From when Destiny 2 players first laid eyes on it in the Collections screen at Lightfall’s launch, The Immortal was expected to be a top contender for the new PvP meta within the title. Yet even those theorized builds and assessments undersold its impact upon arrival.
With the first weekend of Trials of Osiris underway this season, The Immortal submachine gun’s Adept version has already rocketed up to be the most-used weapon in the Trials of Osiris playlist after only 72 hours.
The stat comes courtesy of DestinyTracker, and a cursory look over the weapon popularity percentages on their website paints an even more impressive picture. Across the entirety of competitive PvP, not just Trials, The Immortal is making a name for itself. The IKELOS SMG continues to hold a narrow lead at the top of the usage charts at 4.8 percent, but The Immortal (Adept) is right behind it with a 3.35 percent usage rate. This has allowed it to surpass other popular picks, such as the Rose handcannon, which has always been a close runner-up to the IKELOS.
Related: Here are The Immortal god roll and best perks in Destiny 2
The Immortal’s immediate success is due to the fact that it shares the same frame as the IKELOS SMG, but brings to the table a suite of perks far better suited to the needs of the PvP environment. The Rangefinder perk has long been the secret sauce to IKELOS’s domination after other submachine guns fell off due to recent nerfs, but it couldn’t be combined with any potent damage perks due to its place in the fourth perk column. The Immortal can also roll with Rangefinder, but its Rangefinder can be paired with powerful secondary choices like Target Lock and Kill Clip.
Target Lock has been a specific perk of much discourse on The Immortal. It was theorized before the gun’s release that it had potential, but the reality far exceeded initial predictions. When combined with the Field-Tested Origin Trait, The Immortal not only improves upon the IKELOS SMG’s meta-defining power but entirely outclasses it.
Bungie’s newly implemented Fireteam-based matchmaking system for Trials of Osiris has undoubtedly made it easier for players to reach The Lighthouse and acquire the weapon’s Adept variant as well, explaining why the more exclusive version of the weapon is the one that has managed to top the charts.
Some players already believe that a nerf is coming for the weapon, but even if it does, The Immortal will more than likely enjoy a number of weeks dominating the Crucible in the near future. Its inherent strength is good news for Trials of Osiris, though, as a reward so lucrative is bound to have significantly bumped its player population for the first weekend of the Lightfall era.
