The new Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape has plenty of awesome gear to chase, ranging from new drops in the world loot pool to refreshed Season of Dawn weapons and powerful Exotic armor pieces that play nicely with some of the best Prismatic builds as well as other popular setups. The weapons that interest me the most, though, are the special new destination weapons obtainable while in the Traveler’s Pale Heart.
There are eight of these in total, and each one can drop from The Final Shape campaign, various activities completed in the Pale Heart, and finished Pale Heart Pathfinder objectives (these have replaced many of Destiny 2’s bounties). They’re also craftable, which means once you get five Deepsight “red border” versions of a weapon to drop, you can level and craft one with the exact perks you want at the Enclave that was introduced in The Witch Queen DLC.
Nearly every Pale Heart weapon is incredibly strong, with multiple S-tier perk combinations and “god rolls” worth chasing or crafting as you prepare to battle the Witness and its allies. Below, you’ll find a list of all the god rolls I plan to hunt for, including both PvE and PvP rolls as well as a brief overview of why I want them and why I believe they’ll be meta.
Axial Lucana god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Liquid Coils / Reconstruction OR Demolitionist / Controlled Burst OR Incandescent / Charge Time Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Accelerated Coils / Threat Detector / Kickstart OR Vorpal Weapon
We’re starting things off very strong with Axial Lucana, which is undoubtedly one of if not the best Legendary Solar Fusion Rifle in the game for PvE thanks to the combo of Reconstruction and Controlled Burst. With that roll, you’ll be dishing out tons of buffed boss DPS with a massively overflowed magazine. Alternatively, there’s also Demolitionist in column three for grenade-focused builds, and Incandescent in column four if you want a roll for add clear. Go with Liquid Coils to improve your damage-per-shot and a Charge Time masterwork for faster shooting.
I suspect Axial Lucana will also see lots of play in PvP, as Precision Frame Fusion Rifles are popular in the Crucible and a good Threat Detector / Kickstart roll will let you map people from surprisingly far away after you slide. You could also go with Vorpal Weapon in column four if you need a specialized anti-Super special weapon.
Bold Endings god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Flared Magwell OR Tactical Mag / Headstone OR Rapid Hit / Dragonfly OR Demolitionist / Reload Speed Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Smallbore / Accurized Rounds / To the Pain OR Rapid Hit / Eye of the Storm / Range OR Stability Masterwork
Bold Endings is one of Destiny 2: The Final Shape’s two new Heavy Burst Hand Cannons (the other being a Void world drop), and it’s a dream come true for fans of Stasis builds. The unique combo of Headstone / Dragonfly will spawn a Stasis crystal and then immediately shatter it with an explosion whenever you get a precision kill, instantly proccing the Whisper of Shards Stasis Fragment if you’re using it and heavily damaging other nearby enemies. There’s also Headstone / Demolitionist, which is a very rare pairing that’s perfect for Renewal Grasps Hunters, Bleak Watcher Warlocks, and Cryoclasm Titans. If you’d prefer something subclass-neutral, you could opt for Rapid Hit instead of Headstone for speedy reloads and extra stability.
In PvP, the new To the Pain perk that buffs handling and aim assist as you take damage synergizes very strongly with the accuracy-boosting Eye of the Storm in column four, so that’s the perk combo I recommend for the Crucible. Rapid Hit / Eye of the Storm is also a popular pairing on other weapons, and will perform well on this one too.
Embraced Identity god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Appended Mag / Reconstruction OR Rewind Rounds OR Destabilizing Rounds / Fourth Time’s the Charm OR Precision Instrument OR Redirection / Stability Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Fluted Barrel / Steady Rounds OR Accurized Rounds / Opening Shot / Moving Target / Handling Masterwork
Snipers aren’t in the best place right now, but good rolls of Embraced Identity are nevertheless worth hunting down so that you have them ready for scenarios where having a sniper would be helpful. Reconstruction or Rewind Rounds / Fourth Times the Charm will give you what feels like an endless magazine as long as you consistently hit precision shots, though you could also opt for Precision Instrument in column four for a sizable damage buff against Major and Boss-tier enemies. Another weird roll I definitely want to try out is Destabilizing Rounds / Redirection, with the area-of-effect explosions from the former killing basic mobs that will then contribute to buffed shots against yellow bars and bosses.
PvP-wise, the only good option here is Opening Shot / Moving Target, but that roll is a dime a dozen on Sniper Rifles these days. It’s worth getting if you don’t have a good PvP sniper yet, though, especially since it’s craftable and allows you to enhance the perks.
False Idols god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Jagged Edge OR Honed Edge OR Tempered Edge / Swordmaster’s Guard / Relentless Strikes OR Unrelenting OR Incandescent / Surrounded OR Bait and Switch OR Chain Reaction OR One for All
- PvP God Roll: Jagged Edge / Burst Guard / Wellspring OR Unrelenting / Chain Reaction OR Vorpal Weapon
To me, this is the least interesting of the Pale Heart weapons, as since it’s a Vortex Frame Sword, it deals less damage than other archetypes. However, it may still see some play in The Final Shape and the Echoes Episode, as it’s got some good perks and the current seasonal artifact has a lot of perks for Sword DPS.
Relentless Strikes returns ammo to you as you light attack, with Surrounded and Bait and Switch both giving you massive (albeit situational, in Surrounded’s case) damage buffs. There’s also Unrelenting or Incandescent / Chain Reaction or One for All for fun add clear, though most players don’t use Power Ammo-using Swords for taking care of red bars (that’s what Machine Guns are for).
