Scout Rifles allow you to take out enemies in Destiny 2 from a safe distance, with many of the top-tier Scouts able to output a ton of damage.
You won’t want to put on just any Scout Rifle, however. This list goes over the best of the best in terms of PvE and PvP Scout Rifles.
Recommended Read: Best Pulse Rifles in Destiny 2
The Best Scout Rifle in Destiny 2 is Hung Jury SR4 for PvP and Doom of Chelchis for PvE.
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Best Scout Rifles in Destiny 2
Scout Rifles have always swayed from being either the best weapons in Destiny 2 to the worst with every Season and balance change.
Today, Scout Rifles are finally in a great spot. They aren’t dominating, but they are great weapons for both activities.
The best Scout Rifles in PvE take advantage of damage Perks and subclass synergies to take out Minor, Major, and Champions from afar.
For PvP, you are looking for anything that has a competitive time to kill. You’ll see that many of the best Scout Rifles are using Explosive Payload as a way to boost damage in PvE and add flinch in PvP.
So, what are the best Scout Rifles?
Hung Jury SR4
This is a rare occasion where a Scout Rifle is both good in PvE and PvP activities. The Hung Jury SR4 has some nice Perk options that make it a great weapon overall.
For PvE, this weapon rolls with either Rapid Hit, Shoot to Loot, or Subsistence as your first Perk, along with Frenzy, Kinetic Tremors, and Firefly for your second Perk.
Any combination of these six Perks will give you a great weapon for sustained damage and add clear from afar.
For PvP, this is one of the few Precision Frame Scout Rifles that rolls with Box Breathing, increasing its damage and allowing it to kill Guardians with a 0.67s time to kill. That is fast in PvP terms.
What sets this Perk apart from other damage-increasing Perks is the fact that you don’t need to get a kill first to activate the damage boost.
This makes it a great option for 3v3 game modes such as Trials of Osiris when the weekly map allows for ranged fights.
Combine this with either Rapid Hit or No Distractions to help with Stability and reduce flinch and you’ve got a solid weapon.
If you plan on playing range in PvP, Hung Jury is one of the top-tier choices for a Primary weapon.
The biggest downside to this weapon is that it is only available from Nightfall Strikes.
You will have to wait until it is on rotation to get one. When it is, be sure to try and get an Adept variant to take advantage of Adept Mods.
Doom of Chelchis
This weapon is hands-down the go-to Void Scout Rifle for Void 3.0 builds.
You have so many options when it comes to Perk combinations with this weapon. It is one of the few weapons in the game that can roll damage-boosting Perks in both columns.
You’ve got Explosive Payload, Firefly, and Vorpal Weapon for damage buffs in the first column, along with One for All, Frenzy, and Focused Fire in the second column.
Aside from double damage Perks, you have some great utility Perks in the second column, with Dragonfly for add clear and Repulsor Brace for Void subclass synergy.
The most popular Perk combination for PvE right now is Explosive Payload and Frenzy, though there are plenty of ways you can personalize this weapon to your needs.
This weapon drops from the King’s Fall Raid and is craftable, so you will have plenty of chances to play around with the many different builds this weapon opens up.
Brya’s Love
Added in Season of the Witch, this Void Scout Rifle has become a new community favorite.
While not quite replacing Doom of Chelchis in PvE, it is a good alternative that is easier to farm.
This weapon has some decent PvE rolls, with Rapid Hit and Destabilizing Rounds being a great Void subclass Primary.
You can choose Frenzy if you want pure damage output instead or Explosive Payload to help with your Range.
Where this weapon sees most of its play is in PvP. Just like Hungy Jury, this weapon is capable of killing a Guardian in 3 headshots with the use of Golden Tricorn.
This does require a single kill to activate though it refreshes with every kill. This Perk is great in 6v6 game modes, especially when paired with Rapid Hit.
You should have no issues running through entire teams at range with this build.
This weapon can be obtained from any Season of the Witch activities. You can even purchase red border variants from the Ritual Table.
This is a craftable weapon that is easy to unlock. For many, it is the budget Doom of Chelchis.
Touch of Malice
Touch of Malice is probably one of the most unique Exotic Scout Rifles in the game and has recently become one of the most powerful.
The Intrinsic Perk Touch of Malice drains your health to give extra damage to the final round of the magazine, which regenerates itself, giving you a bottomless magazine. Rapid kills with the final round will heal you.
Bungie recently reworked this Exotic, making it so that you can no longer die by firing this weapon. You will instead be left at 1 hp.
This rework has made this weapon a top contender for Exotic Primary DPS, losing only to Malfeasance with Lucky Pants.
