People see stats on a weapon, or a perk on armor that appears to be great but in reality just works out to be kinda meh. I will try to provide numbers so you know actually what a perk does, how it affects your chosen playstyle is something that only you can discover. Please note that everything here is for PvE. In the Crucible (excluding Iron Banner to some extent) everything is Normalized. That is defense and attack do not matter. Level modifiers are also disabled. All that matters is Impact, Weapon Type and the perks on each individual weapon. [u]Weapons:[/u] [b][url=http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2onlms/new_vendor_armor_weapons_and_exotics_and_how_they/]Side by Side Comparison of all Weapons In Game (no perks)[/url][/b] [b][url=http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2onlms/new_vendor_armor_weapons_and_exotics_and_how_they/]All Vendor Version Weapon Perks[/url][/b] [b]List of "best" vendor weapons by category (currently attainable).[/b] [i]Note this is only my opinion.[/i] [b]Autorifle:[/b] [url=http://destinydb.com/items/260216313-vanquisher-viii]Vanquisher VIII[/url] (New Monarchy) Why? Best Impact, Good Perks. ---- [i]Non-Faction version[/i]: [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/1301423374]Up For Anything[/url] (Vanguard) Why? 2nd best Impact. [b]Scout Rifle[/b]: [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/3711153071]Saterienne Rapier[/url] (Crucible) Why? Best perks, great stats. [b]Handcannon:[/b] [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/1304551379]TFWPKY 1969[/url] (Crucible) Why? Best all around. [b]Pulse Rifle:[/b] [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/1011266581]Three Little Words[/url] (Crucible) Why? Because it has more then 300% of the Impact of the next highest 331 Pulse Rifle (excluding Red Death, an Exotic) [b]Sniper Rifle:[/b] You can go with either [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/3384077431]LDR 5001[/url] (Vanguard) or [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/935317314]Y-09 Longbow Synthesis[/url] (Crucible). Both are about the same, but the vendor version of LDR5001 is much better then the Longbow. [b]Fusion Rifle: [/b][url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/2609120348]Murmur[/url] (Eris Morn Quest). Hands down. Why? Choice between 2 damage types (Solar and Arc), great charge rate, fantastic impact. [b]Shotgun:[/b] I would go with [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/3463607706]Two to the Morgue [/url](Crucible). Why? Um, because I think it handles better. I would rather have an experienced PvPer's opinion on this one as my opinion is more of a WAG then anything. [b]Rocket Launcher:[/b] [url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/1254347838]One Way Ticket 000[/url] (Vanguard). Why? 2 rockets and cluster bombs. I wish it had tracking. [b]Machine Gun: [/b][url=http://db.planetdestiny.com/items/view/4151458533]Against All Odds [/url](Crucible) Why? It has the highest Impact, at the cost of the lowest RoF. This is mainly a playstyle choice but if you get one of these with Field Scout (50 round magazine) then you can kill 25 Guardians in the crucible with one magazine (assuming all headshots). Absolutely wrecks in PvE as well. *** Stats on Weapons. What they are and what they do. *** [b]VISIBLE STATS[/b] [b]Attack [/b]Higher attack allows your weapons to damage higher-level opponents. This stat modifies the Impact stat when you are higher or lower level than your target (reducing or increasing damage). [b]Rate of Fire[/b] The number of shots per minute this weapon can fire. The higher the number the faster your gun will eject bullets or less time needed between trigger pulls (on semi-autos) [b]Impact[/b] Increases the damage inflicted by each round. This stat is modified by Attack, your character level vs. the level of the target you are shooting at, the range of the target vs. your weapon's Range and the target's Defense. [b]Range[/b] Increase the effective range of the weapon. This stat determines the distance that your shots hit for 100% damage before they begin falling-off to 50% damage. Range also affects the minimum and maximum size of your “bloom” circle when hip-firing. Fusion Rifles don't suffer damage fall-off, but instead Range determines