Updated on September 9th, 2024, by Nathan Halsey: It's been a while since Hand Cannons have been this good in PvE, so this article has been thoroughly rewritten to reflect that. This list will encompass the best of both PvE and PvP, as this weapon type is an extremely useful pick in both modes. On the PvE end of the spectrum, Hand Cannons have gotten the new Heavy Burst archetype that gives the weapon type a new way to excel at close to mid-range. Many of the game's Exotic Hand Cannons are fantastic as of this writing, with Legendaries that are incredibly competitive, allowing players many options to keep a Hand Cannon somewhere in their loadout no matter what the activity calls

Become familiar with how weapons work now. Bungie made it a big deal that the weapon system would be changing drastically and it has. While the initial roll of out of these changes was a few weeks ago with update 2.0, Guardians are seeing the full force of these changes now that Forsaken has dropped. Weapons have returned to how things were in Destiny (1) with completely random rolls while certain weapons now find themselves in entirely new slots. The same weapon can drop five times and each time will come with different stats and abilities. This makes for some fun mixing/matching. To make things even easier, if a certain perk works well for one’s play style, putting that perk on the new gun only requires the dismantling of whatever version of the weapon not wanted but getting to keep the perks in modification form that are wanted. Then it’s simple as slapping it on the weapon kept. Forsaken is all about being user friendly and wants Guardians to make the most of their toys. Now that certain weapons find themselves in new slots such as Snipers or Shotguns being in all three slots of Primary, Secondary and Heavy, mixing and matching is highly encouraged. Play around with different load-outs because the possibilities have become greater. I found myself with a Shotgun in my Primary, a Sniper in my Secondary and my trusty Rocket Launcher in my Heavy. It was a blast and while I’ve switched it out since then it was fun playing around seeing how these new combinations favor each other. Pro-tip: Bows. That is all.

The popularity of the Hand Cannon ebbs and flows with the changing stats and mechanics in the game. Those that are truly dedicated will ignore the constant flip-flopping of effective weapons and hone their skills on the battlefield instead of the stat board. To save players time, here's a look at the best hand cannons Destiny 2 off

Despite all the regression with the campaign and monetization and the rehashing of older content, Destiny 2 Missions 2 still looks quite good. The Moon is an atmospheric place to visit and traversing the caverns the Hive call home produces a sense of dread that other locations in the Destiny 2 experience can't provide. Meanwhile, the short visits into the Black Garden are gorgeous thanks to all the colors and lush jungle mixed with Vex machinery. Destiny 2 may be two years old now, but it's still looking good.

There’s no justification for this other than Bungie thinking they can get away with it and they most certainly will. When Forsaken launches in September, Destiny fans will have been waiting for about a year for the game to finally become what it should have been in the first place. If Forsaken turns out to be as good as it looks, then Bungie deserves to be rewarded for it. There’s no excuse for all the scumminess surrounding it, though, especially when there are similar games like Monster Hunter World, Warframe and Rainbow Six: Siege that are all enjoying massive success without dipping into any exploitative business practices.

Go to Titan to speak with Commander Sloane. Sloane has some tasks that will need completed before leaving as well. Complete her quests: Clearing the Decks, Asset Interception, Be the Wall, and The Will of a Titan. Players can speak with Commander Sloane again to turn in the quests. She will reward the player with the Duty Bound Auto Rifle. Players will need to speak Zavala again to continue the quest. He will give the player the Masterworked Mindbender’s Ambition Shotgun.

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No matter if playing a Titan, Hunter or Warlock, each subclass now comes with an additional Attunement within it adding some spectacular new powers. Take the Warlocks Dawnblade which now has Attunement of Grace allowing for a super that slams a flaming sword into the ground creating a super rift that does AoE damage, is twice as large as a regular rift and grants both healing with empowering capabilities at the same time. It’s the ultimate team work class. Get to known the new Attunements because they are more than fun – they’re worth it. Getting these new Attunements isn’t easy, though, as Guardians will have to collect Visions of Light an item that looks like a glowing blue feather that only drops from powerful enemies. After enough have been collected, a quest will appear guiding the Guardian forward. The entire Attunement doesn’t unlock right away either, Forsaken wants the player to feel like they’ve earned being more powerful. Unlocking all the sub-classes won’t be done in a day and that’s a good thing.