This is a long post lol I posted this as a response to someone on another thread but anyone f-curious should read it I guess Fusions 101! All fusion rifles fire 7 bolts Impact= damage per bolt. ashravens is a 5 bolt kill fusion (BPK) Other 5 BPK fusions include Panta Rhei, Susanoo,Thessan FR4, the Vortex, Plan C, Long Far Gone, and Elevating Vision[spoiler]and Telesto but i dont like including Telesto because of the delay and because of that isn't part of this discussion, it's a completely different playstyle from a regular fusion rifle [/spoiler] in no particular order The 5 bolt fusions do between 40-48 per bolt, the higher the impact the more damage per bolt Some people get really focused on the damage but to me it's not that important, it's the number of bolts you need to land to ohk that's important Splitshifter Pro is a 6 bolt kill 7 for max armor, i used to run one before the fusion rifle nerf, it's just super unreliable now Midahs Reckoning, Hitchhiker, the gunsmith test fusion[spoiler]lol i know[/spoiler], Darkblades Spite and The Vacancy are 4 BPK for normal armor enemies, 5 BPK for max armor strikers and ram warlocks, shielded normals Range-- Fusions all have the same basic range more or less in the conventional sense of range, the range stat is mainly the speed of the bolts with a little accuracy sprinkled in. the higher the range the faster the bolts go down range I use a Vortex and the base range is 38, which i have zero issues with, they all fall in the mid 30s to low 40s [spoiler]darkblade,plan c and elevating vision are 48,50,47 respectively[/spoiler] on base range. Don't focus on the range too much, more is nice but not necessary at all imo I've never thought, man I wish this thing had more bolt speed. Not having a range perk doesn't make it trash if it's stable... Stability Is all about the spread of the bolt Higher stability shots come out more like a tube, low stability shots come out like a funnel with the little end closest to the end of the gun. More stability=tighter shot grouping Less stability = more spread I tend to only use fusions with braced frame or some other stability perk it really helps keep the shots tight, even at the cost of range, though anything over 65 or 70 is plenty for midrange or closer Personally I like Long Far Gone and The Vortex, they're both 5 bolt kills with the highest base charge rate in that archetype. Fast charge helps immensely with all the fast ttk primaries currently, also it's helpful to be able to get off 2 shots, or to melt multiple people in a pinch. The Vortex i main has life support, battle runner and braced frame, not a 'god roll' by current standards, but those 2 perks can be useful as hell and it's really braced frame and charge rate that makes it a beast I like Ashravens, Susanoo and the Thessan, i use them on maps with longer sight lines, susanoo and thessan with 100 stability can ohk at stupid far ranges, I've been saving a thessan package for a rangefinder, accelerated coils, hotswap roll, that's probably never going to show up again lol Let's talk accelerated coils for a min... Accelerated coils is great on certain fusions, thessan fr4 being one of them, as the damage loss is inconsequential because it doesn't change the BPK and you get 20% faster charge, which is noticeable. Panta Rhei, Elevating Vision and Ashravens are probably good choices for this perk as they also stay 5 BPK in most situations, all the 5 BPK fusions need 6 bolts to ohk max armor enemies anyway But on some it's detrimental, most of the 4 BPK fusions turn into 5 BPK fusions and that 20% better charge time isn't worth it because there are much better options in that BPK bracket with considerably faster charge rates and base stability and Vortex and LFG turn into 6 BPK for normals and 7 for max armor because they're right at the cusp of being able to 5 BPK and that small drop in damage pushes them out of that range The Vacancy I really like the Vacancy also, it's a weird fusion rifle, high base stability, high damage per bolt 49, it will ohk normal armor range enemies in 4 bolts, mid and max armor ram warlocks and max armor titans in 5, and max armor with overshields in 6-7, and some in super enemies It's my second favorite fusion behind The Vortex It has the same impact as Midah and 2 points below Darkblades Spite but has 2x-4x the base stability of any 4 BPK fusion, 2x the Aim assist, considerably less recoil, and 2x the equip speed, and it's shot pattern is straight up and down, aim at the balls and it's dead 100% of the time if you get the drop on them. I've gone through about 60 FWC packages and haven't gotten a single Vacancy, not even a shitty one, but the vendor roll is decent and i do well with it but I'll keep pumping heavy ammo into Lakshmi until I get one with braced frame rangefinder and hotwap ****pretty sure it's glitched because no one has confirmed a vacancy drop Here's another thread about it, please bump it https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/199369540/0/0 Using them Charge in hipfire and quicksnap to ads as the bolts release, takes a little practice but you get a big boost to stability doing this and you get the benifits of fast target acquisition and shot spread tightening doing that fusions have a clunky target swing in ads This is all of my accumulated fusion rifle knowledge over the last 16 months, use it wisely lol Find one you like that fits your playstyle and have fun ---------- a few additional points I take for granted because they're related to basic weapon performance----------- Fusion rifles aren't a hitscan weapon, the bolts have velocity and travel time It's not long, and even low range bol5s (in the mid 30s) have a pretty quick speed, but it is there Rangefinder, rifled barrel etc effect bolt speed It helps to anticipate the enemy's movement so you can lead your shots when you're farther out on the edges of the effective range Additionally, they also take a little time to get the bolts out of the barrel Pushing down on the stick a little to compensate for the recoil helps even the spread out Fusion rifles have no damage fall off, they do the same damage in someone's face as they do from extreme range(the bolts just disappear eventually)) and as far as I can tell that range is the same for all of them) *this is why a fusion like thessan can ohk at sometimes ridiculous range it's all about that stability keeping the bolts together and no damage falloff Fusion rifle bolts have no critical hit modifier Headshots? Don't bother, shoot them in the feet, the chest, the head....makes no difference I aim lower at the legs out of pure habit at this point so i dont have to pull the stick down to not shoot over their heads **edit 2** Getting a little feedback on rangefinder and damage falloff Some are saying rangefinder does nothing. im finding conflicting reports on rangefinder on fusions. Also I've had someone report that there [i]is[/i] damage falloff at the extreme edge of the effective range, im going to do some testing on that and get back to you all.