The Best Scout Rifles For PvP In Destiny 2

Destiny is a game mainly known for its great PvE gunplay and Raids, but there is an equally large player base that swears by Destiny’s PvP offerings. Trials of Osiris put Destiny on the competitive scene, making it a commonly viewed title on streaming platforms like Twitch.

Part of its success was due to the great balance between all weapon categories. Many consider Destiny 2’s Crucible to be less balanced, but there is still room for subpar weapon archetypes such as Scout Rifles to shine. As a powerful long-range option, Scouts are great for defending lanes or picking off targets from a distance. Ranging from Exotics to lesser-known Legendaries, here are ten Scout Rifles players should consider using in Destiny 2’s PvP game modes.

Updated March 4, 2025, by Charles Burgar: Scout Rifles have received quite a few strong options over the years. Despite the current meta’s bias towards Pulse Rifles and more mid-range options, Scout Rifles continue to remain a strong off-meta choice for more conservative playstyles. We’ve updated this list to include some of Destiny 2’s strongest Scout Rifles to release recently, including perk refreshes for reprised weapons.

10

Skyburner’s Oath

How to obtain: Exotic Engrams.

While Skyburner’s Oath on its own is a fairly mediocre Scout Rifle, this weapon has some strong buildcraft potential if you spec into its hipfire mode. Shots from the hip inflict a small amount of Scorch on hit, causing targets to take a small chunk of damage over time. If you pair this with a Solar subclass with other sources of Scorch, you can easily trigger Ignitions against groups of opposing Guardians, leading to easy multikills.

Beyond that niche, there’s not much to this weapon. It’s a 150 RPM Scout Rifle with a slow travel arc. Hipfiring the weapon acts closer to a grenade launcher that Scorches on contact and is the main reason to use this weapon. For a proper dueling Primary, you have better options.

9

The Jade Rabbit

How to obtain: Exotic Engrams.

Most Crucible players know that Jade Rabbit’s Exotic perk is practically useless. It’s an inverted variant of Headseeker that doesn’t always work, making the Exotic part of this gun lackluster. Thankfully, Jade Rabbit makes up for this with a monstrous stat package.

With 80 aim assist, 85 range, and 80 stability when Masterworked, Jade Rabbit is nothing short of a stat monster. No 150 RPM Scout Rifle comes close to competing with Jade Rabbit’s base stats. It mitigates flinch extremely well thanks to Zen Moment, lands headshots with ease, and has a clear sight. For general dueling and long-range gameplay, Jade Rabbit is always a good choice.

8

Trustee

How to obtain: Deep Stone Crypt raid.

The Deep Stone Crypt’s Solar Scout Rifle is a beast of a weapon. This gun is the spiritual successor to Randy’s Throwing Knife, firing at the same 260 RPM that Randy’s was infamous for. While this gun can’t roll with Kill Clip or any strong damage perks, it does have some great consistency perks for long-range dueling.

Under Pressure and High-Impact Reserves is a solid combination for general consistency, buffing your general weapon effectiveness as your weapon expends ammo. If you want a dueling weapon, you can roll Rapid Hit with Swashbuckler for a potential four-tap after a single kill. Another good combination is Surplus and Wellspring for players that want better ability uptime without compromising on weapon consistency. Overall, Trustee is a solid Scout Rifle that has a roll for just about every playstyle.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Surplus,
  Rapid Hit

  , Under Pressure

• Column Two: Swashbuckler, Wellspring, High-Impact Reserves

7

The Prophet

How to obtain: Trials of Osiris matches and Engrams.

The Prophet is a Legendary take on Dead Man’s Tale

, a 120 RPM Scout Rifle with a strong perk pool and a origin trait that encourages hipfire use. With that said, this weapon is not accurate from the hip, even with Hip-Fire Grip. Use this like a 120 Hand Cannon to get the most out of this weapon.

Perks for this weapon can drastically reduce its TTK, notably Kill Clip for a short 0.5s TTK. There’s also Precision Instrument for countering Void Overshields and forms of DR. Use this from a distance to support your team, and you’ll perform well in most lobbies.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Keep Away, Rapid Hit
• Column Two: Kill Clip, Precision Instrument

6

Timeworn Wayfarer

How to obtain: Episode: Echoes content.

