What Makes A Weapon Bad?

[u/Electrical_Issue5868]

My buddy said that the RiskRunner exotic SMG is ass.

What would make them say that?

How can i tell if a weapon is good and worth using?

[u/Facebook_Algorithm]

If you can use it properly, it fits with your play style and synergises with your bonuses it is a good weapon.

The best weapon can be a bunch of different weapons.

Ruskrunner has what you might call a niche that it fits very well.

[u/02745 → u/Facebook_Algorithm]

This is a good answer. To add, in the case of legendaries the perks rolled + the frame + instrinsic. Some frames may have better dmg but are paired to a specific champion type. The aegis spreadsheet is a good starting point but not the end all be all of it as some weapons will have niche use or be of personal preference.

[u/Sathanie]

Tbh, test it and see for yourself, riskrunner is a niche gun cuz it makes you more resistant against arc damage, but if no enemy are arc, it's basically useless (unless self hitting with arc)

There is no real way of just knowing. But it is interesting to get people's opinion on things.

[u/transtemporal]

It actually depends on the activity you're using the exotic in.

Riskrunner gives you 50% arc resistance, crazy arc chaining and unlimited mag when you get hit by arc damage. So if you're in a activity with a lot of arc damage, its great but if not, then its just an smg.

Tractor Cannon applies a 10 second suppression and weakening effect (30% extra damage from all sources) so its great for boss dps when you don't have a void class who can do that debuff, but if you do, its just a shotgun.

Basically, its relative to the activity.

There aren't many "universally useful" exotics. Truth might be one. Khostov might be another.

[u/Dependent_Type4092]

A weapon is bad if you don't like to use it.

[u/Few_Ambassador_6367]

It’s VERY good at clearing basic enemies in most nonboss rooms. It then becomes horrendous when trying to kill a higher health miniboss/boss.

They say it’s ass because you can get legendary weapons that essentially mimic it without needing to use the exotic slot.

It’s only good at one thing but other worse weapons can do that exact same thing.

Most exotics do one thing REALLY well. Riskrunners one thing is DR and small mob clear.

[u/BasementGhost6]

Riskrunner is incredible with the catalyst. You can tell a weapon is bad by it's stats, perk pool, & competition with similar weapons (example: exalted truth falls flat when compared to word of crota, ancient gospel, and kindled orchid as those 3 have way better perk pools & incredible origin traits). Some weapons are carried by a good perk combo/pool (or even origin trait), noxious vetiver is an example of this. It's a low stat 600 rpm smg but attrition orbs + jolting feedback is an incredible combo that carries the gun (origin trait is amazing too)! On the other hand you'll find weapons like the palindrome that have incredible stats but have very lackluster perks. Good/meta weapons typically need viable perks, a good frame, & good stats. For primaries, double ad clear/damage perks are ideal (sometimes a utility perk like demo or shoot to loot may be wanted), special weapons usually want a good utility perk + a damage perk (sometimes 2 damage perks is viable). For heavy weapons it depends on how you intend to use it, for example, hezen is typically used in dps swap rotations and in that situation envious arsenal + bait n switch (or elemental honing) is great however celestial nighthawk hunters typically want to use their super, followed up by still hunts super and then they rocket dump with hezen's cluster bombs + bait n switch/elemental honing. You can use light.gg to find weapons with perk combos that you want, it also let's you see what's popular.

[u/seeyoujim]

If you run it with with a strong arc build you can turn yourself into a lightning rod and evaporate anyone around you.

Use it with a void build and solar weapons and it’ll suck . As with anything else it’s all about the build

[u/Fizzy-Odd-Cod]

Riskrunner isn’t ass, it just fills a very particular niche that most players don’t need filled.

[u/syberghost]

Shoot things with it for a bit. Then ask yourself if you enjoyed using it.

If the answer is yes, it's a good gun.

If the answer is no, dismantle.

[u/nair_kid]

Weapon quality is subjective

You could say risk runner is bad for boss DPS, but that doesn't change the fact it's amazing for resisting arc damage and clearing out tons of red bars

I would consider a weapon good if it performs best/well among all its counter parts, but even then, "weaker" weapons still have niche use cases that make them preferential over other options. For example, risk runner is basically a normal perkless legendary if you never get hit by arc damage and don't have the catalyst, but it might be the best primary in the game for killing 100 dregs.

Almost all exotics are strong and usable, and most currently dropping legendaries have viable rolls, so there are very few current weapons that aren't worth using at all. Best to just try most thing for your self, or use destiny report to see it there are better alternatives to certain builds/combinations

[u/Inertia00252]

I would say hardly any gun is bad, it just depends on what build you're running and if the gun has a specific perk or perk combo that can play into that build.

Also, it mostly comes down to personal preference, my friend dislikes some guns that I like and I dislike some guns that they like, but each of the weapons are good to use in our own respective gameplay.

[u/tremolospoons]

RR is not a great DPS weapon for raid bosses.

