Weapon

Weapons are equipment designed to inflict damage on living beings, vehicles, or structures as an effect of combat. Weapons play a dominant role in the Destiny series, as along with grenades, melees, and some super abilities, weapons act as the primary mode of combat and defense against hostile forces in the game. Multiple types of weapons exist, some of which may be more effectively used by certain classes and subclasses, or while wearing certain pieces of armor. There are, however, no restrictions on which classes can use which weapons; every type of gun can be used by every Guardian class.

For a list of all weapons, please view the category page.

Weapon Types
Each weapon fits into one of three inventory slots according to its type: primary, special, and heavy. A player can equip one weapon of each type and hold up to nine more of each type in the inventory. Players can equip any weapon in their inventory at any time, but changing the equipped Special or Heavy weapon will forfeit all of the weapon's ammo.

Primary
Primary weapons are the main weapons used by Guardians. There are four different types of primary weapons:
 * Scout Rifles: Semi-automatic rifles with high accuracy.
 * Pulse Rifles: Burst-fire rifles with high recoil between shots.
 * Auto Rifles: Fully-automatic rifles with medium accuracy.
 * Hand Cannons: Magnums with high power, but no scope.

Primary weapon ammo can be replenish by picking up small, white boxes.

Special
Special weapons have niche uses and deal higher amounts of damage. There are three types of special weapons:
 * Shotguns: Short range, but high damage.
 * Sniper Rifles: Long-range scope and very accurate.
 * Fusion Rifles: Mid-range burst-fire rifle that must be charged for every shot.

Special weapon ammo can be replenished by picking up small, green boxes or opening green ammo crates.

Heavy
Heavy weapons deal massive amounts of damage. There are two types of heavy weapons:


 * Machine Guns: High rate of fire and high magazine capacity.
 * Rocket Launchers: Deals massive area-of-effect damage.

Heavy weapon ammo can be replenished by picking up large, purple boxes or opening purple ammo crates.

Damage Rating
A weapon's damage rating is represented by a number. The higher a weapon's damage rating is, the more damage it will do to enemies.

In the Crucible, weapons' damage ratings are normalized so that no one has an unfair advantage over anyone else.

Attributes
Weapons are differentiated from each other by six attributes:
 * Rate of Fire: How quickly shots can be fired.
 * Impact: How much damage each individual shot does.
 * Range: How far shots travel before rapidly dropping.
 * Stability: How much the weapon resists recoil.
 * Reload: How long the weapon takes to reload.
 * Magazine: How many shots can be fired before having to reload.

In addition, some weapons have a player attribute modifier.

In the Crucible, although weapons' damage ratings are normalized, their attributes are not.

Rarity
Generally, the more rare a weapon is, the higher its damage rating will be.

Though players may carry as many exotic weapons as they like in their inventory, only one exotic weapon may be equipped at one time.

Upgrades
Earning experience with a weapon equipped can unlock upgrades for that weapon, such as different optics options, increased damage, or adjusted attributes. Upgrades can be purchased with Glimmer, Weapon Parts, or other Materials. All non-basic weapons can be upgraded.

Damage Types
Some weapons can do additional damage to an enemy's shields if they have the corresponding damage type.