Permafrost god roll & best perks

Permafrost — Destiny 2 Grenade Launcher
Legendary · Grenade Launcher

“Freeze them out.”

Full perk pool, stats & source for Permafrost →

Built from 54 curated wishlist rolls for this Grenade Launcher. Perks marked essential appear in every roll of a recommendation; alternatives are the other perks curators call worth keeping.

Recommended rolls

SpaceMonkey

pve 28 wishlist rolls

SpaceMonkey (PvE): "This is about two or three years too late. A great looking add clear and utility GL, held back by the fact that area denial frames exist and invalidate this thing's entire purpose. Honestly, this still ticks a lot of boxes for me personally, so I'll be going for one in the hopes that the archetype can make a comeback." Recommended MW: Reload, Blast Radius.

Essential perks

High-Velocity Rounds

Strong alternatives

Reaper's Tithe Attrition Orbs Volatile Launch Rimestealer Crystalline Corpsebloom Demolitionist Lead from Gold Confined Launch Quick Launch Linear Compensator Smart Drift Control

Community wishlist roll

8 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @CourtProjects (PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for controlling groups of Minor adds in general at-level or better content. Permafrost is a wave frame GL which are rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic tiering spreadsheet https://linktr.ee/TheAegisRelic having been power crept by aerial denial frames, so this is more to think about keeping in case there's a future rebalancing. The stats are in-band by comparison with its peers - see https://d2foundry.gg/w/2316331767 for how the weapon stats impact in-game performance. Looks for a barrel perk that helps Handling - Velocity's nice, but you'll be shooting at your feet most of the time. Try not to hurt the Blast Radius, as that affects the width and height of the wave. For the magazine perk just High-Velocity Rounds. For a general utility roll, in the first trait perk column you have options like Attrition Orbs, to generate power orbs on enemy hits, Overflow for two in the mag when picking up ammo bricks, Lead from Gold to generate special ammo when picking up power ammo blocks, or Impromptu Ammunition for a boost to ammo generation meters from all sources after a kill. In the second column, Crystalline Corpsebloom procs on a kill to provide a 4s buff - kills with the buff active generate a stasis seeker which travels 3m before spawning a medium Stasis crystal (large when enhanced) - these are weapon-generated entities so can proc weapon traits like Attrition Orbs when shattered for AoE damage. If you're interested, Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. For the Origin Trait, Dawning Surprise has a hidden counter - 6 red bar kills (5 enhanced) or 2 orange/yellow bars will fill this to generate a pickup which last 10s that grants 10% energy to melee, grenade and super, +22 HP and start regeneration, so can be very useful or Field Test provides steady boosts to Range, Stability, Handling and Reload Speed on hits and kills, lasting until you die. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod/enhanced mod to boost mag size, weapon stats, ammo regeneration, or elemental pickups for builds - and don't forget to check any available seasonal fragile mods.|tags:PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller

Essential perks

High-Velocity Rounds Crystalline Corpsebloom

Strong alternatives

Attrition Orbs Quick Launch Overflow Lead from Gold Impromptu Ammunition Smart Drift Control

Adamsdown_Boy written as at v9.5.5.1

8 wishlist rolls

Adamsdown_Boy written as at v9.5.5.1 (PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for controlling groups of Minor adds in general at-level or better content, particularly with Warlock buddy builds. Permafrost is a wave frame GL which are rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic tiering spreadsheet https://linktr.ee/TheAegisRelic having been power crept by aerial denial frames, so this is more to think about keeping in case there's a future rebalancing. The stats are in-band by comparison with its peers - see https://d2foundry.gg/w/2316331767 for how the weapon stats impact in-game performance. Looks for a barrel perk that helps Handling - Velocity's nice, but you'll be shooting at your feet most of the time. Try not to hurt the Blast Radius, as that affects the width and height of the wave. For the magazine perk just High-Velocity Rounds. For Warlock buddy builds, in the first trait perk column you have Blast Distributor which stacks up to ×5 to provide +10 to your Grenade attribute (+13 when enhanced) per stack on explosive damage - a total of +50 (+65 enhanced) for a refreshable 5s on further explosive damage to improve buddy damage, or Demolitionist to generate chunk grenade ability energy on kills, if you're not running Devour, and an instant magazine refill on grenade use. In the second column, Desperate Measures provides up to 3 stacks for ×1.3 damage for a refreshable 7s for a weapon and then two ability kills, or Adrenaline Junkie generates up to ×5 stacks on kills for +20 handling and ×1.33 damage, with a grenade kill giving an instant 5 stacks, for a refreshable 4.5s (5s when enhanced). If you're interested, Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. For the Origin Trait, Dawning Surprise has a hidden counter - 6 red bar kills (5 enhanced) or 2 orange/yellow bars will fill this to generate a pickup which last 10s that grants 10% energy to melee, grenade and super, +22 HP and start regeneration, so can be very useful or Field Test provides steady boosts to Range, Stability, Handling and Reload Speed on hits and kills, lasting until you die. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod/enhanced mod to boost mag size, weapon stats, ammo regeneration, or elemental pickups for builds - and don't forget to check any available seasonal fragile mods.|tags:PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller

