While a lot of rifles dominate the PvP meta, Scout Rifles are more of a PvE weapon. Scout Rifles are a great choice for farming in PvE game modes to get yourself some of the most sought-after PvE weapons and are far less of a grind compared to some of the other weapons players spend hours upon hours farming to get.
Some Scout Rifles, however, can hold their own in a PvP firefight just as well as some of the higher-rated competitive weapon choices. Such a thing has risen them up above the rest of their counterparts to a place on this list.
10 Touch Of Malice
This is a Kinetic weapon that you can pick up through the King’s Fall Raid, but might not be for everyone. You will need to adapt your play style around this weapon rather than the other way around of building a gun to your play style. This is an exotic weapon, meaning it’s got a trick up its sleeve. Its Touch Of Malice perk will drain some of your health when you make the last shot from your magazine but gives that shot a damage boost, and if you can kill 3 targets fast enough, it will restore your health. There are also some new exotics to try out with the latest expansion.
9 Tears Of Contrition
Here’s another well-known kinetic weapon and no farming is needed for this one since both Xur and Banshee-44 have you covered. It is worth noting that they charge different amounts, with Xur wanting 50 Legendary shards and 1K Glimmer, while Banshee-44 will be charging 30 Legendary shards and 7K Glimmer. This is a good choice for those who enjoy precision frames and has a slew of perks that work well when combined together, including adding rounds back to the magazine, allowing you to keep popping large groups of targets from a comfortable distance without needing to reload.
8 Nightwatch
Another weapon for the kinetic damage type, and, like the Tears of Contrition, can be purchased from Xur and Banshee-44. They even charge the same prices they do for Tears of Contrition. This weapon can be built to really dish out the damage on groups of enemies.
By reducing the reload, you will be able to increase the dps from shots fired, but the perk you’ll want to pair this with is Explosive Payload, which will put 50% of the damage into an explosion that will do an increased 30% damage for all PvE targets.
7 Staccato-46
This is the first of two Solar damage type scout rifles on this list, and one not stocked by Xur. It is part of the world loot drop pool, but you can also take your patronage to Banshee-44 if you’d like. This weapon has some of the best perks available and that makes it something you will want to get your hands on early when you see it sitting in Banshee-44’s wares, at least until you can start your grind farming for a Trustee to swap it out with.
6 Nameless Midnight
This weapon has been reworked again and again, making it one of the most reworked weapons in Destiny 2, although a lot of other weapons could say the same. It has a lot of good perks and is rather easy to get. You’ll be able to acquire this kinetic weapon in one of two ways, by ranking up at the Tower through Zavala, or you can use the arguably much faster route of running through Vanguard Ops for a random chance at it dropping upon completion.
5 Long Arm
Our first Arc damage type of this list, Long Arm is on an aggressive frame, and it is one you’ll be able to take with you when going up against other players after brushing up on some basic PvP tips.
Build this gun to hit hard and don’t try to keep your distance since that is just asking to get taken out by another player with a longer-ranged weapon. To use Long Arm to its fullest, you’ll want to be getting up close and personal. As the frame suggests, be aggressive and run down your targets while unloading everything you have at them.
4 Trustee
Trustee is the second of our two Solar damage types and is a lot harder to come by than the Staccato-46. This weapon will set you on a course for Europa to try your hand at the six-player raid known as Deep Stone Crypt. Build this rapid-fire frame to just mow down your targets with its deep ammo reserves and a faster reload once the magazine is empty. This weapon assured itself a high place on this list before the list even started.
3 Dead Man’s Tale
This weapon is simply a treat for the eyes to look at and can be imagined in many other games outside the Destiny franchise with its wood and iron aesthetic while being dappered-up with gold trimming. This kinetic weapon is an exotic, and like the last exotic, it’s got something special for you to take a look at. Cranial Spike will grant you a bonus to target acquisition and your weapon’s range whenever you start chaining precision hits with it, and this just racks up the body count.
2 Tarnished Mettle
A lot of players are very familiar with the word “tarnished” due to another well-known game franchise. This weapon is another Arc damage type, but we’re dropping the aggressive frame for a lightweight one to make you move faster and give you some great handling. It has a lot of good perks, but one of the best is Voltshot. Voltshot will help you output more damage than any build without it, making it a must-have perk. Just like Tears of Contrition and Nightwatch, Xur and Banshee-44 have you covered at the same cost, so if you have enough for 1 weapon, save it for this one, because the others don’t hold a candle to it.
1 Doom Of Chelchis
This weapon looks like it was pulled out of a nightmare, making its name all the more fitting. This is the sole Void damage type scout rifle on this list and easily earns it’s spot above all the others. This thing is great in both PvP and PvE, making it your go-to all-purpose scout rifle. To get it, you’ll have to farm King’s Fall, one of several raids, until you have enough to craft this utter beast of a gun. Use the perk combination of Frenzy with Explosive Payload, allowing you some flat damage boost numbers and creating explosions with no damage falloff. Doom of Chelchis really makes it easy for you to deal damage while avoiding damage yourself.