Bullet King

At a Glance

Bullet King is the only Exotic LMG in The Division 2 with a self-refilling magazine, sustaining 6-8M DPS on a Strikers build because every kill refunds 25% of the mag and removes reloads from the damage cycle entirely. The 200-round magazine paired with a kill-chain talent makes it the lowest-stress sustained-DPS option in the LMG slot.

• Best for solo legendary, Summit grinding, and any content with a steady supply of red-bar adds to feed the kill refund.
• 200-round magazine is the largest in the LMG category, giving Strikers a long ramp window before any reload pressure.
• Effectively reload-free during a kill streak — 4 stacks at 25% each = full mag back without ever pressing R.
• Falls behind Big Alejandro in pure peak burst and behind Iron Lung in status-build utility, but no other LMG matches its uptime.

Full Stats

Weapon Talent

The Bullet King — Killing an enemy refills 25% of the magazine. Stacks up to 4 times for a full magazine refund. +100% reload speed.

The talent is a kill-chain mechanic, not a stack timer. Each kill drops 25% of the magazine back into the gun, and the bonus stacks up to 4 times — kill 4 enemies in a streak and you've recovered the full 200 rounds without ever pressing reload. The +100% reload speed bonus is the safety net for when the kill chain breaks: the standard 4.46s reload effectively halves on paper, though in practice the only times you'll trigger it are after a wipe of the encounter or when you've fired through the entire 200-round mag without scoring a kill.

Sustained DPS lands in the 6-8M range with Strikers Battlegear and Ongoing Directive chained kills, which is the main use case. Numbers come from the standard calculation: 65,000 base damage × 750 RPM × HS multiplier × Strikers stacks × CHC/CHD rolls — open the calculator to plug in your own brand mix.

The 200-round magazine is the load-bearing stat. At 750 RPM you empty the mag in 16 seconds of continuous fire, which is more than double a standard LMG. That extends Strikers stack uptime, lets you finish entire elite waves on one trigger pull, and means the kill-refund doesn't need to fire on every shot — even one kill every 5 seconds keeps the ammo counter trending up.

Top Builds

Bullet King × Strikers LMG (S-tier sustained)

The headline pairing. Strikers gives 6 stacks of +1% Weapon Damage per shot landed (max 100 stacks), and the 200-round mag rebuilds those stacks faster than any other LMG. With Ongoing Directive chest, every kill on a fully-stacked target triggers an explosion that often chains the next kill, which feeds back into the mag refund. Sustained output sits in the 6-8M range during a clean kill chain, and unlike Big Alejandro you don't need to be out of cover to keep it running.

→ Build details: /builds/bullet-king-strikers

Bullet King × Solo Legendary (kill-chain mag refill)

The reason this gun is on most solo legendary loadouts. Solo legendary punishes reload windows — every reload is an opening for a Black Tusk hunter to close distance or a Cleaner to flank. Bullet King's mag refund eliminates that vulnerability entirely as long as you keep landing kills. Run with Future Initiative for armor regen, a Reviver Hive, and either a Striker drone or Sniper Turret to soak aggro while you reposition.

→ Build details: /builds/bullet-king-solo-legendary

Bullet King × Ongoing Directive (status sustain)

The crowd-control variant. Ongoing Directive turns kills into bleed-tagged ammunition that refills the mag separately from the talent, which double-dips with The Bullet King's refund — you end up with more ammo than you started while applying bleed to every elite. Lower DPS ceiling than Strikers, but unmatched for Summit floor grinding and Countdown rotations where add density does the work for you.

PvE vs PvP

PvE. This is where Bullet King belongs. Solo legendary, Summit, Countdown, and any directive-heavy content where you're chaining kills consistently — that's the niche. The talent rewards staying on target, which is exactly what LMG playstyle wants you to do anyway, and the 200-round magazine means you can fire through entire elite waves without dropping Strikers stacks. Heroic content and below it's overkill but still comfortable; the lack of reload pressure makes it a low-stress pick for runs where you don't want to play tight.

Where it falls off is boss DPS phases. Big Alejandro and Pestilence both beat Bullet King's burst — Bullet King's refund only helps if there are mobs to kill during the boss phase, and most raid bosses are fought in isolation. For Iron Horse Lt. Boyd, swap to Alejandro. For Dark Hours boss DPS, swap to whatever your team coordinates. Bullet King is your trash-mob and add-clear weapon, not your boss melter.

PvP. Skip it. The reload talent doesn't help in Conflict because PvP fights end before you'd ever need to reload, and the kill-refund is broken when you don't get consistent kills (which you don't, against players who heal and reposition). Dark Zone is the same story — by the time you've killed one rogue, the rest of their squad has rotated and your mag-refund stack has decayed. Big magazine, slow handling, no situational awareness compensation. There are better PvP options in every other slot.

