TTK Calculator
99% of your needs should be covered with the TTK table above, but if you want to dive deeper into a specific weapon and/or situation, you can use this TTK Comparison Tool.
That tool is the closest you’ll find to a Destiny 2 TTK Calculator and it allows you to set:
- Player Crit Accuracy (in %)
- Opponent Resiliency Tier (from 1 to 10)
- Opponent HP (hit points)
To use it, you’ll need to create a copy of the Google sheet for yourself.
TTK Formulas
There’s absolutely no reason why you’d want to do this yourself as Mercules already does it for you, but if you ever wanted to calculate TTK values yourself, these are the formulas you can use.
- Constant Rate of Fire weapons: (Shots to kill – 1) * (60sec /Game Rate of Fire)
- Burst Rate of Fire weapons: [Frames to kill – Frames per Bullet – Frames between Burst – Frames between Bullets – (Uneven Burst Frames to Kill * Uneven Burst Frame Correction)]
Again, there’s no reason why you’d want to put yourself through using these formulas, but these work for Destiny 2 and for any other modern FPS for that matter.
Best TTK Exotics
The TTK for most Exotic primary weapons is covered in the chart above as most Exotics share the same base damage profile as their Legendary counterparts. That said, some Exotics can have significantly lower TTK figures, which is why we also cover the most requested Exotics below:
No Time to Explain TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.67 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.20 seconds
Tarrabah TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.67 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.0 seconds
Huckleberry TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.67 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.0 seconds
Coldheart TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.67 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 0.93 seconds
Vigilance Wing TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.7 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.20 seconds
Dead Man’s Tale TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.8 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.63 seconds
Ace of Spades TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.87 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.30 seconds
Crimson TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.87 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.43 second
Graviton Lance TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 1.0 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 1.87 seconds
And finally, while not technically an Exotic, the Messenger Pulser rifle has one of the best perks in the entire game:
Desperado TTK:
- Optimal TTK: 0.47 seconds
- Body Shot TTK: 0.8 seconds
TTK and ease of use
It would be a mistake to look solely at TTK values. Equally important is a weapon’s ease of use.
The game’s meta itself is determined by both TTK (lethality) and ease of use (forgiveness). A good combination of both is what defines the best PVP weapons in Destiny 2.
What does Meta even mean? Meta refers to the most used weapons for a particular activity. Generally, these weapons are the most used because they are the most powerful/efficient.
Three scenarios come to mind:
- A weapon with a fast TTK and easy to use will instantly become meta and will be used by many: 600 RPM Auto rifles are the perfect example right now.
- A weapon with a fast TTK but low ease of use (i.e, offering little forgiveness) might only work in the hands of a skilled player: Redrix’s Broadsword comes to mind.
- A weapon with a slow TTK and low ease of use will barely see any: Precision frame Scout rifles are the perfect example.
But what exactly does “ease of use mean”? As Mercules puts it:
Ease of use is a combination of a weapon’s optimal crit percentage and its numerical stats such as stability, range, aim assist, zoom, etc.
In conclusion, you want to take into account TTK values, crit percentages, and overall stats, and chose a weapon according to your playstyle.
What about Special and Heavy weapons’ TTKs?
Mercules’ original Google sheet includes data and TTK values for every weapon in the game, including Special and Heavy ammo weapons and Exotics.
However, the vast majority of Special and Heavy weapons used in PVP can one-shot kill any guardian. That’s why shotguns and sniper rifles are so widely used.
For that reason, we prefer to keep those types of weapons out of this review.
The Last Word
Seasoned PVP players have a good understanding of the current PVP meta, and by extension, TTK values. However,if all of this is new to you, this is how you can use these values to your advantage.
You should always use the weapons you like the most and/or have the most fun with.
That said, the lower the TTK of a weapon archetype, the more lethal it can be. If you’re looking for a competitive advantage, these figures should point you to the most effective weapons out there.
Latest changes
Things change fast in Destiny 2, especially when it comes to the game’s sandbox (and hence Meta, DPS, and TTK values). One can expect major sandbox changes once per season.
Changes introduced this season:
- New Exotic archetypes were introduced, some of them featuring brand-new damage archetypes.
- Some weapons types received buffs or nerfs. You can read more about those changes here.
