The Best PvE Scout Rifles In Destiny 2

Scout Rifles were one of the best weapon archetypes in the original Destiny. In Destiny 2, it’s a different story. A myriad of sandbox changes and design choices have reduced these weapons to instant dismantle fodder in the eyes of many.

While the weapon category is certainly lacking, there are still shining weapons in this often overlooked class. The right Scout can take on most PvE content from a safe distance, making these weapons more desirable for Master Nightfalls or other pinnacle activities. Here are the best Scout Rifles you can use in Destiny 2’s PvE sandbox.

Updated March 4, 2025, by Charles Burgar: Scout Rifles have seen some exciting additions during the year of Final Shape, including some much-needed reprisals for classic raid gear. We’ve updated this list to include the strongest Scout Rifles to grace the PvE sandbox as of late, including the reprised Vision of Confluence and new Unworthy.

10

Wicked Implement

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.

On its own, Wicked Implement is a mediocre Scout Rifle that doesn’t see much use. What makes this weapon shine is when paired with a strong Stasis build. It’s the only Primary in the game that has a form of Chill Clip through its Exotic perk, slowing targets on rapid precision hits. This can be used to freeze targets outright with enough shots, stunning Champions and triggering Stasis Fragments in the process.

This weapon can also spawn Stasis Shards and trigger Headstone through its Catalyst, allowing you to interact with nearly every keyword tied to the Stasis kit. It’s missing RImestealer, but Wicked Implement is otherwise a complete package for Stasis builds looking to make full use of their Aspects and Fragments. As an actual weapon, though, it’s average at best.

9

Touch Of Malice

How to obtain: King’s Fall raid.

Fans of the original will instantly recognize the Touch of Malice

, an iconic Exotic Scout Rifle that siphons the user’s life force to empower its rounds. It returns in Destiny 2 with the same core mechanic, but as with all reprised Exotics, it has an additional mechanic: Charged With Blight

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Landing precision hits with the Touch of Malice will grant stacks of Charged with Blight. Land ten headshots, and this weapon will launch a Taken Blight that debuffs the target, causing them to take 50% more damage from all Weapons of Sorrow—Touch of Malice included.

Touch of Malice’s alt-fire can stun Unstoppable Champions.

That stacks with Touch of Malice’s main perk, sacrificing HP upon firing your last bullet for a 100% damage buff and a bottomless magazine. Hold down the trigger, and you’ll be dishing out some top-tier DPS for a Primary, provided you can maintain the HP degen.

With that said, this weapon has one major downside: it drains your HP. The Destiny 2 sandbox has far more methods of regenerating your HP in combat, but that still doesn’t make this weapon safe to use in Master or GM content. One wrong mistake might cost your life, but intelligent use of this weapon can yield some fantastic DPS numbers.

8

Timeworn Wayfarer

How to obtain: Episode: Echoes content; craftable.

Timeworn Wayfarer is a lever-action Scout Rifle that can be obtained from Episode: Echoes content. It’s the first Solar 120 Scout of its kind, which means it can roll with perks like Heal Clip and Incandescent for some strong Solar-themed synergies. If you care more for practicality, this weapon has some great damage perks as well—Desperate Measures, Precision Instrument, and High Ground are a few examples.

The real standout here is Shoot to Loot in the first trait column, collecting ammo and Orbs of Power from a distance when damaged by this weapon. While you can’t proc this perk with Incandescent, you can trigger Shoot to Loot through the weapon’s origin trait: Radiolaria Transposer. Rapid kills will cause targets to explode, which technically counts as weapon damage for proccing Shoot to Loot.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Shoot to Loot, Heal Clip
• Column Two: Incandescent, Precision Instrument, High Ground

7

Doom Of Chelchis

How to obtain: King’s Fall raid; craftable.

Doom of Chelchis has one of the best perk pools out of any Legendary Primary in Destiny 2. This weapon can roll with double damage perks, an exceedingly rare combination that is only possible on a select few weapons. For Scout Rifles specifically, only a handful of weapons can compete.

Firefly and Dragonfly turn your enemies into miniature grenades when you land a headshot, releasing two explosions simultaneously that will instantly kill just about every fodder enemy nearby. If you’re looking for consistency, try out Explosive Payload with either One for All or Dragonfly. And if you want to kill Champions quickly, try out Vorpal Weapon with Frenzy.

This weapon has the most stacked perk pool we’ve seen in Destiny 2, and its base stats make Doom of Chelchis a dream to shoot. If you’re looking for a good Scout Rifle in Destiny 2, you won’t find a better weapon. And if you just want a good Primary for PvE, Doom of Chelchis will not disappoint.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Explosive Payload, Firefly, Vorpal Weapon
• Column Two: Frenzy, Dragonfly, One for All, Focused Fury

6

Vision Of Confluence

How to obtain: Vault of Glass raid; craftable.

