The Edge of Fate (July 15, 2025) gave Destiny 2 a new way to grade loot. Every new Legendary weapon and armor piece now drops at a gear tier from 1 to 5. The tier shows how much extra value a drop has on top of its basic perks or stats. This guide covers what each tier adds, how to earn higher tiers, how tiers connect to Power and difficulty, and what changed with the Monument of Triumph update in June 2026.
What a gear tier is
A gear tier is a quality grade attached to an individual drop. Two copies of the same weapon can drop at different tiers, and the higher one gets more bonuses: enhanced perks, more perk options, better components and special cosmetics. For armor, the tier mainly decides how many stat points a piece has.
The tier is not set by the item. It comes from where and how you earned the drop. Harder content, higher Power and better performance all push your drops toward higher tiers. Older gear from before The Edge of Fate still works, but it doesn’t have all the benefits of tiered drops.
Weapon tiers, one by one
Each weapon tier keeps everything from the tiers below it and adds something new. The table shows the system as it launched with The Edge of Fate.
| Tier | What it adds (at launch) |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | The base weapon, which can use the season’s new weapon mods |
| Tier 2 | Enhanced versions of the two main trait perks |
| Tier 3 | Drops with two perk options per trait column |
| Tier 4 | Enhanced barrels and magazines, plus enhanced weapon mods |
| Tier 5 | Enhanced origin trait, three perk options per trait column, a unique ornament and shader, and combat flair |
Tiers 1 and 2: enhanced traits early
Tier 1 is a normal Legendary weapon. From Tier 2, the left and right trait perks come in their enhanced versions. Enhanced traits used to require crafting or long grinds. Now they’re among the first things the tier system gives you.
Tier 3: multiple perks per column
At Tier 3 a weapon drops with two choices in each trait column, and you can switch between them at any time. That makes a Tier 3 drop much more likely to include the combination you want, and lets one weapon serve more than one role. Since Monument of Triumph, Tier 3 also unlocks enhanced weapon mods (more on that below).
Tier 4: enhanced components
Tier 4 enhances the weapon’s components, such as barrels and magazines, which give small but useful stat gains. At launch it was also the tier that unlocked enhanced weapon mods.
Tier 5: the full package
Tier 5 is the top grade. The weapon’s origin trait is enhanced, and natural drops come with three options per trait column. Tier 5 weapons also get exclusive cosmetics: a unique ornament with its own shader and combat flair. That’s how other players can tell a Tier 5 drop at a glance. A fully masterworked Tier 5 weapon also gets an extra stat bonus on top of the regular masterwork.
One important caveat is that tier doesn’t replace a good roll. The tier bonuses are real, but the perks you actually get matter more. A lower-tier weapon with exactly the right perks can still beat a Tier 5 copy with perks that don’t fit your build. Check what each perk does in our perk database before you dismantle anything, and read how weapon rolls work if columns and origin traits are new to you.
Armor tiers
For armor, the tier mainly decides the stat total. Each armor piece has points in three stats chosen by its archetype, and higher tiers roll larger totals. Tier 5 armor has the highest totals, up to 75 points per piece. It also gets a tuning socket that can either move five points from one stat into the piece’s tuned stat, or add one point to each of its three lowest stats. If you’re new to the stat names and archetypes, read our guide to Destiny 2 armor stats first, then browse pieces in the armor database.
How tiers relate to Power and difficulty
The Edge of Fate also reset Power. Every player started again at Power 10, with a base cap of 200. Above that, Seasonal Bonus Power is earned through new gear from harder activities. Tiers and Power are linked: in general, higher tiers only start to drop reliably once your Power is high enough, even if you’re running the hardest difficulty.
In practice, three things work together:
- Your Power level. Raising Power raises the tier ceiling for your drops. Low-Power players mostly see Tier 1 and some Tier 2.
- Activity difficulty. Higher difficulty settings, and adding modifiers to activities, improve your odds of high-tier rewards.
- Performance. Many activities grade your run, and a better grade means a better reward tier.
Story milestones matter as well. Finishing The Edge of Fate campaign improved the tier of its rewards, and replaying it on higher difficulties gives better drops.
How to earn higher tiers
- Push your Power first. Your Power sets the tier ceiling, so time spent raising it pays off later.
- Run harder activities. Turn up the difficulty and add modifiers once your loadout can handle them.
- Play for a high grade. Fast, clean clears get better reward ranks than runs that only just finish.
- Focus at vendors. Since Monument of Triumph, vendors can focus weapons at Tier 3 or Tier 4, depending on your Power.
- Farm endgame content. Raids and dungeons drop tiered gear. See our raids and dungeons pages for loot sources.
What changed after launch
Renegades (December 2025)
Bungie first planned to reset Seasonal Bonus Power at the end of the first season. After player feedback it changed course, and Seasonal Power carried over into Renegades instead of resetting. That matters for tiers, because keeping your Power also keeps your access to higher-tier drops. The Artifact’s “New Gear” bonuses, which reward equipping recently released weapons and armor, were also adjusted. With Renegades, every exotic counts as New Gear.
Monument of Triumph (June 9, 2026)
Monument of Triumph made the biggest change to the weapon side of the system since launch:
- Weapon tier upgrading. You can now spend resources to raise a weapon’s tier, all the way up to Tier 5, without farming a new copy.
- Upgrades don’t add perks. An upgraded weapon gets the tier’s enhancements and cosmetics, but it keeps the number of perk options it dropped with. Natural Tier 3 to Tier 5 drops with multiple perks per column are still worth chasing.
- Enhanced mods moved to Tier 3. Enhanced weapon mods now unlock at Tier 3 instead of Tier 4.
- Crafted weapons join the system. Crafted Legendary weapons rise through the tiers as you level them, reaching Tier 5 at higher weapon levels.
- Tiered vendor focusing. Vendors can focus weapons at Tier 3 or Tier 4, depending on your Power.
With these changes, a weapon you like isn’t stuck at the tier it dropped at. The perk options it dropped with are still fixed, though. If you’re deciding which weapons to keep and upgrade, use our weapons database to check every perk a weapon can roll.
Quick answers
Is a Tier 5 weapon always better?
Only when the perks are the same. With the same roll, the higher tier wins. With different rolls, the perks usually matter more.
Should I delete my old weapons?
Not right away. Since tier upgrading arrived, a strong roll you already own may be cheaper to upgrade than to farm again. Check the perks first, then decide.