[Top 10] Destiny 2 Best Scout Rifles and How To Get Them

Updated:

30 Jul 2021

You may not think about Scout Rifles too often, but you should reconsider.

Scout Rifles, what happened to you? Once upon a time you were the most sought after weapon type in all of Destiny, Bungie’s big budget RPG/shooter title. While these rifles are in a tricky spot in the game’s everchanging sandbox right now, there are some diamonds in the rough. Specializing in accuracy at the cost of firing rate, Scouts are a great choice for players who tend to hang back and let the fight come to them. It lands somewhere between a Hand Cannon and a Sniper Rifle, making it an approachable option for new and old players alike. Destiny 2 is a game that updates itself frequently, so hopefully we can get a buff for these old standbys sooner than later. However, we have 10 Scout Rifles that work wonders in the game right now. Let’s get started.

10) Oxygen SR3

All I'm saying is give this thing a chance, it's a blast.

Might be a bit of a hot take here, but Oxygen SR3 is my tenth favorite Scout Rifle in Destiny 2. While it’s perk pool is curated, they are a lot of fun in PvE. It rolls with Dragonfly which causes explosions on precision kills, but it also comes with Meganeura, a perk that boosts the amount of damage Dragonfly does based on the number of precision hits beforehand. This clears rooms with firepower not typically seen from a Scout Rifle, but most importantly it is a Solar weapon so it can spawn Warmind Cells from the splash damage provided by Dragonfly. Just make sure Wrath of Rasputin is equipped in one of your armor mod slots, otherwise you can’t spawn the cells. Also worth mentioning is the new Seasonal Artifact mod, Energy Accelerant. This mod buffs Dragonfly exponentially making the explosions bigger and more lethal. This gun was tied to a pinnacle quest for The Vanguard back in Season of the Drifter, but have no fear if you missed out on that. Go to The Tower and pay a visit to the Monument to Lost Lights. Oxygen SR3 can be purchased for planetary/upgrade materials.

Here’s a quick rundown to see if it’s for you -

Polygonal Rifling - boosts stability
Accurized Rounds - boosts range
Dragonfly - precision kills create an elemental damage explosion
Meganeura - Dragonfly deals more damage based on the amount of precision hits beforehand

You can get this from -

Going to The Tower and buying it from the Monument To Lost Lights.

See it in action here -

Best part is that you don't really have to clean up afterwards.

9) The Jade Rabbit

The Jade Rabbit is as fun as it is deadly.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, right? That’s exactly what The Jade Rabbit specializes in. One of the original Exotic Scout Rifles, its intrinsic perk The Fate of All Fools rewards you for being inaccurate by providing a damage boost from chaining body shots. This is super useful in Crucible and other PvP content where you might have trouble landing precision hits. Chaining body shots procs the perk, boosting precision damage, giving you wiggle room in case you miss a headshot or two. The Jade Rabbit isn’t too hard to find either, you can get it to drop from any Exotic Engram you find in the world.

Here’s a quick overview before you hop to it -

Polygonal Rifling - boosts stability by reducing recoil
High-Caliber Rounds - rounds knock the target back further, which is great because it opens them up to land a precision hit after chaining body shots
Zen Moment - causing damage increases stability, which again, helps you control your shots
The Fate of All Fools - chain body shots to gain bonus damage on your next precision hit and return ammo to your magazine

You can find it by -

Extremely rare world drops, Exotic Engrams, or check in with Xur over the weekend and see if he’s selling it for Legendary Shards.

Check it out in a cool build here -

Everyone has gone through a Jade Rabbit phase. Some of us just never grew out of it.

8) The Guiding Sight

Iron Banner really has some homerun hitters in its loot pool.

Iron Banner always comes around with a decent amount of loot, and most of it is pretty ideal for the many activities in Destiny 2. The Guiding Sight is no exception, a genuinely good gun to begin with even outside of where it ranks among Scout Rifles. This thing hits like a truck and it’s perk pool includes Iron Grip and Iron Gaze, two interesting new-ish traits that diminishes one stat while significantly buffing the other. It’s a great option in PvP, as most Iron Banner weapons are, but I like it in general PvE content as well.

Try it out with these perks -

Cleanshot IS - beefs up range and handling
High-Caliber Rounds - knocks the target back farther and boosts range
Rapid Hit - rapidly landing precision hits increases reload speed and stability temporarily
Vorpal Weapon - increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians while their Super is active

You can go a couple different ways with The Guiding Sight. This roll is an all around good set up that you can take into PvE and PvP and have success. If you lean more into one activity over the other than you might want to farm for one with Zen Moment or Osmosis.

You can find this gun by -

Participating in Iron Banner, winning matches in Iron Banner, and from Iron Banner bounties

Check it out in action here -

It just flat out works, no gimmicks attached.

7) Royal Chase

The only thing you should be chasing is one of these with Dragonfly on it.

