Each season brings a lot of changes to Destiny 2’s PvP playground, which shifts the meta toward certain types of weapons or characters. With the right skill, Pulse Rifles can still be a safe choice even in metas that favor CQC battles. In the same way that Hand Cannons and Auto Rifles do, these three-round burst guns are great for fighting at middle range.
Peak fire can help Hand Cannons, but Pulse Rifles have great accuracy and perk combos that work in their favor. Pulse Rifles have never been better in Destiny 2’s Crucible than they are now, thanks to abilities like Headseeker and Zen Moment. We’re going to talk about the best Pulse Rifles in PvP today, including some great Exotic guns and must-have Legendary options.
Revision Zero
Revision Zero is an Exotic Pulse Rifle that can be fully modularized. It has many feature choices, Exotic Catalysts, and fire modes. You can change this weapon to make it work like either an Aggressive Frame or a special two-round burst gun. Either way, the TTK numbers are the same. Most people will want to use the gun’s four-round burst setting to fully charge its Exotic perk. Multiple kills will charge the Sniper Rifle’s alt-fire mode, which will hit Guardians in the head once.This makes Revision Zero very strong in 6v6 games, where it’s easy to chain kills.
The crazy stats of the Revision Zero gun are the real reason to use it, not its unique alt-fire. It is possible to get close to 100 range and stability on Revision Zero with the right bonuses and a fully improved intrinsic. This makes it a very reliable Pulse Rifle. With Elemental Capacitor and an Arc subclass, you can make this stability even better. This will make the gun’s handling stat max out, making it very quick. That works well with Outlaw for quick reloads or Under Pressure for better aim.
This gun has a lot of good points, but Revision Zero can’t compete with the current best Pulse Rifles in the Crucible because it only has 50 aim help and no TTK-changing bonuses. If you can deal with those problems, Revision Zero is a great program that you should use.
The Third Axiom
Since its first appearance in Season of the Chosen, The Third Axiom has been indirectly improved several times. It might seem odd to see such an old weapon on this list. As an Arc 390 RPM Pulse Rifle, the Third Axiom has some of the best perk combos you can find on a Pulse Rifle. Rangefinder with Headseeker is the best roll here because it greatly improves this gun’s range and helps you aim in a fight. Headseeker’s extra damage won’t let you two-burst Guardians by itself, but it will work with Arc Surge mods or Radiant to make up the difference.
You should also keep an eye out for Zen Moment in the third column, because it takes away the flinch from Pulse Rifles during a fight. Changes to zoom will be made in a later season. Since Pulse Rifles build up Zen Moment stacks very quickly, they have a lot less flinch and can use Headseeker’s improved accuracy multiplier and aim help. In the end, you have a monster that rarely misses when it fights because it has great bonuses and a clear reach. You can also trade Zen Moment for Killing Wind to get a huge +20 range after a kill. If you ever have too many Vanguard Engrams, you might want to make some Third Axioms.
Vigilance Wing
Even though Pulse Rifles are very famous in the Crucible, Vigilance Wing is not used very often. Since Destiny 2 came out, this weapon has been hard to get used to. But once you get used to the long five-round burst, the Pulse Rifle is very competitive in all game types.
Longer bursts and a stable base give you an advantage in mid-range battles, throwing your opponent’s aim into the sky while yours stays on target. The Catalyst’s Ensemble perk makes this gun much more useful in 3v3 games like Trials of Osiris by improving your low handling and reload speed. Its Exotic perk is basically a stronger version of Alacrity; if a friend dies, it gives them more health recovery and moving speed. If you’re the last Guardian standing, your weapon will work a lot better, which makes this gun great for Elimination games. You can’t beat Vigilance Wing once you get used to its five-round burst and low control.
Autumn Wind
You can get Autumn Wind from the Crucible. It is a Kinetic 540 RPM Pulse Rifle. When it comes to 540s, Autumn Wind is the only one that can roll with Headseeker. This perk is great for Rapid-Fire because it can change your next two bursts, giving you six headshots and one body shot for an easy seven-hit kill.
You should make Autumn Wind’s range as long as it can be. Rangefinder is the best item for this right now because it directly raises your zoom stat, but Killing Wind is still a good choice. After a kill, that perk gives a huge +20 range and +40 handle, which are two stat boosts that stand out on a Rapid-Fire pulse. Take this roll for a spin in the Crucible if you’re lucky enough to get it. Only meta Pulse Rifles are more consistent than this gun.
Phyllotactic Spiral
For PvP Pulse Rifles, the Phyllotactic Spiral is the best. This is a High-Impact Frame that can be crafted, has a clear scope, and has a great origin trait that lets out a low-damage rocket after hitting multiple bursts, making it perfect for 1v2 battles. You should try this gun because of those facts, but the real power of Phyllotactic Spiral comes from its benefits.
Keep Away and Headseeker give this weapon a lot of power in the Crucible, especially when they are both upgraded. Keep Away makes the weapon much more accurate and speeds up the restart. It also extends its range. This works great with Headseeker’s improved aim help and accuracy bonus, letting you two-burst if you can hit someone in the head after Headseeker starts. This gun’s slow handling is its only real flaw, but you can fix that with a Fluted Barrel and a Handling Masterwork. Adding a Counterbalance Stock will give you 95° of recoil, and you’ll have a great fighting tool.
