“All-purpose weapons of war, the standard Auto Rifle is ideal for a number of combat scenarios. Stability is key to controlling fully automatic weapons.” - Auto Rifle Grimoire Card

Auto Rifles have been on a wild ride as far as their viability in the Crucible is concerned. Near the start of Destiny 2, fast-firing auto rifles (especially Hard Light) were dominating PvP. Once they (and pulse rifles as well) got hard nerfs all around, hand cannons took over. Following the nerf of 180 and 120 RPM hand cannons, auto rifles took over again, and the top contenders were still Adaptive Frames (600 RPM) and Rapid-Fire Frames (720 RPM). However, when the dust settled, everyone settled into another Hand Cannon grove with 140s at the top of the food chain. However, in a recent sandbox balance update, Bungie decided to give auto rifles a bit more love and improved their forgiveness in combat. This buff ushered in a surge of action for Auto Rifles in PvP, and more and more players have been picking up on certain weapons. Here are the top five Auto Rifles in Destiny 2 for PvP.

5. Sweet Business

HOW TO GET SWEET BUSINESS AND ITS CATALYST IN DESTINY 2 (BEYOND LIGHT) - YouTube

Now, unless you’ve been steamrolled by a crayon-munching Titan wielding this meme weapon, you’re probably going to tell me that this gun is a joke. Well, I’d agree with you…until the gun gets spun up. It has a blazing fast .36 TTK when spun up, but a lousy TTK of almost a second before that. However, when this gun is paired with Actium War Rig on Titan, you can fire for over thirty seconds without having to reload. That’s pretty much half a minute of just holding down the trigger. It basically turns you into a walking turret. Meme that, haters.

Sweet Business full details: www.light.gg/db/items/1345867570/sweet-business/

4. Duty Bound

How to get Duty Bound (Legendary Auto Rifle) Plus God Roll Guide in Destiny 2 - YouTube

Duty Bound has a good selection of perks (most notably Dynamic Sway Reduction and Perpetual Motion in different columns, as well as the Stats for All/One for All combination) and good base stats, and the Adept version has access to those juicy mods. The drawback is that you have to wait for the right week to farm, and Grandmasters can be challenging for solo and casual players.

Duty Bound full details: www.light.gg/db/items/435216110/duty-bound/

3. Sweet Sorrow

How to get Sweet Sorrow (Legendary Auto Rifle) Plus God Roll Guide in Destiny 2 - YouTube

This is the craftable version of Duty Bound. The perks in both columns are very, very similar (you can even get Stats for All/One for All on this one). Of course, it doesn’t get adept mods, but it’s easily farmable from the Psiops activity from Season 16 and is craftable. In addition, it’s one of the now-rare Rapid Fire Frames, making it the most viable of its subarchetype in the game

Sweet Sorrow full details: www.light.gg/db/items/1248372789/sweet-sorrow/

2. Gnawing Hunger

Xur selling a GOD ROLL Gnawing Hunger! 1st April 2022 for Xur Destiny 2 - YouTube

During the days of Forsaken and the seasons afterward, Gnawing Hunger was feared for its TTK and ruthless accuracy. The gun is still good and has a very reliable balance of stats, making it just an easy gun to use. The one glaring flaw to this weapon is that it is no longer obtainable by decoding engrams or even focusing them. Xur will occasionally come to town with a good roll, however, and if he does be sure to snap it up.

Gnawing Hunger full details: www.light.gg/db/items/821154603/gnawing-hunger/

1. The Summoner

Destiny 2: Leaving soon! Don't miss out on the best Summoner yet (rare perk combinations) - YouTube

Why do the best weapons for PvP come from Trials of Osiris? If you’re anything like me, this weapon is probably going to take a few knock-down-drag-out wins in Trials to get, but once you have it you have the advantage of focused decoding, which is super helpful for getting a good roll. This gun is a breeze to use and is a proper menace with the new Auto Rifle changes. Especially in the first column, The Summoner has a lot of great perks that enhance the experience, and, best of all, *chef’s kiss* the Adept version had access to Adept mods. A bit of a hassle to get your hands on, but easily the best Auto Rifle in the game currently. This article is just on time, too, as the Summoner is leaving the loot pool in a couple weeks! Grind out some Trials and aim for the best, or cross your fingers and hope for a return...

The Summoner full details: www.light.gg/db/items/1907698332/the-summoner/

If you enjoyed this article, do me a favor by dropping a comment below. Be sure to check out my other articles for more Destiny 2 content. And if you’ve ever wanted to get into writing, I can give you some friendly advice at thewritersrack.com, where I blog daily Monday-Friday. Looking for your next fantasy fiction read? You might want to check out Praetors of Lost Magic, Book 1: The Mage’s Gambit on Amazon, soon to be a finished trilogy!

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