Forensic Nightmare god roll & best perks

Forensic Nightmare — Destiny 2 Submachine Gun
Legendary · Submachine Gun
Where it drops: Source: "Chief Investigator" Triumph

“We got a thousand bullets and only 999 casings. Find the odd one out.”

Full perk pool, stats & source for Forensic Nightmare →

Built from 442 curated wishlist rolls for this Submachine Gun. Perks marked essential appear in every roll of a recommendation; alternatives are the other perks curators call worth keeping.

Recommended rolls

YeezyGT's WQ

pve 384 wishlist rolls

[YeezyGT's WQ] [MW: Range] "Forensic Nightmare feels great, looks great, and has some stellar perk options. It's primary issue, however, lies in its 13 Zoom stat, which effectively castrates the gun. With a (base) max damage falloff of 15m, comparing to Shayura's 17 Zoom, 21.3m damage falloff... It's incredibly noticeable. There's some issues with muzzle flash here in darker areas too. Ultimately, I'd rely on the great perks Forensic has access to, and use it more casually. A shame that the Zoom stat neuters this gun, as even the Friction Fire has 16 for the exact same frame."

Essential perks

Psychohack

Strong alternatives

Kill Clip Perpetual Motion Ricochet Rounds Corkscrew Rifling Kill Clip Headstone Headstone Swashbuckler Swashbuckler Perpetual Motion Heating Up Heating Up High-Caliber Rounds Flared Magwell Light Mag Smallbore Hammer-Forged Rifling Fluted Barrel

pandapaxxy

pve mkb controller 36 wishlist rolls

pandapaxxy (PvE / M+KB / Controller): "Precision frame submachine guns are in a weird spot. Having higher damage but lower stats across the boards combined with a pitiful reload creates an awful feeling weapon. You can counter this with perpetual motion to boost some of the stats or grave robber to straight up bypass the reload, but you still have an uphill battle to fight with the gun versus using Funnelweb or similar that need a lot less to feel good." Recommended MW: Reload.

Strong alternatives

Kill Clip Appended Mag Perpetual Motion Fluted Barrel Corkscrew Rifling Smallbore Extended Mag Grave Robber Headstone Swashbuckler

pandapaxxy

pvp mkb controller 12 wishlist rolls

pandapaxxy (PvP / M+KB / Controller): "Forensic Nightmare has a really nice scope, but the zoom is a let down. Shayura’s Wrath is just an upgrade and most people have one in their inventory. Especially now with the alacrity origin trait. The only benefit to Forensic Nightmare over Shayura’s Wrath is the fact it is craftable, for those of us (like myself) who haven’t gotten a good Shayura’s Wrath to use. Kill clip and perpetual motion or slideways both have merit against guardians, and being a stasis submachine gun does open up your loadout to have more viable combinations." Recommended MW: Range.

Essential perks

Kill Clip

Strong alternatives

Perpetual Motion High-Caliber Rounds Hammer-Forged Rifling Fluted Barrel Ricochet Rounds Slideways Heating Up

Community wishlist roll

pve 4 wishlist rolls

Inspired by DMB Player Versus Enemies Podcast 8. Shapeable through the Mars Relic. PvE first choice roll for general PvE content. Suffers from a low magazine size to be able to both proc Headstone and shatter the shard for a stasis "firefly" - Whisper of Rending helps. Barrel perk depends on your preference for range/stability/handling, with Extended Mag and Grave Robber to help offset the reload speed penalty. Recommended MW: Reload Speed, with a Backup Mag mod.

Essential perks

Extended Mag

Strong alternatives

Headstone Grave Robber Grave Robber Headstone

Community wishlist roll

pve 4 wishlist rolls

Inspired by DMB Player Versus Enemies Podcast 8. Shapeable through the Mars Relic. PvE backup roll for general PvE content. Barrel perk depends on your preference for range/stability/handling. Grave Robber helps offset the reload speed penalty and Swashbuckler is a reliable damage perk for CQC use. Recommended MW: Reload Speed, with a Backup Mag mod.

