All Exotic Linear Fusion Rifles, Ranked

Summary

• Arbalest: Once a champion stunning weapon, now power crept by newer abilities.
• Lorentz Driver: Powerful ad-clearing weapon, but overshadowed by other options.
• Finality’s Auger: Offers a turret for added DPS, but requires setup and high ammo.

With Destiny 2‘s current sandbox, Linear Fusion Rifles have been the talk of the town. Thanks to artifact perks like Unstoppable Linear Fusion Rifle and Particle Reconstruction being introduced in Episode Heresy, and several Linear Fusion Rifles receiving some much-needed love, these powerful guns have shot back into many players’ loadouts. Whether for utility reasons or simply pure damage output, many Guardians find it hard to see any reason to put down their favorite Linear Fusion.

This list looks at the six available exotic Linear Fusion Rifles in the game, ranking them in order of their potential strength in PvE content. From episodic activities to Grandmaster Nighfalls to Day One Raid and Dungeon races, these weapons each have a specific use, even if some are a little stronger than others.

6

Arbalest

Anti-Shield Powerhouse

• Exotic Catalyst: Genesis, + 20 Handling, +1 Magazine Size

Once the king of endgame content, Arbalest

has had a major fall from grace over the years. What was once one of the original intrinsic champion stunning weapons, Arbalest has been power crept by Subclass 3.0 abilities, allowing Guardians to stun champions without even needing a weapon, as well as options like Wish-Ender

providing the same ability without the need for special ammo.

The weapon itself is a decently powerful special ammo weapon, dealing Kinetic damage, punching through shields, dealing increased damage to enemies after breaking a shield, as well as refilling the magazine. For a newer player without access to other Anti-Barrier options, Arbalest is still a good weapon to use and will serve them well. However, it simply doesn’t have the same power potential as the other weapons on the list.

5

Lorentz Driver

Mark Targets, Hunt Them Down, Profit

• Exotic Catalyst: Jump Driver

Lorentz Driver

is an interesting weapon, dealing high single-target damage as all Linear Fusion Rifles do, yet the perks on it gear it towards being used not as a DPS option but rather as an ad-clearing weapon. The exotic traits on this weapon periodically mark targets, dropping telemetry on the ground upon defeating a marked target. Picking this up refills the magazine, and once enough has been collected the weapon is given a damage buff. Lorentz Driver also creates a void explosion upon precision kills, dealing damage to enemies around the body.

The catalyst gives an enhanced radar while the weapon is equipped and makes it so that a precision final blow is not required to trigger the explosion, making this weapon even better for clearing a group of enemies. While it is a powerful option for clearing groups, there are plenty of more powerful ad-clearing options that don’t require sacrificing an exotic slot, therefore making this weapon feel mildly underwhelming.

4

Finality’s Auger

Become An Army Of One

• Exotic Catalyst: Bait and Switch

The newest addition to the cohort, Finality’s Auger is the Sundered Doctrine dungeon exotic. Taking power ammo, Finality’s Auger hits a lot harder than the previously mentioned weapons. However, its real power lies in its exotic trait, which allows the wielder to spawn a turret that periodically shoots enemies. The player can then use the weapon to mark a specific target for the turret to focus on, weaving in their own standard Linear Fusion shots to output respectable DPS.

The catalyst provides the weapon the perk Bait and Switch, increasing the damage of the weapon and the turret by 30% when dealing damage with all three equipped weapons, making it an even better DPS option when used in a well-organized damage rotation. The only thing holding this weapon back, outside of the random drop chance, is the amount of set-up required to utilize it to its full potential, and the high ammo requirement to create a turret to begin with.

3

Euphony

So Many Threadlings

Euphony

is another hard-to-acquire weapon, being only available as a random drop from the final boss of the Salvation’s Edge raid, meaning many players will never get a chance to experience the powerful potential it has to offer. Euphony is, once again, a special ammo Linear Fusion, yet with the right setup it can easily hold its own against many of the best power ammo options. The exotic perks on the weapon cause it to periodically spawn Strand threadlings while dealing sustained damage and subsequently increase the weapon’s damage when threadlings deal damage to enemies.

When incorporated into a Strand build, especially a Warlock build utilizing the Swarmers

exotic, Euphony can output a huge amount of damage with each shot, made even more potent simply by the fact that it doesn’t take up the player’s heavy weapon slot. Euphony is mainly held back by the amount of set-up that is required to properly use it, but is well worth the effort for any player willing to put in the work.

2

Sleeper Simulant

Old Faithful

• Exotic Catalyst: Accelerated Coils, Deeper Pockets

Sleeper Simulant

has been at the top of the damage charts for many years now, consistently giving Guardians an easy-to-use and potent damage option. Simply aim, charge, and fire, and any enemy is bound to go down quickly. The exotic trait of Sleeper Simulant causes its shots to ricochet, allowing the beam to bounce against a hard surface and hit a single enemy multiple times in ideal circumstances.

The exotic catalyst for this weapon simply increases its reserve ammo capacity and decreases its charge time, which is the weapon’s biggest downside. Being able to be picked up from the exotic kiosk in the Tower, Sleeper Simulant is a perfect workhorse weapon for any player and will serve any Guardian well even not in an Episode with Linear Fusion-focused artifact mods.

1

The Queenbreaker

Had A Huge Glow Up

• Exotic Catalyst: Rewind Rounds

The final weapon on this list is a real surprise for many veteran Destiny players. The Queenbreaker

was, for the majority of its lifetime, a weapon that people overlooked due to its underwhelming damage and precision damage requirements. However, thanks to some recent reworks, and the new exotic catalyst, The Queenbreaker has quickly cemented itself as a top damage option, being utilized by many players in the Sundered Doctrine day one dungeon race.

The Queenbreaker has two sights, which the player can choose between by holding reload, one of which fires a single high-powered bolt that ricochets between enemies and blinds those hit, the other fires a three-round burst which decreases the charge time with each subsequent hit. Pairing the latter with the new catalyst, which gives the weapon Rewind Rounds and periodically refunds ammo, The Queenbreaker can output more DPS and total damage than any other weapon on this list.