Linear Fusion Rifles have been all over the place in the meta in Destiny 2. Their history ranges from the worst weapons in the game to some of the best picks for even the hardest pieces of content. Right now, they sit just behind Rocket Launchers in competing for the top spot, but they are still one of the best options for total damage against bosses in the game.
This article will cover the 10 best Linear Fusion Rifles in the entire game, justify their rankings, and provide the best rolls you should look for on them.
10 Threaded Needle
Threaded Needle, while not a bad option, is simply outclassed by better picks. Coming with options like Rapid Hit, Auto-Loading Holster, Field Prep, Clown Cartridge in the first slot, and Frenzy or Vorpal Weapon in the second slot may be enticing, but not only are there better damage perks, there is also no ammo-refunding trait on this weapon like Triple Tap or Fourth Time’s The Charm.
This makes Threaded Needle slightly worse than its competition but by no means a bad pick.
9 Sailspy Pitchglass
Sailspy Pitchglass is similar to the Threaded Needle in the way that it lacks an ammo-refunding perk but has a couple of solid damage options. Focused Fury is a great trait for damage, and Frenzy is always nice to have.
Overall, for perks you should look for Clown Cartridge or Rapid Hit in the first slot and Focused Fury or Frenzy in the second slot. While decent, it is quite rare as it can only be obtained through Xur or Dares of Eternity, making it quite bothersome to get.
8 Fire And Forget
The Stasis Linear Fusion Rifle, Fire and Forget, is a decent pick, but it’s outclassed by other Aggressive Frame Linear Fusion Rifles. The best damage trait on it, Focused Fury, can be quite hard to activate as Aggressive Frame Linears fire 3 bursts, making the condition for activating Focused Fury’s precision-based damage buff that much harder.
That being said, Fire and Forget still is quite good as it comes with Field Prep and some damage alternatives like Frenzy and High-Impact Reserves.
7 Briar’s Contempt
Briar’s Contempt is one of the many weapons from the Root of Nightmares Raid. It comes with some new perks like Envious Assassin and Paracausal Affinity, but these do not do much for the gun. Paracausal Affinity is an alright pick but not feasible in a Raid damage scenario, and Envious Assassin is decent, but nothing crazy.
Reconstruction or Rewind Rounds in column one is best, and Focused Fury or Frenzy are best in slot two. Paracausal Affinity is an okay substitute, though.
6 Reed’s Regret
Trials of Osiris’ Reed’s Regret is quite a beast. With excellent perks like Triple Tap, Clown Cartridge, and Firing Line, it can be confusing why this weapon is ranked quite low. The main reason is that these perks can be found on other weapons that are simply much easier to obtain.
Going into PvP for some players can be stressful, especially New Lights, but Trials of Osiris can be quite challenging, making for a rough experience toward obtaining Reed’s Regret. However, it is a very good option should you choose to go for it.
5 Taipan-4FR
Taipan, when it was released, was fawned over by much of the community, and for good reason. It is remarkably easy to obtain as it only requires a couple of weapon patterns to craft in the Enclave, but it also comes with some excellent perks.
In terms of the roll you will want to craft, Triple Tap and Firing Line are the best option, but if you are mostly a solo player, Focused Fury should replace Firing Line.
4 Stormchaser
Stormchaser ranks as the best Aggressive Frame Linear Fusion Rifle right now thanks to its excellent perks. Firing Line is arguably the best perk option for a Linear Fusion Rifle, but if you are playing solo, Frenzy is a good alternative.
In the first slot, Clown Cartridge, Rapid Hit, and Auto-Loading Holster are all very solid options, making Stormchaser a decent weapon to spend your time grinding should you want a good Aggressive 3-burst Linear Fusion Rifle.
3 Sleeper Simulant
Sleeper is a relic of an Exotic, formerly released in Destiny 1, it returned to the game back in the Warmind DLC. This exotic pumps out some solid damage and is quite easy to use, requiring next to no setup other than simply firing away at whatever boss you are wanting to defeat.
The catalyst for Sleeper is important, though. The charge time is abysmally long, coming in at 1.024 seconds, but with the catalyst, this drops by .25 seconds, coming down to 774ms, which is a noticeable drop, drastically improving the DPS of this weapon without trading total damage.
2 Arbalest
With the Anti-Barrier Champion buffs it received a while ago, Arbalest shot up in power to become one of the best exotics in the game. With a very low charge time of 533ms, Arbalest is the definitive Grandmaster Nightfall weapon as it takes care of Champions and deals high damage.
The catalyst is also very important for Arbalest as it increases the magazine size by 1 and also provides the perk ‘Genesis’ to the gun, which refills the magazine when destroying a matching element’s shield. Given that Arbalest is intrinsically Anti-Barrier, your weapon will reload every time you pierce a Barrier Champion’s shield.
1 Cataclysmic
By far, Vow of the Disciple’s Cataclysmic is the best Linear Fusion Rifle in the game. With its unique Raid perk, Bait and Switch, Cataclysmic can receive up to a 35% damage bonus for 10 seconds. Cataclysmic is popularly paired with weapons like Witherhoard and Izanagi’s Burden for very high-damage combos that even the hardest bosses in the game can’t stand against.
Cataclysmic also comes with Fourth Time’s the Charm, which is an excellent ammo perk, and when combined with Enhanced or Ionized Battery, it can fire up to 10 times which is perfect for the 10 second damage buff of Bait and Switch.