Darkest Before god roll & best perks

Darkest Before — Destiny 2 Pulse Rifle
Legendary · Pulse Rifle
Where it drops: Source: "Prophecy" Dungeon

“"Persevere, or die in darkness. The choice is yours." —Emissary of the Nine”

Full perk pool, stats & source for Darkest Before →

Built from 180 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

Community wishlist roll

60 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @ImpetusAlways (PvE PvE-Minor PvE-GroupAdd PvE-God M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for clearing groups of Minor adds in activities rated Normal difficulty, particularly with Solar builds. The reprised Darkest Before is a Rapid-Fire pulse rifle which as a subfamily are currently rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic Endgame Analysis spreadsheet in https://www.destiny2.science/ as "essentially just a worse high-impact auto". The frame intrinsic offers built-in anti-Overload, and a ×0.8 reload animation multiplier when starting a reload with an empty mag as per the https://www.destiny2.science/ Destiny Data Compendium. The stats are pretty much best in class by comparison with its peers - you can see the stats at https://destiny.report/w/859869931/nullify and hopefully https://d2foundry.gg/w/859869931 will show how weapon stats impact in-game performance when the site is back up and running. The recoil is left and a little loose, so to tighten that up, look for a barrel perk that helps with Recoil Direction or, if you can handle it, just go for extra Handling, and then with the magazine perk go for something that helps improve magazine size or reload. For solar build synergy, there's the fan-favourite trait perk combinations of Heal Clip to provide ×2 Solar Cure (140 HP), and ×1 Cure on allies within 15m, when you finish a reload within ~5.3s (~5.5s when enhanced) after a kill, or Attrition Orbs spawns a power orb after 26 hits within 5s of each other to proc armour mods together with Incandescent which spreads +30 Solar Scorch stacks within 4m on a red bar Minor add kill (+40 stacks within 8m for orange and yellow bars, +45 when enhanced). The scorch damage counting as weapon damage so can inherit any weapon damage bonuses and proc weapon effects like Attrition Orbs. All of the scorch stacks are increased by ×1.5 with Ember of Ashes. The Crossing Over origin trait is a little weird, providing extra range and handling in the top half of the mag, and a small damage boost in the bottom starting at ×1.015 at 50% and ×1.03 with your penultimate and last shot. If you're interested, "Darkest Before" is a play on the classic proverb, "It is always darkest before the dawn" - darkness being the absolute peak of a crisis, just before a breakthrough or resolution, when light appears. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod to boost weapon stats, ammo generation, or elemental pickups for builds.|tags:PvE PvE-Minor PvE-GroupAdd PvE-God M+KB Controller

Essential perks

Incandescent

Strong alternatives

Arrowhead Brake High-Caliber Rounds Heal Clip Attrition Orbs Armor-Piercing Rounds Ricochet Rounds Appended Mag Alloy Magazine Flared Magwell Chambered Compensator Extended Barrel Fluted Barrel Corkscrew Rifling

Community wishlist roll

60 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @ImpetusAlways (PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for clearing individual Minor adds or tougher enemies in activities rated Very Hard, Hard and Normal difficulty. The reprised Darkest Before is a Rapid-Fire pulse rifle which as a subfamily are currently rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic Endgame Analysis spreadsheet in https://www.destiny2.science/ as "essentially just a worse high-impact auto". The frame intrinsic offers built-in anti-Overload, and a ×0.8 reload animation multiplier when starting a reload with an empty mag as per the https://www.destiny2.science/ Destiny Data Compendium. The stats are pretty much best in class by comparison with its peers - you can see the stats at https://destiny.report/w/859869931/nullify and hopefully https://d2foundry.gg/w/859869931 will show how weapon stats impact in-game performance when the site is back up and running. The recoil is left and a little loose, so to tighten that up, look for a barrel perk that helps with Recoil Direction or, if you can handle it, just go for extra Handling, and then with the magazine perk go for something that helps improve magazine size or reload. For endgame use, Attrition Orbs in the first trait perk column spawns a power orb after 26 hits within 5s of each other to proc armour mods. In the second column, One For All boosts damage by ×1.35 for a non-refreshable 10s (11s when enhanced) after hitting three separate targets within 3s of each, or Focused Fury boosts damage by ×1.25 for a refreshable 11s (12s enhanced) or until reload or stow, after hitting 35% of the mag - as precision hits that's ~13. The Crossing Over origin trait is a little weird, providing extra range and handling in the top half of the mag, and a small damage boost in the bottom starting at ×1.015 at 50% and ×1.03 with your penultimate and last shot. If you're interested, "Darkest Before" is a play on the classic proverb, "It is always darkest before the dawn" - darkness being the absolute peak of a crisis, just before a breakthrough or resolution, when light appears. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod to boost weapon stats, ammo generation, or elemental pickups for builds.|tags:PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller

