Gaming Reaper
Destiny 2 is a game that is based on expansions where every new one adds something to the game that didn’t exist previously. This started with Bungie adding Warmind and Curse of Osiris which added new areas and new activities to complete. Those two expansions were not really game-changing though as the core mechanics of the game remained intact, there was just more to do with those mechanics.
Forsaken is where things really started changing. Forsaken was the first big step that Bungie took in order to make Destiny 2 stand out from the other FPS MMOs. These expansions changed a lot of the core mechanics of the game and allowed players a degree of customization that just didn’t exist in the game before.
It changed the way weapons worked, the way armor worked, and even added new subclasses which allowed players to tackle old situations in newer and more interesting ways.
Forsaken also changed how bows work and made them viable for PvP and PvE. This meant that the bows that were added in Forsaken were highly sought after and since there were only a few of them, people started looking towards bows that you could get without Forsaken.
This was the time before Shadowkeep before Bungie would change the game forever. After the addition of Shadowkeep, the base game of Destiny 2 was changed forever. With the launch of Shadowkeep Bungie parted ways from Activision and sought to make it on their own.
This allowed them to change their model according to their own vision and in order to get more players than ever before, Bungie made the base game free-to-play and included the 3 expansions; Warmind, Curse of Osiris, and some of Forsaken, into this new version and called it Destiny 2: New Light.
This new version of the game is the one that is currently available to all players therefore all players that get Destiny 2 now get the base game which includes the Red War campaign, as well as the Curse of Osiris and the Warmind campaigns.
The Forsaken campaign is not included in this which means that there are certain weapons that you cannot access without Forsaken. One of those weapons happens to be certain bows that are native to Forsaken and other expansions that came out later such as Shadowkeep and Beyond Light.
That makes it so that there are only a few bows that players can get without getting any of the expansions, especially Forsaken, although there are a few really cool bows that are only available for Shadowkeep owners.
In this, we’ll go over all the bows that are available with the free version of the game and what players can do in order to get them. Some of these bows are exotic so there are certain quests that need to be completed to get them and some of them are only unlocked through world drops.
We will also go over some of the great bows that are available with Forsaken and the other expansions so that you have an idea of what to look forward to if you ever get the expansions. Before we get into all of that though, there is something that you should know about how random drops work in the game and what it means for players that don’t have any of the expansions.
Random Drops
The main feature that New Light players have access to is the world drop pool which decides which weapons can be had from the engrams that enemies drop. This loot pool is the same for all players, regardless of what expansions that they have purchased. This means that free-to-play players can get a chance for a bow to drop from an expansion even if they don’t own that expansion.
This only includes certain exotics and legendaries but it does not include raid-related weapons. It also doesn’t include weapons that require you to complete a quest that is part of any of the expansions that you don’t have.
Pre-Forsaken Bows
Luckily, there are a few bows that exist as Exotic weapons which means that you won’t have to grind for the best roll or spend hours trying to get it to drop. Sunsetting is also another great boon for players because it makes it so that they don’t have to complete the quest in order to get the weapon, instead, they can just go to the exotic vendor and buy the bow without having to do a single thing.
This change only became possible after the release of Beyond Light which is the newest expansion to Destiny 2. The new expansion itself adds a few bows so it might be worth it to get all of the expansions just so that you can experience all that Destiny 2 has to offer.
The bows that existed before Forsaken can be divided into three tiers:
- Rare
- Legendary
- Exotic
Rare Bows
The rare weapons in Destiny 2 are denoted by the color blue and are quite common. If you desperately need a bow then you have the best chance of getting this one. It was added to the world pool with the latest season which means that it will be quite a common drop. It is called the Holless- IV and is the only rare bow currently in the game.
Since this bow is part of the newest season, you have a really high chance of it dropping for you from just random blue engrams. The best course of action to get this bow is to either play crucible matches as those usually reward you with a couple of blue weapons. You could also do strikes that don’t take a lot of time to complete as that will enable you to get a lot of rewards in a short amount of time.