Introduced in Season of the Hunt, this 180 RPM Scout Rifle is a classic rendition of the sort and spits out Void damage as an Energy Weapon. While this archetype isn’t in the best place right now in Destiny 2’s sandbox, this is still a viable option across the board if Scout Rifles are your thing. It’s got a great perk pool that can turn this weapon either into a bombastic elemental turret or a sure-firing damage boosted boss deleter. First made available by way of the Season 12 Rewards, it came standard with Auto-Loading Holster and Dragonfly just to give you an idea of what Royal Chase can roll with. This gun may have a resurgence sooner than later as well with the addition of the Warmind’s Decree mod. A la Wrath of Rasputin, this mod creates Warmind Cells from Void splash damage. So you could equip Royal Chase with Dragonfly and have a ton of different options as long as Warmind’s Decree is slotted into one of your armor pieces.

Check it out with these perks -

Fluted Barrel - significantly boosts handling, slightly boosts stability
Tactical Mag - bigger magazine, better reload speed and stability
Full Auto Trigger System - self explanatory, holding down the trigger will fire this weapon at full auto
Dragonfly - precision kills create an elemental damage explosion

This is a really fun way to use this gun. Not only does it turn it into an auto-firing Warmind Cell factory, it also has a lot of stability to make sure you’re nailing plenty of shots to proc Dragonfly. Just make sure you have Warmind’s Decree equipped to get the most out of this roll.

You can find it by -

Farming Wrathborn Hunts or rewards from Crow on The Tangled Shore

See for yourself here -

Lots of good possibilities make this gun a good call.

6) Polaris Lance

BrayTech is always reliable. Morally ambiguous, but reliable.

This is a Scout Rifle that just works. It’s reliable, has simple-strong perks, and deals Solar splash-damage that gives you options for Warmind Cell builds. The Perfect Fifth is the main perk and grants ammo back for precision hits. The rub here is that landing four precision shots in a row will load an explosive Solar round for the fifth shot. Equip Wrath of Rasputin to spawn Warmind Cells from your Perfect Fifth shots and boom, you got a two pronged attack with flexibility. This is an all around great Scout Rifle, it’s common in PvP as well as PvE. There are other options that are better, but honestly if you’re new to Scouts or you just don’t want to overthink your loadout give Polaris Lance a go.

Take a look at the perks before you try it out -

Smallbore - increases range and stability
Tactical Mag - increases reload speed, stability, and magazine size
Zen Moment - causing damage increases stability
Fitted Stock - controls recoil, boosts stability, hurts handling a little bit
The Perfect Fifth - precision hits return ammo to the magazine. Landing four precision hits loads a delayed Solar explosive round for your next shot.

You can find Polaris Lance by -

Going to The Tower to buy it from the Monument To Lost Lights for planetary/upgrade materials

See it in action here -

Throwing this in your build is an old standard.

5) Patron of Lost Causes

I'm sorry I'm not sorry for throwing this gun in here.

Patron of Lost Causes is an older weapon, introduced to us all the back during the Sundial activity in Season of Dawn. It’s use is quasi-diminished at this point, as it didn’t survive the initial round of sunsetting. It is still viable in PvP in activities where Light Level isn’t counted, but I’m holding out for some of these weapons to come back as well so it’s worth keeping in your Vault if you have one or just want to bring out for general shenanigans like looting Lost Sectors or farming Strikes. Not sure if this speaks to how good Patron of Lost Causes is or how bad Scout Rifles are as a whole in Destiny 2 right now, but I am sure that it’s a lot of fun blowing stuff up with this gun.

The perk pool is decent, check to see if yours has these -

Smallbore - buffs range and stability
Tactical Mag - higher reload speed, stability, and magazine size. Accurized Rounds are a good call here as well, boosting range significantly.
Rapid Hit - rapidly landing precision shots increases stability and reload speed
Vorpal Weapon - increased damage to bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active

Unfortunately, unless you had this gun prior to Beyond Light there is no way to acquire it right now. Luckily, Bungie has seemingly been cycling in older weapons and armor with the new Umbral Engram system. Keep an eye out for this one if you don’t already have it, it’s a proven winner in all activities.

Check it out here -

It's hard not to include this weapon, despite it being sunset.

4) Symmetry

If you never used this gun, don't kick yourself. It might be one of the more overlooked options in the game.

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all when it comes to Scout Rifles, a gun like Symmetry comes along and shatters reality as you know it. You may or may not have slept on this weapon, given how quickly the player base tends to move on from seasonal exotics, but this is still one of the better options out there if you want to use a Scout Rifle. It feels great to play with, but the biggest thing about it is it’s intrinsic perk Revolution. By getting precision hits you start to build up your Dynamic Charge, after building this up you can switch the firing mode by holding down your reload button and shoot high-damage Arc Seekers that actually track the target. It’s an absolute cannon, combining brute strength with precision.

