In Destiny 2, Exotic Scout Rifles are incredibly powerful weapons but with so many options it can be hard to decide which one fits you.
Welcome to our Destiny 2 Best Exotic Scout Rifles Guide! Exotic scout rifles are one of the strongest archetypes in the game because of their ability to provide the user relative safety while providing some of the strongest perks in the game. In this guide, we will be discussing why you should want to use them, how to use them effectively, and which ones you should consider for your own arsenal.
What are the Best Exotic Scout Rifles for PvE?
The best Exotic Scout Rifle is the Polaris Lance because it has great damage and isn’t build specific. Two other great options are Touch of Malice and Wicked Implement.
Here’s a list of the Best Scout Rifles in Destiny 2 PVE:
- Polaris Lance: Solar scout rifle with fantastic base damage and add clear giving a potent weapon regardless of build or subclass
- Touch of Malice: One of the highest damage primary weapons, its perk can inflict self-damage, so it’s important to have a build to counteract that.
- Wicked Implement: Stasis based scout rifle with a strong damage profile and powerful perk synergy with the stasis subclass.
This list might focus on the current most powerful exotic scout rifles in the game, but there are plenty others that can be used with varying success with specific builds. Even non-exotic scout rifles can be quite effective in all levels of content as long as you pair them with an solid loadout.
3. Wicked Implement
Wicked Implement is a brand new stasis exotic scout rifle released during Season of the Deep in a special exotic mission. With strong subclass synergy and great perks its a great option for add control.
Wicked Implement’s exotic perk allows it to easily slow and freeze enemies, and produce stasis shards necessary for stasis builds to thrive. With a stasis build this weapon allows for the add control to transition from just abilities to your weapon as well giving you more opportunities to keep your enemies from even being able to move.
2. Touch of Malice
Touch of Malice is a kinetic exotic scout rifle released in Destiny 1 and brought into Destiny 2 with the reprised King’s Fall Raid. It can be obtained as a random drop for killing the final boss in the raid once per character, per week or farmed on the week the raid is on the rotator.
Being one of the highest primary damage weapons makes Touch of Malice a must have for a lot of guardians. An easy to use exotic perks allows the weapon to become powerful even in new hands. The exotic perk allows for massive single target damage; however, as its active it will damage the wielder when fired so healing is necessary to avoid taking lethal damage.
1. Polaris Lance
Polaris Lance is a solar exotic scout rifle released during the Warmind Expansion and can be purchased in the Tower Exotic Kiosk. It comes packed with strong perks which make up for the archetypes weaknesses while still leaning into its strengths.
One of the strongest advantages of Polaris Lance is its exotic perks which allow the weapon to deal significant AOE damage negating the intrinsic weak add clear. It also has a reloads your weapon as you land precision hits allowing a constant damage loop as long as you are accurate.
Why use an Exotic Scout Rifle?
Scout Rifles have a lot of base strengths with very few overall negatives. They offer superior range versus any other archetype allowing for the user to be at a safe range before engaging their enemies. They deal high damage per bullet and often being equipped with scopes making them fantastic precision damage weapons. When pairing these base strengths with perks that make them exponentially more powerful, you create a weapon system that can perform vastly higher than any other regardless of content.
Here’s why exotic scout rifles are used in Destiny 2 PvE:
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Great damage | Weak add clear |
| Easy to use | Require builds for effectiveness |
| Powerful perks | Passive playstyle |
Tips for Using an Exotic Scout Rifle in PvE
Here are some additional tips for using exotic scout rifles in PvE:
- Use them at long range. Scout rifles are best used at long range, so try to engage enemies from a distance.
- Focus on precision hits. Scout rifles are precision weapons and some enemies have extra precision damage multipliers so it’s important to aim for precision hits.
- Pair them with a good close-range special weapon. Scout rifles are not the best for close-range combat, so pair them with a good special weapon for when you need to switch to a different range.
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