Swords have never been particularly strong in PvP, but if you manage to get Power Ammo in a Crucible match, Wellspring or Unrelenting / Chain Reaction could be fun for slicing through players you catch off-guard. There’s also Vorpal for taking out Supers.
No Hesitation god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Appended Mag OR Tactical Mag OR Flared Magwell / Physic OR Demolitionist / Circle of Life OR Incandescent / Stability Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake OR Smallbore OR Hammer-Forged Rifling / Accurized Rounds / Physic OR Demolitionist OR Strategist / Circle of Life OR Incandescent / Range Masterwork
In stark contrast to False Idols is the No Hesitation Auto Rifle, which is undoubtedly the most interesting Pale Heart weapon. It’s the first of a new Support Frame that can heal allies you shoot with it after you deal enough damage to build up a charge.
The roll to chase is Physic / Circle of Life, with the former perk granting you and your teammates the Restoration Solar health regen buff when you use the weapon to heal them and the latter rewarding you with a damage buff for that healing. Another great PvE roll is Demolitionist / Incandescent, which will greatly synergize with any Solar setup built around grenades or Scorch damage-over-time (and the explosive ignitions it can lead to). The same rolls will also serve you well in PvP, though there’s also Strategist in column three to boost your stability after you use your class ability.
Pro Memoria god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Appended Mag OR Flared Magwell / Reconstruction OR Demolitionist OR Hatchling / Dragonfly OR Bait and Switch OR Target Lock / Reload Speed Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake / Accurized Rounds / To the Pain OR Strategist / Tap the Trigger OR Dragonfly / Stability OR Handling Masterwork
Another weapon with a new archetype is the Pro Memoria Strand Machine Gun, featuring an Aggressive Frame with high damage and recoil per shot. Reconstruction / Dragonfly or Bait and Switch are the best rolls for general add clear, while both Bait and Switch and Target Lock in column four will work well for sustained single-target DPS. There’s also Demolitionist and Hatchling in column three for players using grenade or Threadling-focused builds.
For PvP, To the Pain or Strategist / Tap the Trigger will help manage the weapon’s recoil and make it a laser. Alternatively, you could go with Dragonfly for some multikill potential on grouped up players.
Someday god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Smallbore OR Barrel Shroud / Assault Mag / Threat Detector OR Dual Loader / Recombination OR Vorpal Weapon OR Cascade Point OR Swashbuckler / Handling Masterwork
- PvP God Roll: Smallbore OR Smoothbore / Accurized Rounds / Threat Detector / Opening Shot / Range OR Handling Masterwork
Most of the Pale Heart weapons are at their best with PvE-focused rolls, but Someday is a shotgun that’s perfect for Crucible PvP. Precision Frame Shotguns are arguably the best for close-range one-hit kills, and the extremely rare combo of Threat Detector / Opening Shot gives it an exceptional effective range. Essentially, it’s a god-rolled Matador 64 in the Kinetic slot, and a must-have if you’re a “shotgun ape.”
There’s a few decent perk pairings for PvE, too; I’d go with Assault Mag for faster shooting, along with either Threat Detector or Dual Loader and Recombination for extremely high damage against a tanky target after clearing some red bars with a primary. In column four, there’s also Vorpal for a Champion and boss-specific damage buff, Cascade Point for rapidly mag-dumping a yellow bar after hits with a different weapon, and Swashbuckler for synergy with melee builds.
The Call god rolls
- PvE God Roll: Volatile Launch / Tactical Mag OR High-Velocity Rounds OR Appended Mag / Subsistence OR Lead from Gold OR Slice OR Demolitionist / One for All OR Adrenaline Junkie OR Golden Tricorn OR Hatchling
- PvP God Roll: Quick Launch / High-Velocity Rounds / Beacon Rounds / Desperate Measures OR Vorpal Weapon
Last but absolutely not least is The Call, a Strand “pocket rocket” Sidearm that everyone wants their hands on after experiencing the incredible power of the Arc one, Indebted Kindness, that drops from the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon. There’s a ridiculous number of great perks on offer here, to the point where it’ll be very difficult to get (or craft) a bad roll.
In column three, there’s:
- Subsistence, for ammo returned to the mag after kills
- Lead from Gold, for extra ammo when you pick up a Power Ammo brick
- Slice, for Severing a target (reducing its damage by ~30%) after using your class ability
- Demolitionist, for grenade energy on kill and a full reload when throwing grenades
- Beacon Rounds, for easily landing shots in PvP with tracking
Then, in column four:
- One for All, for a 35% damage buff after hitting three enemies
- Adrenaline Junkie, for stacking damage buffs on kill that cap at 33% with five stacks (grenade kills give you max stacks instantly)
- Golden Tricorn, for a 15% damage buff after kills that refreshes and skyrockets to 50% if you get a Strand ability kill before it runs out
- Hatchling, for spawning a Threadling after precision or rapid kills
- Desperate Measures, for Golden Tricorn-like effects with smaller buffs, but the ability to activate while stowed and you’re getting kills with other weapons
- Vorpal Weapon, for dealing 15% extra damage to bosses, vehicles, and Guardians using their Super
As you can see, there’s an absolute treasure trove of traits to pick from for PvE with The Call. For PvP, I’d stick with Beacon Rounds / Desperate Measures, though you could roll with Vorpal too if you want something to deal with Supers.
Destiny 2 is one of the best Xbox games and best PC games for fans of multiplayer and looter shooters, and The Final Shape — the final expansion in the Light and Darkness Saga — is finally here and available to play now.
