Destiny 2: The 10 Best Scout Rifles for PVP

#10 Trustee

How to Get: “Deep Stone Crypt” Raid (Craftable)

PVP God Roll:

• Opening Shot, High-Impact Reserves, or Eye of the Storm
• Reconstruction (not if you’re using High-Impact Reserves) or Rapid Hit
• Accurized Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake

After the Deep Stone Crypt raids became craftable, all of its weapons got a major boost. Trustee is one of the better DSC weapons for PVE, but it’s better than expected in PVP. The large perk pool allows Trustee to find a place in PVP, despite not having the best stats for it overall. Opening Shot, High-Impact Reserves, and Eye of the Storm are all fantastic perks for PVP, so you have plenty of options there. Then you have Reconstruction, which assures the weapon is always loaded. Just make sure not to use that along with High-Impact Reserves, as they contradict one another. Rapid Hit is better in that case.

Trustee is better in PVE than PVP, but it really does work well in both. Anyone can make use of this weapon since it’s so easy to use, especially with a good roll.

#9 Contingency Plan

How to Get: World Drops (Legendary Engrams)

PVP God Roll:

• Kill Clip
• Outlaw or Box Breathing
• Accurized Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

Contingency Plan is an often-forgotten Arc Scout Rifle that actually has a really strong PVP god roll. The main perk for this weapon is Kill Clip, which is never bad. I will say that personally I think Kill Clip works better on close-range, aggressive weapons, but you can’t argue with such a significant damage boost. For this weapon, Kill Clip is best paired with either Outlaw or Box Breathing. Outlaw allows for faster reload times after precision kills, but Box Breathing gives aim assist and ADS speed after kills. Both pair really well with Kill Clip since they’re all centered around getting a kill, then benefitting from short-time buffs.

The only downside to this roll is that it does leave you without any active perks until you get a kill. Winning duels or outnumbered fights will be a lot harder with that in mind, but it’s all still possible.

#8 Servant Leader

How to Get: Gambit Playlist Rewards

PVP God Roll:

• Kill Clip or Snapshot Sights
• Rapid Hit or Outlaw
• Accurized Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

As far as Gambit playlist weapons go, Servant Leader is one of the better ones. Even though they changed the Gambit origin trait into a more generic one, the weapons still get a lot of interesting perk combos. Kill Clip is obviously always a good pick in PVP, but Snapshot Sights is also an interesting choice. While not as strong as on Sniper Rifles, it’s a good pick if you don’t want to focus on just getting kills and playing aggressively. Rapid Hit and Outlaw are both two of the best reload-focused perks for PVP as well, so you really can’t go wrong with either.

Servant Leader is worth grinding Gambit for if you really love Scout Rifles. While it probably won’t blow anyone away if they aren’t hardcore Scout Rifle fans, it’s still a great weapon that probably won’t get much attention since it’s relegated to Gambit.

#7 Brya’s Love

How to Get: Season 22 Seasonal Activities

PVP God Roll:

• Explosive Payload or Precision Instrument
• Keep Away
• Accurized Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling

Brya’s Love is the newest Scout Rifle on this list, and for good reason. Despite most of the Season 22 seasonal playlist weapons being underwhelming, Brya’s Love stands out. The precision frame makes it easier to land precision shots with, which is perfect for long range fights. It has the always-reliable Explosive Payload perk in the first slot for technically-improved Range and flinch effects, or the new Precision Instrument perk. This takes advantage of the precision frame by increasing precision damage after landing one before, so it works great in PVP. All in all, Brya’s Love is a great addition to the pool of craftable Scout Rifles, especially since it has such unique perks.

#6 Fang of Ir Yut

How to Get: “Crota’s End” Raid

PVP God Roll:

• Kill Clip, Sword Logic, Opening Shot, or Precision Instrument
• Keep Away
• Ricochet Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake or Corkscrew Rifling

As with all good raid weapons, this one has some super unique perks that make it stand out. For Fang of Ir Yut, the Sword Logic perk is the most interesting. It functions in a similar way to Kill Clip (which is also one of the possible god roll perks here). Once you reload after getting a kill, you’ll get a 20% damage boost for 7.5 seconds. In contrast, with Kill Clip you get a 25% damage boost but for only 5 seconds. So you can really pick and choose here, depending on whether you’d prefer more damage or more time. Opening Shot and Precision Instrument are also available in the first slot, so you have extra options as well. Then there’s Keep Away, which gives you bonuses by just being away from other players.

