Cold Denial god roll & best perks

Cold Denial — Destiny 2 Pulse Rifle
Legendary · Pulse Rifle
Where it drops: Source: Episode: Heresy Activities

“A familiar tool in the face of failure.”

Full perk pool, stats & source for Cold Denial →

Built from 90 curated wishlist rolls for this Pulse Rifle. Perks marked essential appear in every roll of a recommendation; alternatives are the other perks curators call worth keeping.

Recommended rolls

pandapaxxy

pve mkb controller 36 wishlist rolls

pandapaxxy (PvE / M+KB / Controller): "Cold Denial is not the best pulse for PvE but can have some interesting utility if you prefer a lower zoom pulse. Ambitious Assassin works really well in your primary killing machine and perks like Swashbuckler or Desperado will enjoy the larger mags to plow through. Multikill Clip works against this but pairs better with Enlightened Action for bonus reload on hits." Recommended MW: Reload Speed.

Strong alternatives

Arrowhead Brake Appended Mag Ambitious Assassin Swashbuckler Multikill Clip Desperado Enlightened Action Armor-Piercing Rounds Flared Magwell Smallbore

pandapaxxy

pvp controller 36 wishlist rolls

pandapaxxy (PvP / Controller): "Cold Denial is a returning weapon and one of my favorites from before Origin Traits. The low zoom meant it felt more like a hand cannon, but could do more damage and two-burst if you were capable. Arrowhead Brake fixes the recoil enough to be manageable in close ranges and accurate in longer engagements. This won't top the records for range but will be sticky within its intended range. Zen Moment and Headseeker are great neutral perks that offer the best for accuracy assistance and some forgiveness in each burst." Recommended MW: Stability.

Strong alternatives

Headseeker Arrowhead Brake Ricochet Rounds Zen Moment Gutshot Straight Eye of the Storm Enlightened Action Surplus High-Caliber Rounds Smallbore

pandapaxxy

pvp mkb 18 wishlist rolls

pandapaxxy (PvP / M+KB): "Cold Denial is a returning weapon and one of my favorites from before Origin Traits. The low zoom meant it felt more like a hand cannon, but could do more damage and two-burst if you were capable. Arrowhead Brake fixes the recoil enough to be manageable in close ranges and accurate in longer engagements. This won't top the records for range but will be sticky within its intended range. Zen Moment and Headseeker are great neutral perks that offer the best for accuracy assistance and some forgiveness in each burst." Recommended MW: Range.

Essential perks

Hammer-Forged Rifling

Strong alternatives

Headseeker Ricochet Rounds Zen Moment Gutshot Straight Eye of the Storm Enlightened Action Surplus High-Caliber Rounds

What these Cold Denial perks do

Ambitious Assassin

Reloading after scoring Kills with the weapon overfills the magazine from reserves based on the number of Kills scored. Overfill amount maxes out at 150% of the Magazine Capacity. Always rounds up. Kill counter persists through stow. Overfill amount per Kill scored: • Primary Weapons: 20% • Special and Power Weapons: 10%

Swashbuckler

Weapon Kills grant a Stack of 'Swashbuckler' for 4.5 seconds. Maximum of 5 Stacks. (Glaive) Melee Kills grant all 5 Stacks instantly. Damage increase at 1|2|3|4|5 Stacks: 6.7% | 13.3% | 20% | 26.6% | 33.3% Stowing the weapon removes the buff.

Multikill Clip

Finishing a reload within 3.6 seconds of scoring 1|2|3 Weapon Kills within 3.5 seconds of each grants 17%|33%|50% increased damage for 5 seconds. Buff is overwritten every time it is triggered and is removed on stow.

Desperado

Finishing a reload 5.2 seconds after a Precision Kill or 3 kills within ? seconds of each reduces Firing Delay by 30% for 6 seconds. Buff is removed on stow.

Enlightened Action

Weapon Hits grant Stacks of Enlightened Action for 2 seconds. Maximum of 12 Stacks. Stat bonuses at 1|2|…|12 Stacks: 2|7|12|15|20|25|30|35|38|40|45|50 Handling and Reload Speed Stacks granted per hit by Weapon Type: • Hand Cannons: 3 Stacks • Bows: ? Stacks • Automatic Weapons: 1 Stack

Armor-Piercing Rounds

Grants 5% increased damage against Elemental and Barrier Champion Shields. Allows bullets to overpenetrate enemies once.

Headseeker

Dealing non-Precision Direct damage grants the following benefits for 0.55 seconds: • 20% increased Precision Bonus (complicated, see specific damage increases below) • 3% increased Aim Assist Cone size Precision damage increases by weapon type/frame: • Pulse Rifles: Adaptive: 7.1%, Aggressive Burst: 10%, Heavy Burst: 9.5%, High-Impact: 8.74%, Lightweight: 6.3%, Rapid-Fire: 10.3% • Sidearms: Adaptive Burst: 8.46%, Heavy Burst: 7.36% • Scout Rifles: Precision: 8.66% [Bug] Heavy Burst Hand Cannons: 7% increased Weakspot damage. The distinction between Weakspots and Critspots is complicated and we might write an explainer blog post about it eventually. For the purposes of PvP, the two are equivalent.

Zen Moment

Weapon Hits grant 1 Stack of the perk for 1 second up to the maximum of 5? Stacks. Benefits granted per Stack: • Grants ?% Flinch Resistance • Reduces Visual Weapon Shake by 15% • Reduces Reticle Bounce by 15% Stacks gained per Weapon Hit by weapon type: • Hand Cannons, Scout Rifles: 2? • Pulse Rifles, Sidearms: 1.5 • Other Weapons: 1

Gutshot Straight

While Aiming Down Sights: • Increased Body Shot damage • 15% decreased Auto Aim Cone Size (No effect on Magnetism AKA reticle stickiness) Body Shot damage increases: • Auto/Scout Rifle, Bow, Hand Cannon: 20% • Pulse/Trace Rifle, Sidearm, SMG: 10%

Eye of the Storm

Grants a scaling buff to Handling and Accuracy as your Shield Health drops below 40 and reaches maximum strength at 0 Shield HP. Buff at maximum strength grants: • 30 Handling • 40% decreased Accuracy Cone Size • 17% decreased Accuracy Cone Growth The buff linearly scales from 0% at 80 Shield HP to 100% at 0 Shield HP (Critical Health). It initially triggers as you drop to 40 Shield HP — giving you 50% of the maximum buff. However, as you regenerate your Shield Health, the buff will still remain until you reach 80 Shield HP where the benefits scale down to zero.

Surplus

Grants Stat Bonuses depending on the number of Charged Abilities. Stat Bonuses with 1|2|3+ Charged Abilities: • 5|15|25 Stability • 5|25|60 Handling • 10|25|60 Reload Speed

High-Caliber Rounds

Hits inflict increased Flinch on Enemies. PVE: Tier 1-2 Minors can be repeatedly staggered. Higher Tier Combatants stagger quicker. PVP: Flinch against Players varies based on damage and Weapon Archetype. Flinch increase ranges between 5-10%.

Recommendations aggregated from curated community wishlists; credit to the curators linked above.

Cold Denial in Destiny 2

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