A new weapon type for the Power slot has been discovered in Destiny 2. However, it is not completely “new”.
Two new weapon types were spotted during the gameplay premiere in May: The SMGs and the grenade launchers. At E3 2017, the Guardians found another new weapon type during gameplay sessions: The “Linear Fusion Rifle”:
The linear fusion rifle that was playable is called Tarantula-3 FR, belongs to the legendary quality, and deals Arc damage.
New weapon type strongly resembles Sleeper Simulant
The special thing about this new fusion rifle: It fires not multiple projectiles per shot like the “normal” fusion rifles, but only a compact laser beam. This is supposed to be precise even at long range.
In this video, you can see this weapon briefly in action. Two shots are fired with it. We have marked the spot:
If you’re now thinking: “This seems familiar to me!”, then you are absolutely right. With “The Taken King”, a unique fusion rifle was introduced: The Sleeper Simulant, a fusion rifle that does not use the special weapon slot like any other fusion rifle in Destiny 1, but in the heavy weapon slot. So it is a heavy fusion rifle.
The Sleeper Simulant also fires only a bundled laser beam. This property seems to be transferred to a separate weapon type in Destiny 2: The linear fusion rifle.
By the way, they are considered Power weapons (so something similar to Heavy weapons). In Destiny 2, there is a distinction made between kinetic, solar, and power weapons, where the power weapons include all those weapon types that can kill with just one shot in PvP.
The Sleeper Simulant is still used today to deal significant damage to bosses in Destiny 1 raids, such as Atheon. The fact that linear fusion rifles are now establishing their own weapon type can be interesting for your playstyle. Because while you had to sacrifice your exotic slot for the “Sleeper Simulant”, the new fusion rifles are also available in legendary.
Are you excited about linear fusion rifles?
You can find an overview of 10 weapons from Destiny 2 that could be exotic here.
