Destiny 2: Expert’s Take On Best Pulse Rifles [3500+ Hours Played]

As a veteran player, the BXR-55 Battler is easily the best Destiny 2 PVE Pulse Rifle with great stats and perks selection, and you can easily farm it, too. The gun itself is an easter egg of the Halo Franchise’s Battle Rifle, introduced in the Bungie 20th Anniversary. You can obtain the BXR-55 Battler via the Treasure Chest on Xur’s Treasure Hoard, and it can also sometimes be acquired through the Dares of Eternity activity.

The No Time To Explain returns in Destiny 2 from the previous game but as an Exotic Pulse Rifle with unique perks and an Exotic Catalyst. Obtaining No Time to Explain is relatively simple as you simply need to finish the Beyond Light DLC’s campaign and then visit the Exo Stranger on Europa.

Following are the special perks and Exotic Catalyst of the No Time To Explain:

• Rewind Again: Precision shots and shots against combatants slowed or frozen by Stasis will return to the magazine.
• Feeding Frenzy: Each rapid kill with this weapon progressively increases reload speed for a short time.
• Time-Slip: At 10 stacks of Rewind Again, a small portal will open, shooting bullets from an alternate timeline version of this weapon. Precision hits extend the portal’s duration.
• Blast from the side (Exotic Catalyst): Projectiles from the Time Portal shoot more frequently.

In my experience with Destiny 2 since Year 1, the Graviton Lance is easily one of the most fun weapons I’ve used. It’s a random exotic drop, but you can also have a chance to obtain it via Xur’s weekly inventory of Exotics. Graviton Lance received a rework alongside other Exotic Weapons in Season 21 which made it potent in the meta now.

Following are the special perks and Exotic Catalyst of the Graviton Lance:

• Black Hole: Second shot of a burst rips a hole through space-time, doing high damage and recoil with no falloff.
• Cosmology: Kills with this weapon cause enemy targets to detonate and spawn Void projectiles that track targets.
• Exotic Catalyst: Adds +20 Range stat.

The Outbreak Perfected is yet another returning Exotic from Destiny 1, which became my favorite weapon towards the end of its life cycle. In Destiny 2, it maintains its viability of mowing down enemies with its unique perks revolving around SIVA Nanites. You can purchase the Outbreak Perfected from the Exotic Archive Kiosk in the Tower.

Following are the special perks and Exotic Catalyst of the Outbreak Perfected:

• The Corruption Spreads: This weapon creates SIVA nanite swarms on rapid hits and precision kills.
• Parasitism: More damage is dealt to enemies based on the number of SIVA nanites attached to them.
• Disease Vector (Exotic Catalyst): Increases damage and generates more Nanites when enemies are killed.

I couldn’t argue but tell anyone that Revision Zero is perhaps the most unique Pulse Rifle right now in Destiny 2, with its Firing Mode Swap mechanic. Plus, now that the “Operation Seraph’s Shield” Exotic Mission rotates weekly with other missions, you can also farm the Revision Zero with random rolls to make it even better than before or obtain it for the first time.

• Hunter’s Trace: This weapon fires special shield-piercing ammunition and precision hits grant targeting data.
• [Alternate Weapon Action] Swap to the alternate scope, loading high-damage rounds based on the amount of targeting data.
• Strong against [Shield-Piercing] Barrier Champions.

The Oversoul Edict Arc Pulse Rifle is back from Destiny 1 with the reprised Crota’s End raid. The weapon has a chance to be dropped from the second and third encounters of the raid. Oversoul Edict, along with the other raid weapons, can be crafted and slotted with Enhanced Traits once you obtain five Deepsight weapons for them.

• Cursed Thrall (Basic Origin Trait): After defeating a target with a melee attack, final blows with this weapon cause targets to explode for a short duration.

The Messenger is a Legendary Kinetic Pulse Rifle that is available from Trials of Osiris, and while I personally don’t delve into that activity anymore, grinding it for the Dead Messenger can be somewhat enticing. I would even say it’s one of the best Destiny 2 PVP Pulse Rifles alongside No Time To Explain.

The Vow of the Disciple raid has my favorite weapons selection in Destiny 2 out of most raids, and the Insidious Pulse Rifle is among them. You can obtain it as a random drop via the raid’s second and final boss encounters and the Adept version on the Master Difficulty. But instead of running the Master version, I’d honestly craft it with enhanced perks by getting five of the Deepsight red border variants.

• Souldrinker (Basic Origin Trait): Gain health based on the number of hits before reloading.

In my 4 years of Destiny 1, the Smite of Merain has been one of my favorite weapons ever, solely because it featured the Dragonfly perk. The weapon returns in Destiny 2 with the reprised King’s Fall raid and can be obtained via the second and fourth encounters with the Adept or ‘Harrowed’ version. Like other King’s Fall raid weapons, you can also craft the Smite of Merain.

The Collective Obligation isn’t a weapon I’ve wanted to obtain so badly, so I didn’t need to repeatedly farm Rhulk (Vow of the Disciple Raid’s Final Boss) for it. But despite that, it is still an underrated raid-exclusive exotic weapon that can be greatly utilized with Void Subclass builds in Destiny 2 after the balancing changes done to it.

Following are the special perks of the Collective Obligation:

• Void Leech: Leeches Void debuffs when damaging targets that are suppressed, weakened, or volatile.
• Once charged, [Alternate Weapon Action] to swap firing modes.
• In this mode, damage from this weapon applies the same Void debuffs that were leeched.
• Umbral Sustenance: Magazine is automatically reloaded when you gain Devour, a Void Overshield, or become invisible.

For me, Bad Juju was one of the strongest exotics back in Destiny 1 due to its superb perk to generate your super energy quickly on successive kills. In Destiny 2, sadly, it has seen little to no use in loadouts, especially from my end, because you can easily gain super energy through various other means with optimal builds.

Following are the special perks of the Bad Juju:

• String of Curses: Kills refill the magazine, increase damage for a short duration, and grant Super energy based on the strength of String of Curses.
• Unending Curse (Exotic Catalyst): Extends the duration of the ‘String of Curses’ perk.

The New Purpose is a Stasis Pulse Rifle that’s barely used, even with my personal experience using the weapon. You can acquire it via the Duality dungeon through the final boss (Nightmare of Caiatal) encounter.