Vision of Confluence received a perk refresh in Episode: Heresy, giving it a much stronger perk pool and a new origin trait. While it can’t roll with double damage perks like Fatebringer or Transfiguration, Vision of Confluence can get Incandescent in the first trait column. This is fairly rare for Primary weapons in Destiny 2, especially for a Scout Rifle.

You can pair Incandescent with damage perks, however, making this a highly effective Scout Rifle in harder content. Just about every good damage perk in PvE is present here, including the likes of Frenzy, Paracasual Affinity, and Explosive Payload. If you can get any of these perks alongside Incandescent, you’ll have a great workhorse Primary.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Incandescent, Heal Clip
• Column Two: Frenzy, Firefly, Explosive Payload, Paracasual Affinity

5

Fang Of Ir Yut

How to obtain: Crota’s End raid; craftable.

Obtained from the Crota’s End raid, Fang of Ir Yut is a 260 RPM Scout Rifle with a monstrous perk pool and solid origin trait. Melee kills will infuse this weapon with Cursed Thrall energy, triggering on-kill explosions for a short time. This can be used to proc Shoot to Loot in the first column if you want to collect ammo from a distance. For more general use, Rapid Hit and Rewind Rounds remain great picks.

As for damage perks, you have some great options here. Precision Instrument is an easy 30% damage buff if you can chain headshots, and Golden Tricorn can offer up to 50% more damage if you use Strand abilities. You can even run Sword Logic for a much longer damage bonus, although you’ll need to land the final blow on a miniboss or Champion to outpace Precision Instrument.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Shoot to Loot, Rewind Rounds, Rapid Hit
• Column Two: Precision Instrument, Golden Tricorn, Sword Logic

4

Hung Jury SR4

How to obtain:

Onslaught playlist
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Even with its myriad of reissued variants, Hung Jury remains a competitive Scout Rifle in most PvE content. The Brave variant, obtained through the Onslaught playlist, has an S-tier suite of perks that excel in mid-tier content like Master Lost Sectors and dungeons. The main standout here is Kinetic Tremors in the first column, giving this weapon some much-needed AoE damage.

You can pair this with virtually any damage perk to great effect. One for All is easy to proc, as is Precision Instrument. You can even run Explosive Payload if you want a consistent damage boost at all times. While not the most exciting weapon, it’s certainly one of the game’s best Scout Rifles.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Kinetic Tremors, Shoot to Loot
• Column Two: Explosive Payload, Precision Instrument, One for All

3

Transfiguration

How to obtain: Last Wish raid; craftable.

Transfiguration is a 150 RPM Kinetic Scout Rifle that has an amazing perk pool. Thanks to the perk refresh in Season of the Deep, this gun is capable of rolling many different combinations of double damage perks, expanding on the gun’s iconic Rampage and Kill Clip combination back in Forsaken. That roll is still present here, although you have better options now.

An amazing pairing worth chasing is Rampage

with Kinetic Tremors. While the tremor effect isn’t buffed by Rampage, the Rampage stacks will make it easier to kill red bars from a distance. Kinetic Tremors will then take care of orange bars, making this a great gun for Legend-tier content. If you prefer more utility, replace Rampage with Demolitionist or Rewind Rounds

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And if Kinetic Tremors doesn’t suit you, try out Explosive Payload for quick Champion stuns or Adrenaline Junkie to pair with a grenadier build. It’s hard to recommend a specific perk combination since this gun has so many good options. If you’re able to craft this gun, we highly recommend experimenting with perks to find a combination that suits you.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rampage, Demolitionist, Rewind Rounds
• Column Two: Kinetic Tremors, Kill Clip, Explosive Payload, Adrenaline Junkie (with Demolitionist)

2

Unworthy

How to obtain: Sundered Doctrine dungeon.

Unworthy might be the first weapon in Destiny history to roll with three damage perks simultaneously. Its origin triat, Subjugator, gives you passive Explosive Payload against red bar units. That makes up for the weapon’s low base damage, making it a menace for clearing out adds.

But once you start covering traits, Unworthy truly becomes a monster. Firefly rolls in the first column, which is somewhat strange since this is an Arc Scout Rifle. You can pair this with Voltshot for a hilariously strong mobbing weapon. Land a precision kill to proc Firefly, reload to trigger Voltshot, then fire a Jolt round to unleash chain lightning. The Firefly explosion should clean up all the targets tagged by Voltshot. No other Scout Rifle can mimic this functionality, not even Exotics.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Firefly, Rewind Rounds, Rapid Hit
• Column Two: Voltshot, Precision Instrument, Frenzy

1

Polaris Lance

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.

Similar to Symmetry

, the shift to tankier endgame enemies has given Polaris Lance

a niche in this sandbox. Polaris Lance can trigger explosions if you chain headshots, giving this weapon some excellent damage output and add-clearing potential. Paired with Dragonfly from its Catalyst, clearing out hordes of enemies is surprisingly easy with Polaris Lance.