What is the best fusion rifle in Destiny 2 and why is it the Royal Executioner?

When it comes to Destiny 2, there are a lot of fusion rifles that players can get their hands on. On the surface, these weapons don’t look like much, but they pack a punch. Furthermore, these weapons aren’t like Shotguns, where you’re blasting things out of the way with each shot. The fusion rifles in the game must be charged before they can be shot and offer decent damage output, making them quite effective in combat.

While these fusion rifles may not deal as much damage as their linear fusion rifle counterparts, they’re often the choice of weapon when using the Tractor Cannon or Machine Guns in the heavy slot. Although this weapon wasn’t that unknown, the Royal Executioner has become popular in Destiny 2 Season of the Witch.

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Exploring the reasons behind the sudden rise in Destiny 2 Royal Executioner’s popularity

Do yourself a favour and craft a Royal Executioner. by u/NoArmDays in DestinyTheGame

The Destiny 2 Royal Executioner is an adaptive frame fusion rifle. Adaptive frame weapons are usually easier to handle. While they charge slower than rapid-fire frames, they also have similar damage outputs.

With the Lightfall expansion, Bungie revamped how players could stun champions, giving some elemental damage types specific anti-champion abilities. Soon after this change went live, players quickly realized that Chill Clip fusion rifles could be used against every champion in the game, which brought this weapon archetype into the limelight again.

With Season of the Witch, Bungie buffed the new Envious Assassin perk. Thanks to this buff, the Destiny 2 Royal Executioner, which has been in the game ever since the Season of Defiance, has become the most popular fusion rifle in the game right now.

What’s more interesting is the fact that this weapon can be crafted. So once you make it to level 30, you have access to the enhanced Envious Assassin perk and the enhanced Reservoir Burst perk.

Both these perks work very well with each other. The Envious Assassin perk fills your magazine with extra rounds when you shift to this weapon after scoring kills with another weapon. As for the Reservoir Burst, that perk activates whenever you have extra rounds in your magazine, causing them to deal extra damage. The enhanced versions of both these perks increase their efficiency.

While the Destiny 2 Royal Executioner won’t be as efficient as Chill Clip fusions when slowing down champions in the game, it can be used for clearing ads, and it's beneficial against stationary targets that require significant burst damage. If you're using it during boss DPS phases, it's recommended that you keep a Tractor Cannon in your heavy slot for that sweet debuff on the boss.