Essential perks

High-Velocity Rounds

Strong alternatives

Blast Distributor Desperate Measures Quick Launch Adrenaline Junkie Demolitionist Smart Drift Control

Community wishlist roll

4 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @CourtProjects (PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for controlling groups of Minor adds in general at-level or better content, particularly on grenade builds. Permafrost is a wave frame GL which are rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic tiering spreadsheet https://linktr.ee/TheAegisRelic having been power crept by aerial denial frames, so this is more to think about keeping in case there's a future rebalancing. The stats are in-band by comparison with its peers - see https://d2foundry.gg/w/2316331767 for how the weapon stats impact in-game performance. Looks for a barrel perk that helps Handling - Velocity's nice, but you'll be shooting at your feet most of the time. Try not to hurt the Blast Radius, as that affects the width and height of the wave. For the magazine perk just High-Velocity Rounds. If you're running a grenade build, in the first trait perk column Demolitionist generates chunk grenade ability energy on kills and an instant magazine refill on grenade use, or Blast Distributor stacks up to ×5 to provide +10 to your Grenade attribute (+13 when enhanced) per stack on dealing explosive damage - to a total of +50 (+65 enhanced) - for 5s refreshable on further explosive damage so you can invest stat points into other armour attributes. In the second column, Crystalline Corpsebloom procs on a kill to provide a 4s buff - kills with the buff active generate a stasis seeker which travels 3m before spawning a medium Stasis crystal (large when enhanced) - these are weapon-generated entities so can generate grenade energy when shattered for AoE damage by a weapon with the Demolitionist perk. If you're interested, Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. For the Origin Trait, Dawning Surprise has a hidden counter - 6 red bar kills (5 enhanced) or 2 orange/yellow bars will fill this to generate a pickup which last 10s that grants 10% energy to melee, grenade and super, +22 HP and start regeneration, so can be very useful or Field Test provides steady boosts to Range, Stability, Handling and Reload Speed on hits and kills, lasting until you die. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod/enhanced mod to boost mag size, weapon stats, ammo regeneration, or elemental pickups for builds - and don't forget to check any available seasonal fragile mods.|tags:PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller

Essential perks

High-Velocity Rounds Crystalline Corpsebloom

Strong alternatives

Demolitionist Quick Launch Blast Distributor Smart Drift Control

SpaceMonkey

pve god-pve 4 wishlist rolls

SpaceMonkey (PvE / God-PvE): "This is about two or three years too late. A great looking add clear and utility GL, held back by the fact that area denial frames exist and invalidate this thing's entire purpose. Honestly, this still ticks a lot of boxes for me personally, so I'll be going for one in the hopes that the archetype can make a comeback." Recommended MW: Reload, Blast Radius.

