Destiny: Rise of Iron's Best Weapons
By Weston Albert 12 October 2016
There are a number of must-have weapons that have come to Destiny in the Rise of Iron expansion, that are highly effective for players in both PvE and PvP.
Destiny: Rise of Iron has been out for almost a month. The new Wrath of the Machine raid has been conquered, Trials of Osiris is back in full swing, and the first Iron Banner event since the expansion has come and gone. Now that Destiny fans have gotten their hands on many of the weapons newly added in Rise of Iron, it’s time to take a look at the must-haves. Here are the top guns that every player should have in his or her arsenal.
The Clever Dragon
Back during The Taken King, fans discovered a pulse rifle that sat atop all others in the class. It was a weapon almost wholly alone in that archetype. That weapon is the Grasp of Malok. Obtained only from the Omnigul strike (which also led to hours of farming by fans), this high rate of fire, extremely low impact pulse rifle could deal out massive damage in the Crucible. While Grasp of Malok was hard to obtain, especially with the right rolls, an almost identical pulse rifle has been added in Rise of Iron known as The Clever Dragon.
The Clever Dragon is the Iron Banner pulse rifle. It can only be obtained during Iron Banner, purchasable for Legendary Marks when Lady Efrideet has it in her inventory (it was not in her inventory this Iron Banner) or as a random drop from turning in Iron Banner bounties or at rank 3 and 5. The Clever Dragon comes with a number of random perks, but almost all of the possible rolls appear to be very good.
This is a weapon that is already dominating in the Crucible, especially in Trials of Osiris. When Iron Banner returns next month, this is definitely worth grinding for.
The Palindrome
Right before Rise of Iron came out, the PvP meta shifted to hand cannons, and players were chasing one hand cannon in particular—the Eyasluna. This “baby Hawkmoon” had insane range and impact that could compete at scout rifle range.
Fans can now get their hands on an equal (or possibly even better) hand cannon than Eyasluna, the Palindrome. Aavailable for 150 Legendary Marks at the Crucible Quartermaster, the Palindrome is nearly identical in stats to the Eyasluna, save for a few intrinsic stats. It also comes with what some would call a perfect roll, or close to it including Rifled Barrel and Rangefinder. Add to it that its recoil pattern is more manageable than the Eyasluna, and it looks like the hand cannon meta is not going away any time soon.
Matador 64
The Matador 64 is not a new weapon, but it has been brought up to the new Light levels for Rise of Iron. The Matador is in the same class of shotguns as the old, infamous Felwinter’s Lie from Year One. It is high impact with very high range, and with the launch of Rise of Iron it is also easy to get. It drops post-match in the Crucible, and it typically drops very often.
If players weren’t aware of this shotgun before they will be now, especially with the addition of the Supremacy game mode. Basically Destiny‘s version of Kill Confirmed, Supremacy demands a lot of close quarters, in-your-face engagements, and shotguns are shining in the mode. And there is arguably no better shotgun in the game right now than Matador 64.
Outbreak Prime
Outbreak Prime is the raid exotic for Wrath of the Machine. It requires fans tackle Destiny‘s most intricate and insane exotic quest to date, but it is well worth the effort. It may be similar to the Hacksaw from Year 2 (a PvP archetype), but Outbreak Prime is going to shine first off in PvE thanks to some unique perks.
First, it deals more damage to Fallen, the main enemy type in Rise of Iron’s missions, strikes, and the new raid. Second, hitting shots with the weapon create SIVA nanites (think Gjallarhorn‘s miniature Wolfpack rounds) that will deal extra damage to the enemy. Then, any enemy killed with a headshot will spawn more SIVA nanites that will attack nearby enemies.
The Outbreak Prime is very effective for Wrath of the Machine, and it also drops at 390 Light, so it will be a good piece of gear for keeping that Light level up, especially with the raid’s Heroic Mode launching soon. It is also worth noting that Outbreak Prime is a solid pulse rifle in general, and can be used very effectively in the Crucible. Don’t discount it as just a PvE weapon.
The Distant Star
The Distant Star is another Iron Banner weapon, more specifically the scout rifle. One of the most unique features of this scout rifle is that it is in the MIDA Multi-Tool archetype. The Taken King did not contain any Legendary scout rifles of this archetype, so it has been quite some time that players have been able to get their hands on this type of scout rifle without having to use up their exotic slot.
In addition to its natural effectiveness, The Distant Star can roll with some insane perks for both PvE and PvP. Some perks that can roll on the weapon include boosts to stability, full auto, and firefly for a little extra punch. There are also great possible rolls that any competitive PvP player would be jealous of, including Braced Frame, Triple Tap, and Hidden Hand.
The Winged Word
Trials of Osiris’ new sniper rifle, The Winged Word is not widely used at the moment. That’s probably for good reason, as the only ways to get it are as a random drop on the seventh win of a Trials Passage, from a Gold Package, or by opening the Lighthouse chest. What makes The Winged Word special is that it is as close to a pre-nerf Year 1/Year 2 sniper as players can get after the weapon balance right before Rise of Iron.
It is guaranteed to roll with Injection Mold, Snapshot, and Unflinching which makes this an easy to handle sniper that can one-shot headshot roaming supers even with a full armor build.
Those are our picks for the best weapons to pick up right now in Rise of Iron. Do you have a favorite that you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments below!
Destiny: Rise of Iron is available now PS4 and Xbox One.
