Season of the Wish brought a lot of new loot to Destiny 2, but one of its most exciting additions is the return of Breakneck—an auto rifle that procured a cult following during the Forsaken era.
Breakneck got that following for good reason too. The synergy between Rampage and its unique perk Onslaught granted players both stacking damage bonuses and a rising rate of fire for each tier of Rampage they managed to reach. Once you had both perks rolling, it was one of the most powerful auto rifles in Destiny 2 before it was sunset in Beyond Light. Unfortunately, you can’t recreate this incredible combination with its updated random perk pools, but there are still plenty of great choices to pick from when building a Breakneck god roll for today’s sandbox.
Not only is Onslaught back, but other strong perks such as Kinetic Tremors, Subsistence and Feeding Frenzy will allow Breakneck to better suit a variety of situations. It might not be as good at the one job it had in Forsaken, but the new perks make it a stronger overall tool in a greater amount of situations.
Here are our recommendations for Breakneck god rolls in both PvE and PvP, as well as a breakdown on how to start farming drops of your own in Season of the Wish.
How to get Breakneck in Destiny 2’s Season of the Wish
Breakneck can now be obtained randomly as a match completion reward in the Destiny 2 Gambit playlist. Players can also focus Gambit Engrams into rolls of Breakneck via The Drifter’s vendor screen in The Tower. As it’s not the only Gambit weapon currently available, drops aren’t guaranteed after every match, but the Engram focusing tool can help to eliminate some of the randomness from the process.
Breakneck PvE god roll in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Smallbore
- Magazine: Richochet Rounds
- First perk: Subsistence or Feeding Frenzy
- Second perk: Onslaught or Kinetic Tremors
For the Breakneck PvE god roll, we recommend running Onslaught in the fourth perk column alongside a perk such as Subsistence or Feeding Frenzy in the third column.
Onslaught is a shadow of its former self without Rampage, but we can use a perk like Subsistence to prolong the uptime of Breakneck’s already sizeable magazine during a gunfight. Since Onslaught requires killing blows to refresh its rate of fire buffs, those killing blows can simultaneously proc Subsistence’s magazine refills, ultimately making it easier to maximize the improved fire rate period. Feeding Frenzy and Enlightened Action can achieve a similar result, but it’s ultimately down to personal preference as to which utility perk you pair Onslaught with.
If Onslaught isn’t tempting you though, a perk like Kinetic Tremors is a perfect serviceable workhorse perk in the fourth column. You won’t enjoy the same periods of extreme power that a perk like Onslaught can provide, but Kinetic Tremors’ area-of-effect damage will be a more consistent benefit against targets with larger health pools.
A perk like this is the way to go if you’re building out a Breakneck god roll for use in activities like Master or Grandmaster Nightfalls.
Breakneck PvP god roll in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Smallbore or Hammer-Forged Rifling
- Magazine: High-Caliber Rounds
- First perk: Keep Away or Encore
- Second perk: Tap The Trigger or Onslaught
For PvP, the Breakneck auto rifle has fantastic perks for a god roll, such as the combination of Keep Away and Tap The Trigger. Keep Away has quickly become a favorite among many diehard Crucible fans, and it’s a perfect fit for a 450RPM auto rifle. Its bonuses to range and accuracy hinge on keeping your distance from your opponents, which is made even easier when putting Tap The Trigger and range-enhancing barrel and magazine options on the gun.
Players who feel confident in their shot might want to consider replacing Tap The Trigger with Onslaught, an unsurprising recommendation to make in light of the success other fire rate-focused perks like Desperado and Cascade Point have found in Crucible lately. With the lack of damage-increasing perks (outside of Harmony), Onslaught is your only real option for a momentum-based Breakneck build. But with how much its perk pool is built around enhancing its prowess in the neutral game, it’s not entirely clear if Onslaught alone is worth sacrificing the statistical benefits that come with utility perks in the same column.