the speed of the projectile fired from these guns. (Note: Sights play a vital role in determining damage by increasing the Range of your weapon while aiming. Each Sight has a Range multiplier) [b]Stability[/b] Decreases weapon recoil when fired continuously. This makes your character move less when firing so you can hit the same target repeatedly. [b]Reload [/b]Decreases the time it takes to reload this weapon. The higher the value the faster you reload your gun. It is important to note that each type of gun has its own base reload speed and that the bar you are seeing is moving from 1-100% of the fastest you can reload THAT weapon type. [b]Magazine [/b]The number of shots that can be fired before reloading. Each gun has its own magazine size and some are larger or smaller than others. Note that you can increase the bar from 1-100% of the amount of ammo you can carry for THAT weapon. [b]Charge Rate[/b] (Fusion Rifles only) Rate at which the weapon charges. The higher the number the faster your Fusion Rifle charges before firing. [b]Blast Radius[/b] (Rocket Launchers only) Increases the explosion radius of this weapon. Blast damage falls-off from the center of the explosion outward. The higher this value the more damage enemies will take when not being hit directly by the blast. [b]Velocity[/b] (Rocket Launchers only) Increases the speed of projectiles fired by this weapon. This is the speed at which your rockets travel to their target. [b]NOT VISIBLE STATS[/b] [b]Optics[/b] Affects zoom factor, multiplies the Range stat. Optics is determines how much your weapon will zoom while aiming before taking into account the Sight have equipped. [b]Handling[/b] How quickly you aim, raise, and lower your gun. This stat is a combination of the previously mentioned factors. You can receive bonuses to each one separately, but they all fall under Handling. [b]Recoil[/b] Affects the strength and trajectory of gun kick. This is a combination of several factors: the Stability of your weapon, the Rate of Fire of your weapon and how good you are at holding your aim steady under these conditions. [b]Inventory[/b] Affects initial ammo when spawning and maximum capacity. *** How does Damage actually Work *** First off, [b]Level Difference[/b]. If you are the same level, or if you are above the level of your target then you do full damage per shot. If you are 1 level below your target you do 25% less damage, 2 levels is 35% less damage, 3 levels is 50% less damage, and 4 levels or more is no damage at all. [b]There is a cap on how much damage you can do per shot[/b], this is dependent upon weapon type and Impact. When your damage is shown in gray you have hit that cap. This prevents you from taking a 1 Impact 331 attack Autorifle and just mowing down mobs on Earth with one shot. [b]A 331 Attack weapon will do roughly 15% more damage to a monster level 22 or highe [/b](assuming that you are still below cap) [b]then that same weapon would at 300 Attack[/b]. It scales pretty linearly with approximately 5% more damage with each upgrade past 300. [b]Impact determines how much damage each individual round does[/b]. The more impact, the more damage per shot you do. Attack modifies Impact. [b]Weapon type also modifies Impact.[/b] A sniper rifle for example will do more damage with a low impact body shot then a Handcannon with much higher impact. [b][url=http://destiny.wiki.fextralife.com/Weapons]This Page[/url][/b] has the breakdown of how Precision Damage, Flinch and Zoom (base zoom) are modified by weapon type. [b]Weapon type modifies Precision damage.[/b] All weapons within a type share the same multiplier. [b]Weapon type Modifies Flinch.[/b] All weapons within a type share the same multiplier, High Impact Rounds modify this. [b]Weapon type modifies Zoom[/b]. All weapons within a type share the same multiplier, individual sights modify this. *** Common Weapon Perks: What they are and What they do *** [url=http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2i75yk/all_about_weapon_mods/]This webpage Here[/url] has a list of most if not all of the available weapon perks, and what they do with percentages. Some notable ones to stay away from: Mulligan. Gives you a 5% chance ( or 1 in 20 rounds ) of having a missed shot return to the magazine. Vacuum. Doubles ammo pickup radius