TheTrials of Osirishave become a focal point inDestiny 2afterthe Beyond Light expansion. The highly competitive mode hastaken over the PVP scenesince it was re-introduced in 2020. Becausethe gamehas entered its fourth year, there are more skilledDestiny 2players than ever.
Competing in the Trials of Osiris is exhilarating and challenging but it takes a solid team, great communication, and most importantly, amazing gear, to reach the top. Players will find themselves grinding for weeks just to snag a particular weapon roll or exotic to ensure that they can compete on equal ground with other Guardians.
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Updated June 13, 2025, by Anastasia Maillot:Auto rifles are not usually a common choice for PVP, but players who greatly enjoy them still have a few decent options to choose from when hopping into Crucible. Unfortunately, The Witch Queen expansion doesn’t add many PVP-friendly auto rifles, with Sweet Sorrow, and Come To Pass much more PVE oriented guns overall. However, this list did miss a few Crucible-friendly auto rifles that have seen some love and most likely will continue to as the meta has yet to fully solidify. Here are the best auto rifles in Destiny 2’s season 16, for PVP.
12Krait
Perhaps the only auto rifle that was addedin Season 16that could somewhat hold its own in Crucible, Krait comes from the same family as the infamous Funnelweb SMG, which is by far the most popular mid-range weapon. While it’s not the best, its fast fire rate and with the right recoil controlling perks, Krait can become as decent as Chroma Rush. If anything, it’s a good replacement for those who never got the chance to farm the Chroma Rush during the last few seasons.
11Sweet Business
Sweet Business is now easier than ever to get thanks to a quest that players can pick up from Shaw Han upon loading into the game as of season 16. This Exotic auto rifle is a bit niche but can be a lot of fun and destruction in Crucible. When players sustain fire from this weapon, it fires faster and gains better range, making it into a deadly minigun of sorts. The weapon also is more accurate when players fire it from the hip, which is nice in a fast-paced environment like PVP.
10False Promises
False Promises is one of the heaviest hitting assault rifles with 33 impact. Theweapon’s default zoom of 20 and a 75-meter rangemake it one of the top long-range weapons to use in PVP.
Guardians will want to get the weapon withhammer-forged rifling, ricochet rounds, dynamic sway reduction, and rampage. Even without the above god roll perks, this weapon is a strong option for players that enjoy fighting from range.
9Hard Light
Hard Light’sincredibly fast fire rate coupled with the advantage of ricochet rounds make it an impressive energy weapon inDestiny 2. The weapon’s rounds havea very slight damage falloff and ricochet rounds deal even more damageafter they bounce off of a surface. Few 600 RPM auto rifles have limited damage falloff, and none can match the base stability of Hard Light.
Guardians that learn to cause damage with the ricochet rounds can get incredibly fast kills. The auto rifle is particularly lethal insmall lanes and hallways.
8Monte Carlo
Players that enjoy using a melee-centric strategy will want toget their hands on the Monte Carlo.Any hits with the weapon grant melee energy. Each time an enemy is killed by the Monte Carlo, there is a chance that melee energy will instantly regenerate. These are amazing benefits for an already solid 600 RPM auto rifle.
The weapon’s recoil direction does swing to the right, but once players get used to it, they will love all the benefits the gun brings to the table. For these reasons, the Monte Carlo is unquestionably A tier.
7Tommy’s Matchbook
The exotic 720 RPM auto rifle is surprisingly good in PVP. It is a Season Pass reward for those that have the pass activated. This gun is a fast-firing non-kinetic rifle with moderate recoil. It would be difficult to find a gun that is more straightforward to use inDestiny 2. Despite its moderate damage output, the weapon makes up for DPS with its intrinsic trait and accuracy.
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The intrinsic trait of the gunincreases damage if the gun overheats, but it will deal a small amount of damage to the user. In average skilled lobbies, the weapon is consistent and surprisingly effective with the additional overheat damage.
6Seventh Seraph Carbine
The Seventh Seraph has a niche long-range role in PVP. It has a slow fire rate and modest damage, but the range on the weapon allows it tocompete with some of the 140 RPM hand cannonsat range. Because of how dominant hand cannons are this year, the gun will lose to elite players that can hit headshots.
In most lobbies, the Seventh Seraph is a very solid option. Precision aim and the lack of any recognizable recoil make hitting headshots easy.
5Gnawing Hunger
Gnawing Hunger is one of the most used auto rifles inDestiny 2. It has a competitiveTTK at .8 secondsand well-rounded stats throughout. The auto rifle is incredibly balanced, easy to use, and has very good perk options. The best rolls for the weapon will include thekill clip perk, which will bring the gun’s TTK down to .6 after getting a kill and reloading.
4The Forward Path
While it sounds like a toy gun, the Forward Path is one of the better auto rifles in the game. Even though it is one of the less used 600rpm rifles, it is consistent, stable, and has the range to be competitive in Trials.
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The gun will not have a ridiculous TTK like many of the hand cannons, but it will bemore forgiving when missing shots.The Forward Path is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing auto rifles in the game.
3Chroma Rush
Chroma Rush is the second 720 RPM auto rifle on this list. It was one of the rewards during Season of the Splicer. This fast-firing auto rifle/SMG hybrid has some of the top perk rolls in the game. With the right roll, it can melt any enemy in the game at close range. One of the perks players will want to get isKill Clip, which increases damage after a kill and reload.
As enemies get further away, the Chroma Rush gets less and less effective. However, great base stability and recoil make it viable outside of the base damage dropoff. Consider it an S-tier option in close-quarters fights.
