[Top 10] Destiny 2 Best Bows and How To Get Them

Updated:

24 Sep 2020

Bows are a relatively new weapon type in the Destiny world; they debuted with the Forsaken expansion with… mixed results. But since then, they’ve come an astoundingly long way. With Season of Arrivals, bows came to the forefront through Trinity Ghoul and its overpowered Catalyst. With hardly any damage falloff and a variety of fascinating perks like (devastatingly) explosive arrowheads, it’s no surprise bows have become a Legendary endgame staple.

Top 5 Bows for PvE

5. The Whispering Slab

This weapon is ubiquitous in PvE and PvE. For good reason too, because Whispering Slab is a new heavy archetype bow in the Kinetic slot that always drops with the perk Swashbuckler. Kills with this bow boost melee damage, and vice versa, which makes this an extremely competent choice in PvE and PvE.

Notable Stats:

Crazy High Impact
Crazy High Accuracy
Slow (like very)Draw Time
What Whispering Slab Excels at:
Boss/Major/Elite Damage
Looking really neat on your back at the Tower

See Whispering Slab in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_K20GJovW8

Get it from Edge Focused Engrams or random Umbral Engram drops!

4. Arsenic Bite 4B

AB4B was updated to be Season of Arrivals friendly, which means it has new rollable perks and it’ll be relevant for a long while. And that’s a really good thing because it’s a beast. It’s strong in PvP and PvE because of whip-quick draw time, and strong in PvE because it almost always rolls with explosive arrowheads that nearly triple the damage from an arrow alone. If you find one, hold onto it.

Notable Stats:

Surprisingly High Impact (higher with explosive arrowheads)
Stunning Accuracy
Top-of-Class Stability
Poor Inventory Size

This Weapon is best for:

Mid-Level mob clear
Fallen/Mercury strikes and Gambit
Get AB4B from random world drops :(

See Arsenic Bite in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8tuajY1fvs

3. Leviathan’s Breath

LB is a heavy-slot bow that does incredible damage and can one-shot a supercharged guardian (almost 40k damage). I personally never adapted to using it, but my entire raid group swears by its boss damage capabilities in PvE, as well as its competent horde clearing abilities.

Notable Stats:

Poor Draw time, inventory size, stability
Top-shelf impact
Concussive Blasts for mobs

Best for:

Endgame raids, especially with Unstoppable Champions

Get it from a quest or an Exotic Cipher through Season of Arrivals

See LB in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDN56HyXDOM

2. Le Monarque

Now the hype behind this one, I understand. Le Monarque turns mobs of Thralls and Acolytes into toxic slush, and it does it with a massive magazine size and unparalleled accuracy. If you can brave the quest, I highly recommend using this bow if you can spare an Exotic slot.

Notable Stats:

Best-in-Class Accuracy
High Impact
Poor Draw Time

Best for:

Endgame Raids
The Hollowed Lair Strike
Gambit; strong against the Envoys

Get it from a fairly lengthy Black Armory quest!

See Le Monarque in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ExaTXguV4

1. Trinity Ghoul

This bow was… mediocre before Season of Arrival, but the Catalyst that now drops upon completing your first activity makes this one of the best weapons in the game. Essentially, the Exotic Perk grants an electric chain arrow from precision kills. The Catalyst grants the effect of that arrow upon any arc kill. It’s incredible synergy and makes the Hunter arc subclass very strong in PvE, suddenly.

Stats:

Unparalleled Accuracy
Great Impact
Poor Stability
Poor Draw Time (that becomes excellent with the Catalyst)

Trinity Ghoul excels in:

Gambit, trust me. I went on a 17 game win streak using Trinity Ghoul, with 150 Guardian kills. The accuracy is astounding
Non-Endgame PvE (the impact, while high for a bow, isn’t high enough for high light activities)

Get it from Random World Drops

See TG in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMhr6fb52c

Top 5 PvP bows:

There aren’t that many bows, so the list here is just the same as the one above but reordered.

5. Leviathan’s Breath

I’d never waste my Exotic on a heavy, and definitely not on a heavy bow.

Notable Stats:

Poor Draw time, inventory size, stability
Top-shelf impact
Concussive Blasts for mobs

Best for:

Quickplay Control. Don’t bring this into Competitive

See LB in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDN56HyXDOM

4. The Whispering Slab

The high impact makes for 2 shot kills, but the slow draw time just can’t cut it in the small maps with rapid engagements

Notable Stats:

Crazy High Impact
Crazy High Accuracy
Slow (like very) Draw Time

What Whispering Slab Excels at:

You can two-shot Supercharged guardians, which is a niche need.
Looking neat on your back at the Tower

See Whispering Slab in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_K20GJovW8

Get it from Edge Focused Engrams or random Umbral Engram drops!

2. Le Monarque

Enemies don’t tend to group in Crucible, and while the Poison is nice, the TTK of the current meta makes this bow unable to land more than 2 shots in a head-to-head engagement, which means the poison won’t kill.

Notable Stats:

Best-in-Class Accuracy
High Impact
Poor Draw Time

Best for:

Gambit; strong against the Envoys
Control, maybe?

Get it from a fairly lengthy Black Armory quest!

See Le Monarque in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ExaTXguV4

2. Trinity Ghoul

Same problem as LM. Fast and deadly, but not enough of either.

Stats:

Unparalleled Accuracy
Great Impact
Poor Stability
Poor Draw Time (that becomes excellent with the Catalyst)

Trinity Ghoul excels in:

Gambit, trust me. I went on a 17 game win streak using Trinity Ghoul, with 150 Guardian kills. The accuracy is astounding
Honestly, Competitive Survival. This is a pretty solid cross-map sniper, with 1 head, 1 body for a kill.

1. Arsenic Bite 4B

Sure, the base impact is low but this is a PvP machine. Rolled with Explosive Arrowheads, you can kill with a headshot and a nearby explosion, which makes this bow one of the fastest TTK’s in the entire game if you can land a headshot.

Notable Stats: