SUROS Regime Exotic Review v.2

Contributing author: Joel
Updated: Apr 18, 2015

Nostalgia as a weapon of war. Style as a hallmark of victory.

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Weapon Review

SUROS Regime is an Exotic auto rifle obtained from Xûr, the Cryptarch lottery, or as a reward in PvP or PvE.

It is fitting that a weapon whose flavor text indicates “Nostalgia as a weapon of war” would be looked back at fondly. It has been a powerhouse weapon since it first greeted the scene with Destiny’s release, and has been the subject of much consternation from both developers and players alike.

Patch after patch, SUROS has seen its role diminished. So how did it end up? Can you still take the Auto Rifle into battle and expect that its “style” will indeed be a “hallmark of victory”?
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The Good

The SUROS Regime is a tricky beast to assess. It is deceptively appealing on its face, sporting several stats that jump out to Auto Rifle enthusiasts.

Auto Rifles, perhaps more than any other weapon, fit an archetype to a tee. They are either High RoF/Low Impact; Low RoF/High Impact; or a happy medium between the two. SUROS is the rare Low RoF, High Impact variant that was a favorite of many Guardians before 1.1.1.

To this end, it has a best-in-class Impact, tying with the Vanquisher VIII (full review).

Its base Range is nearly top-class too, surpassed only by the now-retired Grim Citizen III. Stability is a similar story; the SUROS is only beaten by Up For Anything.

Its base Magazine Size of 33 is also the highest available for its RoF/Impact class, a very underrated benefit for those who spend the entire magazine regularly.

Things look good so far. We have an Exotic Auto Rifle that nearly tops the charts in everything, but SUROS needs more than stats alone to warrant a recommendation.

First-row perks are designed to bolster the weaker ends of a stat profile. Thankfully, SUROS doesn’t need much help here, so either of the three available can be used or neglected without harming the weapon’s performance.

Field Choke pushes the Range into class-defying levels, while penalizing Stability slightly. Linear Compensator buffs the Impact and Range similarly, making its recoil more “predictable” while increasing the recoil slightly. Smart Drift Control greatly penalizes Range, but adds a heart Stability increase that results in almost no muzzle climb.

Any of these three are worthwhile choices, our only recommendation is that you avoid trying to boost Range twice. If you end up selecting “Hammer Forged” in the third row, Field Choke is going to have little benefit. Conversely, “Hammer Forged” is an excellent offsetting perk for “Smart Drift Control”.

“Focused Fire” has been an iconic staple of its presence on the battlefield. Older users of SUROS might remember “ping ping ping” fondly, while those who were on the receiving end of its deadly fire are grateful the sound is different.

Focused Fire increases SUROS damage per shot while decreasing fire rate substantially. It becomes an immensely stable weapon with the ability to chain headshots on stationary targets with ease. However, there are some downsides, which we will discuss later.

Like several other Exotics, SUROS has a well-thought-out and useful array of third-row perks.

High Caliber Rounds is a great choice for PvE and PvP, helping to chain stagger enemies in tandem with its high Impact in the former, and disrupting the steadiness of other Guardians enough to throw them off their game in the latter. Hammer Forged is also a much needed perk if you want to engage distant foes with deadly precision. Finally, Lightweight is an all-around buff for those who like to strafe quickly, ADS faster, and jump higher.

Finally, we reach SUROS’ signature perk. This combines an amped up version of “Glass Half Full” with a quirky healing proc to round out SUROS nicely. The front half of this perk was undeniably overpowered in the Crucible until an Exotic Weapons patch took it to task for having run rampant for so long.

Now, it functions much the same as Glass Half Full, though still a bit more powerful. Its best suited to PvP. The health regeneration is a similar mixed bag. When it procs, it can be a lifesaver, but it is difficult to do this with any regularity. Still, the Crucible is full of Guardians whose K/D thanks them for opportunistic SUROS healing in the midst of a firefight.

SUROS is designed to keep you in the game longer, and it does this well.
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The Bad

There’s a reason SUROS is now the subject of much mockery, and not all of it is evident in the weapon’s design. Backdoor patches and relentless nerfs have reduced Auto Rifles to all but a joke in PvE, and SUROS has taken the brunt of these and more with Bungie’s persistent attempts to reduce its effectiveness.

Statistically, SUROS really only has one or two downsides, though one is a bit damning in light of its severity. This damning weakness is that SUROS suffers, through no fault of its own, the burden of being a Low RoF, High-Impact Auto Rifle. These were apparently the grossest offenders to Bungie, as they took a monstrous hit to damage in 1.1.1, from which recovery seems a dim prospect.

The second, more minor nitpick is its below-average Reload Speed. A popular strategy in the Crucible for helping SUROS chew through other Guardians is emptying the front half of the mag to take advantage of “SUROS Regime” instantly on firing. As a result, these Guardians need to reload much more frequently, and a bit more oomph in this category would be welcome for them.

Perk-wise, SUROS enjoys most of what it has available. However, the aforementioned “Focused Fire” presents problems. While it’s true that its compensatory increase in damage helps negate the penalty to RoF, the result is a net decrease in DPS.

Prior to 1.1.1 and earlier nerfs, SUROS could sponge this reduction easily, as its base damage was enough to still finish PvE enemies in acceptable timeframes, and the unusually high bullet damage gave it a scary niche in PvP. Now, it simply turns SUROS into a slow-firing wet noodle.

