'Destiny 2': Are Lightweight Pulse Rifles Worth Using Now?

The Outbreak Perfected exotic pulse rifle in Destiny 2

At the beginning of “Destiny 2: Season of the Haunted,” Bungie buffed a few weapon archetypes while nerfing some others. Lightweight, 450 RPM pulse rifles received a small upgrade that ended up boosting the entire archetype to the top of the Crucible meta.

For those who are unaware, all the pulse rifles under the lightweight frame category received PvP-specific buff, which boosted their outgoing damage from 15 to 16. One point of damage doesn’t seem like much on paper, and it didn’t really impact the optimal time-to-kill value of the weapon type either.

However, this measly single-point damage buff solved the biggest gripe that “Destiny 2” players had with lightweight pulse rifles in the Crucible, which was the incredible lack of forgiveness.

Before, 450RPM pulse rifles had a 100% precision hit requirement for them to be able to hit their optimal TTKs. This was obviously too demanding for many players, and other weapons were far more forgiving. For the longest time, lightweight pulses were neglected due to how lackluster they felt.

The buff to the weapon archetype made the kill requirement much more forgiving, only requiring players to hit six precision hits and two body shots on Guardians with low-mid tier Resilience. This puts lightweight pulses on the same playing field as their Rapid-Fire and High-Impact Frame cousins as far as ease-of-use goes.

The TTK remains at 0.87 seconds, but players should now have an easier time using them against meta picks like The Messenger, No Time to Explain or the variety of 140RPM hand cannons.

The BxR Battler, in particular, is especially powerful with this buff. This weapon was already much more powerful than the other lightweight frames, but the damage boost made it one of the best pulse rifles in the game.

With superior hip-fire accuracy and high base stats, the Battler can outgun almost every other primary weapon within 40 meters. Meanwhile, exotics like Outbreak Perfected and Bad Juju have become significantly more usable in the Crucible, especially the latter due to its stacking damage buff.

Though the PvP meta hasn’t changed much weapon-wise, players may now be more inclined to pick lightweight pulse rifles, especially on longer-ranged maps like Disjunction and Eternity.