Essential perks

Attrition Orbs

Strong alternatives

Arrowhead Brake High-Caliber Rounds One for All Focused Fury Armor-Piercing Rounds Ricochet Rounds Appended Mag Alloy Magazine Flared Magwell Chambered Compensator Extended Barrel Fluted Barrel Corkscrew Rifling

Community wishlist roll

30 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @ImpetusAlways (PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for clearing individual Minor adds or tougher enemies in activities rated Very Hard, Hard and Normal difficulty, particularly on Solar builds. The reprised Darkest Before is a Rapid-Fire pulse rifle which as a subfamily are currently rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic Endgame Analysis spreadsheet in https://www.destiny2.science/ as "essentially just a worse high-impact auto". The frame intrinsic offers built-in anti-Overload, and a ×0.8 reload animation multiplier when starting a reload with an empty mag as per the https://www.destiny2.science/ Destiny Data Compendium. The stats are pretty much best in class by comparison with its peers - you can see the stats at https://destiny.report/w/859869931/nullify and hopefully https://d2foundry.gg/w/859869931 will show how weapon stats impact in-game performance when the site is back up and running. The recoil is left and a little loose, so to tighten that up, look for a barrel perk that helps with Recoil Direction or, if you can handle it, just go for extra Handling, and then with the magazine perk go for something that helps improve magazine size or reload. For endgame use, Attrition Orbs in the first trait perk column spawns a power orb after 26 hits within 5s of each other to proc armour mods. In the second column, for Solar synergy, Burning Ambition works better to build ignitions on tougher targets if you have a Solar ability to apply scorch initially, otherwise it'll take ~20 hits (~19 when enhanced) within 2s of each other to apply +10 scorch stacks with +10 added on each additional hit to build towards an ignition. All of the scorch stacks are increased by ×1.5 with Ember of Ashes. The Crossing Over origin trait is a little weird, providing extra range and handling in the top half of the mag, and a small damage boost in the bottom starting at ×1.015 at 50% and ×1.03 with your penultimate and last shot. If you're interested, "Darkest Before" is a play on the classic proverb, "It is always darkest before the dawn" - darkness being the absolute peak of a crisis, just before a breakthrough or resolution, when light appears. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod to boost weapon stats, ammo generation, or elemental pickups for builds.|tags:PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller

Essential perks

Attrition Orbs Burning Ambition

Strong alternatives

Arrowhead Brake High-Caliber Rounds Armor-Piercing Rounds Ricochet Rounds Appended Mag Alloy Magazine Flared Magwell Chambered Compensator Extended Barrel Fluted Barrel Corkscrew Rifling

Community wishlist roll

30 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @ImpetusAlways (PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for clearing individual Minor adds or tougher enemies in activities rated Very Hard, Hard and Normal difficulty, particularly on Prismatic builds. The reprised Darkest Before is a Rapid-Fire pulse rifle which as a subfamily are currently rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic Endgame Analysis spreadsheet in https://www.destiny2.science/ as "essentially just a worse high-impact auto". The frame intrinsic offers built-in anti-Overload, and a ×0.8 reload animation multiplier when starting a reload with an empty mag as per the https://www.destiny2.science/ Destiny Data Compendium. The stats are pretty much best in class by comparison with its peers - you can see the stats at https://destiny.report/w/859869931/nullify and hopefully https://d2foundry.gg/w/859869931 will show how weapon stats impact in-game performance when the site is back up and running. The recoil is left and a little loose, so to tighten that up, look for a barrel perk that helps with Recoil Direction or, if you can handle it, just go for extra Handling, and then with the magazine perk go for something that helps improve magazine size or reload. For endgame use, Attrition Orbs in the first trait perk column spawns a power orb after 26 hits within 5s of each other to proc armour mods. In the second column, for Prismatic synergy, Elemental Honing grants an escalating stack of damage up to ×1.35 max for 20s (23s when enhanced) for each elemental damage type inflicted, which can be refreshed with a new damage type until you've run through all 5. The Crossing Over origin trait is a little weird, providing extra range and handling in the top half of the mag, and a small damage boost in the bottom starting at ×1.015 at 50% and ×1.03 with your penultimate and last shot. If you're interested, "Darkest Before" is a play on the classic proverb, "It is always darkest before the dawn" - darkness being the absolute peak of a crisis, just before a breakthrough or resolution, when light appears. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod to boost weapon stats, ammo generation, or elemental pickups for builds.|tags:PvE PvE-Minor PvE-SingleAdd PvE-God PvE-EndGame M+KB Controller

