Nothing beats the dopamine rush of earning an exquisitely rolled weapon after hours of grinding, but sometimes luck isn’t on your side. If RNG is never in your favor, here are the top 10 must-have Destiny 2 crafting patterns to unlock before The Final Shape.
Best crafting patterns to unlock before the Final Shape
Crafting offers Guardians a guaranteed route to their favorite perk combinations. You can’t craft every weapon in the game, but there’s a respectable list of guns you earn patterns for. Here are my picks for the best craftable weapons in the game. If you’re a new player or need a refresher on shaping, you’ll find a crash course at the end of the guide.
Ammit AR2
- Type: Auto Rifle
- Element: Solar
I mentioned this weapon in our best Legendaries guide, and it finds itself on this list for a good reason. The Ammit AR2 is a superb Auto Rifle with a comfortable rate of fire and a desirable perk pool.
This weapon is prevalent in The Crucible, but you can use it anywhere. The perk combination most Guardians are after is Dynamic Sway Reduction and Incandescent. This combo makes the Ammit extremely steady when you hold the trigger down and is great for tracking moving targets. Enemies also spread Scorch when they die, which pairs nicely with the Season of the Wish Artifact.
BXR-55 Battler
- Type: Pulse Rifle
- Element: Solar
The BXR-55 Battler is only available if you have the 30th Anniversary Pack, but it’s well worth hunting down the Weapon Patterns if you do. This punchy Pulse Rifle is great for both PvP and PvE and is remarkably easy to handle. The dream perk combination for the BXR-55 is Demolitionist and Incandescent. Demolitionist synergizes nicely with any Grenade-centric builds as it grants Grenade Energy. Incandescent works with any Solar build as it spreads Scorch.
I rarely see players use Pulse Rifles outside of a few notable favorites. The BXR-55 Battler can hang with the best of them and is well worth the grind, especially if you’re a Halo fan.
Brya’s Love
- Type: Scout Rifle
- Element: Void
Brya’s Love is one of the most sought-after weapons from the Season of the Witch and remains an exceptional mid/long-range choice. If I don’t need a specific element or I’m rocking the Void subclass, I always have the Brya’s Love ready to go. This weapon is satisfying to use, and you can punch holes through enemies from a safe distance.
My Brya’s is shaped and has Keep Away and Explosive Payload. The Keep Away perk makes the weapon perform better when no enemies are nearby, and Explosive Payload creates an AoE detonation with every shot. If you’re looking for a versatile gun you can use anywhere, I highly recommend this superb Scout Rifle.
Calus Mini Tool
- Type: Submachine Gun
- Element: Solar
The Calus Mini Tool is so strong I bought five from Xur to shape my own. This SMG is nasty. It’s got an incredibly fast fire rate and reload time and is easy to control.
Mine has Unrelenting and Incandescent and is one of my most used Solar weapons. This combination gives me health regeneration when I score multiple kills and enemies explode for good measure. The Calus Mini Tool is a stellar mob clearer, but I usually put it away for bosses.
Osteo Striga
- Type: Submachine Gun
- Element: Kinetic
The Osteo Striga is unique because you don’t need the usual five Weapon Patterns to craft it. If you want a shapeable Striga, complete the Witch Queen DLC story, and it’s yours. This weapon doesn’t technically have an element, but it spreads Poison to your enemies, slowly chipping away at their health.
Toxic Overload and Hand-laid Stock is the way to go with the Osteo Striga. This combination improves weapon stability, and Toxic Overload is the exclusive poisoning trait. The poisoning is strong enough for me to recommend the weapon, but if that wasn’t enough, the projectiles track targets. This trait is obnoxious in PVP, where your shots can follow unsuspecting Guardians around corners.
Scatter Signal
- Type: Fusion Rifle
- Element: Strand
The Scatter Signal is a Season of the Wish Fusion Rifle with a great assortment of perks. This weapon does a ton of damage up close and is safe to fire from the hip against larger targets.