BXR-55 Battler
The BxR-55 Battler is Destiny’s version of the Halo 2 Battle Rifle. It has the famous combat aim and scope from Bungie’s Halo games. This gun is a stat monster when it comes to how well it works. The BXR is more like an Exotic weapon than a normal Legendary weapon because it has above-average stats in every area, a huge 85 aim help, and the ability to hit 100 recoil direction with the Arrowhead Brake.
It was released during Bungie’s 30th anniversary, but it’s been nerfed several times since then. It now has an average zoom grade of 18 and can’t roll with Rangefinder, which makes the gun’s range much shorter. The good news is that you can fully make this gun, and if you like Pulse Rifles, the BXR’s perk pool is still one of the best in the game.
Killing Wind and Kill Clip might be the best mix of perks for this gun in PvP. One kill will give you +20 range, +40 control, a huge boost to your turn speed, and a lightning-fast 0.53s TTK against Guardians with T9 Resilience or less. Because of the gun’s base frame, your hip-fire aim is so good that the BXR can keep up with more powerful weapons at close and medium range. It’s simple: the BxR is better than most Exotic Primaries and even Pulse Rifles. Try the BXR even if you don’t like Pulse Rifles in PvP.
Chattering Bone
Chattering Bone is a 450 RPM Kinetic Pulse Rifle with good stats, a good scope, and a high aim help of 71. At first view, it looks like a Kinetic version of the BxR Battler that isn’t as good, but the Chattering Bone’s perk pool is so great that this gun can still compete if you fight in its natural range. It’s important to remember this because the Chattering Bone has two S-tier benefits in the first column. You must choose between Rangefinder and Kill Clip.
Most players will choose Rangefinder because it makes Lightweight Frames much more consistent. But we strongly advise you to choose Kill Clip instead. This is because of two things:
- In a future season, zoom values will no longer depend on range, which will make Rangefinder less desired.
- Kill Clip and Headseeker can be used together.
This gun can two-burst at any Resilience with five headshots and one body shot when Kill Clip is paired with Headseeker. This makes it the most forgiving 450 RPM pulse in Geometry Dash World. Without Rangefinder, it will be hard to kill enemies farther away than 35 meters. But the extra damage is so obvious that it’s well worth the price. Being aware of this gun’s range will help you win 1v2 and 1v3 battles with little effort.
The Messenger
When it came out in Season of the Chosen, The Messenger changed the way most Crucible games were played. There have been several reissues of this gun since then. But none of them have improved the Messenger as much as Season of the Deep’s. However, the Messenger still has great base stats and great origin traits. This weapon also now has some great perk options for both 6v6 killing and 3v3 duels.
Rapid Hit and Headseeker are the best perk combo here. Since Headseeker got a buff, this has become an S-tier combat perk that makes your aim help much better and your accuracy damage slightly better when you hit a body shot. When you follow up with precise hits, Rapid Hit will give you extra stability and reload speed. This gun is a fighting machine for Trials of Osiris and Competitive Crucible. You can swap out Rapid Hit for Moving Target to get even more help with your aim if you want even more accuracy.
Of course, the Messenger became famous for being the best Pulse Rifle for killing out in 6v6 modes or grabbing 1v3s. That’s still possible since Desperado and Kill Clip are in the last list of perks. Desperado’s TTK is a little lower than Kill Clip’s. But Kill Clip’s extra damage helps make up for the damage loss at longer ranges. No matter how you play, if you’re a good player, the Messenger is a PvP monster.
No Time To Explain
This is still a powerful gun in the Crucible, no matter how many times Bungie makes it less powerful. The Pulse Rifle that the Exo Stranger is known for is a High-Impact Frame Kinetic with great base stats: 80 range and 60 steadiness. The No Time to Explain is a great gun to shoot. Because it has a clear projected sight and great sound design. But the Exotic perk makes it a PvP threat.
If you hit ten targets with this weapon accurately, it will open a time tunnel that will act as a second gun and shoot targets automatically for a short time. In essence, this gun calls up a version of the Warlock’s Arc Soul that is much stronger and can hit. The best part is that you only need to hit the target in the head, not precisely. So you can easily use this in any PvP situation. No Time to Explain is an S-tier primary for all Crucible game types as long as you can consistently hit the head.
Graviton Lance
Graviton Lance went from having no power to being a hero with just one adjustment pass. With Season of the Deep, the Graviton Lance could fire faster and do more damage, and each burst was less back-loaded. This gun’s TTK is still a bit slow at 0.8 seconds. But everything else about it is the best in its class.
That’s a long list for any gun, let alone a Pulse Rifle. Chattering Bone and BXR Battler deal more damage than Graviton Lance when their damage perks are up. But Graviton Lance is very simple to use. This gun is very stable and has a huge 75 aim help. So it’s almost impossible to miss targets with it. Most Crucible players can easily get to the best 0.8s TTK unless their opponent is using Explosive Payload or Timed Payload. Because the Cosmology perk can help you chain kills. It’s easy to see why Graviton Lance has become so popular in PvP.
