With Grandmaster Nightfalls finally available and Lightfall just on the horizon, you might find yourself wondering, should I hop in to grind out the Nightfall weapons, especially now that Bungie has lowered the power requirement to enter GM nightfalls?
Well, we have you covered. We are going to be ranking all nightfall weapons in the Season 19 rotation right here.
Nightfall weapon this week: January 31, 2023
The Nightfall weapon this week is the returning Heavy Grenade Launcher: Wendigo GL3.
PS: Our friends over at Blueberries.gg have the entire Nightfall weapons rotation for Season 19.
Nightfall weapons ranked
6. D.F.A.
Coming in 6th this season as a weapon that I do not think you should spend time farming is the D.F.A Hand Cannon.
The DFA drops from the Glassway Nightfall. This nightfall is definitely the hardest one to do this season as the boss room is about as hard as having fun in PvP this season. It really hurts ranking this gun so low, but at the end of the day, it has far too much competition. It has to contend with the likes of Fatebringer, Eyasluna, Austringer, and Rose, and that’s not even counting exotics or the options in the energy slot. It’s not even the best hand cannon that has come from nightfalls (that title is held by the now out-of-rotation palindrome), let alone the best hand cannon in the game, and there is little reason you should grind it.
If you wanna ignore my warnings, though, for PvP, I would recommend Hammerforged Rifling and accurized rounds for high range and Perpetual Motion with Opening Shot or Timed Payload for some better dueling potential.
5. Mindbender’s Ambition
This shotgun drops from the Insight Terminus Nightfall. Thankfully, this nightfall isn’t too bad. However, the gun is a different story. The only reason you may want to go for this gun is due to its ability to roll with 1-2 punch. It cannot compete with other solid shotguns in the game right now like Found Verdict or Retold Tale, and also massively falls short in PvE due to aggressive frame pellet shotguns being very far from meta. I cannot stress enough how much one-two punch carries this weapon. However, there are a plethora of other weapons that can come with 1-2 punch so, unless you are unwilling to farm the other options, I’d skip Mindbenders.
If you do want a solid PvE roll though, I would look for auto-loading holster or Lead from Gold and 1-2 punch with assault mag for your magazine.
4. Wendigo GL3
This Grenade Launcher drops from the Warden of Nothing nightfall which is an okay nightfall to farm.
Wendigo is in a bit of a limbo state right now. Bungie has said that they are looking to shake up the DPS meta come Lightfall, so we may see Grenade Launchers receive some hefty buffs, meaning that Wendigo would shoot up the rankings. However, Heavy ammo GL’s are simply so bad right now, I can’t reasonably rank it any higher than fourth. Do pay attention to the changes Bungie makes though as you may see a return to form for this OG weapon. Make sure to take this ranking with a grain of salt, because it may change fast.
In terms of perks, you’re going to want Volatile Launch or Quick Launch, Spike Grenades, Auto-Loading Holster and Explosive Light. You can go for Cascade Point in the second perk slot, however, it’s a tad too niche, and in most situations, explosive light will be the superior choice. Clown Cartridge in slot 1 isn’t too terrible either.
3. Horror’s Least
This Arc Pulse rifle drops from the Scarlet Keep Nightfall, which is one of the harder nightfalls this season, but still not too bad to complete.
Horror’s Least is a really solid PvP option, however, it is outclassed and outranged by other pulses, and other long-range options like Dead Man’s Tale. In terms of mid-range duelling though, it can be near unmatched. It isn’t overly difficult to use, and can come with some super solid perks like Kill Clip, Perpetual Motion and Frenzy which are all pretty good in 6v6 quickplay, however, this is the main place it will see use, as I do not recommend it in more endgame PvP playlists as you will simply be outduelled often by better weapons.
For rolls, I’m looking for high range, so Hammerforged Rifling or Smallbore are the picks for me. Next, accurised rounds is looking pretty good to me, and finally, Perpetual Motion and Kill Clip would be the roll I’d shoot for, however, controller players can opt for Zen Moment instead in the first slot.
2. The Militia’s Birthright
This weapon drops from the Corrupted nightfall. Since the changes it received a few seasons ago, Corrupted is honestly pretty easy and won’t cause you too much trouble.
Militia’s Birthright is a decent pick. You can’t really go wrong with a grenade launcher these days, and with double special ammo weapons being a very solid pick for higher-end content, it makes Miltia’s quite a solid option. However, it is quite outclassed by other options like Ignition Code and Parden Our Dust, and if you are wanting to run a double special ammo loadout, Miltia’s birthright really isn’t the way to go, especially when it shares a slot with options like Riptide, Heritage, Burden of Guilt, Witherhoard and Izanagi’s Burden. Overall though, it is a solid pick and you can’t really go too far wrong with it.
For rolls, Quick Launch or Volatile Launch is good, and for your magazine slot, Spike Grenades or Blinding Grenades are good, simply depends on your needs, and finally, for your perks, I’m looking for Lead from Gold and Auto-loading Holster, however, Frenzy with Slideways isn’t too bad either.
1. Hung Jury SR4
And finally, coming in the top spot of our list is going to be Hung Jury.
Hung Jury drops from Birthplace of the Vile. Birthplace might be slightly longer than some other nightfalls, but it is pretty easy, with the hardest room being the opening room with the screens and plate meaning if you happen to wipe, you don’t have too far to go to get back to where you were. Hung Jury is a solid contender in all pieces of content. With perks like Frenzy, Explosive Rounds and Rapid Hit, it can be hard to go wrong with it. However, it is somewhat outclassed by options like Night Watch or Tarnished Mettle as they are a part of a better archetype, or come with better perks like Voltshot.
This being said though, Hung Jury isn’t exactly something to sleep on, it can put in some serious work, and for the average player in endgame content, a scout rifle’s ease of use will make your time much more enjoyable.
On Hung Jury, you don’t really have to care about your barrel or magazine too much, however, decent handling and range are quite nice, so options like Corkscrew Rifling with Accurised Rounds is good. For your perks, in slot one Rapid Hit is the clear choice to me, but Subsistence isn’t a terrible alternative, and in slot 2, Frenzy or Explosive Rounds are both excellent choices and you can’t really go wrong with either of them.
What should you farm?
Unfortunately, this season, there aren’t really any ‘must-haves’ from Nightfalls. The options here are either just simply bad, highly dependent on balance changes or somewhat outclassed by other weapons. This being said though, if you are looking for something to do in Destiny, grinding out a decent roll of these weapons isn’t too bad of a thing to do, as you never know, maybe Mindbenders Ambition will be the next Burst DPS monster in Lightfall.
Make sure to subscribe with notifications on so that you never miss our videos. We are aiming to branch out and cover some more topics on the road up to Lightfall, so if you have anything you would like to know, please tell us down in the comments below. But as always, thank you for watching, and have a great day.
