Legendary Pulse Rifle Reviews

Legendary Reviews Leave a comment

Lyudmila-D

  • Pros – Very high range and mag size. Above average recoil direction.
  • Cons – Very low reload speed, stability, and aim assist.

Recommended Perks:

  1. SC Holo
  2. Headseeker, Crowd Control, Glass Half Full
  3. Counterbalance, Unflinching
  4. Hand-laid Stock, Injection Mold, Fitted Stock, High Caliber Rounds

It’s difficult to achieve a perfect two-burst with this pulse rifle, so Headseeker is great because you’re less dependent on hitting all headshots to achieve minimum TtK. Counterbalance is a massive help as well, preventing the gun from pulling as hard to the left as it normally does. Hand-laid Stock is by far the best choice for the last column, though High Caliber Rounds can force crazy flinch if all shots are landed, and is the perfect sniper deterrent.

For more perk recommendations for the Gunsmith’s primary weapons, click here.

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Parthian Shot

  • Pros – Fast optimal TtK. Very high range. High recoil direction. Above average mag size.
  • Cons – Very low aim assist. Below average stability and reload speed.

Best Vendor Perks:

  1. Steadyhand IS
  2. Life Support
  3. Perfect Balance
  4. Headseeker

Recommended Perks:

  1. Reflex, SureShot IS, SteadyHand IS
  2. Life Support, Outlaw, Eye of the Storm, Feeding Frenzy
  3. Hand-laid Stock, Perfect Balance, Braced Frame, Smallbore
  4. Headseeker, Third Eye, Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Glass Half Full

For a brief period they were the rulers of the Crucible, but high impact pulse rifles have since been cut down. This gun could lead the resurrection, with a fantastic recoil pattern and healthy vendor roll. It’s not easy to get a two burst kill with this archetype, but it is possible.

In the middle column go with Hand-laid Stock for the most stability possible, or Perfect Balance as a backup. The reason Braced Frame isn’t the most highly recommended is because it drops the mag size to 21, but ultimately that’s not so terrible. Finally, Headseeker makes everything more forgiving.

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SUROS PDX-41

  • Pros – High range. Above average, stability, mag size, and recoil direction.
  • Cons – Below average aim assist and reload speed.

Recommended Perks:

  1. SPO-28
  2. Perfect Balance, Hammer Forged, High Caliber Rounds, Fitted Stock
  3. Hidden Hand, Counterbalance, Headseeker, Rangefinder, Unflinching
  4. Smallbore, Rifled Barrel

Pretty much just a slower firing version of the PDX-45, Go with SPO-28 for Aim Assist, Perfect Balance to help tighten up the burst spread, and Smallbore to add bonuses to Range and Stability.

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Herja-D

  • Pros – Very high stability and mag size. Above average reload speed and recoil direction.
  • Cons – Below average range and aim assist.

Recommended Perks:

  1. SC Holo
  2. Headseeker, Crowd Control, Glass Half Full
  3. Counterbalance, Unflinching
  4. Hand-laid Stock, Injection Mold, Fitted Stock, High Caliber Rounds

A weak Lyudmila-D. Counterbalance is a massive help because it prevents the hard left pull. Hand-laid Stock is by far the best choice for the last column, and High Caliber Rounds can force heavy flinch.

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Hopscotch Pilgrim

  • Pros – High range. Above average stability and mag size.
  • Neutral – Average recoil direction.
  • Cons – Below average reload speed and aim assist.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Red Dot-OAS, Red Dot-ORES, Red Dot-ORS1, SureShot IS
  2. Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Headseeker
  3. Perfect Balance, Braced Frame, Smallbore
  4. Third Eye, Glass Half Full

For a brief time this was a king of the Crucible. At this point, mid-impact PRs are all but unusable in PvP, with little to no upside compared to their fast RoF brethren. For sights, OAS/ORES for stability, ORS1 for range, or SureShot for aim assist.

Although Counterbalance is the conventional first choice for most PR users, the Hopscotch Pilgrim is lucky enough to have a decent recoil pattern on its own. In the middle column, Perfect Balance gives a great stability boost with no downsides, but the high mag size means that Braced Frame and Smallbore are both decent options.