Pros & Cons

Comparison

Bullet King vs Big Alejandro. Different niches. Alejandro wins peak burst by 30-40% during the shoot window, but reloads cut into the cycle. Bullet King's sustained output is lower but uninterrupted as long as kills are flowing. For boss DPS phases pick Alejandro; for solo legendary, Summit, and Countdown pick Bullet King. Most loadouts carry both and swap based on the activity.

Bullet King vs Pestilence. Pestilence is the DoT spreader — its plague damage chips across grouped enemies and shines in dense add content. Bullet King is single-target focused with the mag refund as its trick. They overlap on add-clear duty: Pestilence wins on the second-by-second tick for clustered packs, Bullet King wins on individual elite kills and Strikers stack maintenance. Both are valid Summit picks; preference depends on whether you're building around CHC/CHD or around status effects.

Bullet King vs Iron Lung. Iron Lung is the utility pick — its damage pulse and status effect synergy make it the team-fit choice for hazard-protection or status-amplification builds. Bullet King is the personal-DPS pick. If your group runs Eclipse Protocol or Future Initiative with status focus, Iron Lung. If you're playing solo or running a flat damage build, Bullet King.

FAQ

Is Bullet King still good in TU22?

Yes — Bullet King remains the top sustained-DPS Exotic LMG in TU22.1, especially for solo players. It hasn't been touched by recent balance passes and its core loop (kill → 25% mag refund → continue firing) is still the lowest-stress way to maintain Strikers stacks at the LMG damage tier. For anything that isn't a hard boss DPS phase, it's competitive with Big Alejandro and beats every other LMG on uptime.

Where do I farm Bullet King?

Bullet King drops from Bardon Schaeffer at the end of the Coney Island Amusement Park mission on heroic difficulty, and there's no other source for it. Run the mission on heroic with the Bullet King exotic cache reward selected, and the talent reroll is the bottleneck — the gun itself drops reliably but you may need 5-10 runs to land a usable mag/damage roll. It's been farmable since the Warlords of New York launch.

Bullet King vs Big Alejandro — which is better?

Bullet King wins for sustained content, Big Alejandro wins for peak burst. If you're doing solo legendary, Summit grinding, or Countdown, Bullet King's kill-refund eliminates reload windows and keeps Strikers stacks alive longer — that's the play. If you're running raids with assigned boss DPS roles, Alejandro's +100% Total Weapon Damage out of cover puts it 30-40% ahead during the shoot phase. Most theorycrafters carry both.

Does the kill-refund work on minions and drones?

Yes — any kill the game registers as yours triggers the 25% refund, including drones, hive turrets, NPC summons, and red-bar minions spawned by elite Black Tusk technicians. The exception is environmental kills (frag grenades, EMP detonations on shocked enemies) where the kill credit goes to the source, not your weapon. As long as your bullet lands the killing blow, the refund triggers.

Is the 100% reload speed bonus worth building around?

No, and you shouldn't. The +100% reload speed only matters when the kill chain breaks, which is the failure state of the talent — if you're reloading often you're not playing the gun correctly. Don't slot Reload Speed mods or roll for reload attributes; spend those slots on Headshot Damage, Critical Hit Chance, or Damage to Targets Out of Cover. The reload bonus is a safety net, not a feature to build around.

Can I use Bullet King in raids?

For trash clears, yes; for boss DPS, swap. The boss rooms in Iron Horse and Dark Hours don't have steady add waves to feed the kill refund, so Bullet King's main advantage disappears and you're left with a lower-DPS LMG than Big Alejandro. Coordinate with your team — most raid groups have one Alejandro carrier for Lt. Boyd and Razorback while the rest run flexible loadouts.

How does Bullet King compare to Pestilence for Summit?

Bullet King is the cleaner pick for Summit floors with elite-heavy compositions, Pestilence wins on floors with grouped red bars. The kill-refund triggers reliably on Summit because there's always something to shoot, and the 200-round mag handles full elite waves without a reload. Pestilence's plague DoT is stronger in tight rooms with packed enemies, but loses value on spread-out spawns. Either is fine for sub-floor 50; above 50 the differences narrow and personal preference takes over.

Does the talent work in PvP?

Technically yes, practically no. The kill-refund triggers on player kills in Conflict and the Dark Zone, but PvP fights end inside one mag and players don't die in chains the way NPCs do. The +100% reload speed is the only part of the talent that ever activates in PvP, and it's not enough to justify carrying a 200-round LMG with slow handling against opponents with SMGs. There are better PvP exotics in every slot.

Verified vs In-Game

Last reviewed: 2026-04-25 · TU22.1 · Verified vs in-game All DPS numbers calculated by divcalc.xyz — open in calculator to test custom builds.