Swords have always been a great damage option in Destiny 2 when the encounter calls for it.
Outside of close-quarters boss fights, Swords can be tough to use. It is important to know which ones can be good both for damage and for general use.
Recommended Read: Best Grenade Launcher to Use in Destiny 2
Currently, there are quite a few great Sword options to consider, along with some Armor Mods that make them even better. We’ll cover only the best Swords that are worth your time in today’s guide.
The best Swords in Destiny 2 are Lament, Goldtusk, and The Other Half.
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Best Swords in Destiny 2
Swords in Destiny 2 are only ever used for two things, dealing lots of damage in close-quarters encounters and blocking incoming damage.
With many Raid encounters becoming more suitable for Swords, like the recently released Crota’s End Raid, along with Armor Mods such as Lucent Blade, it is very important to have a good DPS Sword ready to use.
This list will be in descending order. If you don’t have the first few Swords and don’t want to spend time getting them, continue scrolling for more viable, easier-to-obtain options.
Keep in mind that some Swords are best used for utility, while others excel in pure damage.
Lament
Lament has been the go-to PvE Sword for a very long time.
This Solar Exotic Sword has the Intrinsic Perk Banshee’s Wail, increasing damage and adding shield-piecing damage to your swings after holding the block button to rev the blade.
Every hit after revving your blade will gain stacks that increase your Heavy attack damage. At max stacks, your heavy attack will consume these stacks and deal a ton of damage.
This damage boost is what makes Lament such a good DPS option, as it only takes three Light attacks after blocking to fully charge your Heavy attack.
The shield-piercing damage also makes Lament a great option for taking out Barrier Champions.
It also comes with the Perk Revved Consumption, which heals you whenever you damage enemies with Lament.
This survivability, along with the insane damage output of Banshee’s Wail, makes this a top-tier weapon in PvE for just about any encounter that calls for a Sword.
As this is an Exotic weapon, you won’t have to worry about getting a good roll. Lament is obtained from the Lost Lament Exotic Quest.
Goldtusk
A Legendary Arc Sword that is surprisingly one of the best in terms of DPS.
Not many Lightweight Frame Swords are considered very good. Goldtusk is the exception.
It has the god roll of Relentless Strike and Whirlwind Blade, two very potent DPS Perks that you will find on just about every DPS Sword.
These Perks, combined with the fast Light attacks this blade has, make for one of the highest DPS Swords in the game, even beating out Lament in some cases.
The best part is how you achieve this DPS. Lament is known for requiring a perfect rotation of charged Light and Heavy attacks to maximize its damage potential.
Goldtusk has a much more forgiving rotation of two Light attacks and one Heavy attack repeating, making use of its Origin Trait Veist Stinger to help increase your heavy attack recharge rate.
You can also choose to solely use Light attacks for an easy damage option and still maintain a respectable DPS. This allows less experienced players to still compete in damage numbers while giving them the option to do more if they put in the effort.
As this is an Arc weapon, it pairs nicely with the Gathering Storm Super on Hunter for the perfect DPS build. If you plan on facing Crota anytime soon, be sure to pick up one of these.
If you want a more general-purpose Sword, you can always choose to use Chain Reaction and Unrelenting, though other entries on this list use this Perk combination better.
This Sword is craftable, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the perfect roll for whatever you need.
If you don’t have this weapon pattern unlocked yet, you can substitute it with Nasreddin for a similar performance. It is important to consider that this is a Hunter-exclusive Sword as well.
Bequest
Another top-tier DPS option if certain conditions are met.
Bequest is an Adaptive Frame Sword, a good Frame with high Impact and damage.
For whatever reason, Bungie decided to give Bequest 10 more Impact than every other Adaptive Frame Sword, making it deal the highest base damage among them.
The god roll uses Relentless Strike for additional ammo and Surrounded for a 41% increase in damage. This combination outperforms Lament and even Goldtusk in total damage. The downside is how conditional this damage is.
Surrounded only activates when there are multiple enemies nearby. This is a tough requirement to meet in many DPS scenarios, as more enemies mean a higher chance of you dying while doing damage.
If you can manage to get Surrounded activated and not die, you will have one of the highest DPS Swords in the game.
As this is a craftable weapon, you will have access to Enhanced Surrounded, which is a must. You can farm this weapon from the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, making it very easy to get red border variants for crafting.
Thin Precipice
The first Strand damage type Sword that Bungie added to the game.
Unlike other Swords on the list, Thin Precipice isn’t known for its DPS potential. It is instead one of the few Swords that dominates at ad-clearing.
The Perk Chain Reaction will deal massive area of effect damage upon killing an enemy, quickly dealing with any enemies near you with a single swing.
Pair this with either Tireless Blade for ammo efficiency or Unrelenting for healing. It is really up to personal preference.
As this is a Strand weapon, you will also have access to the Hatchling Perk to spawn Threadlings with kills, synergizing with any Strand subclass build.
This competes with the same slot as Chain Reaction, so you will have to decide which one is right for you.
Many Titans have picked this Sword up as their go-to weapon when using a Banner of War build with the Stronghold Exotic, allowing them to run down wave after wave of enemies with either Chain Reaction or Threadlings to deal with anything your initial swing doesn’t handle.
Thin Precipice is available from the Sonar Station in the H.E.L.M. You can focus Engrams to get it to drop. It is craftable, so be sure to take advantage of Enhanced Perks.
The Other Half
The must-have Halo-inspired Sword.
There is a reason you have seen this Sword everywhere, and it isn’t because of its damage. This is one of two Swords that can roll with the Eager Edge Perk, the other Sword being Half-Truth.
Eager Edge massively increases your lunge distance for a short duration after swapping to your Sword.
The distance this lunge travels makes this a great weapon for quick movement in platforming sections and Raid encounters. It is also a mandatory Perk for Well Skating. Find out How to Well Skate in our guide here.
When not being used as a form of transportation, this Sword actually is a great backup DPS option that is easy to obtain.
You’ll have the god roll of Sword Perks with Relentless Strikes and Whirlwind Blade that will allow you to keep pace with some of the better Swords on this list.
This weapon, along with Half-Truth, only drops from Xur’s Treasure Hoard in Eternity or from Dares of Eternity.
It only takes one red-border variant to unlock the weapon crafting pattern for this weapon, so be sure to craft one with Eager Edge and another for damage.
Falling Guillotine
A fun and familiar Sword for many Destiny 2 players.
Falling Guillotine is a Vortex Frame Sword, meaning its Heavy attack is a spin move that continuously deals damage to enemies during the spin.
This was one of the first Vortex Frame Swords and one of the first to take advantage of the amazing Perk combination of Relentless Strikes and Whirlwind Blade.
With these Perks and this weapon’s great Heavy attack, you will shred through any Major or Champion enemies in your way. It is still a decent choice for many Boss encounters that require Swords for damage phases.
Falling Guillotine used to be the top DPS Sword around. Now, it is outclassed by many Swords on this list.
If you already have the god roll in your Vault, it is still a fine and fun Sword to use. If you don’t have one already, don’t worry about it. Sadly, Vortex Frame Swords have become
This weapon can only be obtained from either Xur or Banshee-44 at the moment.
Crown-Splitter
The Titan-exclusive Sword that is still one of the greats.
This Aggressive Frame Sword has a powerful Heavy attack that clams into the ground dealing massive damage. This Heavy attack is what makes this weapon so potent and a contender for top DPS among Swords.
For Perks, you will want Relentless Strikes as always for ammo, as well as Whirlwind Blade for increased damage. You could also use Vorpal Weapon for slightly reduced damage if you don’t have a Whirlwind Blade roll.
The big downside to this weapon is how hard it is to get. It is a world drop, so you will have to hope you get one from Vendor Engrams or wait until Banshee-44 or Xur is selling one with the right roll.
If you don’t already have one of these lying around, you are better off looking for something else.
Throne-Cleaver
Speaking of something else. Throne-Cleaver is the watered-down version of Crown-Splitter that is both craftable and easier to obtain.
You will find this weapon has the same monstrous Heavy attack that makes Crown-Splitter so good. What we are missing is the amazing Perk combo of Relentless Strike and Whirlwind Blade.
Our best Perks for DPS are Tireless Blade and either Vorpal Weapon or Surrounded. For general use outside of DPS, you can go with Unrelenting and Incandescent for Solar 3.0 build synergy.
If you have any Defiant Engrams, you can focus them at the War Table in the H.E.L.M. This is a craftable weapon as well, making it much easier to experience the fun of slamming a big Sword on the ground without having to wait for Crown-Splitter to drop.
Those are some of the best Swords in all of Destiny 2!
Are you looking for a good Sword to use? Which entry on the list will you be trying to get next? Let me know in the comments!