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STEEL MEDULLA~

  • Pros – High range, stability, reload speed, and mag size. Very high recoil direction.
  • Cons – Very low aim assist.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Smooth Ballistics
  2. Full Auto
  3. Hand-laid Stock
  4. Sign of Four

Arguably one of the most useful burst archetypes for PvE. Smooth Ballistics helps to boost aim assist, and Full Auto makes sure the RoF is maximized. Hand-laid Stock, although it will decrease a bit of range, will keep those burst patterns tight, which is perfect because the signature perk gives you increased damage on your fourth burst, as long as your first three hit the target. High recoil direction means that the burst patterns should be easy to control, and high mag size and reload speed means you should be able to keep the damage flowing.

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Final Duty

  • Pros – Very high stability. High recoil direction.
  • Neutral – Average range and reload speed.
  • Cons – Low mag size. Below average aim assist.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Reflex, TrueSight IS, OEG Riflescope
  2. Headseeker, Rangefinder, Life Support, Eye of the Storm
  3. Perfect Balance, Hand Loaded, Fitted Stock
  4. Glass Half Full, Third Eye, Grenadier, Army of One

Same archetype as Hopscotch Pilgrim, Final Duty benefits from many of the same type of perks. Reflex is the best sight for increased AA coupled with open optics, Headseeker bumps up critical damage following body shots, and Perfect Balance removes what little upward bounce it has mid-burst.

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Aegis of the Reef

  • Pros – Very high reload speed. High aim assist. Above average stability.
  • Cons – Below average range. Low mag size and recoil direction.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Red Dot-OAS/SureShot IS, Red Dot-ORES
  2. Perfect Balance, Hammer Forged, Send It
  3. High Caliber Rounds, Full Auto
  4. Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Hidden Hand, Headseeker, Third Eye, Glass Half Full, Unflinching

This rare beauty almost always comes with a decent roll. It boosts a high base range, and maintains good stability and aim assist. Red Dot-OAS and SureShot both boost AA. In column two, Perfect Balance, because without it you won’t have many other good options to decrease the vertical recoil (without incurring a Range penalty). In the last column, Counterbalance will make the recoil almost completely vertical.

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SUROS PDX-45

  • Pros – Very high stability and reload speed. High aim assist. Above average mag size.
  • Cons – Very low range and recoil direction.

Recommended Perks:

  1. SPO-28
  2. Perfect Balance, High Caliber Rounds, Hammer Forged, Fitted Stock
  3. Counterbalance, Hidden Hand, Rangefinder, Headseeker
  4. Rifled Barrel/Smallbore

Perhaps one of the best all-around primary weapons, assuming the perfect roll. SPO-28 is the best sight again for the AA boost. If you grab Perfect Balance, it will push the Stability up high enough to use Rifled Barrel in the last column. You can even match Smallbore with Perfect Balance to achieve maximum Stability.

High Caliber Rounds does well on the PDX-45, simply because the RoF is so fast that landing all of your shots will make your opponent’s screen shake dramatically. Counterbalance in the middle will always be the best choice to improve Recoil Direction, but Headseeker or Hidden Hand can both make the gun more forgiving than it already is.

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Blind Perdition

  • Pros – High reload speed. Above average aim assist.
  • Neutral – Average range.
  • Cons – Below average stability and recoil direction. Low mag size.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Smooth Ballistics/Smart Drift Control
  2. Hand-laid Stock/Smallbore
  3. High Caliber Rounds/Hand Loaded
  4. Outlaw/Counterbalance

For the barrel perks, you can choose between either Smart Drift Control, which increases stability and recoil direction at the cost of range, or Smooth Ballistics, which increases range and aim assist at the cost of stability. In the second slot, Smallbore boosts range and stability by small amount while taking the mag size down to 21, or you can use Hand-laid Stock to keep the mag size the same while drastically improve stability, but losing out on some range. In the third column you can choose to either use HCR for the increased flinch or Hand Loaded to add to range, and in the last column Outlaw will drastically increase the reload speed after precision kills, while Counterbalance can help to increase the recoil direction.

If you’re using SDC or Hand-laid Stock, you probably won’t need Counterbalance. If you decide to use Smallbore, you’re almost certainly going to need Outlaw to help you with those quick reloads since your mag size will be so small.

Any of these setups will more than likely prove competitive, so those people who weren’t lucky enough to get a well-rolled PDX-45 Hawksaw may want to invest their time in Trials for this one. As a bonus, the adept version has Snapshot!