Legendary Bows
Legendary rarity is where you’ll find most bows as they are more than 10 bows that belong in this category. There are certain ones that are native to specific events whereas some are raid exotics and New Light players just can’t participate in raids anymore without getting one of the expansions.
World Drop Bows
The bows that are available as world drops are:
- No Turning Back
- Biting Winds
- Arsenic Bite
- Subtle Calamity
There is no real guide to get these weapons as they are random drops and could be in any of the legendary engrams that you unlock. To maximize the chance of getting any of these bows I recommend doing pinnacle activities as they have a chance of being a pinnacle drop and that way you can get one that is at a high light level. You should also do all the activities that give out powerful rewards as that will increase the chance of getting one of these bows.
Activity Bows
There are certain activities that give you a bow as a reward. Currently, there are only 2 activities that do that. Those activities are:
- Iron Banner
- Crimson Days
Iron Banner
Iron Banner is a PvP focused activity that gives you pinnacle rewards that are native to just Iron Banner. These rewards include the bow called Point of the Stag. This bow is incredibly good as it is very powerful but it does have a slow charge time and can take some getting used to. Iron Banner itself is not a weekly activity but rolls around once every month. It allows you to get more pinnacles and adds a bunch of weapons that you normally can’t get.
Crimson Days
Crimson Days is the Valentine’s Day event that allows players to play with certain modifiers in order to get exclusive rewards. Crimson Days is usually an annual activity but it did not take play in 2021.
The bow that you can get from this event is called the Vow and is one of the great bows in the game. It has an excellent draw time and is extremely accurate which makes this bow one of the best ones that you can get in the game. The sad part is that it is only available once a year and sometimes not even then.
Pinnacle Bows
Pinnacle weapons are legendary weapons that are just a bit better than the rest. There is only one pinnacle bow currently in Destiny 2 and it is called Hush. As the name implies it makes everything that you fire at fall silent. In my opinion, this is the best legendary bow in the game because of its insane draw time and high damage.
Its intrinsic perk makes this bow an amazing addition to your arsenal but the caveat with this bow is that you can only get it by getting bow kills in the crucible. That makes it hard to get but it is worth it.
Exotic Bows
There are certain exotic bows that players can get without much trouble. The exotic bows that you can get as a New Light player are:
- Trinity Ghoul
- Wish Ender
- Le Monarque
All three of these exotic bows are extremely good although Trinity Ghoul is the best of the three because of the catalyst that it recently got. The catalyst makes it so that it can take out groups of enemies in a matter of seconds. It is also extremely fast as it has a short draw time.
Wish Ender is also a great bow and since the quest for it is no longer available, you can just get it by buying it from the exotics vendor. Le Monarque, on the other hand, used to be only available from completing a Black Armory quest but since that has been sunset you can just buy this bow.
Bows to Look Forward To IN dESTINY 2
There are still a lot of bows that New Light players cannot get because they are locked behind certain quests or events.
Raid Bows
There are two bows that are locked behind raids and they are:
- Tyranny of Heaven
- Accrued Redemption
The Tyranny of Heaven can be found in any of the chests or encounter drops from the Last Wish raid. The Accrued Redemption, on the other hand, is exclusive to the Garden of Salvation raid.
Exotic Bows
There are also two exotics bows that are native to Destiny 2 expansions. These are:
- Leviathan’s Breath
- Ticuu’s Divination
Leviathan’s Breath is an exotic bow that is tied to a quest that came out after the Shadowkeep expansion. It takes a heavy slot which makes it very different from the rest of the bows in the game. It is an excellent weapon for taking out unstoppable champions but it does not do well for boss damage. It is fun to use though and makes a great sound when firing.
Ticuu’s Divination is the newest bow added to Destiny 2 as it became available just a few days ago. As such, its full capabilities are not known although it can wreak havoc when in the proper hands.
