Destiny 2: Best Scout Rifles for PVE

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Human Made

Kody is our expert Destiny 2 and shooter genre writer. He lives in Oregon.

Scout Rifles are by far the best primary ammo weapon for long range fights in PVE. With the exception of Pulse Rifles, nothing comes close. They’re consistent, do surprisingly good damage, and are great for dealing with Champions thanks to their range. An excellent Scout Rifle goes a long way, so it’s always good to have one.

In this article, I’ll take a look at the best Exotic and Legendary Scout Rifles in Destiny 2, in no particular order.

Let’s get started with the Exotics!

Exotic Scout Rifles

Touch of Malice

How to Get: King’s Fall Raid (Final Encounter)

It’s kind of sad that Touch of Malice isn’t used more than it is, as it’s the most unique weapon on this list by far. When Touch of Malice runs out of ammo, you can continue firing a more powerful shot at the cost of your own health. You can fire Touch of Malice infinitely, as long as you can survive it. This means it’s always been better on Warlocks, who can stand in a Rift or Well of Radiance while using it.

Unfortunately, the nature of this weapon makes it only really good for specific encounters. It’s great in the Oryx boss fight and similar extra long damage phases, but it doesn’t perform well in standard PVE content. But since it excels so much in those long fights, it still just makes the list.

Polaris Lance

How to Get: Exotic Engrams or Xur

The Polaris Lance is what Scout Rifles should be. A weapon built for mid-to-long range attacks that rewards you for accuracy. Land four precision hits in a row and send your enemies an explosive surprise with a small AoE attack. It also has the Zen Moment perk, further adding to your accuracy as you do damage, and the ability to apply Dragonfly once Masterworked.

The fact that it’s so traditional has often left this weapon out in the cold, but it holds up surprisingly well despite how different it feels. Keep it at the ready to help you face major enemies in PVE whenever you need a Scout Rifle that synergizes well with your Solar builds.

Legendary Scout Rifles

Doom of Chelchis

How to Get: King’s Fall Raid (First Encounter)
God Roll: Explosive Payload / Firefly + Dragonfly

Doom of Chelchis looks awesome, drops from one of the best raids, and shreds enemies just like any Scout Rifle should. It’s another precision frame weapon, and it has similar perks to Staccato-46. The best roll for Doom of Chelchis is either Explosive Payload or Firefly in the first slot and Dragonfly in the other. The combo of Firefly + Dragonfly is my favorite since it’s so fun to use, but Explosive Payload is also always strong.

You really can’t go wrong with a good Doom of Chelchis roll. Even if you prefer another Scout, you should keep one of these in the vault just in case.

Fang of Ir Yut

How to Get: Crota’s End Raid (First and Second Encounters)
God Roll: Rapid Hit / Clown Cartridge + Sword Logic

It’s not surprising that the Fang of Ir Yut ended up on this list, as it’s a raid weapon with a really fun origin trait. The origin trait (Cursed Thrall) causes enemies shot with it to explore upon death, which is tons of fun and has a lot of unique synergies. Other than that, it also has a really strong perk pool with plenty of options to choose from. Rapid Hit + Sword Logic is my favorite, but Clown Cartridge is also excellent in the first slot.

It might require farming a raid to get, but it’s certainly worth it. There’s no doubt that Fang of Ir Yut will remain one of the top Scout Rifles in Destiny 2 for a long, long time.

Hung Jury SR4

How to Get: Xur
God Roll: Kinetic Tremors + Explosive Payload

Hung Jury is another precision frame option with an incredible fire rate. It’s easily one of the most efficient Scout Rifles thanks to its incredible perk pool, in addition to its base stats. The newest edition of Hung Jury brings another new perk–Kinetic Tremors. With Kinetic Tremors, landing multiple shots will emit a burst of AOE damage. Combine that with Explosive Payload and you have an incredible kinetic Scout Rifle.

Hung Jury is good for any type of content, from raids to GM strikes. While it isn’t very explosive, it is incredibly consistent. And ultimately, that’s the most important thing for any Scout Rifle to get right.

Staccato-46

How to Get: Legendary Engrams, Xur, and Banshee
God Roll: Triple Tap + Incandescent / Explosive Payload

Staccato-46 might not be flashy at all, but it has incredible perks, great base stats, and it’s a Solar weapon so it synergizes well with Solar builds. The best perk rolls are Explosive Payload or Incandescent and Triple Tap. Triple Tap + Explosive Payload is the best for difficult content where you plan on laying into Champions or other strong enemies that you’ll have to shoot for a long time. Triple Tap + Incandescent is great for easier content where you can more reliably get precision kills.

This is one of the best Scout Rifle for PVE content right now, and unless something major changes it’ll probably stay that way for a while. If you’re looking for the best Scout Rifle perks along with build synergies, this should be just what you’re looking for.

Trustee

How to Get: Deep Stone Crypt Raid (First Encounter)
God Roll: Reconstruction + High-Impact Reserves / Incandescence

Trustee is an obvious choice for this list. Let this archetype sink in — a Solar rapid-fire frame Scout Rifle. Sounds like it’ll shred, right? And it does. It also has some of the best perk options in the game. Whether you go with Reconstruction + High-Impact Reserves or Incandesence, either one is perfect for the vast majority of endgame content. With either of those rolls, you can mow through enemies while rarely ever having to reload.

Combined with the excellently balanced base stats, these perks take advantage of what makes Scout Rifles so strong. The Trustee is accurate, fast, and equipped with a deep clip that lets you work through mobs and quickly transition to larger enemies.

Vision of Confluence

How to Get: Vault of Glass Raid (First, Second, and Third Encounters)
God Roll: Incandescence + Explosive Payload / Firefly

Vision of Confluence might be an old weapon, but it’s still a surprisingly strong pick. What makes this weapon actually useful is how well balanced it is combined with the excellent perk options. It might not have an origin trait (I still can’t imagine why Bungie never updated this), but it remains one of the best Scouts thanks to good stats, perks, and being a Solar weapon with lots of synergies.

Sure, it’s a Raid weapon, meaning that getting the right roll is a lengthy process. But it’s absolutely worth it, especially if you already have a raid group to farm it with. There’s also a Timelost version with improved stats that drops from the Master difficulty Vault of Glass raid, which is better but harder to get.

Destiny 2: Best Scout Rifles for PVE

Let's take a closer look at the best in class of these multi-purpose weapons.