Assault rifle - best of the "assault" varients against shield tankers, struggles in long range like the other "assault" rifles its varients pick up the slack in this area but are the weaker of the longer ranged rifles as well.

Combat rifle - assault varient is king against anything with high amounts of armor, lower range means you have to get in close but if you use a minmatar suit with it thats not really a problem. the regular varient has the range lacking int he assault and excels in hit and run tactics, ducking in and out of cover, struggles in all out firefights against the other rifles if its not able to dodge enough fire to make up for it. the High ROF on the assault varient means your clip and ammo drain REALLY fast, meaning you can oftin catch the CB wielder on a reload or force a switch to a secondary

Rail rifle - worst in CQC the slow ROF means every missed shot is a bigger loss of dps then the rest, the spool up time means every time you let go of the trigger due to the target weaving in and out of cover is a potential opening for the target to get some free shots in. the assault varient mitigates the dps loss of missed shots but not the spool up time. this is the best at long ranges, but it needs to leverage that range at all times to keep its edge.

Scrambler - the power is in the first shot if that shot misses your left with alot of heat build up and nothing to show for it, this rifle cannot deal with sustained fire, it is the best on ammo however and will rarely get caught in a reload, the assault varient is the best anti- shield assaults there is, but against an armored foe it lacks the punch needed to win a strait up fight making the gallante rifle a better choice in most cases.