Season of the Chosen has arrived in Destiny 2, and there are a lot more weapons than we were expecting. It was a famine during Season of the Hunt, but now we’ve got almost 30 weapons to analyze for the best possible perk combinations. Crucible, Strikes, Gambit, and the new seasonal Battlegrounds Event all got weapons, along with the return of the Umbral Engram system from Season 11.
We’ve got way too many weapons to discuss to waste time, so let’s hop right to it!
The Time-Worn Spire
One of the two new Iron Banner weapons, The Time-Worn Spire is currently the only non-sunset Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifle in the game. It’s got lower overall stats than previous Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifles, however, it comes with the possibility of rolling One For All, one of the best new damage perks added in Beyond Light, and also Iron Reach, a brand new perk for this season.
The massive penalty to this gun’s stability really isn’t worth the added range (much like the other Iron perks), so I’d recommend Feeding Frenzy and One For All or Rampage as your perks. Hitmark IS or either of the Red Dot sights are your sight options, while Ricochet or High Impact Rounds are best-in-slot for the magazine. You could also go with Flared Magwell if you really need the extra reload speed.
Best Roll: Red Dot 2 MOA, Ricochet Rounds, Feeding Frenzy, One For all
Extraordinary Rendition
Yet another Aggressive Frame Submachine Gun to go along with the likes of the Ikelos Submachine Gun and Cold Front. Extraordinary Rendition falls in between Ikelos and Cold Front in terms of stats, but way ahead of either in terms of perk options.
In the first column, you’ve got Overflow, Surplus, or Outlaw to make reloading easier (or happen less often). Zen Moment can keep this gun’s recoil in check if you feel it’s a bit out of control, which is pretty common for Aggressive Frame Submachine Guns. In the second column is One For All, Multi-Kill Clip, and Rampage, all great damage options, but also the all-new Frenzy perk. This perk adds damage, handling, and reload speed if you’re in combat for a long time, making it an ideal raid weapon. And don’t forget Thresh for added super energy.
Really, this gun has so many great options it’s hard to choose. Pick whichever combination you like, but this is what I’m going for.
Best Roll: Fluted Barrel, Tactical Mag, Surplus, Frenzy
Multimach CCX
Escape Velocity? Is that you? Nope! It’s the other new Iron Banner weapon, which is coincidentally the same model and frame as Escape Velocity. However, the Multimach CCX has better overall stats, a perfect 100 recoil stat, and One For All in the third perk column. That’s pretty cool.
In the first perk column, you’ll either want Threat Detector or Killing Wind. Subsistence usually takes away too many bullets for my comfort, and the other perks just aren’t all that interesting. Tactical Mag is always the best magazine whenever it appears, and Model 8 Red is the sight that helps to bring up the Multimach’s lackluster range.
Best Roll: Model 8 Red, Tactical Mag, Killing Wind, One For All
Shadow Price
First of the reprised Destiny 1 weapons, Shadow Price is a potential reward for doing Nightfalls. It’s a 450 RPM Auto Rifle with decent overall stats and the new Bottomless Grief perk that automatically reloads your magazine on every kill when both your fireteam members are downed.
Personally, I’d rather get any of the other options in the first column, which can be Surplus, Killing Wind, Feeding Frenzy, or Overload. In the second column, One For All, Swashbuckler, or Dragonfly are your damage perks, but Thresh and Disruption Break can be great for high-level content.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Break, Tactical Mag, Surplus, One For All
Imperial Needle
With more accuracy and better aim assist than Whispering Slab, Imperial Needle is likely to become your new favorite Lightweight Frame kinetic Bow. You’ll still want to shore up that accuracy with Polymer String and Straight Fletching, and maybe even an accuracy Masterwork too.
Imperial Needle gets the new Impulse Amplifier perk that improves your arrow’s velocity at the cost of reload speed. For amateur bow users, this might make striking targets a little easier, but professional bow users will likely find this a hindrance since they’ve already mastered the lead required for a regular bow shot.
Sympathetic Arsenal can be a great perk on bows since it reloads your heavies, and since Rockets are the new in-thing, this might be an excellent pairing with a nice Rocket Launcher.
Best Roll: Polymer String, Straight Fletching, Archer’s Tempo, Sympathetic Arsenal
Cartesian Coordinate
Rapid-Fire Fusion Rifles have historically had abysmal range making their usage problematic, but Season of the Chosen has buffed Fusion Rifle range by as much as 16%. Is that enough for Cartesian Coordinate? No. Not even close. You’re going to want a Red Dot Micro sight and the Projection Fuse battery to squeeze out as much range as possible from this thing.
Under Pressure and High-Impact Reserves can be a neat combo to run, but Graverobber and Swashbuckler are right there. Smash a red bar, blow away a yellow bar. Profit.
Best Roll: Red Dot Micro, Projection Fuse, Graverobber, Swashbuckler
Trinary System
Gambit has a new weapon with the Trinary System, an Adaptive Frame Fusion Rifle with so many different perk combinations that it’s basically impossible for anyone to farm this thing unless they really love Gambit.
