Whenever Destiny gets an expansion, the vendors in the tower finally get new weapons in stock. Those of us who obsess over perks and rolls and stats promptly have an anxiety attack deciding which one to buy first.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after two years of Destiny, it’s that I’ll be able to buy everything I want in due time. We’re still in the early days of Rise of Iron, however, so it pays to be choosy. Here are the five vendor guns that have most impressed me, with some thoughts on each.
Sniper Rifle – Event Horizon (Crucible Vendor)
Scopes: Sightsys SLS20, Shortgaze SLH10, Tacsys SLS15
Perks: Grenadier/Spray & Play, Explosive Rounds/Smallbore, Hidden Hand
A high-impact sniper rifle with a shortgaze and hidden hand? Sign me the hell up. This was the first gun I bought in Rise of Iron, and it was a solid purchase. The clip only holds three bullets, one less than the standard 4, so in the long run it’s probably better for crucible than for PVE. It’s doing just fine in PVE for me for now, though.
Hand Cannon – The Palindrome (Crucible Vendor)
Sights: Truesight IS, Fastdraw IS, Quickdraw IS
Perks: Mulligan/Spray and Play, Rifled Barrel/Casket Mag, Rangefinder
Lots of people are flipping out over this hand cannon, since it’s a near-perfectly rolled version of the Eyasluna archetype folks have spent the last month or so chasing as a Crucible drop. I have a Byronic Hero with a near-equal roll so I haven’t bought it yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
Scout Rifle – Angel’s Advocate (Vanguard Vendor)
Scopes: Red Dot ORA2, Ranged Lens RLR5, OEG Riflescope
Perks: Outlaw/Take a Knee, Smallbore/Explosive Rounds, Reactive Reload
A scout with MIDA-tier impact equipped with a reload perk (outlaw) and a “more damage after you reload” perk (reactive reload). Not a bad combo, and I’m sure I’ll get this gun pretty soon. It feels fairly similar to last year’s Not Like The Others scout rifle, which you could buy with a similarly cool roll. I already have that gun, so the Advocate can wait for now. Definitely one to pick up if you like scouts, though. Lots of people seem enamoured of the Dead Orbit scout (Keystone 01) as well, but I’m not a huge fan of the high-impact/lower stability archetype.
Shotgun – Last-Ditch 001 (Dead Orbit)
Ballistics: Smart Drift Control, CQB Ballistics, Soft Ballistics
Perks: Flared Magwell/Quickdraw, Hammer Forged/Surrounded, Rangefinder
A Party Crasher/Matador-type shotgun with strong perks available at a vendor? Sweet. This gun’s roll isn’t quite good enough for it to become the ultimate Crucible killing machine, but it’s still a really good roll on a type of shotgun that seems like it’s going to be favoured in the current Crucible meta. Also, always nice to have a void shotgun on hand.
Machine Gun – Bonekruscher (Vanguard Vendor)
Ballistics: Aggressive Ballistics/Linear Compensator/Field Choke
Perks: Feeding Frenzy/Spray, Play/Hand-Laid Stock/Quickdraw, Crowd Control
This thing is going to wreck in both Crucible and in PVE. It will do ungodly damage, particularly when crowd control activates. Which will be often. Given that everyone probably already has a Gjallarhorn and will be using that whenever possible, this should be a good year-three LMK to keep it company in your heavy slot.
There are several other new vendor guns with good rolls, of course: The Future War Cult’s sidearm The Wormwood and pulse rifle The Waltz both look good, and the latter gun will let anyone who wants a Grasp of Malok-style pulse have one without farming the Omnigul strike. It also bears mention that my beloved Hopscotch Pilgrim is back in the Crucible loot table, which might be the best addition in this whole expansion. Even after Bungie nerfed it to death in 2015.
If you’ve put any of the weapons above through their paces and have further thoughts, or if you’ve found your own favourite in the Tower, I hope you’ll share below.
Comments
6 responses to “The Five Best Guns To Buy In Destiny: Rise Of Iron”
Could you explain why these guns are must buys? like what these perks actually do and why they’re better than other guns that people might be looking at?
Excellent explanations here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/53rzlf/massive_breakdown_of_recommended_rise_of_iron/
damn that looks comprehensive and in depth. Thanks for sharing the info
Quick question for you all – played Destiny on the 360 bit haven’t played since I upgraded to the XB1 (House of Wolves was the last one I think)
If I get the XB1 Destiny collection will I still have the same character or will I need to start from scratch again?
You’ll be able to transfer your characters from the 360 version, but you can only do it once
https://www.bungie.net/en/Help/Troubleshoot?oid=44804
If you are switching from 360 to X1, you need to help out with the subtreddit’s Three of Coins research:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/532ifj/looking_for_volunteers_to_help_with_3oc_theory/
You can do an account migration through the bungie website from x360 to x1.
If you do that, you will have the same characters.
You will have the same character as it is all linked to your Xbox Live account 🙂
Thanks guys – greatly appreciated 🙂