Strong alternatives

Grave Robber Swashbuckler Grave Robber Swashbuckler

Community wishlist roll

2 wishlist rolls

Chevy's S16 Super Pog PvE Loot List. Recommended MW - Reload

Essential perks

Perpetual Motion High-Caliber Rounds Corkscrew Rifling

Strong alternatives

Headstone Swashbuckler

What these Forensic Nightmare perks do

Kill Clip

Finishing a reload within 3.6 seconds of a kill grants 25% increased damage for 5 seconds. Stowing the weapon removes the buff. Does not buff the Splash/Explosive damage elements of other perks.

Perpetual Motion

While moving at a minimum of 2 meters per second: Grants a Stack of 'Perpetual Motion' after 2 seconds and a second Stack after 10 seconds. Each Stack provides 10 Stability, 10 Handling, and 10 Reload Speed. All Stacks are removed if movement speed is below 2 m/s for 0.5 seconds. Works and can activate while stowed.

Grave Robber

Powered Melee Hits and (Glaive) Melee Kills refill the magazine from reserves. 3 second cooldown between activations.

Headstone

Precision Kills create a Large Stasis Crystal at the target's location. Tier 1-2 Minor and Tier 1 Elite Combatants only spawn a Medium Stasis Crystal. Creating 5 Crystals within ? seconds prevents the perk from activating for 5 seconds.

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.

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%.

Slideways

Sliding refills 15% of the magazine (rounded up) from reserves and grants 15? Stability and 30 Handling for 3 seconds. 0.5 second cooldown between activations. Buff is removed on stow.

Heating Up

Weapon Kills grant a Stack of Heating Up for 5.5 seconds. Maximum of 2 Stacks. Benefits at 1|2 Stacks of Heating Up: • 15|30 Stability • 20|40 Recoil Direction • 15%|25% decreased Accuracy Cone Size • 15%|25% decreased Accuracy Cone Growth Buff remains active while stowed.

Grave Robber

Powered Melee Hits and (Glaive) Melee Kills refill the magazine from reserves. 3 second cooldown between activations. 🡅 Passively grants 5 Handling.

Headstone

Precision Kills create a Large Stasis Crystal at the target's location. Creating 5 Crystals within ? seconds prevents the perk from activating for 5 seconds. 🡅 Low-tier enemy kills also spawn a Large Stasis Crystal instead of a Medium one.

Swashbuckler

Weapon Kills grant a Stack of 'Swashbuckler' for 🡅6.5 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. 🡅 Buff Duration is increased by 2 seconds.

Psychohack

Scoring multiple Hits on targets Exhausts them. Triggering it on Players makes them deal 10% less damage. Exhaust duration cannot be refreshed. Hit Requirements by Weapon Type: • 3 Hits: Bows, Glaives (both Projectile and Melee), Grenade/Rocket Launchers (Impact and Detonation damage count separately), Sniper Rifles • 7 Hits: Scout Rifles • 12 Hits: Sidearms • 13 Hits: Submachine Guns • 14 Hits: Fusion Rifles • 16 Hits: Auto Rifles

Kill Clip

Finishing a reload within 3.6 seconds of a kill grants 25% increased damage for 🡅5.5 seconds. Stowing the weapon removes the buff. Does not buff the Splash/Explosive damage elements of other perks. 🡅 Buff Duration is increased by 0.5 seconds.

Perpetual Motion

While moving at a minimum of 2 meters per second: Grants a Stack of 'Perpetual Motion' after 2 seconds and a second Stack after 🡅9 seconds. Each Stack provides 10 Stability, 10 Handling, and 10 Reload Speed. All Stacks are removed if movement speed is below 2 m/s for 0.5 seconds. Works and can activate while stowed. 🡅 Second Stack is gained 1 second sooner.

Heating Up

Weapon Kills grant a Stack of Heating Up for 🡅6.5 seconds. Maximum of 2 Stacks. Benefits at 1|2 Stacks of Heating Up: • 15|30 Stability • 20|40 Recoil Direction • 15%|25% decreased Accuracy Cone Size • 15%|25% decreased Accuracy Cone Growth Buff remains active while stowed. 🡅 Buff Duration is increased by 1 second.

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

Forensic Nightmare in Destiny 2

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