Essential perks

Attrition Orbs Elemental Honing

Strong alternatives

Arrowhead Brake High-Caliber Rounds Armor-Piercing Rounds Ricochet Rounds Appended Mag Alloy Magazine Flared Magwell Chambered Compensator Extended Barrel Fluted Barrel Corkscrew Rifling

What these Darkest Before perks do

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%.

Heal Clip

Finishing a reload within 5.3? seconds of a Kill grants Cure x2 to you and Cure x1 to allies within 15 meters.

Incandescent

Weapon Kills trigger a Solar explosion that applies 30 Scorch Stacks (40 with Ember of Ashes) and deals up to 30 damage to enemies within 4 meters of the target. Killing Elite or higher tier Combatants and Players increases the radius to 8 meters and applies 10 more Scorch Stacks. Scorch damage can be increased through Weapon Damage Buffs.

Attrition Orbs

Scoring multiple Hits against enemies within 5 seconds of each spawns an Orb of Power that grants 0.8% Super Energy. Does not require Direct Hits. Hit counter persists through stow. Hit requirements for activation: • Rocket Launchers: 2 hits • Heavy Grenade Launchers: 3 Hits • Wave-Frame Grenade Launchers: 4 hits • Bows: 4 Hits • Swords: 5 Hits • Area-Denial Grenade Launchers: 26 Hits • Others: 55% of Magazine Size rounded down + 1 Support Frame Auto Rifle healing round Hits on damaged allies count as 2 Hits.

Armor-Piercing Rounds

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

Alloy Magazine

Linearly grants a Reload Duration Multiplier as your magazine drops from 50% capacity to empty. Reload Duration Multiplier scales from 0.9x at 50% capacity to 0.8x with an empty magazine.

One for All

Scoring Weapon Hits against 3 Separate Enemies within 3 seconds of each grants 35% increased damage for 10 seconds. Does not require Direct Hits. Buff duration cannot be refreshed.

Focused Fury

Scoring 35% of the Base Magazine Capacity as Precision Hits grants 25% increased damage for 11 seconds. Stowing or Reloading the weapon resets the Precision Hit counter. The buff remains active while stowed. Does not buff the Splash/Explosive damage elements of other perks.

Burning Ambition

Direct Hits against Scorched Enemies apply additional Scorch on a 0.5 second cooldown: • Primary Weapons apply 10 [4] additional Scorch per Direct Hit (15 [9?] with Ember of Ashes) • Special and Power Weapons apply 20 additional Scorch (30 with Ember of Ashes) Scoring multiple Direct Hits within 3? seconds of each causes the next Direct Hit to Scorch the target. Hit counter persists through stow. Number of Direct Hits required by weapon type: • Bows: 2 • Swords: 3 • Other Weapons: 55% of the base magazine size Scorch applied by Burning Ambition to Unscorched targets counts as Weapon Damage. Ember of Ashes increases the amount of Scorch applied by 50%.

Elemental Honing

Dealing Elemental Damage grants a stack of Elemental Honing for 20 seconds for each unique Element used. Maximum of 5 stacks. Gaining a stack refreshes the buff duration. Duration cannot be refreshed once at 5 stacks. Buff can be activated while stowed. Kinetic Damage does not trigger the buff. Weapon damage increase at 1|2|3|4|5 stacks by weapon damage type: • Kinetic: 10%|20%|30%|35%|40% • Elemental (PVE): 2.5%|10%|20%|30%|35% • Elemental (PVP): 1.25%|5%|20%|30%|35%

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

Darkest Before in Destiny 2

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