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B-29 Party Favor

  • Pros – Very high reload speed. High aim assist.
  • Neutral – Average stability.
  • Cons – Low range and mag size. Below average recoil direction.

Best Vendor Perks:

  1. Red Dot-ORA2 or OEG
  2. Partial Refund
  3. Smallbore
  4. Glass Half Full

Recommended Perks:

  1. Reflex, SureShot IS, SteadyHand IS
  2. Life Support, Outlaw, Eye of the Storm, Feeding Frenzy
  3. Perfect Balance/Hand-laid Stock, Smallbore, Braced Frame
  4. Counterbalance/Rangefinder, Third Eye, Headseeker, Glass Half Full

A member of the ever popular Hawksaw/PDX-45 archetype, this Crucible variant has decent Range and average stability. Smallbore decreases an already low mag size, but is needed for the range/stability boosts.

For sights, look for an aim assist booster first, such as Reflex and SureShot IS. In the middle column, Perfect Balance provides the most benefit without unnecessary reductions. Of course, Hand-laid Stock may be the better option for a PDX-lite, since it will sacrifice the extra range for more stability. With some weapons like PDX-45 and Hawksaw you can get away with just using Perfect Balance to keep the recoil manageable, but the B-29 proves more difficult.

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The Clever Dragon

  • Pros – Very high aim assist. Above average mag size.
  • Cons – Low range, reload speed, stability, and recoil direction.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Iron Red Dot
  2. Smallbore, Perfect Balance, Braced Frame, Send It, Hammer Forged
  3. High Caliber Rounds, Appended Magazine
  4. Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Headseeker, Unflinching, Hidden Hand, Glass Half Full, Outlaw, Feeding Frenzy

Joining The Waltz and the Grasp of Malok archetype, it’s easily the best pulse rifle in the Crucible. For sights, keep in mind that the higher zoom sights will provide better damage and aim assist drop off, as well as slightly tighter burst patterns. In the third column, HCR is the perfect perk to combine with the fast RoF, but Appended Magazine can work very well with Smallbore or Braced Frame. Glass Half Full, Outlaw, and Feeding Frenzy all pair very nicely with Braced Frame, but obviously Counterbalance is the winner.

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Grasp of Malok

  • Pros – High mag size. Very high aim assist.
  • Cons – Below average range and recoil direction. Very low stability. Low reload speed.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Red Dot-OAS, Red Dot-ORS1, Red Dot-ORES
  2. Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Headseeker, Life Support, Eye of the Storm
  3. Braced Frame/Smallbore/Perfect Balance, Hand Loaded, Fitted Stock
  4. Third Eye, Glass Half Full, Feeding Frenzy, Grenadier, Army of One

For some, this is the white whale in the pulse rifle realm. Fortunately, the archetype has been padded by a couple of easier to acquire weapons. In terms of perks, Red Dot-OAS will help to increase the aim assist, but doesn’t really need it. Any combination of Counterbalance and Perfect Balance, Braced Frame, or Smallbore will be great in terms of getting a stable and easy to control recoil pattern.

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The Waltz

  • Pros – Very high aim assist. Above average mag size.
  • Cons – Very low range, reload speed, and recoil direction. Low stability.

Best Vendor Perks:

  1. SteadyHand IS
  2. Lightweight
  3. Perfect Balance
  4. Rangefinder

Recommended Perks:

  1. Reflex, SureShot IS, SteadyHand IS
  2. High Caliber Rounds, Extended Mag, Quickdraw, Flared Magwell, Lightweight
  3. Perfect Balance, Smallbore, Hammer Forged, Third Eye, Outlaw
  4. Counterbalance, Rangefinder, Headseeker

The vendor version won’t be a game changer, but isn’t horrible either. SteadyHand and Perfect Balance will help to neutralize the difficult to control recoil of the high RoF weapon, and Rangefinder gives it that little extra boost needed to keep it competitive in the middle ranges.

As for the randomly dropped versions, the sight recommendations are the same as all year three vendor pulses. Reflex first, SureShot IS second, SteadyHand IS third. In the second column HCR is by far the best perk. Extended Mag and Quickdraw can help, but they just aren’t on the same level in terms of benefits. In the second column, Perfect Balance or Smallbore. Hammer Forged will boost the range but that won’t matter if the bullets are spread out too far. Improving the stability is imperative.