Last week, Bungie changed the way red border weapons refreshed on the H.E.L.M. Up until this point, it only ever refreshed during the weekly reset. But with Lightfall so close now, they have decided to refresh red borders daily until the launch of Lightfall.
In this list, we’ll go through all the weapons you can craft on the H.E.L.M. I’ll include some Witch Queen weapons too from the Throne World as a couple of them are really worth crafting.
Best Weapons you need to craft before Destiny 2 Lightfall
Piece of Mind Pulse Rifle
The Piece of Mind is the best rapid-fire pulse rifle in PvP. Though many players won’t know simply from using it PvE. Pulse rifles aren’t the most fun to use in most high-level PvE content, after all. But in PvP, however, you have yourself a melt machine that can engage with scout rifles in their preferred range. (Almost. You’ll still lose that 1 vs 1 in a straight-up fight with an equally skilled opponent.)
Explosive Personality Grenade Launcher
The reason why you want to craft an Explosive Personality is for Auto-Loading Holster and Disruption Break. The former is a no-brainer cause grenade launchers are comically funny without it, and the latter instantly breaks Guardian shields and leaves them practically 2-shot. And for a wave frame GL, that is an easy feat to pull off. (Provided they remain planted on the ground.)
Calus Mini-Tool Submachine Gun
The Calus Mini-Tool comes with many great perks. Though there is one solid reason why you would craft this one for PvE. That reason is Incandescent. With that perk online, killing one mob enemy is enough to cause a constant chain reaction to other groups of mobs. This is something you want to have in end-game PvE content, and you don’t even have to have a Solar subclass to get the most out of it.
Bump in the Night Rocket Launcher
Bump in the Night, for those that don’t know, is one of the heaviest damage-dealing rocket launchers in the game. If you manage to get your hands on a roll that has both Demolitionist and Chill Clip and you’ll a reliable weapon to bring alongside Gjllarhorn.
With the crafted version, you’ll be able to choose between a launcher that shoots rockets at break-neck speeds with a small blast radius or one that shoots turtle rockets but a huge blast radius.
Without Remorse Shotgun
Without Remorse is already good enough to craft just for PvP. It’s lightweight and very much capable of catching most opponents off guard. But it can also be crafted with Incandescent, which makes it a very good ad clear shotgun for PvE content. If you’re looking to have a shotgun to carry you through most content, this might be it.
Tarnished Mettle Scout Rifle
Both the Tarnished Mettle and Brigand’s Law Sidearm are worthy of this list because they come with the very powerful perk, Voltshot. But what sets Tarnished Mettle apart from Brigand’s Law is the fact that it has range over the rapid-fire sidearm. The only real downside of using this weapon is that it is laughable in PvP. Most scouts and pulses heavily outrange it. If you can’t get the kill to activate Voltshot then it’s hard to justify using it. You’ll need this weapon in most ad clear situations.
IKELOS_SMG_V1.0.3 Submachine Gun
The IKELOS SMG is by far the best weapon from the V1.0.3 line. It is one of the best SMGs to use in PvP and it can roll with Feeding Frenzy and Voltshot. This makes it a deadlier version of Brigrand’s Law in most situations. If you’re looking for a submachine gun to bring to most activities, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Disparity Pulse Rifle
The Disparity is the kind of weapon you bring out once you see more than a few Titan barricades in a single PvP match. No joke, this can melt all kinds of barriers. That’s thanks to a combination of the season 19 shield piercing mod, the weapon’s four-burst build, and its secondary Origin Trait, Hakke Breach Armaments. With these perks active, and the recent nerf to Titan walls, you can make quick work of them in no time flat.
It’s also quite decent in PvE if you can get those crits going.
Retrofit Escapade Machine Gun
The Retrofit Escapade was broken in every way when it first came out. And it wasn’t even the gun’s fault, to begin with. Due to a bug with volatile rounds, this MG was causing far more explosions than originally intended. Bungie has since fixed it and made sure void explosions only occur during regular intervals. A shame though, it was fun watching the fireworks.
Nowadays, the reason you want to get this get weapon is for a perk combination of Fourth Time’s the Charm and Target Lock. Not as potent as rapid void explosions but it’s good enough if you can craft with every magazine mod with a backup mag mod for extended firing.
Bonus Weapons
The following craftable weapons are more excellent weapons to craft. But the thing is, there is no guaranteed way of getting their red borders. You’ll have to farm Dare of Eternity, the Wellspring activity, and Lucent Hive Guardians for a chance to pick up red borders.
Wastelander M5 Shotgun – The Wastelander is hands down the best shotgun for both PvP and PvE. It’s a lightweight frame that means your mobility is off the charts and because the reticle is so small, you are almost guaranteed a free kill. Craft it with a One-Two Punch perk and you have a weapon capable of quick successive takedowns.
Forensic Nightmare Submachine Gun – When Forensic Nightmare was first released at the launch of Witch Queen, this submachine was worse than bad. But through multiple buffs to its archetype and a direct buff to its zoom, it has become a reliable secondary. It still doesn’t compete with meta SMGs but at least it’s fun now. And that’s all that matters.
Empirical Evidence Sidearm – My personal favorite sidearm in Destiny 2 currently. The Empirical Evidence is a pocket-heavy hitter that many Guardians sleep on account that it is simply a sidearm.
BXR-55 Battler Pulse Rifle – The BXR-55 is a beast no matter what activity you bring it to. I guess that’s to be expected from a weapon based on the original Halo rifle. The best thing is that it can come with Incandescent. And that in itself makes it worth suffering the grind for red borders.
Where to Get Red Border Seasonal Weapons?
The seasonal weapons can all get be acquired from the H.E.L.M. Until the end of the season, there will be a guaranteed red border weapon at each vendor once per daily reset. Collect the required amount and you’ll be able to craft them from the Enclave on Mars.
Do note that even if the red borders are no longer available, you can purchase the weapon with seasonal engrams for a chance at a red border.
And that’s it for this list of craftable weapons. If you’re starting out right now, you can probably make 2-3 of these weapons. The key here is that you make sure you really want to craft them and use them in Destiny 2 content. Good Luck, Guardian!
Check this video from Youtuber Aztecross where he lists down all the loot that’s going away when Lightfall launches.
