom7713]

Awesome! Thank you so much for your work on this!

[@leojay78]

Great content Maven! In activities like onslaught, ep and ofa feels amazing on midnight coup. Might also take this roll to gms or day 1

[@icytor1150]

Optative is mad slept on. Demo and tricorn on void goes hard. Especially void warlock.

[@akaleo73]

Thanks Maven,awesome work. Time stamps work great for checking all my rolls in the vault .

[@oonevyn]

Great example of what people come to you looking for, thanks for the HUGE effort!

[@JorgeLopezMedia]

Great work and thank you so much for taking all that time to put this together for us

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

I still think explosive payload is slightly over valued most of the time. Dont fet me wrong its an s tier perk but a lot of us act like its mandatory in PvE. The more i try rolls without it the more i think its over valued.

[@howardsmith5636]

Thanks for all the work putting this together

[@Dash277]

I really have to get a Zaouli's. Completely agree with the Midnight Coup though with Explosive/Tremors. It's my favorite right now by far.

[@CollaateraL]

Thank you so much for this! Have a great one Maven

[@iaimfortheeyes]

I think you don’t understand how good heal clip is with incandescent. The subclass synergy makes Luna’s howl S-tier in difficult content.

[@dmanzyoutubeaccount8233]

Thanks Maven you are always my go to for weapons info and testing

[@SpartanSolidusSolidus-mi6mk]

Maven’s dedication is real! Good stuff.

[@Primal-Revival]

I appreciate you and all the work you put into this video. You are one of my favorite content creators--thank you.

[@johnotron604]

This is really great Maven. Cheers!

[@jshinaga]

Hi Maven, With kinetic weapon bonus damage going away, does your ranking change?

[@InTheZone85]

just wondering why dfa with timed payload and triple tap don't rank higher than anything rose offers, unless it's slideshot that wins over triple tap.

[@kashilee9158]

Can you still farm midnight coup?

[@SnailGs]

Yes, onslaught is still playable. Good Luck

[@notsogoodgamer3115]

you confuse me 1st you say a lunas with sub and incan is a casual players weapon then later in the list the same roll on a different weapon is a good add clear gun ?

[@masterofnone453]

I am definitely less of a subsistence because my tendency to prematurely reload or reload after every kill is so strong. The explosive payload frenzy perk is so fire tho

[@chutemuchafibra]

you right, people saying about the best perks , always gets me thinking, but hear the those perks are the best is a know you playing enough with hand cannons, since the Red War I know "Better Devil's" haved the best perk

[@arandomcomp2427]

The reason you feel like being kinetic matters more in hand canons is slower rate of fire . Depending on target one or two shots can get target to a very low hp but still alive and you need another shot wich adds to ttk by a significant margin Zaolis bane feels odd I can't explain it but I just can't hit crits with it. How ever it's perk combo with kindling trigger works great this season . A good thing about explosive is it can do damage to multiple targets if adds are bunched up so the next add would be easier to kill. It's very usefull if a bunch of enemies are swarming you at close range . Lunas howl work best with benevolence gurnade builds but lakes the group adcler of zaoli. Id keep fate bringer just for how it feels it feels much better . but lacks the origin trait. Midnight coup can also roll one for all explosive for massive damage.

[@damiansaldana7602]

It's a great tier list, I agree 100% because I played with all of them and once you try the best ones there is no going back

[@bigjat33]

Great video, I’d say you are pretty spot on with those rankings.

[@SterlingSanders]

The Wardens Law slander is crazy. How not talking about how these hand canons fit in builds? Considering the Wardens law top DPS charts as a primary is a serious miscalculated on. Also, you forgot to add "PVE" to the title.

[@vindeta360]

Thankyou for the effort you put into making this video!

[@bachoosagee]

I like how you put respect on nation of beasts it’s super slept on. However my favorite roll is dragonfly/gt

[@WStormborn]

Thanks Maven - your takes always ring true with me, love your work

[@Lets_get_gains]

Thanks for making this I wanted to go after a hand cannon and this helped me decide

[@watsyurdeal]

For PVE yeah, I def agree with this list I love my Eyasluna but it is a really niche roll if you're not killing shit with it.

[@pmleumas]

Why Kinetic Tremor on HC? You need 6 shots to trigger KT. Anything that required more than 6 shots to kill should not be killing with primary weapon.

[@bradpoynter1776]

Great vid, igneous heal clip frenzy alacrity is godly this season in solo

[@sustorres765]

This is a great episode, impressive 👌 the testing speaks volumes thank you so much

[@p5gBand]

I do appreciate the work you out in. Liked.

[@Existing_Echo]

The amount of cope in the community saying Luna’s is better than Zouli’s is hilarious. The only ones saying that are the ones who don’t have Zouli’s.

[@ROFLWAFFLELAWL4]

It's not better but I guess there's some argument to be had between the raw damage of Explosive Payload vs the sustain and support aspects of Heal Clip. Before then the only other HC with it I believe is Igneous which is a 120, an archetype not a lot of people enjoy much in PvE. If Zaoulis with EP + Incan is a 10 then I'd say Lunas with Heal Clip + Incan is a 9 but Lunas with any other roll is a 7 at best depending on PvP/PvE.

[@oxsila]

@@ROFLWAFFLELAWL4 I'd say Zaouli's is a 10, Epochal with the rockets origin trait a 9 and Luna's an 8 with the combo you mentioned.

[@demoniob4019]

@@oxsilanah lunas like a 7, but a ez 10 on controller pvp

[@oxsila]

@@demoniob4019 I was only being generous because I just wanted to make the point that the other 2 cannons are better, even if Luna's has heal clip incan. I would agree with the 7

[@CRAVEN79]

Love your content Maven. Thanks for all of the hard work

[@kyle875]

Appreciate you for the videos- Here's to you and the algorithm!

[@cabooseshero]

Maven the GOAT. Thank you!

[@kenkasanova9684]

Keep them coming. Ur one of my goto's for destiny info.

[@DelioPera]

Solid info, thanks.

[@Bae_Blizzard]

maven with another awesome video im def finna subscribe

[@danterounds236]

I feel like Trust is massively overlooked it has large mag and alotta perk rolls. But hey Gambit😢

[@KayronTho]

Yeah but weapon focusing helps this for sure man. And I agree with you.

[@drewnader1726]

Trust is still my favorite solar handcannon. Absolutely love the way it feels and sounds.

[@raduv1619]

Should take in consideration subclass sinergy as well. Like you should have best in slot for each subclass.