It takes almost all of the buff from Focused Fire to bullet damage when ADS to return it to similar damage-per-shot numbers from before its nerfs, and then you’re left with the slowest-firing Auto Rifle in the game. Some PvP players simply don’t upgrade it, but then you’re missing out on everything that makes it Exotic.

The “SUROS Regime” perk, despite being better than Glass Half Full, is now a little underwhelming too. The healing could stand to be more predictable, and the damage-per-bullet is disappointing in PvE.

It is possible to near-guarantee health regeneration by ensuring that the killshot is in the bottom half of the magazine, but this requires micromanagement that we feel is counter-intuitive to an Auto Rifle’s wheelhouse. Besides, Red Death’s meteoric rise presents an infinitely more appealing option for reliably getting your health back.

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PvE

We’re not gonna mince words – SUROS is bad here. Auto Rifles, in general, are a very poor option, but SUROS belongs to that unlucky class that makes it especially disappointing.

It all comes down to damage. Before 1.1.1, Auto Rifles were already a lesser option for PvE. They could get the job done, and were very forgiving for players who don’t wish to use skill weapons like Hand Cannons – but the ultimate tools for PvE domination were still Hand Cannons and Firefly Scouts.

What SUROS has going for it is maximum accuracy, meaning a combination of Range and Stability that gives you the ability to get critical hits reliably and consecutively. This is the debacle of assessing a gun like SUROS’ worth; it is difficult to objectively quantify the value of accuracy, as it is so heavily dependent on the Guardian using it.

This much can be said though: even with unholy skill and relentless fire, the SUROS still is gasping for the ability to do more damage. Focused Fire is a thorn in its side no matter where it’s used in PvE.

Like most weapons, SUROS can be used in low-level PvE content without inviting the criticisms that we’ve outlined above. For any repeat missions, non-playlist Strikes, or patrol, you don’t have to worry about the SUROS Regime letting you down. Enemies here are rarely shielded, and will go down quickly to any weapon, meaning Focused Fire is less of a problem. You might even get some timely health help from its signature perk.

In Heroic content of any kind, Nightfalls, and Raids, you’ll want to avoid using SUROS outright. Though it might be tempting for Crota’s End Hard Mode, Red Death is a better option for regenerating health and dealing damage – if you have it. Enemies are too strong, and SUROS just can’t keep up.

PvP

Although it is not the resounding 10/10 it once was, SUROS is still a force to be reckoned with. It is perhaps the exception that proves the rule, in that its new Time-to-Kill is positively abhorrent, but it still is able to compete.

The key to using SUROS to the best of its ability in PvP now is to know its limits. You can’t charge in to close or even close-medium range and expect to come out okay. You are inviting Fusion Rifle users, Shotgun rushers, and The Last Word to wipe you out in an instant. SUROS is now a medium-long range harasser at heart.

Focused Fire creates that artificial max stability, and Hammer Forged lets you do max damage – however disappointing that max damage may be – while staying frustratingly out of the effective range of many popular killers.

You’re still going to be outclassed by anyone running a Pulse Rifle/Thorn. They prefer to fight at the same distance as you, and their TTK is much quicker across the board. Thankfully, there are still plenty of Guardians running around counting on their opponents to fight them up-close-and-personal, and SUROS will make them panic when they feel the initial prick of a bullet and they realize they can’t do anything about the next ten.

With all this said, unless you feel comfortable getting around 80% or more headshots in a firefight, we recommend you find a different gun. You’ll need to make tactical decisions when choosing your engagements, or you might find yourself ending with 10 assists or more in a game. Stick by your teammates to provide that all-too-necessary suppressing fire and residual damage, and don’t be baited into chasing enemies around corners if you’re unable to finish them off.

You’re going to be at your best when sitting just behind the front line in a fray, putting a relentless stream of bullets into whatever Guardian unwisely chose to stand still. With “SUROS Regime” giving you health and clutch damage in a pinch, you’ll find your score thanking you very quickly.
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Cosmetics

It has a lightweight, almost plastic look with an all-white chassis, featuring red, blue, and yellow accents, including its iconic brand logo emblazoned on the side. It sports future-retro style with its HUD, and truly feels simultaneously like a relic and sci-fi super toy.

Suros engineers designed the Regime using recovered Golden Age schematics. Forced out of production by a crippling shortage of smartmatter, the few remaining models are cherished by those Guardians fortunate enough to wield them.

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Conclusion

It’s still one of the best ARs in the game, but until ARs are improved in general, it’s probably best to use something else.

It is one of the easiest-to-control auto rifles in the game though, so if you’re an AR fan, this is definitely a decent option in PvP.

In PvE we can’t recommend it. As a primary Exotic in PvE, the only word that can be used to describe it is.. disappointing. Unless you stubbornly love it – and with its look, who could blame you? – you’re better off using almost any other Primary, Special, or Heavy Exotic.

In PvP, it can still hang with the pack, while no longer being the weapon of choice for those who top the leaderboards. Its unfortunate that its trajectory has been straight down since its introduction, but we have high hopes SUROS might one day return to the limelight.

For PvP this weapon earns a 8/10 and for PvE a 6.8/10.