But if you really love Gambit, there are a lot of great combos on this Fusion Rifle. Surplus + Wellspring, Ambitious Assassin and High-Impact Reserves, Graverobber and Swashbuckler, or Autoloading Holster and Backup Plan are all beautiful if you can find ’em. Get an Arrowhead Brake to handle this beast’s crazy recoil and you’ll be all set.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Liquid Coils, Autoloading Holster, Backup Plan
Bottom Dollar
Another 120 Hand Cannon to compete with the likes of The Steady Hand and True Prophecy. Bottom Dollar drops from Gambit matches and has a ludicrous perk pool to make grinding this weapon out next to impossible, but there are many good possible combos here.
Surplus, Killing Wind, Rapid-Hit, Outlaw, Feeding Frenzy in the first column. Wellspring, High-Impact Reserves, Rampage, Dragonfly, Demolitionist, Thresh, and Explosive Payload in the second column. Add a Chambered Compensator for near-perfect recoil and a Tactical Mag, and you’ll be set.
Best Roll: Chambered Compensator, Tactical Mag, Surplus, Wellspring
The Palindrome
Our second reprised D1 Nightfall weapon, Outlaw and One For All is what Palindrome needs. Overflow or Subsistence paired with High-Impact Reserves can be pretty funny, but no, really, just get Outlaw and One For All. Or Rampage if you wanna go old-school.
Recoil on The Palindrome is perfect, so look to add to this gun’s overall stats with Corkscrew Rifling or Fluted Barrel. High-Caliber Rounds are great for Crucible or dunking on majors, but Ricochet Rounds are great too. This is one of the new guns to look out for, I think.
Best Roll: Corkscrew Rifling, High-Caliber Rounds, Outlaw, One For All
The Third Axiom
You want Bygones? Here’s a better Bygones. The only problem with The Third Axiom is it’s the new Strike weapon, meaning it’s got a perk pool the size of Montana. Getting a specific roll will be like winning the lottery, only better because you won’t eventually wind up blowing it all on a yacht you never use.
Arrowhead Brake takes care of the recoil, while Ricochet Rounds adds even better stability to make this thing smooth as butter. As for perks, I’m partial to Surplus and One For All, but there’s Feeding Frenzy and Multi-Kill Clip just sitting right there, along with Rampage and Vorpal. But again, this is wishful thinking given the number of perks available.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Ricochet Rounds, Surplus, One For All
Eternal Blazon
My poor Patron Of Lost Causes has been reborn as Eternal Blazon, a Lightweight, 200 RPM Scout Rifle that you can get from focusing your Umbral Engrams. Eternal Blazon can also roll with Full-Auto Trigger, giving you a viable alternative to Auto Rifles, and either Kill Clip or One For All for damage.
Eternal Blazon suffers a bit on range and stability, so look to shore those up with the sight and magazine. I recommend the Flash HS5 sight and Ricochet Rounds, but Appended Mag can help with an extra two bullets in the magazine, and those two bullets will go a long way with Full-Auto Trigger.
Best Roll: Flash HS5, Ricochet Rounds, Full-Auto Trigger, One For All
Retrofuturist
I’m on the fence with Retrofuturist. It doesn’t have the stats or Warmind Cell capabilities of the Seventh Seraph CQC Shotgun, But Trench Barrel and Dual Loader is a perk combination that I really want to try.
You can also get Quickdraw and Snapshot Sights for a decent Crucible weapon, but there’s no way Retrofuturist is going to unseat Felwinter’s Lie with such a poor range stat. Still, Rifled Barrel and Accurized Rounds will help, as will a range masterwork.
Honestly, I wouldn’t bother with PvP and stick with a more dedicated PvE loadout.
Best Roll: Rifled Barrel, Assault Mag, Dual Loader, Trench Barrel
Brass Attacks
If you were sad about Breachlight being sunset, let me introduce you to Brass Attacks, a very similar Aggressive Frame two-burst Sidearm. I’m pleased to report that there is basically not a single perk combination on this weapon that is bad, except for possibly Slideshot, depending on how much you slide.
I’m going to shoot for Hammer-Forged Rifling to bring up this Sidearms range, along with Ricochet Rounds or Light Mag. Feeding Frenzy and One For All is likely too good to ignore, but Surplus and Wellspring is also there, as is Rapid Hit and Rampage. The new Frenzy per is here too. Even the Season Pass version of this gun is great with Overflow and Sympathetic Arsenal. I can’t sing Brass Attacks’ praises enough.
Best Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Light Mag, Feeding Frenzy, One For All
The Keening
You get this new Adaptive Frame Sidearm from the Crucible, and as such, it comes with as many perk combinations as can be counted by a supercomputer. If you’re a PvP player, you’ll eventually find one of these that’ll be to your liking, but otherwise, you’re not likely to find one in the occasional Crucible match.
Surplus and Wellspring are here, as is Killing Wind and One For All. Adaptive Frame Sidearms are great for High-Impact Reserves, too.
