Episode 36: Crota's End Raid Weapons (Ft. Fallout Plays)

We've been a little bogged down lately, but it's time to play catch up! The last two weeks we've covered the Reprised Raid Weapons from Crota's End and Vault of Glass, and we'll soon be digging into King's Fall and Wrath of the Machine as well. But before we do, read on for a recap of the Crota's End Raid guns.

Crota's End: Raid Weapons Review

Originally shared on Reddit.

Several things to note:

  • Classes are broken down into Impact sub-classes.
  • All Times-to-Kill are assuming Guardian has 200hp (max armor not including the effects of Max Armor Titans or Warlocks with The Ram).
  • All Pros and Cons are determined by comparing weapons within the same class, not by all weapons in general, and not by only the weapons within the archetype. If you would like a different or more specific comparison than what I have listed, feel free to ask and I can provide one in the comments.

Exotic Auto Rifle

Low-Impact

Nechrochasm

Pros - Very fast TtK with body shots (1.07s, 17 body shots to kill). Very high stability. High reload speed, mag size, and aim assist.

Neutral - Average recoil direction.

Cons - Low range.

  • Time-to-Kill: 0.87s (13 crit shots and 1 body shot), 1.07s (17 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 100
  • Impact: 2 (15 damage per crit shot, 12 per body shot)
  • Range: 19
  • Stability: 64
  • Reload Speed: 76
  • Mag Size: 54
  • Aim Assist: 75
  • Recoil Direction: 65

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Accurized Ballistics
  • Column 2 - Zen Moment
  • Column 3 - Fitted Stock
  • Column 4 - Cursebringer

Perhaps my new favorite gun for Crucible usage on smaller maps, the Nechrochasm is close to what I hoped it would be when it was first released. Thanks to coming out of the box with high stability and aim assist, and even an average recoil direction, it handles very easily compared to most 100/2 ARs. On top of this, the combination of Zen Moment and Fitted Stock means I have no problem running Accurized Ballistics for the bonus range and damage, both of which combine to give it a surprisingly long reach. I stay away from Aggressive, even though it decreases the time-to-kill, simply because it kills aim assist, range, and stability and I don't think it's worth it. Similarly. CQB Ballistics, while it makes the gun more stable, just isn't worth giving up the extra range and impact from Acc Balls. Now that the Cursebringer perk procs on all kills and not just headshots, I spray away and pick up collaterals and assists like it's my job, and I love it. I almost don't want to recommend this weapon because I hate the idea of exposing the secret of this golden nugget, but I feel an obligation to share the joy with the world. Definitely give it a shot, and let the screams of the cursed thralls surround your enemies.

Pulse Rifle

Very Low-Impact

Oversoul Edict - Arc Adept

Pros - Very high aim assist. High mag size.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average range and recoil direction. Low stability. Very low reload speed.

  • Time-to-Kill: 0.87s (3 bursts, 8 crit 1 body), 1.47s (4.33 bursts, 13 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 77
  • Impact: 4 (23 damage per crit shot, 16 damage per body shot)
  • Range: 33
  • Stability: 54
  • Reload Speed: 61
  • Mag Size: 33
  • Aim Assist: 82
  • Recoil Direction: 59

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Red Dot-OAS
  • Column 2 - Full Auto
  • Column 3 - Fitted Stock or Snapshot
  • Column 4 - Dark Breaker

If this gun had been brought back a couple months ago, it would have been extremely popular in the Crucible. A member of the previously god-like Clever Dragon archetype, the Oversoul Edict did manage to escape the mag size nerf that the CD and GoM were hit with, but it still suffered from the increased burst delay and reduced flinch, which has combined to take these guns out of the ultra-competitive meta. Like most guns in the archetype, the base aim assist is high, but the range, recoil direction, and stability are all rather low. While still useful in more casual Crucible, OE suffers from something that many of the Crota's End weapons are burdened with, which is the loss of a perk slot to a raid specific perk. In this case OE has the ability to shoot through Hive Knight shields, but this takes up the final perk slot. In the other three slots the options are decent but not amazing. Red Dot OAS is considered among the best sights for pulse rifles, so that's a definite plus, and Full Auto is a ton of fun on a gun with a RoF this fast. In the middle column, however, the choice between Snapshot or Fitted Stock is a lackluster one. I'd probably go with Fitted Stock for the small boost to stability, which translates to a tighter burst pattern, but some people seem to like the ADS speed boost given by Snapshot. Either way, this is a decent, but not great gun for PvP, and I'd lean towards using it in casual game modes only.

Hand Cannon

Low-Impact

Word of Crota - Void Adept

Pros - Very high equip speed and mag size. High stability. Above average

Neutral - Average aim assist and range.

Cons - Very low recoil direction.

