Episode 38: Massive Breakdown of King's Fall Raid Weapons

Last week on the Massive Breakdown Podcast, we talked all about the weapons of King's Fall. If you missed the discussion, listen up! If you're just looking for the notes, check below. 

Massive Breakdown of King's Fall Raid Weapons

Originally posted on Reddit.

Scout Rifle

Mid-Impact

Doom of Chelchis - Void Adept

Pros - Very high mag size.

Neutral - Average aim assist.

Cons - Very low range and reload speed. Low stability.

• Time-to-Kill: 1.00s (2 crit shots and 2 body shots)
• Rate of Fire: 37
• Impact: 49 (63 damage per crit shot, 42 per body shot)
• Range: 51
• Stability: 37
• Reload Speed: 41
• Mag Size: 20
• Aim Assist: 55

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Hand Loaded (PvE) or Smallbore (PvP)
• Column 4 - Life Support, Eye of the Storm, Full Auto, Rangefinder

A member of the mid-impact class of scouts, the Doom of Chelchis doesn't bring too much to the table besides a massive mag size. The perk options are average, nothing great, and the slow TtK means this weapon isn't really competitive in PvP, and if I'm being honest, I feel like it's outclassed pretty heavily in PvE by the VoC. Very low range, low stability, and average aim assist mean this gun just isn't something I recommend for many activities. Like all King's Fall weapons, it does do bonus damage to Taken enemies, so it isn't the worst option for the raid itself, and I'd want a variant with Life Support in that situation. Otherwise, I say stay away from it.

Pulse Rifle

Mid-Impact

Smite of Merain - Solar Adept

Pros - Above average range. High mag size. Very high recoil direction.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average stability. Very low reload speed and aim assist.

• Time-to-Kill: 1.00s (2.33 bursts. 6 crit shots and 1 body shot), 1.50 (10 body shots)
• Rate of Fire: 66
• Impact: 15 (31 damage per crit shot, 21 damage per body shot)
• Range: 44
• Stability: 59
• Reload Speed: 45
• Mag Size: 33
• Aim Assist: 11
• Recoil Direction: 80

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Hand Loaded
• Column 4 - Firefly, Life Support, Glass Half Full

Now here's a weapon that, although it seems to be lacking stat-wise, I'm actually excited to get my hands on. As the only pulse rifle in the game with Firefly, that alone would be enough to make me consider giving it a shot, but the adept version also comes with Solar damage, and it's got a large magazine size and easy to control recoil. Stay away from it in any type of competitive PvP mode, but if you're looking for a great PvE weapon for clearing adds, this will be it. It's not quite as unwieldy at close range as a scout, and its got much better reach than a hand cannon, so you kinda get to sit in the nice middle ground. Definitely recommend giving this weapon a shot, if only for its unique gameplay. One thing that may hurt a bit is the atrocious aim assist, but that's not so important in PvE anyways. As far as perks, Linear Comp makes the recoil perfectly vertical, Hand Loaded helps to boost the already decent range, and we've already discussed Firefly.

Hand Cannon

Low-Impact

Zaouli's Bane - Void Adept.

Pros - Very high mag size, aim assist, and equip speed. High stability.

Neutral - Average recoil direction.

Cons - Very low range and reload speed.

• Time-to-Kill: 0.80s (2 crit shots 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: 15
• Stability: 42
• Reload Speed: 16
• Mag Size: 11
• Aim Assist: 90
• Equip Speed: 95
• Recoil Direction: 90

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Accurized Ballistics
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Hand Loaded or Reinforced Barrel
• Column 4 - Firefly, Life Leech (PvE), Hip Fire (PvP)

In my opinion, this is one of the worst weapons in the game. I can't imagine a scenario in which this gun wouldn't be outclassed by almost any other primary option. On paper the stats look alright, with great mag size, aim assist, and equip speed, along with high stability and decent recoil direction, but the abysmal range and leaves a lot to be desired. Once again, definitely not a weapon I would use in PvP, but even in PvE I'd stay away. Hand Loaded doesn't do enough to bring the range out to fair play levels, and Reinforced Barrel helps but destroys the stability that is almost necessary to take advantage of the higher RoF of this impact archetype. Firefly isn't a unique perk at this point in time, with Fatebringer coming back, and Cocoon, instead of being a nice little bonus, becomes almost necessary to use thanks to the horrendous reload speed. This was one of the first weapons I got from the original King's Fall raid, and, although I used it at the time, as soon as I got something better I sharded it and never looked back. i suggest you do the same.

