Destiny 2’s Scout Rifles that let you live out your cowboy dreams are getting a huge buff

Aggressive Scout Rifles have struggled in Destiny 2 for some time, but huge buffs coming in Act 2 of Episode Echoes could finally make them meta.

At one point or another, just about every Guardian has equipped an Aggressive Frame Scout Rifle and tried living out their very own cowboy fantasy. However, this is usually followed by the realization that the archetype isn’t very good in PvE, with the constant reloading and slow fire rate not exactly being a recipe for optimal DPS.

However, that looks to be changing soon. As confirmed in the Echoes: Act 2 developer live-stream hosted by Bungie, Aggressive Scout Rifles are receiving a 30% damage boost in Destiny 2’s next major update.

Confirming this buff, Bungie’s senior design lead – Chris Proctor – revealed, “We’ve seen that the Legendary and Exotic Aggressive Scout Rifles have been lacking a bit behind in damage output in PvE. So, we’re bumping [damage output] by 30%, which puts them just ahead of the current leaders for Scout Rifle damage.”

The Bungie developer went on to describe Aggressive Scout Rifles as being a “ton of fun” to use following the changes, before then claiming they will “hit very hard” once Act 2 goes live on July 16, 2024.

This buff will be universal in all PvE content, meaning that it will apply against all enemy types for every 120 RPM Scout Rifle. This includes powerful options like Timeworn Wayfarer and even Dead Man’s Tale, the lone Exotic weapon to use this archetype. The weapon frame’s damage in PvP will remain unchanged.

The activities where this buff will make Aggressive Scout Rifles viable are in mid-tier content like non-GM Nightfalls, higher difficulty seasonal content, and regular Dungeons & Raids. They should also be solid in easier content where most Red Bar enemies will fall in a single precision shot.

However, it is unlikely that this change will make the cowboy rifles meta weapons in Destiny 2’s more challenging content. For activities where safety is preferred to damage, Bows will still outperform Scout Rifles most of the time.

Even so, these buffs are a positive change that shows Bungie wants to balance the sandbox by buffing its weakest weapons. While beforehand using an Aggressive Scout Rifle was effectively throwing, they should now be a solid option for Destiny players looking to have some fun.