Destiny: Doctrine of Passing is the Crucible's new essential weapon
Anyone hoofing around the Crucible lately will have run into the bullet hose that is the legendary auto-rifle Doctrine of Passing.
"It's the death spray from outer space. It's the win button from the gods. Though not completely infallible, it is almost idiot proof."
Not since the exotic hand-cannon Thorn has there been such a heart-breaking PvP weapon as the Doctrine of Passing. But whereas Thorn almost demands that you cowardly duck out of the way to let its poisonous bullets finish the job for you, with DoP you get to watch the life drain at around 13-16 damage per bullet. It’s the frickin’ death spray from outer space. It’s the win button from the gods. Though not completely infallible, it is almost idiot proof and I should know, because I’m an idiot. I therefore suggest that DoP be known as ‘Dopey’.
Time to Kill
So, the thing with Doctrine of Passing, like Atheon’s Epilogue before it in Year One, is that it has an INSANE rate of fire. While there are similar guns (mentioned further down) that you could own, the boon with DoP is that it seems to ignore the puny range statistics, chewing Guardians to pieces from a surprising distance in addition to shredding them from the hip up close. The upshot is that you’ll likely win almost any primary 1v1 with the exception of The Last Word. The downside is that you can sometimes forget to use your brain.
How to get yours
Doctrine of Passing is exclusively earned via Trials of Osiris, the end-game PvP event taking place every Friday through Monday. There are a few ways to obtain it, we got ours from completing the relatively easy Gold Tier bounty. Sometimes it is offered for winning seven matches, but the ultimate aim is to achieve a flawless run of nine games and hope to secure an Adept version (320 Light plus Last Resort perk) from the Lighthouse on Mercury. Having that guaranteed Light level is awesome all by itself, but the thing looks gorgeous too.
Most Desirable DoP
The DoP has a very good base stability rating for an auto rifle of 42, plus an excellent reload rating of 78. These already make it preferable to running with Atheon’s Epilogue if you think that’s so smart. And so the conversation has settled on Counterbalance versus Hidden Hand to ensure that all your bullets find their target. Since many duels end up as butt-clenching, side-strafing hopes for the best (you’ll stop hoping after a while with DoP, you’ll just know) we’re going to say that Hidden Hand is the best partner for on-board Persistence. You’ll have them in your sites and eating their own teeth before they’ve landed a single shot.
What to take with you
As we’ve already established that DoP excels at anything from close to medium range, the last part of the puzzle that you want to take care of is extreme up-close and far distance. To keep the K/D climbing, a snappy scoped sniper rifle can be an ideal secondary, allowing you to casually take out lone Guardians on maps such as Widow’s Court and Memento. If you prefer to go to work as a marauding Titan, or sneak-ass Hunter however, impact shotguns or fun-packed exotic fizzler fusion Telesto will permanently embed that grin into your cheeks.
Win/Lose scenarios
As touched upon earlier, The Last Word is exactly what it sets out to be against almost anything up close – those fan-fired rounds beat the crap out anything. There’s a reason that the trinity tormenting PvP right now is unerringly TLW, DoP and MIDA Multi-Tool because they suit different play styles while being evenly matched. All things being equal (so, in regular Crucible, not Iron Banner or Trials of Osiris) you’ll learn to respect the steady hand and map reading prowess of a MIDA guy, and the quick-witted take downs of a TLW user. Your job with the DoP is to operate within comfortable range, and hold your nerve. Quite often the 1v1 leaves you with very little health, but you should win. This is why DoP is more of a menace in 3v3 modes, so as not to get caught in a crossfire while humiliating targets.
Is Dopey OP?
For reasons mentioned above, it isn’t entirely true to declare DoP as a game breaking piece of s**t along the lines of Thorn pre The Taken King. The horrible/hilarious thing about DoP is how much work the gun does for you. From a purely subjective standpoint, we’ve never had a gun that’s so clearly boosted a K/D ratio in so little time. It will improve your overall score, then, but unlike TLW and MIDA that require some finesse, DoP could make you a lazier. That said, you are required to read the maps and the flow of the game to avoid embarrassment while using DoP. You don’t want to be the guy wielding this gun that still ends up bottom of the pile. This makes you the lowest of the low, bucko.
Alternatives for the despised
Doctrine of Passing is currently riding the wave of update 2.0, which significantly boosted the performance of all auto rifles in PvP at close to medium range. Although DoP especially mocks the ‘stability for reliable close quarters’ and ‘range for accuracy at distance’ ideals. Ignoring Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner, where your DoP needs to be > 310 to even count, we’d recommend the Gunsmith Hakke Arminius-D when it’s on order, Righteous VII from New Monarchy, and Crucible Anitpodal Hindsight as alternatives to proudly bear, especially with Glass Half Full as a perk. For old time’s sake, Atheon’s Epilogue earned from the Vault of Glass. Really, though, don’t fool yourself. You still want Doctrine of Passing. Yes, you do.