The Final Shape has really shaken up Destiny 2’s sandbox, with Bungie releasing a bunch of new twists on existing weapons that play in radically different ways, none more so than the support frame auto-rife.
Probably the most complicated non-exotic weapon in the game, a support frame auto rifle works like this: When you equip the weapon you’ll notice a small semicircle near your targeting reticule which fills up as you damage enemies, hip firing [[link]] will then expend that bar to heal your allies When healing an ally they’ll receive a small [[link]] amount of health for each bullet, plus a little burst of Restoration after a couple of seconds of healing (and yes, this does trigger Ember of Benevolence if you’re on Solar). Additionally doing those same couple of seconds of healing will result in a buff called “support frame boost” which increases your damage, so you’re encouraged to constantly swap between healing and harming.
But that’s not all! There are two additional things that aren’t mentioned in the in game description: firstly you can still damage enemies when hip firing, the shots will only switch to healing when you’re aiming at an ally, secondly both healing and damage modes have a mild tracking element, a lot like the exotic submachine gun Osteo Striga.
No Hesitation PvE god roll
- Barrel: Smallbore, Hammer Forged
- Magazine: Tactical Mag, Appended Mag, Accurised Rounds
- 3rd Column: Physic, Demolitionist, Overflow
- 4th Column: Incandescent, Circle of Life, Attrition Orbs
- Masterwork: Reload Speed, Range
Physic and Circle of Life are two unique perks that only appear on support frames and interact with the effects described above. The former ensures that you receive Restoration when you grant an ally Restoration, while the latter improves the support frame boost aspect, making it last far longer. Both are strong, but Physic stands out as the top choice in column three. The enhanced version of the perk, available on a crafted No Hesitation, will give Restoration x2, making you basically invulnerable to all but the heaviest sustained damage. Otherwise Demolitionist and Overflow are both useful just for ensuring you can keep firing as long as possible without stopping to reload.
In the fourth column there is the aforementioned Circle of Life and also the reliably good Incandescent, which interacts well with Solar subclasses. There is also a surprising niche choice: Attrition Orbs. This generally bad perk creates orbs when damaging an enemy, which is nice, but they usually pop out of that enemy's head, which is bad as you don't really want to have to run over there and collect them. On a support frame, though, it also periodically creates [[link]] orbs when healing allies, making the perk much more useful.
No Hesitation PvP god roll
- Barrel: Smallbore, Hammer Forged
- Magazine: Accurised Rounds
- 3rd Column: Physic, Overflow
- 4th Column: Circle of Life, Desperate Measures, Disruption Break
- Masterwork: Range
Truthfully it's hard to tell at this stage how No Hesitation might affect the PVP meta. Healing abilities can swing matches, but No Hesitation has to deal damage to use its healing, while a healing rift or grenade does not. That said it should excel in situations where two teams take potshots at each other before engaging. Think of it like Osteo Striga, putting constant pressure on enemies with a stream of tracking bullets.
That's why I like Circle of Life here, to maximise the uptime of the support frame damage boost. Beyond that Physic will always be strong, while Overflow lets you keep up the pressure with an endless stream of suppressing fire. There's also a niche case here for Disruption Break, which inflicts a huge debuff against kinetic damage when breaking a player's shields, playing into the teamshooting playstyle this weapon encourages. Finally I've put all my barrels and magazines into extra range, because you're going to be hip shooting this gun a lot, and you're going to want to be able to do that from as far away as possible.