You can build the Scatter Signal in a couple of ways. I’ve gone with Enlightened Action and Controlled Burst on mine. Enlightened Action improves reload speed and handling, and Controller Burst increases damage if I’m accurate. If you’re rocking a complete Strand build, you could also try out Slice and Hatchling.
If you’ve ever found Fusion Rifles unwieldy or are put off by the charge time, I still recommend the Scatter Signal, as it’s one of the best Fusion Rifles in the game.
Apex Predator
- Type: Rocket Launcher
- Element: Solar
The Apex Predator may be hard to obtain after the Final Shape, as it’s usually a Raid Exclusive. At the time of writing, you can get Weapon Patterns by completing tasks for Mara Sov in Helm, and the Apex is one of the best ways to spend them.
This Rocket Launcher may not look like much, but it does a ridiculous amount of damage and sports a fast reload time. Mine has Danger Zone and Explosive Light, which allows me to use the launcher in close-quarters combat, and I deal more damage after grabbing an Orb of Power. The most common rolls for the launcher are Reconstruction and Bait and Switch. You can deal more damage with this combo, but I find Bait and Switch a little awkward.
Whisper of the Worm
- Type: Sniper Rifle
- Element: Solar
You can get a craftable Whisper of the Worm from The Whisper Exotic quest, making it one of the most accessible weapons on this list. The Whisper of the Worm demands a steady hand but is devastating if you’re a good shot.
This weapon refills your magazine if you quickly land three critical hits. I like Field Prep on this gun as it gives me more ammo and a faster reload speed. The only other perk is Whispered Breathing, which you’ll be using as it’s the only option for that slot.
I want to love the Whisper of the Worm, but I lack the aim to land consistent hits. If you can hit your mark, give it a spin and see if it works for you.
Pardon Our Dust
- Type: Grenade Launcher
- Element: Kinetic
Pardon our Dust is a powerful explosive weapon that’s great for both mobs and single targets. The Vorpal Weapon perk increases the launcher’s boss damage, and the Auto-Loading Holster means we spend less time reloading.
Grenade launchers are strong in Destiny 2 but can be awkward to fit into your loadout. As Pardon our Dust is a Kinetic weapon, it frees up your Special and Heavy slots for more element-specific choices.
Appetence
- Type: Trace Rifle
- Element: Stasis
I’ve got a powerful but unusual weapon to close off this list. Appetence is a Trace Rifle, which shoots like a laser as you hold down the trigger. I rarely see people using Trace Rifles full stop, but this one means business and is excellent for deleting waves of mobs.
Mine has Killing Tally and Demolitionist. Killing Tally increases damage if I don’t reload or stow the weapon, which synergizes with the Appetentence’s massive magazine. Demolitionist feeds me Grenade energy, but you could use Overflow if you don’t use throwables as much.
Trace Rifles aren’t popular in Destiny 2, but I can confidently recommend this one as a solid mob clearer. The Appetence is for you if you want to shape something a little different and still be effective.
How to use Weapon Patterns in Destiny 2
Excluding Exotics, like the Osteo Striga, you typically need five copies of a Weapon Pattern to craft it. Patterns are found on weapons with Red Borders and usually appear randomly. As they are uncommon, you’ll hear a distinct ‘chime’ when you get one. These red-bordered weapons appear on the right side of the screen, as pictured above.
Once you have a weapon with a pattern, you can extract it from the weapon menu (pictured above). You get to keep the gun afterward, so it’s always worth extracting every pattern you find. Once you have five matching patterns, you can shape the weapon at The Enclave on Savathun’s Throne World. The only prerequisite for crafting is finishing the first mission of the Witch Queen DLC. Although the DLC is a paid expansion, the first mission is free, making this feature accessible to all players.
If you have the patterns, you can craft some monster weapons, but make sure you keep an eye out for the best Exotic weapons. Once you’ve got a solid arsenal, you can take on the hardest content in Destiny 2.
