Best Destiny 2 subclasses for PvE activities

The numerous subclasses in Destiny 2 allow for a tremendous amount of different playstyles depending on a player’s activity preference.

If you’re more of a fan of PvE activities, preferring to dispatch waves of AI-controlled enemies at various difficulties, then selecting the right subclass and skill tree can turn your experience from infuriating to invigorating.

Here are some of the best subclass/skill tree combinations for each of the three primary classes in Destiny 2.

Gunslinger Hunter

Gunslinger is a tremendously fun subclass to use for Hunters and an equally viable one for PvE activities. The Gunslinger’s pure damage output is a tremendous boost to any raid or activity fire team.

The Way of the Outlaw is tremendous for clearing out waves of enemies, with a six-shooter variant on the Golden Gun that reloads a bullet on each kill with increased ability to hit. Chains of Woe increases reload speed for you and your allies on precision kills, limiting the time you’re not mowing down enemies. The explosive throwing knife is great, and when stacked with Exotic pieces Ophidia Spathe and Monte Carlo, Hunters can have two knife charges that reload in just seconds.

If you like knives, the Way of a Thousand Cuts turns your throwing knife into more knives and your super into a Blade Barrage of Solar-charged explosive knives. With burning damage reloading your dodge quicker, you can jumpstart your melee recharge even more with Gambler’s Dodge equipped.

For the Gunslinger more focused on whittling down the health of champions and bosses, Way of the Sharpshooter is the way to go. Precision damage is the focus of this tree, which reduces the Golden Gun cooldown and increases weapon stability and handling. Precision damage is also unlocked for the Golden Gun itself, making it a devastating super to use on the toughest enemies.

Sentinel Titan

While all three of the skill trees for Sentinel Titans aren’t as strong collectively as the Gunslinger for Hunters, two of them are tremendous choices for PvE activities, especially this first one.

Code of the Protector is easily the best choice of trees for Sentinel Titans. The Ward of Dawn bubble shield is an amazing gift to any PvE group, with its excellent damage reduction and staggering 35-percent damage increase to all allies that are inside. The Defensive Strike melee ability also gives allies an overshield and increases their reload speed, making it one of the best support subclasses in the game.

Code of the Commander is a solid option for the Titans more focused on clearing waves. Any Void damage dealt with your melee or grenade ability sticks a Detonator to them, which explodes on death and chains between foes while also generating ability energy for the whole team. The Commander’s bubble only gives a 25-percent damage boost but lets anyone inside deal damage through the shield.

Code of the Aggressor has lots of shields to work with but no boosts or buffs that make it tremendously viable.

Dawnblade Warlock

The middle and top trees for the Dawnblade Warlock are considered two of the best PvE trees in all of Destiny 2—and for good reason.

Attunement of Sun brings Dawnblade’s damage-dealing capabilities up to a new level—an airborne level in fact. Winged Sun allows players to fire weapons, use abilities, and use their super while gliding and kills to grant melee energy. The Celestial Fire melee ability packs a big punch while seeking out enemies and the Daybreak super is absolutely devastating to both powerful enemies and big groups.

Attunement of Grace turns the Dawnblade into the ultimate empowerment tool. The melee ability burns enemies while empowering yourself and allies, while the grenade can be converted into a Blessing that heals allies and drops overshields. Any healing or empowerment done regenerates grenade, melee, and Rift energy, and the Grace super Well of Radiance does exactly that to all allies in the vicinity.

Attunement of Flame adds more fire and firepower to the melee and super abilities but doesn’t have the energy regeneration that the other two have or the support that Attunement of Grace provides.

Stasis Hunter, Titan, and Warlock

As a quick aside about the new Stasis subclasses for each of the three classes, they’re all great options for crowd control and are worth the effort of acquiring Aspects and Fragments.