Check out these perks -

Revolution - fires full-auto, hold down your reload button to swap to Arc Seekers that track your target
Hammer Forged Rifling - boosts range
Particle Repeater - controls your recoil
Dynamic Charge - precision hits build up Dynamic Charge. Swapping to Arc Seeker mode increases damage and partially reloads the magazine based on the number of charges.
Composite Stock - boosts stability and handling

You can find this gun by -

Monument To Lost Lights in The Tower

Check out how dirty this weapon is here -

Is 64 kills good? Fells like a lot.

3) Night Watch

The most easily obtainable, relevant Scout in the game right now.

Arguably the best Scout Rifle in the game if it wasn’t for two newer weapons brought on board within the past six months. Night Watch came into the fold way back in Season of the Drifter, but recently resurfaced in Season of Arrivals saving it from being sunset. At 200 RPM it’s one of the faster firing Scouts, but is also a Lightweight archetype which grants faster movement in general when being used. With a bevy of perks available it makes this gun a great choice for either PvP or PvE.

Try getting a roll like this and see what you think -

Arrowhead Brake - significantly balances recoil and boosts handling
Tactical Mag - just an all around great magazine perk. Boosts reload speed, stability, and adds bullets to the mag.
Outlaw - precision kills greatly decrease reload speed
Demolitionist - kills with Night Watch grants grenade energy. Using your grenade in any capacity refills the magazine from reserve ammo

You can get Night Watch pretty easily, here’s how -

Playing Gambit
focus an Umbral Engram in the Prismatic Recaster by choosing the Worldly Weapons option
New Light questline reward

See it in action here -

You can find this gun a few different ways to get rolls you like, give it a try.

2) Trustee

"I Went To The Deep Stone Crypt And All I Got Was This Insane Looking Scout Rifle"

Trustee is one of the most unique Scout Rifles in all of Destiny 2. Aside from looking cool, this Braytech creation rolls with a couple of perks that only apply to the weapons found in the Deep Stone Crypt. The Rapid Fire Frame is the ideal archetype, setting it apart from other Scout Rifles by being full-auto as opposed to pulling the trigger for each individual shot. This gives it the ability to keep up with other weapons in Crucible but is also the pinnacle class of PvE content making Trustee the best of both worlds right now. Reconstruction and Redirection are two perks only found on Deep Stone Crypt weapons, the former slowly reloads over time up to double capacity and the latter gives a damage boost towards powerful enemies after killing weaker ones.

Take a look at these perks and try and get one for yourself -

Fluted Barrel - small boost to stability, big boost to handling
Tactical Mag - improved reload speed as well as stability, adds more rounds to the magazine
Outlaw - precision kills greatly increases reload speed
Redirection - killing rank-and-file enemies boosts damage against more powerful ones

This roll leans a little more towards PvE, but there are plenty of options if PvP is your preferred activity. Maybe try and land one with Killing Wind and Wellspring if you’re planning on taking this into Crucible.

You can find Trustee from -

Completing encounters in Deep Stone Crypt, it will randomly drop from chests in the raid.

Check it out here -

If you manage to land one of these make sure it's in your rotation.

1) Dead Man’s Tale

See You Space Cowboy ...

Fans had been asking Bungie to include a lever-action rifle in Destiny 2 for a while now, and in Season of the Chosen we got our wish in the form of Dead Man’s Tale. In one of, if not the best, secret missions to date we got to climb aboard the doomed Glykon ship and sniff around for a distress signal. This Scout Rifle makes you forget what kind of gun it is for a couple of reasons. First, it looks straight out of a space-age western but secondly it feels as good firing this gun from the hip as it does aiming down sights nailing shots. It’s big perk Cranial Spike grants bonus damage and decreased reload speed from chaining precision hits making you feel every bit like a cowboy as you’ll look carrying this thing around. It’s a Crucible favorite right now as well as just about every other activity thanks to being a flat out powerhouse weapon. One thing that makes this gun unique is that you can acquire random rolls of it, meaning you can farm for different versions of it by running the Presage mission. For example, the first time I got one it had Fourth Time’s The Charm and the second time I got one with Snapshot Sights. It’s a fun way to encourage you to keep doing Presage, which is a really fun mission anyway.

Try and land one with these perks -

Fluted Barrel - increases stability and greatly increases handling speed
Flared Magwell - greatly increases reload speed, which is the only weakness this gun has
Composite Stock - increases handling and stability
Vorpal - increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active

You can get Dead Man’s Tale by -

Completing Presage, a secret mission you can start by going to The Tangled Shore after completing a series of other steps.

Check out a detailed guide on how to get the gun here -

Really huge fan of the little whistle noise you hear when you use this gun.

Alright, so there it is. Ten Scout Rifles that are breaking barriers in Destiny 2 right now. As mentioned, they are in a weird place right now within the game’s meta but you should try and get these guns if you haven’t already. The sandbox is always changing and you’re going to want these when Bungie decides that it’s their turn to be buffed. Hope this list helped, do you use any of these weapons? What are your favorites? What did I leave out? Let me know in the comments, and as always, happy hunting.