Thoughts on Weapons (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Saturday, October 04, 2014, 10:45 (3946 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Universal Remote (exotic shotgun): I haven't seen anyone post this one yet. It's basically what you think - if you like running around with shotguns all the time, this one's for you. The accuracy/crit damage boost probably isn't as extreme as you're hoping when you first see it. You won't be picking off enemies from a mile away. But it is enough to quick-scope and 1-shot most smaller enemies within 30-40 feet or so. You'll become very dangerous at short range with this thing, if that's your style. You do have to think about the fact that you're now using a primary with limited range, though, and pack a special that can make up for it if you're going to need range - sniper or a stable fusion rifle. Overall, worth it if you're an up-close player.

Bad Juju (exotic pulse rifle): Agree with Cody for now, and I am likewise keeping mine until the buff hits. Its special effect could make it beastly in theory, if its base damage or magazine were increased to the point that it could reliably kill enemies with less than 1 magazine.

Stranger's Rifle (rare pulse rifle): Again, I find myself agreeing with Cody. Seems like a lot of people are down on this weapon, or just had something better already, but I used it for quite a while after I got it, even maxed out its upgrades. And as a general rule I'm not big on pulse rifles.

The Devil You Know (legendary hand cannon): I decided to post mostly to let people know about this one. I've seen several people mention that, like me, they got a lot of use out of the Regulator rare hand cannon, and this one's a great replacement if you want something similar. It doesn't have quite the impact of the Regulator, but it's close, and I think it handles pretty much identically. Has the same enormous magazine (or cylinder? whatever).

Grim Citizen III (legendary auto rifle): Auto rifles aren't my thing, but this one's OK. Stability is excellent, easy to keep rounds on target. I don't care for the life support upgrade on mine, but the handling's good in general and there are probably more useful upgrades out there.

LIGHT/Beware (legendary fusion rifle): Good impact and stability. Mine is solar damage and eats Wizards for breakfast. One of my favorite weapons, if only because of my history with it. It was my first legendary (purchased it from Vanguard Quartermaster), and at the time the most challenging thing in Destiny for me and my squad were the Hive Wizards in strikes (this was before the update that eased up on majors in the later minion waves). This thing tipped the balance in our favor.

The Calming (legendary fusion rifle): Good fusion rifle. Mine happens to be arc damage. It also has one upgrade I really like (kills grant bonus reserve ammo) and one I find mostly useless on a fusion rifle (slide further). There are probably units out there with a better second upgrade.

Super Good Advice (exotic machine gun): It does have some recoil, but its special effect mostly negates it, and I've found it does much higher damage per shot than most fast-firing machine guns. I found it OK against most strike bosses, especially Phogoth and Askor. Not great against Valus, though, because his crit spot is so small and you usually have to be too far from him to hit it reliably. However, as Durandal117 noted, it is excellent for crowd control so I still bring it to that fight to deal with minions. Lastly, I'll note that this thing is good for a laugh when demonstrating the special effect to others. Get a full magazine, and just fire at nothing until it runs out. You'll be there a while. I need to test and get some actual numbers, but I feel like the rate of return on missed shots is somewhere between 75-90%. Definitely significant. Lastly, the exotic bounty to get this one is far and away the easiest exotic bounty I've had. All you have to do is kill enemies with a machine gun - there's no crucible required at all. You have to wait for Xur, but I was lucky enough to get this one on a Saturday. :)

Unfriendly Giant (legendary rocket launcher): Nothing super-special about mine, but it's a two-shot launcher and reloads quickly if you get a kill with the last shot (not hard to do with a rocket launcher, obviously), which makes it the best solar launcher I've found.