  • Time-to-Kill: 0.80s (2 crits and 1 body shot), 1.20s (4 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 32
  • Impact: 68 (77 damage per crit shot, 51 damage per body shot)
  • Range: 25
  • Stability: 45
  • Reload Speed: 45
  • Mag Size: 12
  • Aim Assist: 74
  • Equip Speed: 89
  • Recoil Direction: 57

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - SureShot IS
  • Column 2 - Zen Moment
  • Column 3 - Hammer Forged or Explosive Rounds
  • Column 4 - Phantom Gift

One of the few Crota's End weapons that doesn't have to give up a perk slot for a raid-centric perk, the Word of Crota has an interesting combination of perks that may actually make it quite for for Crucible use. In the first slot it has the ever sought after SureShot IS sight, the best you can get for a handcannon. In columns two and three I like the combination of Zen Moment and Explosive Rounds, and I've heard (although haven't tested personally) that ER combines with ZM very well, giving two boosts to stability for each hit. This is supposedly because the ER counts as two damage hits, one for the impact and one for the explosion, so ZM gets to activate twice for each bullet. In the last slot we have the perk Phantom Gift, which is basically just the year one precursor to Triple Tap, and works the same way. Not great for PvP, but better than nothing, even though it will be nearly useless with the giant base mag size of 12. Low recoil direction and aim assist means people who enjoy the Eyasluna's firing pattern will feel right at home with the WoC, but high stability and faster RoF make the gun a little more spammable.

Scout Rifle

Mid-Impact

Fang of Ir Yut - Arc Adept

Pros - High range, stability, and reload speed.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average mag size and aim assist.

  • Time-to-Kill: 1.00s (2 crit shots and 2 body shots), 1.33s (5 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 37
  • Impact: 48 (61 damage per crit shot, 41 per body shot)
  • Range: 75
  • Stability: 49
  • Reload Speed: 67
  • Mag Size: 15
  • Aim Assist: 50

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - TrueSight IS or Focus Lens FLA5
  • Column 2 - Target Mark
  • Column 3 - High Caliber Rounds or Perfect Balance
  • Column 4 - Third Eye

Although the archetype itself isn't powerful in high level PvP due to the slow time-to-kill, this is actually one of the weapons I'm most excited to get to use again in PvP. Not only does it have a great combination of high range and stability for a scout, but the raid-centric perk is actually even more useful in the Crucible. Coming with a decent sight option in TrueSight, he second column has an amazing one off perk called Target Mark, which literally marks targets you have done damage to for a few seconds. Combined with Third Eye in the last slot, and you basically have a primary that is giving you a poor man's Keen Scout. On top of this, we have the option for either High Caliber Rounds or Perfect Balance in the middle column, so even though the archetype itself is weak, we have a wonderful roll to play around with. I personally would probably go with HCR, simply because to succeed with this weapon you'll need to hope your enemies miss their shots, but Perfect Balance is fine for anyone who doesn't want too much kick.

Auto Rifle

Mid-Impact

Abyss Defiant - Solar Adept

Pros - Very high reload speed. High aim assist.

Neutral - Average range.

Cons - Below average stability, mag size, and recoil direction.

  • Time-to-Kill: 0.90s (10 crit shots), 1.20s (13 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 88
  • Impact: 8 (21 damage per crit shot, 16 per body shot)
  • Range: 25
  • Stability: 44
  • Reload Speed: 85
  • Mag Size: 31
  • Aim Assist: 75
  • Recoil Direction: 60

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Red Dot-OAS
  • Column 2 - Hip Fire
  • Column 3 - Perfect Balance
  • Column 4 - Lich Bane

With another buff given to help ARs get back into the mix, it might be pretty tempting to take the Abyss Defiant out for a spin. The weapon itself is pretty middle of the road, with good AA but poor stability and recoil direction, and average range. The perks help a little bit, with tier one sight Red Dot OAS as a primary option, and a great middle tree perk in Perfect Balance. Hip Fire is an okay perk in the second column, but then we have a wasted slot with Lich Bane as the fourth perk. Long story short, there a both better and worse guns than this one to use, so maybe have some fun with it, but it's not going to be a meta-buster.

Shotgun

Low-Impact

Swordbreaker

Pros - Very high reload speed, mag size, and equip speed.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Very low range, max range, and stability. Low inventory.

  • Time Between Shots: 0.67s
  • Rate of Fire: 35
  • Impact: 40 (18 per pellet, 216 total)
  • Range: 9
  • Max Range: 18
  • Stability: 23
  • Reload Speed: 53
  • Mag Size: 6
  • Aim Assist: 65
  • Equip Speed: 89
  • Inventory: 29

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Accurized Ballistics
  • Column 2 - Grenadier
  • Column 3 - Hammer Forged or Lightweight
  • Column 4 - Final Round

Swordbreaker is a shotgun in the lowest impact archetype, similar to the Iron Banner's Proud Spire, or the Titan exclusive Immobius. Thanks to the terrible range and current special ammo economy, this gun isn't going to serve much of a purpose outside of cleaning up void shielded enemies in PvE. Accurized Ballistics will be the best option for the barrel perks, followed by Grenadier, and then either Hammer Forged or Lightweight. Hammer Forged will barely improve the terrible range, but it won't do much, and Lightweight will slightly increase your Agility, so choose whichever you prefer for your given activity. In the last slot Final Round will be great for when you're pumping shots into a big target, but not much else. This gun used to be great when it was hard to get void damage special weapons, but now that they're more common I don't see too many reasons to use it.

