Scout Rifles are currently the second-least used weapon type, ahead of only Sidearms that have been in that game for ~7 weeks, as opposed to just over 10 months. What I want to know is: why? They answer several problems and complaints that people seem to have at the moment
Snipers OP - Scout Rifles are the only weapons that can actually compete with Snipers at long range reliably, so why are they not used?
Thorn needs a range nerf - see above
Auto Rifle buff - Some of the high RoF Scout Rifles can be rolled with Full Auto to provide a weapon that fires faster than a Focus Fire Auto Rifle of the SUROS Impact/RoF denomination, while also dealing more damage and having more range, so why not use them? Good examples are the Deadshot Luna and the NL Shadow. Makeshift AR right there.
Thorn/TLW are broken with 2-shots - High impact Scout Rifles can score 3-hit kills that no one can complain about, hell, The Scholar can 2-shot. If you're looking for a counter, try MIDA Multi-Tool, the hidden talent of High-Calibre rounds and the speedy movements it allows for turn you into a someone that screams "You can't beat what you can't hit"
If you were to ask me (here we go, yet another opinion), I think the reason behind their disuse is the abuse of Shotguns. I shan't lie, there is no worse weapon to be caught using than a Scout Rifle if a Shotgun comes round the corner, ready to blow your head off. I'd be very interested to know anyone else's reasons and thoughts on the matter.
Perhaps, if nothing is going to be nerfed, a slight Scout Rifle buff is in order? The last one was in October and has shown no signs of increased usage
Edit 1: It's great to have found a plethora of Scout Rifle users like myself, and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading and debating the points raised here. For now, I'm going to sleep, so will be unable to reply to any of you for the next few hours (rest assured, I shall do my best to get back to you ASAP). Thank you all very much for keeping this post as active as it has been!
Edit 2: The answer I have been given many times now is "Why use them when Hand Cannons are available?". This is exactly the problem the Crucible faces at the moment. A Scout Rifle requires precision and nerve, but Exotic Hand Cannons can be put to stellar use by just about anyone, so there is no incentive to not use them - the bad players use them in hopes of raising their K/D by using something overpowered, and the good players use them so they don't fall behind to everyone else using the same weapons. Someone I used to be friends with, and now despise, has a K/D of 3.97 and 41942 kills with The Last Word, almost double the kills I have in Crucible full stop. From what I understand, he's ranked the 11th best player in the world (according to DestinyTracker). Combine those kind of stats with the sheer numbers of people using TLW/Thorn, it amazes me that this has gone on for so long.
Edit 3: Seriously, massive thanks to everyone who has kept this in the "Trending" section for the last 15-16 hours, stoking the fire of debate with each new point raised. I owe you all one :D
Edit 4: Out of curiosity, I'm wondering who has seen Datto's video that complains about the current state of Crucible ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHenCd2BWNQ for those of you who are interested and yet to see it). It sums up pretty much every non-Scout Rifle related thing I could say, and unlike myself, he's a big enough personality in the community to cause a change
-
Edited by AldomanX: 7/13/2015 3:07:27 AMThorn is more reliable against snipers, said isn't it?
-
Edited by bilbo t baginzz: 7/13/2015 3:06:55 AMMaps are to close combat. Theres only a few maps which ill use my scholar on.
-
Use the MIDA Multi Tool all the time. As a Titan, my defense is practically maxed, recovery is super high, and agility is horrendous... How do I fix this? Use the Multi Tool! It basically works to maximize your movements and reaction times as well as make up for scout rifles overall slow rates of fire with it's exotic perk! As it says it fires on a 'hair trigger' this basically means every time you click that trigger, shots will be fired... Even at long ranges the Multi Tool is a machine, blasting out kill after kill with it's superb accuracy and open scope. It's long range capabilities also condone using shotguns over snipers for those of you noobs out there ;)
-
Why use a scout rifle to counter snipers when you could just use hawkmoon or thorn.
-
I use mida quite a bit it's awesome. The problem is that hand cannons have the same effective range as scouts but nearly twice the impact.
-
The Scholar is amazing pretty much the only primary I use
-
What is the point of buffing scout rifles? You want to make MiDA a 3 shot kill with its RoF? VoC a 2 shot? That would break the crucible even more. Scout rifles are fine they way they are, map design is the problem in Destiny. Way too much CQC.
-
My Titan loves MIDA. Between the hair trigger and the insane double boost to speed, she becomes a Shoulder Charging menace when I really put the tryhard pants on. Same Titan rolled a full auto - Firefly Hygiea Noblesse. I'd really like to get a hold of Vision of Confluence and Fang of Ir Yut.
-
I see them alot actually I've been rocking First rule DHBY it dropped for me with focused fire and it's pretty BA tbh. I didn't realize you could role focused fire on regular legendary autos
-
Because handcannons are at the op spotlight right now once they get nerft scouts and snipers will dominate long range battles
-
If they nerf hand cannon range then huge increase in mida
-
Cause hand cannons can do the same job at close and long range
-
I love using mida favorite scout rifle also I love Vision of confluence
-
I see them all the time
-
I used a mida today and it wrecked. I need to use it more often
-
Because hand cannons are just as deadly from those ranges, and close range where scouts suffer
-
Edited by Elitespear: 7/13/2015 2:23:08 AMToo much scope flinch. The lower impact archetype could maybe do with either a fire rate increase of a damage increased for them to work a bit better in PVP. Don't think anything drastic is required. Scouts do work in pvp though, they're not a bad option if you're good with them.
-
I love to use MIDA when Combined Arms is available.
-
Because hc are better. No one wants to be at a disadvantage, it's why crucible is unbalanced. I try to pull out my mida once in a while
-
Because noobs can't put down HCs
-
Most maps are too small and narrow, majority of the map favour shorter range weapons. i.e. Hand cannons and shotties
-
They're too balanced for the average user.
-
love my scholar & love Mida. both very viable to use in crucible & trials
-
The reason I don't use Scout Rifles is simply the TTK is far too low compared to other valid options such as Thorn, TLW or Red Death. It is also a very hard to use gun in the vast majority of Crucible/ToO maps considering that most are close quarters/mid range. A hand gun or pulse rifle are just the better primary weapon option for these situations and a hand gun can easily out damage a scout rifle.
-
Not OP
-
I have a couple of Full Auto Scouts which I roll with in crucible, Besides the ever awesome VoC I have a Zero Point LOTP with Crowd Control, and a One/One Synesthete with Hidden Hand. TTK is still a bit on the slow side, but running with High Cal rounds improves your odds in one v one situations. Primarily you are trying to get the drop on the opposition, and engaging well outside the current average engagement range.