Fusion Rifle

"Despite the concerns over faulty radiation shielding, the weapon's incredible power has made it a favorite of daring weapons collectors."

- Jonathan Goff, expert on Guardian militaria.

Fusion rifles are a class of energy-based weapons featured in Destiny.

Overview
Advancements in directed energy disbursement were gained through dissection of hostile alien technology gathered in the field. The first implementation of this new technology resulted in the creation of fusion rifles. One of the first working prototypes was deemed too unstable for mass production due to faulty radiation shielding. Modern fusion rifles use a pulsing emitter in order to keep heat buildup to a minimum. Consequently, fusion rifles actually fire seven distinct beams in very quick succession. Because of this, users have had luck sweeping the weapon across multiple targets, eliminating all of them with a single fire event.

Fusion rifles are intended for medium range combat, significantly outpacing a standard shotgun, but must be charged up to fire. The charge speed varies per weapon, but in general it makes the weapon significantly slower to fire than a shotgun and the bolts fired have travel time, unlike most other weapons, where the bullets travel instantly on the way to their target. If the user is adept, however, they can bypass this delay by pre-charging the weapon before acquiring line of sight to their target and finding perks that boost the fusion rifle's range, which actually represents the speed at which the bolts travel. While it was not built to handle long range combat, users that can tame its recoil and have a little luck on their side may find themselves picking off targets outside the approved range. This is because stability represents the bolt spread. The higher the stability, the narrower the spread, thus increasing overall accuracy. In rare instances, they can kill multiple targets in one shot.

Fusion rifles are split into three different archetypes: fast charge rate with a lower impact, high impact with a lower charge rate, and a medium charge rate with a moderate impact. From a statistically standpoint, the medium charge rate/moderate-impact seems to be the most reliable, but faster charge rate fusion rifles work well in a panic, and those with the highest impact can kill most foes with ease.

Common /Rare

 * Dammerung FR5
 * Helios FR5
 * Nox Cantor II
 * Nox Fury IV
 * Nox Revus II
 * Nox Revus III
 * Primed Nox Revus IV
 * Prost FR2
 * SK5 Type-Null
 * Solas FR2
 * Solas FR3
 * Tengoku FR2A

Legendary

 * 77 Wizard
 * Conduit F3
 * Final Rest II
 * LIGHT/Beware
 * Perun's Fire (Iron Banner)
 * Praetorian Foil (Vault of Glass)
 * Purifier VII
 * The Calming
 * Murmur (The Dark Below Story reward)
 * Light of the Abyss (Crota's End)
 * PLUG ONE.1
 * The Trolley Problem
 * The Frenzy
 * Snakebite Surgeon
 * Give/Take Equation
 * Techeun Force (Queen's Wrath)
 * Servant of Aksor (Prison of Elders)
 * Exile's Curse (obtained during Trials of Osiris event)

Exotic

 * Plan C
 * Pocket Infinity
 * Vex Mythoclast (Vault of Glass)
 * Queenbreakers' Bow

Legendary

 * Long Far Gone
 * Panta Rhei
 * Hitchhiker FR4
 * The Vortex
 * The Vacancy
 * Elevating Vision (available from Trials of Osiris)
 * Ashraven's Flight (available from the Iron Banner)
 * Midha's Reckoning (King's Fall raid)
 * Techeun Rage (available from Prison of Elders)
 * Darkblade's Spite
 * Susanoo (quest completion reward from Gunsmith at rank 2)
 * Omolon Thesan FR4

Exotic

 * Sleeper Simulant
 * Telesto

Legendary

 * Saladin's Vigil (Archon's Forge)
 * The Branded Lord (available from the Iron Banner)
 * Stellar Vestige (available from Trials of Osiris)
 * ETHER NOVA~ (Wrath of the Machine)
 * Worlds to Come 001
 * The Waiting
 * Each New Day
 * Ex Astris
 * 77 Wizard

Trivia

 * Names for the fusion rifle during development include the "laser blaster" and "particle cannon."
 * Fusion rifles were once stated to only effective at close range
 * The process of charging up an energy based weapon harkens to the fusion and plasma pistols of Bungie's Marathon and Halo series respectively.

List of appearances

 * Destiny