Essential perks

High-Velocity Rounds Crystalline Corpsebloom

Strong alternatives

Attrition Orbs Volatile Launch Rimestealer Confined Launch

Community wishlist roll

2 wishlist rolls

Inspired by @Saint_Kabr and @CourtProjects (PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller): First-choice PvE roll for controlling groups of Minor adds in general at-level or better content, particularly on Stasis builds. Permafrost is a wave frame GL which are rated C-Tier for endgame PvE by @TheAegisRelic tiering spreadsheet https://linktr.ee/TheAegisRelic having been power crept by aerial denial frames, so this is more to think about keeping in case there's a future rebalancing. The stats are in-band by comparison with its peers - see https://d2foundry.gg/w/2316331767 for how the weapon stats impact in-game performance. Looks for a barrel perk that helps Handling - Velocity's nice, but you'll be shooting at your feet most of the time. Try not to hurt the Blast Radius, as that affects the width and height of the wave. For the magazine perk just High-Velocity Rounds. If you're running a Stasis build, in the first trait perk column Rimestealer generates a stack (2 stacks when enhanced) of Frost Armor on shattering a Stasis crystal or killing a frozen enemy. In the second column, Crystalline Corpsebloom procs on a kill to provide a 4s buff - kills with the buff active generate a stasis seeker which travels 3m before spawning a medium Stasis crystal (large when enhanced) - these are weapon-generated entities so can proc weapon traits when shattered for AoE damage. If you're interested, Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. For the Origin Trait, Dawning Surprise has a hidden counter - 6 red bar kills (5 enhanced) or 2 orange/yellow bars will fill this to generate a pickup which last 10s that grants 10% energy to melee, grenade and super, +22 HP and start regeneration, so can be very useful or Field Test provides steady boosts to Range, Stability, Handling and Reload Speed on hits and kills, lasting until you die. Recommended MW: Handling, with your preferred choice of mod/enhanced mod to boost mag size, weapon stats, ammo regeneration, or elemental pickups for builds - and don't forget to check any available seasonal fragile mods.|tags:PvE PvE-MinorSpec PvE-God M+KB Controller

Essential perks

Rimestealer High-Velocity Rounds Crystalline Corpsebloom

Strong alternatives

Quick Launch Smart Drift Control

What these Permafrost perks do

Crystalline Corpsebloom

Weapon Kills grant 'Crystalline Corpsebloom' for 4 seconds. Kills while Crystalline Corpsebloom is active spawn a Stasis Crystal 3 meters away from the enemy death location in a random direction.

Demolitionist

Weapon Kills grant 10% Grenade Ability Energy. Kills with Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, Glaives, and Fusion Rifles grant 20%. Using your Grenade Ability refills the Magazine with a 3 second cooldown. Ability energy gained may be significantly decreased based on your selected ability's Chunk Energy Scalar. Learn more about this mechanic in our explainer blog post on the Clarity website.

Blast Distributor

Dealing Explosive Weapon damage grants a stack of 'Blast Distributor' for 5 seconds. Maximum of 5 stacks. 'Blast Distributor' grants 10 Grenade Stat per stack.

Rimestealer

Killing Frozen Enemies or Shattering a Stasis Crystal with the weapon grants a Stack of Frost Armor.

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.

Overflow

Upon picking up Special or Heavy Ammo: Refills and Overfills the Magazine from reserves. Overfill amount maxes out at 100% of the Magazine Capacity. Activates even while stowed.

Lead from Gold

Heavy Ammo Pickups grants 25% of your maximum Special Ammo Reserves even while the weapon is stowed. Equipping two Special Weapons halves the amount of ammo granted.

Impromptu Ammunition

Weapon Kills grant 15% improved Special ammo generation and 10% improved Heavy ammo generation from all sources for 5 seconds. Additional Weapon Kills extend the buff duration up to 7 seconds. Buff is additive to Ammo Finder Helmet mods.

Desperate Measures

Weapon Kills grant 'Desperate Measures x1' (DMx1), increasing damage by 10% for 7 seconds. Grenade or Melee Kills grant 20% increased damage for 7 seconds (DMx2). Scoring another Grenade or Melee Kill with DMx2 active increases this to 30% (DMx3). Can be activated while stowed. Weapon, Grenade, and Melee Kills refresh the buff duration.

Adrenaline Junkie

Weapon Kills grant 1 Stack of Adrenaline Junkie for 4.5 seconds. Grenade Kills grant all 5 Stacks instantly even if the weapon is stowed. Adrenaline Junkie benefits: • 20 Handling • 6.7%|13.3%|20%|26.6%|33.3% increased damage at 1|2|3|4|5 Stacks

Reaper's Tithe

Grants stacks of 'Reaper's Tithe' based on the number of simultaneously killed enemies. Maximum of 4 stacks. (e.g. triple kill ⇒ 3 stacks) 'Reaper's Tithe' grants 20%|30%|40% increased damage for 15 seconds at 2|3|4 stacks (1st stack does not exist). Timer only starts after firing. Additional Weapon Kills extend the buff duration by 6 seconds, but not beyond the initial 15-second duration. Scoring a higher number of simultaneous Kills than the currently active stack count will not "upgrade" the buff.

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

Permafrost in Destiny 2

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