Grinding raids can be really annoying, but it’s usually worth it for the loot. Crota’s End has several weapons worth farming, so I’d recommend doing so before it’s no longer the featured raid.

#5 Randy’s Throwing Knife

How to Get: Crucible Playlist Rewards

PVP God Roll:

• Kill Clip or Box Breathing
• Zen Moment or Rapid Hit
• Ricochet Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

It seems like if you play Crucible at all, you’ll end up with a million of these. Randy’s Throwing Knife might seem incredibly basic, but it’s actually one of the better Scout Rifles in the game. It doesn’t have any crazy perks, but the ones it has are excellent. Kill Clip and Box Breathing both offer bonuses after getting a kill, and Zen Moment and Rapid Hit give you bonuses after landing precision shots. You can turn Randy’s Throwing Knife into a viciously deadly weapon with the right roll, so take advantage of all those duplicates you’ll be getting!

#4 Long Arm

How to Get: “Spire of the Watcher” Dungeon

PVP God Roll:

• Explosive Payload or Opening Shot
• Hip-Fire Grip or Compulsive Reloader
• Accurized Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

Long Arm is a weapon that we’ve been asking for for years. Dead Man’s Tale was obviously the inspiration for this weapon, as both share the same hip-fire style that feels different than every other Scout Rifle you can use. The difference in the two, however, is that Long Arm has some different perk options which allow it more versatility. Explosive Payload and Opening Shot are two perks you always want to see in PVP, and the second slot is great for customizing your playstyle.

Hip-Fire Grip is perfect for the Long Arm, as it already wants to hip-fire anyway. If you don’t care about that as much, though, Compulsive Reloader is also good since it allows you to consistently reload much faster. This weapon is unique, fun to use, and really good, so I’d recommend it over most over Scout Rifles for sure.

#3 MIDA Multi-Tool

How to Get: Exotics Archive at the Tower

Exotic Pre-Determined Roll:

• Hand-Laid Stock
• MIDA Radar
• High-Caliber Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling

The MIDA Multi-Tool has always stood out thanks to its intrinsic trait. Being able to move faster than normal might not sound all that impressive, but it’s a buff you’ll quickly notice and adapt to. In PVP, moving faster than your opponents is an essential bonus. It allows you to peak corners more effectively, strafe better during duels, and get around the map faster without running. Other than the improved movement, MIDA Multi-Tool is just a generally good Scout Rifle. There’s nothing too crazy here other than the movement buffs, with the exception of your radar remaining while you ADS. That being said, radar is incredibly important for ranged weapons, so don’t underestimate that perk either.

#2 Aisha’s Embrace

How to Get: Trials of Osiris Rewards

PVP God Roll:

• Eye of the Storm or Adagio
• Perpetual Motion or Compulsive Reloader
• Ricochet Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

Trials weapons are always expected to carry their weight in PVP, and this one is no exception. What’s interesting, though, is that the perks here are much different that the typical Scout Rifle god roll. For the first slot, Eye of the Storm and Adagio are both your main choices. Eye of the Storm gives you bonuses as your health decreases, which assists in winning 1v1 fights. Adagio, on the other hand, gives damage bonuses after you get a kill (but also comes with a few nerfs to counter them). In the other slot, either Perpetual Motion or Compulsive Reloader is a great choice to give you some essential reload speed boosts.

Ultimately, Aisha’s Embrace is absolutely worth playing Trials for. Even if you don’t enjoy Trials, it’s at least worth playing enough to get a good roll or two.

#1 Dead Man’s Tale

How to Get: Complete the “Presage” mission via the Exotic Mission Rotator. (Presage is the featured mission once every three weeks, so you’ll have to do it during one of its weeks.)

PVP God Roll:

• Hand-Laid Stock
• Outlaw
• Accurized Rounds or Ricochet Rounds
• Corkscrew Rifling or Fluted Barrel

Dead Man’s Tale is a hard weapon to beat in any sense. It has everything you could ever want in a Destiny weapon. It looks cool (cowboy aesthetics always work in shooters), has unique aspects which make it worthy of its Exotic nature, and remains a meta weapon thanks to recent updates. Now that Dead Man’s Tale is craftable, there’s no reason not to have one. The best roll you can get for PVP is pretty simple, as it mainly involves the Outlaw perk. This perk increases your reload speed after precision kills, which are easy to get on such an effective weapon.

For Scout Rifle fans and PVP fans in general, Dead Man’s Tale is an S-tier weapon that everyone should have crafted. It only requires playing the Presage mission via the Exotic Mission Rotator to get, so it isn’t even hard or time-consuming to farm.