Outside of DPS, this is still a great weapon though you will have to build heavily around it to stay alive long enough to take advantage of that final round.
Solar healing builds and Void Devour builds are your best bet.
The Charged with Blight Perk drains life from enemies upon precision hits and charges up a ball of Darkness.
Using your alternative fire mode, you can send out the ball of Darkness to deal damage and Blind any enemies hit. This is a great Perk for dealing with Champions.
The Catalyst gives this weapon Rapid Hit, which is a nice plus. This weapon drops from the King’s Fall Raid.
The Jade Rabbit
As far as PvP Scout Rifles go, The Jade Rabbit is still one of the most used Scout Rifles in the Crucible.
This Exotic Scout Rifle used to dominate in PvP as the single best Scout Rifle in the game. Now, after some balance changes, it is still very good and very reliable.
The Fate of All Fools Intrinsic Perk gives this weapon extra body shot damage after landing precision shots, resulting in a more forgiving time to kill.
The Jade Rabbit has one of the highest base Range stats on any Scout Rifle in the game, as well as a very, very forgiving aim assist.
The Catalyst gives this weapon an extra 5 Range and 10 Stability, making flinch nearly irrelevant when firing this weapon.
If you are having a tough time on the longer-ranged maps in PvP, The Jade Rabbit is a great weapon to have on hand for both the 6v6 and 3v3 game modes.
If you are a long-time Destiny 2 player, you should have this weapon in your Collections already. If not, you will have the chance to find one in any Exotic Engram.
Xur also has a chance to sell this weapon every week, so check back with him regularly.
Polaris Lance
Another great Exotic Scout Rifle. Polaris Lance is a Solar weapon that pairs nicely with any Solar 3.0 build in PvE and can keep up with other Scout Rifles in PvP.
The Intrinsic Perk The Perfect Fifth will return ammo to the mag when landing precision hits and load a Solar explosion round on every 4th precision hit landed.
This Solar round deals a good bit of damage in both PvE and PvP, giving it a faster time to kill than most Scouts.
The Catalyst for this weapon gives it Dragonfly, creating Solar explosions on precision final blows.
This, paired with The Perfect Fith shot, can create some insane add-clearing situations with a single shot clearing out enemies in PvE.
This weapon can be purchased from the Exotic Archive in the Tower. While not cheap, it is a great Solar Scout Rifle if that is something you need for your build.
Night Watch
This is just an all-around good Scout Rifle. It doesn’t exceed in any one category, but it is reliable and feels good to use in both PvE and PvP.
It is a Lightweight Frame Scout, giving it great Handling and increased movement speed while the weapon is equipped.
For Perks, you can’t go wrong with Rapid Hit and Explosive Payload for both PvE and PvP. Explosive Payload makes up for this weapon’s shorter Range stat and increases its damage in PvE by 30%.
You also have the option to go with Subsistence and Demolitionist for grenade builds. While this weapon is outclassed in PvP by some of the higher entries on the list, it is still a fine choice if you have one lying around.
Sadly, you will have to play Gambit for a chance to get this weapon to drop. It isn’t even craftable, so getting a god-roll may be tough unless you are lucky.
Banshee-44 and Xur both have a chance to sell this weapon every week as well.
Tarnished Mettle
For Arc 3.0 builds, this weapon is a great choice. It is also a Lightweight frame, so you are getting some great passive benefits there.
Being an Arc weapon, it rolls with Voltshot, Jolting enemies and chaining Arc damage in an AoE. Rapid Hit is always a great Perk and pairs nicely with Voltshot for increased reload speed.
Outside of Arc synergy, this weapon still has some great Perks to choose from. Demolitionist, Shoot to Loot, Fourth Time’s the Charm, and Explosive Payload are all excellent Perks that can play into any build you choose.
This weapon is from Season of Plunder, making it harder to come by today. If you find a good roll being sold by Xur, be sure to pick it up.
Fang of Ir Yût
As far as Strand synergy goes with Scout Rifles, this one is probably your best bet at the moment.
For Strand subclass builds, you have the Hatchling Perk to create Threadlings on precision final blows.
This weapon will work great with Unraveling Rounds as well for a powerful Strand Primary.
Outside of Strand builds, this Scout Rifle can still compete in both PvE and PvP with Perks like Rewind Rounds or Rapid Hit paired with either Sword Logic or Kill Clip.
This weapon is craftable, so you will have plenty of chances to play around with different Perk combinations.
It drops from the Crota’s End Raid, and the Curated Roll of Rapid Hit and Hatchling is a very good roll.
These are the top Scout Rifles in Destiny 2 as of Season of the Witch.
What are your thoughts on these Scout Rifles? Is there any weapon you believe belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!
