Destiny 2: Best Pulse Rifles In Season Of The Lost (& How To Get Them)

Pulse Rifles are some of Destiny 2‘s best weapons for both PvP and PvE. These types of weapons typically come with a high-stat package that favors damage, range, and recoil control. Additionally, Pulse Rifles have average or above-average stats in handling and stability, which makes them easy-to-use weapons in many situations.

Season of the Lost gives Pulse Rifles an anti-champion mod. When equipped, players can disrupt Unstoppable Champions. There are many Legendary+ Lost Sectors and Nightfall missions that need this mod. Equipping it on a Pulse Rifle ensures that players have both an anti-Champion weapon and a lesser enemy clearing weapon. Legendary and above difficulties on any mission prevent Guardians from switching their loadouts, so Pulse Rifles have more utility in PvE than most weapons where Unstoppable Champions are present.

In PvP, Pulse Rifles are favored for their stability, range, recoil control, and damage output. While Rapid-Fire Frame Pulse Rifles deal less damage, they fire faster than their High-Impact Frame counterparts. Additionally, Adaptive Frame Pulse Rifles provide additional stability to that archetype. The best part about many Pulse Rifles, however, is their phenomenal perk pool that allows users to dominate in Destiny 2’s PvP.

Best Pulse Rifles In Destiny 2: Season Of The Lost

The Messenger

The Messenger is an Adaptive Frame Kinetic weapon and is absolutely the best Pulse Rifle for PvP in Destiny 2. Additionally, The Messenger happens to be one of the best for PvE as well. Players can only obtain The Messenger through Trials of Osiris rewards and engrams. The first time that players receive The Messenger will either be at random from earning the Trials of Osiris Pinnacle Gear or decrypting a Trials Engram with Master Rahool. After that, The Messenger can then be redeemed at Saint-14 for the price of a Trials Engram, 20,000 Glimmer, and 100 Legendary Shards. Additionally, The Messenger (Adept) is available for a Flawless Trials Passage reward at certain points in Season of the Lost.

The God Rolls for The Messenger are:

• Arrowhead Brake
• Ricochet Rounds or Appended Mag (PvE)
• Outlaw or Moving Target (PvP)
• Desperado

No Time to Explain

No Time to Explain is an Exotic Pulse Rifle that returned from Destiny with the addition of the Beyond Light expansion in Destiny 2. After completing the Beyond Light campaign, Guardians should speak with the Exo Stranger to acquire No Time to Explain. One of the reasons No Time to Explain is a fantastic Pulse Rifle is because of its high range stat at 73. No other Pulse Rifle in Destiny 2 has that high of a stat value in that category without the use of additional perks.

No Time to Explain’s Exotic Intrinsic perk is called Rewind Again. This perk returns shots to the magazine whenever precision shots and shots against Stasis-affected targets are made. Its unique perk, Time-Slip, spawns a small time portal that shoots bullets at enemies after 10 stacks of Rewind Again are built up. After unlocking the catalyst for No Time to Explain, the time portal shoots more frequently.

Vigilance Wing

Vigilance Wing is another Exotic Pulse Rifle, only this weapon can be obtained via Exotic Engrams from Xur or world drops. The Vigilance Wing’s Exotic Perk, Harsh Trush, grants Guardians health regeneration and a boost to movement speed whenever a teammate dies.

The second perk, called Last Stand, improves the weapon’s stats and the user’s recovery when the Guardian is the last living member of a Fireteam. For that reason alone, the Vigilance Wing is one of the best weapon choices for Trials of Osiris, in addition to all PvP playlists in Destiny 2. Additionally, the Vigilance Wing catalyst adds the Full Auto Trigger System perk to the weapon.

Stars in Shadow

The Stars in Shadow is a High-Impact Energy Pulse Rifle that can only be earned from Crucible matches and Engrams. The Stars in Shadow has a massive perk pool that makes acquiring any one specific drop hard, but, luckily, there are many viable drops for this weapon. Since the Stars in Shadow is a High Impact Pulse Rifle, this weapon is going to find its best uses in PvP. However, there are still plenty of perks that make this weapon a great choice for PvE in Destiny 2. 

These are God Rolls for the Stars in Shadow:

• Arrowhead Brake, Extended Barrel (PvP), or Smallbore
• Tactical Mag, Appended Mag (PvE), or Accurized Rounds (PvP)
• Outlaw or Surplus (PvP)
• Disruption Break, Kill Clip, Demolitionist (PvE), or Headseeker (PvP)

Darkest Before

The Darkest Before Pulse Rifle is a Rapid-Fire Arc Pulse Rifle that must first be earned by defeating Kell Echo at the end of the Prophecy Dungeon. Every week, players have one chance to earn Darkest Before Pulse Rifle with each character. If they do not earn the weapon at all, they’ll have to wait until the next weekly reset before trying again. However, after Darkest Before has been earned once, players can grab it again from the final encounter or from one of the two secret chests in the Prophecy Dungeon. The Prophecy Dungeon is the only Dungeon in Destiny 2 that allows players to earn rewards more than once for completion.

Darkest Before excels in Destiny 2‘s PvP arena, but all Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifles tend to not do enough damage within PvE. It is more difficult to earn a God Roll Darkest Before for PvE than it is for PvP, but nonetheless, they do exist. For anyone looking to grab a great Arc Energy for PvE, the Third Axiom is an easier choice to acquire. The Third Axiom can be obtained from Vanguard Strike completions and is almost exclusively designed for great PvE content in Destiny 2.

These are the God Rolls for the Darkest Before:

• Arrowhead Brake
• High-Caliber Rounds or Ricochet Rounds
• Overflow, Subsistence, or Surplus
• Full Auto Trigger System, Rampage, or One For All (PvP)

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia platforms.

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