Aggressive Scout Rifles are fantastic support weapons in 3v3 playlists, chipping away at a target’s health bar from a distance to apply pressure. Timeworn Wayfarer excels at this role by default, but with the right perks and build, you can easily down players with two hits.

High Ground is an amazing perk here, granting you up to 15% bonus damage if you attack Guardians from an elevated position. That alone won’t do much, but if you pair it with Radiant, you can land two-hit kills against all Resilience levels. Run Ember of Empyrean

to extend Radiant on kills, and you have a powerhouse in 6v6 modes. It can even get Heal Clip to proc Ember of Benevolence

, reducing all ability cooldowns.

If you want a more generalist dueling weapon, Keep Away with Precision Instrument is a good choice. This will buff your range, accuracy, and make the optimal TTK more forgiving in most gunfights.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Heal Clip, Keep Away
• Column Two: High Ground, Precision Instrument

5

Hung Jury SR4

How to obtain: Onslaught playlist.

The latest version of Hung Jury can be found in the Onslaught playlist under Vanguard Ops. This variant can get Box Breathing in the second column, lowering the weapon’s optimal TTK to 0.67s. It’s a fantastic option for landing a quick three tap in 3v3 playlists, although it’s going to struggle in follow-up duels unless you reactivate Box Breathing.

If you aren’t a fan of Box Breathing, you can go for a backup Primary through Rapid Hit and Cascade Point, drastically reducing this weapon’s TTK if you kill a Guardian with another weapon first.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: No Distractions, Rapid Hit, Rewind Rounds
• Column Two: Box Breathing, Cascade Point

4

Fang Of Ir Yut

How to obtain: Crota’s End raid.

Fang of Ir Yut is one of two Rapid-Fire Scout Rifles to get Precision Instrument, a fantastic perk on this archetype for reducing the headshot requirement for hitting your optimal TTK. You can pair this with Rapid Hit for an absolute laser of a Primary weapon, provided you land a few headshots. It’s a monstrous PvP weapon in the hands of a skilled Scout user.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rapid Hit, Keep Away
• Column Two: Precision Instrument

3

Transfiguration

How to obtain: Last Wish raid.

With the right perks, Last Wish’s Transfiguration Scout Rifle can become a two-tapping machine after a single kill. This is thanks to its unique ability to roll with Kill Clip and Rampage simultaneously.

A single kill followed by a reload will give you Kill Clip’s 25% damage buff on top of Rampage’s 11%. Since they’re multiplicative with each other, the gun gets just enough damage to two-tap Guardians with headshots. Couple this with its absurdly high range stat, few Guardian will have a chance to get near you when this weapon’s perks are active. It isn’t as easy to use as other Scout Rifles, yet Transfiguration’s consistent two-tapping potential makes it worth chasing. You’ll top the scoreboard in every 6v6 match with this gun.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rampage
• Column Two: Kill Clip

2

Vision Of Confluence

How to obtain: Vault of Glass raid.

Precision Scout Rifles have never been better in the PvP sandbox, and the best example of that is Vision of Confluence. What was originally an underwhelming PvP Scout has become one of this meta’s best-performing Scout Rifles thanks to its excellent base stats and perk pool.

Zen Moment and Frenzy is a fantastic perk combination if you value weapon consistency above all else. Frenzy turns this weapon into a three-tap machine, and Surplus makes this weapon virtually immune to flinch. If you want a better roll for general 6v6 slaying, try Heal Clip and Kill Clip for incredibly easy three-taps that you can chain. If you love Scout Rifles at all, Vision of Confluence should be on your radar. This weapon will not disappoint.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Zen Moment, Tunnel Vision, Heal Clip
• Column Two: Frenzy, Kill Clip

1

Unworthy

How to obtain: Sundered Doctrine dungeon.

Unworthy is a fantastic PvP Scout Rifle if you’re fortunate enough to get Precision Instrument in the second column. As with Fang of Ir Yut, this perk allows you to achieve an easy 0.7s TTK against all Guardian types, provided you can land headshots reliably. If not, you can also run Frenzy or Paracasual Affinity for a reliable damage buff after a kill.

Consistency perks are aplenty in the first trait column, featuring the likes of Rapid Hit, Keep Away, and Heating Up. There’s no shortage of good options here, especially when you consider the weapon’s intrinsic anti-flinch origin trait for PvP.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rapid Hit, Keep Away, Heating Up
• Column Two: Precision Instrument, Frenzy, Paracasual Affinity