I've been playing with my Hunter a lot recently, switching between The Last Word, The Devil You Know, Bad Juju (which is actually pretty awesome in the Crucible), Patience and Time, and Epitaph 2261... but I got tired of that tonight. Something about the way I play my Hunter... mid-close range and a bit frantic at all times... wore me out so I switched back to my Defender Titan which I play slower, more feet on the ground, using Fair and Square to engage at generally longer ranges.

For a while now I've suspected something was up with Fair and Square but could never really prove it. Sometimes rival Guardians seemed to die too quickly! It generally takes three to four shots to kill an enemy but from time to time I almost thought I was getting the occasional kill with only two pulls of the trigger. Tonight I finally got the proof I was looking for. I engaged an enemy at mid range as they jumped high from a ridge on First Light. My first and second burst were on target, but my third burst hit the ground in front of me! The auto aim had turned off and sent my aim sharply downward because I had indeed gotten a two shot kill. I have no idea how many of the six bullets it too for the kill, probably all six, but my entire final burst was very clearly in the dirt. Needless to say, I was fairly impressed.

My Crucible Variant of Fair and Square with Third Eye and High Caliber Rounds is fairly stable and I can generally outshoot any gun going up against me in a fair duel, but if you can ever find a Fair and Square with something like Perfect Balance it might just be one of the best guns in the Crucible!

Since venturing more into PvP, I've found that autos seem to work best, at least for me. I have one legendary pulse rifle in the conduit. Its nice with full auto and glass half full, but still doesn't seem to put em down as fast as my shadow price.

I've heard some folks like the strangers rifle. I have an aversion to using rares though. Just doesn't seem right. Fair and Square sounds good, maybe I'll try it next.

Any other good pulse rifles out there?

Since venturing more into PvP, I've found that autos seem to work best, at least for me. I have one legendary pulse rifle in the conduit. Its nice with full auto and glass half full, but still doesn't seem to put em down as fast as my shadow price.

I've heard some folks like the strangers rifle. I have an aversion to using rares though. Just doesn't seem right. Fair and Square sounds good, maybe I'll try it next.

Any other good pulse rifles out there?

The Stranger's Rifle is actually really good. I'd say it's on par with Fair and Square except for two things. 1. Its lower attack rating will make it less effective in special events like the Iron Banner and high level PvE content like raids. 2. It has no scope so it's a bit harder to aim at distant targets. Other than that though it is pretty great and I'm actually a bit surprised I don't see it more often. It was in use a lot during the early days but seems to have dropped off to almost nothing. It's easy to use and kills quick, but maybe everyone else sees that blue background and puts it aside?

Bad Juju is really good in the Crucible. It's actually a lot like the Stranger's Rifle in that it can fire full auto, can be very stable, but lacks a scope so has to stick to the lower end of mid range. Its main drawback is its small clip size. It can kill in three very quick bursts (aim for the head) but it only holds five burst in the magazine so you don't have a lot of leeway for misses vs something like Fair and Square's 8 shot clip. The good news is with Bad Juju's signature upgrade this problem largely goes away. If you get the kill before you reload it will magically refill the clip and you can just keep firing. I do find the green smoke rising from its eyes a bit distracting sometimes though...

As for other pulse rifles, you just need to try some and find one you like. There's a pretty wide range you can buy or just get from drops. I had one rare pulse rifle that had a scope, a gigantic 30 round magazine, and fired full auto. It was a bit unstable and probably took four on target bursts to kill, but it was a ton of fun just holding down the trigger until the enemy died. I had another rare that was basically a Fair and Square without the name or purple background. Big, slow firing, but easy to use with good range.

Shadow Price is a good gun though. I don't use Auto Rifles, but it, Grim Citizen III, Shingen-E, and the Suros Regime are the ones I know I have to be almost perfect against or they will kill me.

I've been using a Super Pox VLO I got from a Vanguard drop lately, and it's actually fairly decent, especially in Crucible. I got lucky and mine has Perfect Balance and Full Auto, but I'd say if you get a pulse rifle that has Full Auto, use that, because all it takes is about 3 bursts and the enemy is down.

This FWC pulse has full auto, glass half full and can have a 42 round clip which is huge. However with glass half full, I'm thinking that using the original smaller clip makes more sense because you can get to those more powerful rounds quicker. You just have to be more accurate with each burst. Maybe I need to play with it more to get the feel down. I find it hard to land quality shots with this rifle.

Because I honestly cannot see the point of it on any gun... Before the firing animation ends, just let go of the trigger and press it again. Feels exactly like full-auto to me.

Except with The Last Word, of course. That thing is quite something else.

Oh yeah--that's my preferred weapon. It has some serious stopping power, but it's slow as all hell. I upgraded mine to 300, so it's at the max! If you can get your shots lined up properly, yeah that gun is a friggin' beast!

Because I honestly cannot see the point of it on any gun... Before the firing animation ends, just let go of the trigger and press it again. Feels exactly like full-auto to me.

Except with The Last Word, of course. That thing is quite something else.

I could be wrong, but I'm sure my Comedian had to be pumped between each round before I got the Full Auto upgrade. Now it skips that whole animation.

Ohhhhh yes on shotguns it's a monster.

Glass half full ramps up the damage slightly for each consecutive round fired. Once you fired half the mag, the next round only does slightly more damage. Each round after that does slightly more damage.

For me, stability is the most important thing for pulse rifles. Stranger's Rifle is great because it has really good stability. If I'm aiming at the head but some rounds are going high do to recoil, then it's pointless.

My Crucible Variant of Fair and Square with Third Eye and High Caliber Rounds is fairly stable and I can generally outshoot any gun going up against me in a fair duel, but if you can ever find a Fair and Square with something like Perfect Balance it might just be one of the best guns in the Crucible!

Have you tried the stranger's rifle? I find that the best pulse rifle in crucible fully upgraded. Then red death. Then fair and square.

I have an aversion to using rares though. Just doesn't seem right.

You know how you get crucible guns after games that are rare? That's the point. Many of them are actually good. They would not be that great for iron banner or PvE, but for crucible many are at the top.

Your SPV has full auto and perfect balance too? There must be something in the water out here.

Don't think it does, it just fires w/out trigger pulls. The advantage for me is that I tend to be more accurate with 1 single pull. I'm less likely to jerk the right stick. I guess its kinda like the whole pat your head and rub your belly at the same time thing.