Auto Rifle

High-Impact

Anguish of Drystan - Arc Adept

Pros - Very high recoil direction. Above average stability.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average range and mag size. Very low reload speed. Low aim assist.

• Time-to-Kill: 0.93s (5 crit shots and 3 body shots), 1.20s (10 body shots)
• Rate of Fire: 77
• Impact: 29 (28 damage per crit shot, 22 damage per body shot)
• Range: 24
• Stability: 51
• Reload Speed: 41
• Mag Size: 32
• Aim Assist: 45
• Recoil Direction: 85

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Braced Frame
• Column 4 - Life Support, Crowd Control, Eye of the Storm

Really trying to take the title of worst weapon in the game from Bane, the Anguish of Drystan is an aptly named competitor. With the only positives to this weapon being the easy to control recoil thanks to high recoil direction and decent stability, I once again cannot fathom an opportunity where this weapon would shine. Below average range, which really hurts for a weapon in this archetype, combined with poor aim assist just means this weapon is mostly causing Anguish to the user, instead of enemies. Linear Comp, as almost always, is the best choice for the barrel perk thanks to the increased impact, range, and recoil direction. Braced Frame is the best perk in the middle column, but it will drop your mag size down to 26, which is pretty low overall, but average for the impact class. In the last column Life Support, Crowd Control, and Eye of the Storm are all usable, but nothing is going to salvage this weapon.

Sniper Rifle

Mid-Impact

Defiance of Yasmin

Pros - Low zoom scope. Can revive snipe. Above average stability and aim assist. High equip speed. Very high inventory size.

Neutral - Average mag size.

Cons - Low range. Very low reload speed. Can't kill most Supered enemies with 1 crit shot.

• Time-Between-Shots: 0.68s
• Rate of Fire: 26
• Impact: 23 (342 damage per crit shot, 137 per body shot)
• Range: 68
• Stability: 48
• Reload Speed: 41
• Mag Size: 4
• Aim Assist: 59
• Inventory: 70
• Equip Speed: 59

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Injection Mold
• Column 4 - Life Support, Hot Swap, Firefly

Finally we get to a weapon I can wholeheartedly recommend from this raid! In actuality, this is one of my favorite snipers in the game. A member of the mid-impact archetype, it can revive snipe, although it is unable to kill most Guardian enemies out of their armored supers. The aim assist is quite high by default, and you get to couple that with good stability, and high equip speed and inventory size. On top of this, it has a very open sight picture and low zoom, around 5x, which makes quickscopes and close distance engagements much easier. Overall, the only real drawbacks to this weapon are the low range and reload speed, but with Cocoon the latter of those is nullified, and with the current map selection in PvP, the low range won't affect you much either. Perk-wise Linear Comp is the first selection, followed by Injection Mold in the third slot for the faster ADS and equip speeds. In the last column I like Life Support, but some people absolutely swear by Hot Swap, although I've never been able to prove what kind of effect it actually has. Either way you'll get a great weapon, so I highly recommend trying to get one of these if you love sniping, or even just want to give it a shot.

Shotgun

Mid-Impact

Silence of A'arn

Pros - Very high mag size. High inventory and equip speed.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Below average range and stability. Very low max range, reload speed, and aim assist.

• Time-Between-Shots: 1.03s
• Rate of Fire: 14
• Impact: 62 (21 damage per pellet, 252 total)
• Range: 14
• Max Range: 17
• Stability: 35
• Reload Speed: 20
• Mag Size: 6
• Aim Assist: 30
• Inventory: 50
• Equip Speed: 64

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Hand Loaded
• Column 4 - Close and/or Personal, Army of One, Leech Life (PvE), Surrounded (PvP)

Although by default it almost looks like this weapon could be considered decent, don't get tricked! The range is horrible with almost no way to fix it, so it's never going to be something you want to use in PvP. In PvE, the only saving graces are Cocoon and the ability to roll a couple interesting perks in the final slot, including Leech Life which gives you a portion of health back and starts regen after getting a triple kill, and Close and/or Personal which boosts melee damage after doing damage with this weapon. Decent inventory means you can at least carry a nice amount of ammo, and fast equip speed pairs well with Cocoon, but everything else drags the gun down to basically being a wash.

Fusion Rifle

High-Impact (90-100)

Midha's Reckoning

Pros - 4 bolts to kill. Very high damage per bolt and recoil direction. High impact. Above average range and mag size.

Neutral - None.