I prefer my Sidearms with as much range as possible, so Hammer Forged Rifling and Ricochet Rounds are my preferred components.
Best Roll: Hammer Forged Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, Killing Wind, One For All
Far Future
This has got to be the most disappointing Sniper Rifle I’ve ever seen in Destiny 2. No Triple Tap, no Fourth Time’s The Charm, no High-Impact Reserves, no Field Prep, no Outlaw, and no Snapshot Sights. If you wanted to skip a weapon in Season of the Chosen, skip Far Future.
The best you can do is maybe Surplus and Wellspring in PvE, and Moving Target and Opening Shot in PvP. But honestly? Who cares. Not me.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Tactical Mag, Surplus, Wellspring
Frozen Orbit
As bad as Far Future is, Frozen Orbit makes up for it with some amazing perk combinations. I’m partial to Triple Tap and High-Impact Reserves for boss-cracking, but you could also do Auto-Loading Holster or Vorpal in either perk slot.
Sadly, as a Crucible reward, Frozen Orbit has way too many different perks to roll for effectively. Maybe you’ll get lucky over the course of a season, but the odds aren’t great. If you do, you’ll be one of the elite few PvPers that just happened to come across a good roll one day.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Tactical Mag, Triple Tap, High-Impact Reserves
Tarantula
Line In The Sand’s replacement is here but without any of the perks that made Line In The Sand good. Firing Line and High-Impact Reserves are gone, and with Rampage and Kill Clip as poor replacements.
Your best options here are either Field Prep or Feeding Frenzy in the first slot along with Dragonfly or Wellspring in the second slot. Arrowhead Brake will help your recoil and the battery doesn’t really matter because Linear Fusion Rifles are outclassed by slug Shotguns at short range and Sniper Rifles at long range.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Liquid Coils, Field Prep, Wellspring
Threaded Needle
Sorry, I misspoke; Threaded Needle is actually Line In The Sand’s replacement. Rapid Hit and Vorpal turn this thing into a serviceable boss-cracking weapon, although it’s still generally outclassed by First In, Last Out at short range, which is a special Shotgun rather than a heavy Linear Fusion Rifle.
Arrowhead Brake solves the recoil, and Liquid Coils just adds a bit more damage. Find a charge time masterwork and you’ve got yourself the godroll.
Best Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Liquid Coils, RapidHit, Vorpal
The Swarm
Our last reprised Destiny 1 Nightfall reward, The Swarm is a High-Impact Frame Machine Gun that is entirely outclassed by the Seventh Seraph SAW because it can’t make Warmind Cells. But it can roll with Surplus and One For All, which is a decent consolation prize.
The good news for The Swarm is it has significantly higher overall stats than the Seventh Seraph SAW as well as MUCH better recoil. With such a vertical kick, I’d even recommend Fluted Barrel to improve The Swarm’s stability and handling. Tactical Mag is, as always, the best magazine whenever it’s available.
Best Roll: Fluted Barrel, Tactical Mag, Surplus, One For All
Code Duello
Rockets have received a 30% damage buff this season, which makes Code Duello a candidate for being a powerhouse heavy weapon. It also comes with the new Lasting Impression perk, which increases blast radius and damage by a lot at the price of a delayed explosion.
On the downside, there’s no tracking for Code Duello, so you’ve actually got to have good aim with rockets to make good use of it. Given how so few of us have used non-tracking Rocket Launchers, this might prove a difficult learning curve. Still, I think Code Duello will be a fantastic weapon to take against large, slow-moving bosses.
Best Roll: Linear Compensator, Impact Casing, Field Prep, Lasting Impression
Royal Entry
The good news is that Royal Entry has built-in tracking. The bad news is that it’s the new Strike reward Rocket Launcher, meaning it’s got so many perks that it can’t be effectively farmed. Also, Ambitious Assassin is in the same perk slot as Chain Reaction, Wellspring, Cluster Bomb, and Lasting Impression, removing some of the best possible perk combinations.
Auto-Loading Holster and Field Prep are decent in the first column though, and you can also try out the new Impulse Amplifier perk if you feel the rocket tracking isn’t up to snuff.
Best Roll: Volatile Launch, Impact Casing, Auto-Loading Holster, Chain Reaction
Sola’s Scar
The second Caster Frame sword to arrive after Temptation’s Hook, Sola’s Scar might be the first sword to flip the usual script of being used to kill bosses. Tireless Blade and Chain Reaction exchange boss-killing potential for HILARIOUS stab-explosions that I’m very interested in experiencing.
Since we’re not as concerned about damage, Hungry Edge improves ammo capacity, and Swordmaster’s Guard helps to keep your sword charged in order to keep getting back ammo.
Best Roll: Hungry Edge, Swordmaster’s Guard, Tireless Blade, Chain Reaction
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Actually a collective of 6 hamsters piloting a human-shaped robot, Sean hails from Toronto, Canada. Passionate about gaming from a young age, those hamsters would probably have taken over the world by now if they didn’t vastly prefer playing and writing about video games instead.
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