Destiny 2‘s Season of the Haunted brought back an old hand cannon to the loot pool and gave it shiny new perks to match. D.F.A., which formerly dropped from the Tree of Probabilities Nightfall in Mercury, can drop from Nightfall completions when it’s the featured weapon, and it packs a punch.
Though D.F.A was sunset with the release of Beyond Light, its reintroduction gave it new tools to help the Vanguard take on the Witness. And, unlike some weapons, most of the perks it can roll are decent at worst and among the best of its category if you’re lucky enough to snag a good roll—and even better if you can score a god roll that lines up with your playstyle.
Here’s our god roll for D.F.A. based on our playstyle.
D.F.A. PvE god roll
- Barrel: Smallbore, Corkscrew Rifling, or Chambered Compensator.
- Mag: Steady Rounds (for recoil control), Tactical Mag (for all-around use), or Accurized Rounds (for range). Flared Magwell is also an excellent choice, particularly if you’re running Triple Tap.
- First perk (third column): Outlaw or Perpetual Motion (Honorable mention: Triple Tap)
- Second perk (fourth column): Rampage, Timed Payload, or Vorpal Weapon
D.F.A. PvP god roll
- Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Smallbore, or Corkscrew Rifling (for maximum range)
- Mag: Accurized Rounds or Tactical Mag (for range and reload speed, respectively)
- First perk (third column): Tunnel Vision or Steady Hands
- Second perk (fourth column): Timed Payload or Opening Shot
Finding a god roll comes down to preference, and each player can have their own choices of perks that better fit their build or playstyle. For our god roll, we stuck with tried-and-true favorites for PvE, and went with maximum range and comfort for PvP to attempt to mitigate the disadvantage you’d get from D.F.A.’s archetype in longer-range engagements. Here’s a breakdown of D.F.A.’s perks so you can settle on your own god roll.
D.F.A. best perks (third column)
Outlaw
One of the most satisfying and useful perks in Destiny 2 is available in D.F.A., giving players access to quick reloads with Outlaw. In most content, Outlaw is a safe and best-in-slot perk, though its uptime can drop a fair bit in higher-level content where enemies are tankier.
Perpetual Motion
Destiny 2 has always had its own brand of movement, and Perpetual Motion rewards players with boosts to three stats as long as they’re not stopped in place. It’s a top-tier perk, and D.F.A. can also come with it. Unlike Outlaw, it also has the benefit of being fairly easy to trigger regardless of content, though higher-level content may have you tiptoeing around cover to keep that buff going.
Triple Tap
Triple Taps are more commonly seen in snipers or scouts, but D.F.A. is one of the few hand cannons that can roll it. Triple Tap is good for delaying your reload since it refunds one round in your magazine every three headshots. In D.F.A., that one round is roughly 10 percent of your mag, so that gives you even more bullets on your gun before you have to hit R. It doesn’t have the same flair as Outlaw, but it’s still useful, and D.F.A.’s magazine parts might help offset the lack of Outlaw, though its reload isn’t terrifyingly long to begin with.
Tunnel Vision (PvP)
Tunnel Vision isn’t a bad perk for PvE, but it shines more in the Crucible. Aim assist and ADS speed are never bad when putting your crosshairs on another guardian, which pushes this up in desirability for PvP.
Steady Hands
Swapping between weapons or aiming down sights quickly can be the difference between taking down an enemy or being sent to the respawn screen in the Crucible, and Steady Hands helps you get the upper hand by giving you extra handling on all weapons after a kill. Taking down an enemy and swapping to a shotgun or sniper can be quick, and the extra handling also basically gives you Snapshot Sights for eight seconds.
Fragile Focus
While range is always welcome in the Crucible, Fragile Focus’ trigger is not taking damage. This means that, while it does serve as a good initiator setup, its benefits immediately go away if you’re hit. You can pair it with Opening Shot for some extra advantage, but keep in mind that the second a bullet grazes you, you’re on your own.
D.F.A. best perks (third column)
Rampage
One of the most established damage-boosting perks in Destiny 2 is here on D.F.A. as well. Rampage grants a stacking damage bonus after each kill, which builds up to 33 percent extra damage at three stacks. Pair it with Outlaw or Perpetual Motion to make your reloads quicker and give you more time to chain Rampage, then keep the frenzy going.
Timed Payload
Timed Payload is an odd version of Explosive Payload. It functions similarly to its other counterpart, except there is a small delay between the shot landing the target and the bullet exploding. Overall, Timed Payload is a damage boost, though the half-second before the bullet explodes can throw off your rhythm if you’re not used to it. In the Crucible, it gives you more flinch, which is useful for making your enemy miss their shots.
Vorpal Weapon
In Primary weapons, Vorpal Weapon is a 20-percent boost to damage against Majors and bosses (compared to 15 for Specials and 10 for Heavy weapons). It’s a useful perk that can help put some extra damage when it matters, but it does become less effective if you’re not using it to shoot it at a larger enemy. In most scenarios, that’s when you’d take out your Special weapon anyway. It’s great for what it’s meant to do and nice to have in your back pocket, but its effectiveness disappears if you’re not using it on targets that activate it.
Focused Fury
Focused Fury is a good perk for sniper rifles or even linear fusion rifles, but it can feel a bit out-of-place in D.F.A. It takes around five headshots to activate it (the value changes depending on your rolls), and you’ll get a refreshable 20-percent damage boost for 10 seconds. It’s definitely not something to sneer at, but you can get more benefits from Rampage or Timed Payload with fewer steps.
Wellspring
Wellspring can work in some specific builds, granting you missing ability energy. It can be a helpful perk to have on a Primary, especially one as strong as D.F.A. and that takes up the Kinetic slot as well. It may not provide big damage numbers like Rampage, but you can’t really go wrong with free ability energy.
Opening Shot
Opening Shot is good for the Crucible, and can potentially synergize with Fragile Focus if you do have a roll of it. Opening Shot gives you more range on your first shot, which helps if you’re lining up your attack against a guardian in the Crucible. Along with Timed Payload, this is also one of the only perks that really shine in the Crucible, so it’s a fairly easy decision if you’re looking to go into PvP.
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