Auto Rifles are a lot of fun inDestiny 2, and with quite the selection of Exotic Auto Rifles featured as of Season 26’s Episode Heresy, it’s worth taking a look at them all to judge their design in terms of visuals and intrinsic traits to see what the best Auto Rifle is inDestiny 2.
There are over 10 Exotic Auto Rifles inDestiny 2, and while each of them offers their own unique perks and traits, not all of them are worthy of taking out the worst that the galaxy has to offer against the forces of Darkness – so what ranks as the best Auto Rifle inDestiny 2?
11Cerberus+1
Four Gun Barrels Make for an Inaccurate and Bizarre Weapon
If players have ever wanted to fire four Auto Rifles at the same time, then look no further than Cerberus+1. This is a weapon that has awful stability and handling since it’s got four barrels to shoot from, and while aiming down sights does reduce the spread of projectiles, it’s still wildly inaccurate and more of a funny gimmick than anything else.
The Exotic Perk itself has players firing out erratic bullets from four gun barrels, all at once, but the damage really doesn’t feel all that great, even with the Catalyst. Cerberus+1 is funny, but also something nobody wants to see in a build during Grandmaster Nightfalls.
10Hard Light
Swap Energy Damage Types with Ricochet Fire
Hard Light is fine as an Exotic Auto Rifle, but that’s not really a compliment, because other Exotics out there are truly exceptional in terms of stats and Exotic Perks to make them dominate. However,Destiny 2does havesomething interesting to it, since it can be used to change the damage type between Void, Arc, and Solar – something that other weapons lack, making it perfect to counter shields of all varieties.
The weapon itself gains bonus damage upon switching elements, but only if they have applied an elemental buff or debuff at the same time. As for its other strength, a reduction in damage falloff and ricochet rounds provide generous impact, but it’s just a weapon not suited for endgame builds.
9Tommy’s Matchbook
Increased Damage with Sustained Fire at the Cost of Being Burned
Tommy’s Matchbook can be a risky weapon to wield, for although it provides nice buffs to Solar builds, it will also damage the wielder who uses it too much. Sustained fire with Tommy’s Matchbook is going to overheat the weapon, providing extra damage, sure, but it’s alsogoing to cause damageto whoever is firing the gun.
With Ignition Triggers from Tommy’s Matchbook, and a Catalyst that provides recovered health on sustained fire and Scorch, Tommy’s Matchbook can be a troublesome weapon wielded by Hunters in PvP and PvE, but it’s a tad too risky and not very viable.
8Sweet Business
A Kinetic Gatling Gun for Annoying Others
Sweet Business is used by anyone who loves to be a nuisance, and it’s a weapon built for Titans. The impact is low, but the fire rate can grow to absurd heights with sustained fire, providing a gun that holds 150 bullets in a magazine with thepower and intensityof a minigun, all in the palms of one chaos-wielding Guardian’s hands.
Sweet Business isn’t exactly great, but it is fun. It’s a weapon with a large magazine, further complemented by Titans who use Actium War Rig to essentially provide themselves with near-infinite ammo before reloading. While this build can be fun and silly, especially in PvP, it doesn’t serve a great deal of protection and buffs in the endgame.
7Centrifuse
Movement and Damage Builds Blinding Charges
Centrifuse is an interesting Arc Auto Rifle, but perhaps one that isn’t on top of the meta, and never has been. While Exotic Perks like Regenerative Motion allow players to regain bullets in the magazine by sprinting, it’s not a viable strategy when players can take cover and reload, and the impact and reload speed itself is fairly low when compared toexceptional handling.
A generous ammo capacity does help, but Centrifuse is mainly used to build an electrostatic charge to shoot bullets that cause explosions and blind targets, suppressing the battlefield in debuffs, but at the cost of a fairly slow weapon.
6SUROS Regime
Bonus Damage and Healing Chance for the Last Few Bullets
SUROS Regime has around 27 bullets in a magazine, which means that the final 13 shots will have increased damage, and kills with that bottom half do have a chance to return health for every kill. This turns SUROS Regime into a weapon to siphon health from ads, but it’s not going to deal the right damage against larger foes.
The recoil is fair, the stability and reload speed is great, and the Catalyst provides further stat buffs along with more of a chance to get health on a kill, providing an ad-clear weapon that allows for players to get some delightful health gains.
5Necrochasm
Create Explosions That Refill the Magazine
Necrochasm is an Exotic Auto Rifle that will be provided to the very best, or luckiest of Raid players who venture into Crota’s End. It’s a weapon that becomes a trophy for players to claim, for not everyone dares Raid content with a total of 6 Guardians. Regardless, the weapon itself is a true beast in PvE worth pulling the trigger on.
Thanks to Necrochasm, players will be able to create Cursed Thrall explosions with precision hits, essentially providing the gun with a permanent Firefly perk. However, it’s made even better when these explosions refill the magazine – and with the catalyst, damage, range, and handling is increased after hitting 3 targets to make a perfect ad-control gun.
4Monte Carlo
Reduce Melee Cooldown with Sustained Damage
Monte Carlo is really for the Sunbracer Warlocks out there,or the Titanswith Synthoceps and a Prismatic build so that they can use Consecration to lay waste to the battlefield. Melee attacks are integral to some builds, so why not give them an energy boost so that they never leave? That’s entirely possible with Monte Carlo.
Monte Carlo is a Kinetic Auto Rifle that provides players with both increased damage from melee kills, along more ammo. However, it also provides players with extra melee energy upon dealing damage and has a chance to fully charge said melee ability with each kill, providing the brawlers out there with a must-have tool for punching.
3Quicksilver Storm
A Competent Auto Rifle with Micro-Rockets and Grenades
Quicksilver Storm comes in strong, as it has done since its release as a Strand Auto Rifle. It’s a decent Auto Rifle that gets the job done thanks to its range, lack of kick, and fire rate, but the damage isn’t as great as other options. However, this is aided by the fact that Quicksilver Storm fires out micro-rockets with consistent fire, providing noticeable chunks of damage to ads and mini-boss enemies.
When players hit enough rockets, they will see further greatness of the weapon, for it can be turned into a Strand grenade launcher for further bursts of damage. It’s a solid and reliable gun that won’t let players down, but it just so happens thereare alternative choices.
2Khvostov 7G-0X
Ricocheting Bullets and Rapid Fire Provides Exceptional Performance
The Khvostov 7G-0X deserves one of the top spots, not only for being a loving homage to an absolute classic weapon but for its incredible exotic perks and traits that make it excel against enemies in both PvE and PvP. Sure, it’s a Kinetic Assault Rifle that doesn’t grant any buffing stacks with other elemental weapons, but the fact that every seventh bullet provides more damage and ricochets between targets and walls means more damage is abundant for ad-dense areas.
The Khvostov 7G-0X excels at killing ads and controlling the battleground in The Crucible, as its generous ammo count, fair recoil, and rapid rate of fire, make the Khvostov 7G-0X a true beast in all situations to provide an Auto Rifle that’s hard to let go of.