Cons - Very low stability, reload speed, and aim assist.

• Charge Rate: 16
• Impact: 96 (50 damage per bolt, 4 bolts to kill)
• Range: 43
• Stability: 11
• Reload Speed: 45
• Mag Size: 5
• Aim Assist: 29
• Recoil Direction: 80

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Braced Frame
• Column 4 - Hip Fire, Life Support, Hot Swap

If this was back when TTK had first released, I would have been all over hyping up this weapon. Back then 4 bolt killing fusions were significantly more rare, and one with Braced Frame to boost stability was even more hard to find. Now, however, with the boost to base stability for fusions, and the release of our one true voop savior, Sally V, Midha's just has a little harder time stacking up. The range is okay, but not great considering the archetype, and Braced Frame has fallen out of the tier rankings slightly since people have learned how to manually control the bolt spread. Unfortunately there is no way to boost range, so we're out of look for any experts who don't need stability there. Linear Comp will help with the recoil direction, making it even easier to control, but the base is already high so it won't be a night and day difference. In the last column Hip Fire is a nice perk for fusions, but once again we're offered the possibility of Hot Swap, and once again I feel compelled to say that I haven't been able to prove an effect for this perk. Overall, if you haven't been lucky enough to get a Sally V, or you're new to fusions and want to try out a decent 4-bolt killer, then I do recommend this weapon. If you've already got a Darkblade's Spite or Sally V you love, no reason to chase this.

Rocket Launcher

High-RoF

Elulim's Frenzy

Pros - High RoF and inventory. Very high blast radius.

Neutral - Average mag size.

Cons - Very low reload speed. Low velocity.

• Rate of Fire: 18
• Blast Radius: 96
• Velocity: 41
• Reload Speed: 38
• Mag Size: 2
• Inventory: 60

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Your choice of barrel perk, depending on whether you want to sacrifice blast radius for velocity.
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Javelin
• Column 4 - Tripod, Cluster Bombs (PvP), Tracking (PvE)

A rocket launcher I constantly find myself describing as middle of the pack, Elulim's Frenzy just doesn't really have what it takes to be a great weapon. That being said, Cocoon does have a greater effect here than on any of the previously mentioned weapons, at least for PvE. The base stats are decent, with fast RoF and great blast radius, but the velocity is lacking. Javelin is for sure the preferred perk in the middle slot to help make up for this, and then in the last slot we have three usable options. Tripod would probably be the first choice for those who will use this gun against slower or non mobile bosses, as it will allow you to blast off three shots, switch to another weapon for a few seconds to maintain DPS, and then switch back and continue launching. If you don't get Tripod, Cluster Bombs is your best option for PvP, but honestly I don't recommend this gun in the Crucible. Tracking is a high tier perk for launchers in PvE, so if you get it there's no reason to be upset.

Machine Gun

High-Impact - All Barrel Perks which increase Impact decrease the body TtK to 0.50s (4 body shots).

Qullim's Terminus

Pros - Above average inventory and recoil direction.

Neutral - Average stability.

Cons - Below average range and aim assist. Very low mag size and reload speed.

• Time-to-Kill: 0.50s (1 crit shot and 3 body shots), 0.66s (5 body shots)
• Rate of Fire: 66
• Impact: 55 (62 damage per crit shot, 50 damage per body shot)
• Range: 18
• Stability: 41
• Reload Speed: 16
• Mag Size: 31
• Aim Assist: 55
• Inventory: 35
• Recoil Direction: 75

Recommended Perks:

• Column 1 - Linear Compensator
• Column 2 - Cocoon
• Column 3 - Extended Mag
• Column 4 - Persistence, Eye of the Storm, Army of One, Leech Life

At one point in time perhaps the most popular gun from this raid, Qullim's Terminus has actually withstood the test of time pretty well, and is still an excellent choice for a heavy weapon. Good inventory and recoil direction with decent stability help to boost this weapon's appeal, and Cocoon works on this weapon exceptionally well, allowing you to totally bypass the slow reload speed and never have a down moment. The range and aim assist aren't great, but the ability to roll Persistence and Extended Mag outweigh those drawbacks, in my opinion. If you don't get Persistence then Eye of the Storm is a passable substitute, and Army of One isn't terrible either. In addition to all this, since it comes with barrel perks that increase impact, you're going to be hitting optimal TtK in 4 body shots at close ranges. Definitely recommend this weapon to anyone for PvP or PvE.

That's all for this week, Guardians! Until next time.