Fusion Rifle

Very Low-Impact

Light of the Abyss

Pros - Very high mag size. High aim assist.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average reload speed and stability. Very low range and recoil direction. 7 bolts to kill fully armored Guardians.

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - TrueSight IS or Red Dot-ORS1
  • Column 2 - Crowd Control
  • Column 3 - Skip Rounds, Speed Reload, or Enhanced Battery
  • Column 4 - Hip Fire

This gun is unique in terms of fusion rifles, and not in a good way. Despite boasting the fastest charge rate of any fusion in the game, it also does the least damage per bolt, a paltry 33. This means that against a full armor target in PvP, it's actually going to take all 7 bolts to kill! That's both absurd, and nearly impossible to accomplish outside of very close range, which relegates this weapon to troll status. As far as perks go it's not terrible, though, so at least it's not the worst of both worlds. In the first slot you'll probably want to choose between TrueSight IS for the boost to aim assist, or Red Dot-ORS1 for the boost to range. Keep in mind that all FR scopes have the same zoom of 1.5x, so you won't get more with either scope. Crowd Control is the only choice in the second slot, which isn't a terrible or fantastic perk, and then Hip Fire is a wonderful FR perk in the last column. In the middle column it's player's choice between Skip Rounds for bouncing bolts and more inventory, or Speed Reload or Enhanced Battery, neither of which are super appealing options to me thanks to the high mag size of 7. Stat wise, the gun is lacking in range, recoil direction, and stability, which means you're really going to be wanting to get up close and personal with your opponents or else you run the risk of not being able to maintain a tight bolt spread. The high aim assist will help out a bit, but this weapon may be better for people who have the skilled thumbs necessary to control a bucking fusion.

Rocket Launcher

Mid-RoF

Hunger of Crota

Pros - Above average RoF. High velocity and reload speed.

Neutral - Average mag size.

Cons - Low blast radius and inventory.

  • Rate of Fire: 11
  • Blast Radius: 68
  • Velocity: 72
  • Reload Speed: 71
  • Mag Size: 2
  • Inventory: 20

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Aggressive Launch
  • Column 2 - Tracking
  • Column 3 - Heavy Payload
  • Column 4 - Cluster Bomb

From the same archetype as the old Iron Banner's Tormod's Bellows, Hunger of Crota has a couple things that will probably turn people off. The first is that it can't get either Tripod or Grenades and Horseshoes, and the second is that the inventory size is low, sitting at 20. That being said, it does have Tracking and Clusterbombs, which are the distant second choice options to both of those, so it can at least be a little fun. In the barrel slot you'll choose Aggressive Launch for a boost to its low blast radius, and then Heavy Payload in the middle column for a second bump. I think this gun has more of a place in PvE than PvP, truthfully, but I could see it being used as a good weapon for Combined Arms or trolling control points.

Machine Gun

Very Low-Impact - Barrel Perks which increase impact have no effect on TtK, but Soft Ballistics can increase the crit TtK to 0.53s (9 crit shots) and the body TtK to 0.67s (11 body shots).

Song of Ir Yut

Pros - Very high mag size and reload speed.

Neutral - Average aim assist.

Cons - Very low stability, recoil direction, and range. Low inventory.

  • Time-to-Kill: 0.46s (8 crit shots), 0.60s (10 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 100
  • Impact: 25 (25 damage per crit shot, 20 damage per body shot)
  • Range: 10
  • Stability: 11
  • Reload Speed: 48
  • Mag Size: 87
  • Aim Assist: 65
  • Inventory: 15
  • Recoil Direction: 58

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 - Smart Drift Control
  • Column 2 - Grenadier
  • Column 3 - High Caliber Rounds or Hammer Forged
  • Column 4 - Dark Breaker

Simultaneously one of the most entertaining and infuriating archetypes of machine guns, the lowest-impact subclass combines the love of mowing down dozens of enemies at a time with the recoil equivalent of riding a bull. They received a small buff a couple patches back, but unfortunately they still are among the most unloved of all weapons in the game. The Song of Ir Yut has the benefit of having one of the largest magazine sizes in the game at 87, combined with a blazingly fast reload speed. Unfortunately the range, stability, and recoil directions are all exceptionally poor, and the aim assist only average, so it will take a skilled hand to wield this gun with any precision. In terms of perks you're not going to get much help there, either. Smart Drift Control will buff the recoil direction and stability a bit, but Grenadier and Dark Breaker will be of little help in the Crucible environment. High Caliber Rounds will be nice if you can ever bring the gun to hit a target, and if not Hammer Forged will provide a minuscule boost to the abysmal range.

That's all for this episode, Guardians! Be sure to check back weekly for more notes, articles, and all things Destiny!

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