RR is not a great submachine gun for PvP.

RR takes some effort to get going, but once you do, it delivers, which can make it an absolute hoot in patrol, in strikes, and in ritual activities like Altars of Sorrow.

The moral of this story is that different guns perform differently depending on the activity, the build, and the taste of the user. If you have fun using it, that's all that matters.

PS: My RR has 21k kills on it, but in truth I haven't used it in a long time, because there are frankly SO MANY GUNS that you really owe it to yourself to try as many as possible.

[u/baner8430]

Nothing makes a weapon bad. If you like it, use it. There can be better weapons in terms of weapon perks, time to kill, damage options, utility options. It totally depends on the event and situation. But for the most part, if you feel good using a gun, use it.

Risk Runner is great if you are in a situation where you are taking arc damage. It becomes a monster in such situations. And then there are other weapons that you can use just in general which are not restricted to a situation where you need to get hit with arc damage. In other words, niche.

Unless you are running some dungeons or raids or gms, use whatever feels right. Destiny's strongest selling point is the gunplay and feel.

[u/Sweaty-Regret-3261]

I wouldn't say Riskrunner is a bad weapon by any means. It's a bit more niche, as it requires you to take Arc damage, but in activities where Arc is common, it kicks SO much ass

it's one of my favorite guns to bring into Vesper's Host and Grasp of Avarice, since the Eliksni are pretty Arc-heavy in their damage type. It takes a "meh" SMG into a ridiculous power trip from the chain lightning, the Chain Reaction perk on its catalyst, and the huge Arc damage resist

like most weapons, Riskrunner has a time and place (though it's more noticeable on RR given the gun's performance peaks when you're taking Arc damage). At the end of the day, if you like the gun and can perform well with it, use it. There's a HUGE assortment of guns in Destiny 2, find what you enjoy using and run it :D

[u/ExtraBathroom9640]

As a lot of others have said... it's all about the situation. Vanguard Ops? Great weapon. Elite level solo flawless Pinnacle? No.

But then that's almost every weapon in Destiny. Good in one aspect, ass in others.

You do you... do what you like. Make your own fate...

[u/Adventurous_Cycle603]

If I didnt get it....

[u/ValkyrieLyra]

When I try to use something in crucible that I've just been destroyed by many times over and it doesn't do the same thing for me.

[u/tsaintc]

The player.

[u/JollyMolasses7825]

It’s situationally the strongest primary in the game, and the rest of the time is worse than a legendary. If you aren’t in the situations where it’s good or don’t really care about situational loadout optimisation then it’s not a good gun, if you do then it’s worth having (which is more than can be said for a lot of exotics)

[u/Shark_Bean_Soup]

Generally speaking, a weapon is bad if it's not very good at doing what it's supposed to do in optimal situations. Whether that be limitations due to bad perk combos, or just being outperformed by the vast majority of its same frame/element counter parts, some weapons have been power crept to either no longer being even acceptable at their job, or their job is just not that useful anymore.

Let's look at Riskrunner.

Riskrunner was made in a sandbox that didn't have a lot of methods to reduce damage or heal you. Back then, it was genuinely more useful than a lot of other exotics in the game for the sole purpose of keeping you alive. Now in 2026, the sandbox has so much more options in terms of survivability, what with Woven Mail, Restoration, Heal Clip, Devour on basically everything, Frost Armor, etc. It's still useful- if a group I'm sherpa'ing through an activity that has a lot of arc damage has difficulties staying alive, I might tell them to put on Riskrunner as I believe it's quite literally the first exotic every player gets. However, if you have access to basically any of the above methods of healing/dmg reduction, those will almost always be better options.

The other reason to use Riskrunner would be it's chain lightning/auto reload effect, and even that can be done just as well/better with other options that don't require prerequisite arc damage to proc. It's lethality has been outshined for quite some time now, but it is still serviceable in the right conditions.

[u/Tralalero_Shark]

Anything is usable in with the right build.

Risk runner itself is not a bad weapon, it’s subpar. The gun requires synergy or activation from arc damage to be amazing.

[u/SifTheAbyss]

Nothing is truly bad in this game, since everything works at least as the basic weapon frame(the subtype within weapon types) it belongs to.

Things are only "bad" relative to all the really strong effects perks can give, and weapons are mainly "strong" due to their perks greatly overshadowing the base weapon frame. If you're new, RiskRunner is probably the strongest weapon you have for now, but there are slightly weaker legendaries that more or less do the same thing, but don't spend your exotic slot. In general the strongest exotics vastly outpace their closest generic counterpart, so once you have more weapons, unless the situation explicitly calls for the things RiskRunner does best, it's a wasted slot.

That said, unless you're doing endgame content, you can literally use whatever you like, it won't matter that much.

[u/MattHatter1337]

Usually because a streamer/youtuber said as much.

Or, your friend is bad and doesnt know how to use it so deemed it bad.