The Iron Banner’s arsenal got two new additions in Destiny 2’s Season of the Seraph: Dark Decider, a 720rpm Arc auto rifle, and the Arc slug shotgun, Gunnora’s Axe. Their Arc element isn’t a coincidence, and they both have access to the crown jewel of Arc-based perks: Voltshot.
Being the first 720rpm with Voltshot does make Dark Decider spicy and gives it a leg up on Season of the Risen’s Sweet Sorrow, though the Cabal-inspired auto rifle continues to boast a perk pool that can be hard to rival. Add the Dark Decider’s Veist Stinger origin trait to the equation, though, and you’re essentially looking at an Arc-aligned Krait that can roll Voltshot, which makes it a highly coveted weapon.
Even though players are already salivating at the thought of rolling a Dark Decider with Voltshot, the weapon itself comes with some palpable downsides. Its base recoil direction of 43 requires some elbow grease to offset, and it’s still hostage to its 720rpm archetype, bringing less range and damage than some of its other counterparts (though with a higher rate of fire).
With Dark Decider being an Iron Banner weapon, though, players can also find Iron Banner-specific perks like Iron Reach and Iron Grip on its pool, which allow them to gain hefty stat bonuses, though they come with heftier stat penalties.
In most cases, god rolls focus on boosting a weapon’s potential. In Dark Decider’s case, our god rolls just mean to mitigate its several downsides. Thanks to some colossal stat boosts from the Iron Banner perks, however, that might just be enough to push it into viability. Here are our PvE and PvP god rolls for Dark Decider.
Dark Decider PvE god roll and best perks in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Arrowhead Brake
- Mag: Flared Magwell, Tactical Mag, or Appended Mag
- First perk: Subsistence (Honorable mention: Dynamic Sway Reduction)
- Second perk: Voltshot or Golden Tricorn (Honorable mention: Dragonfly)
Dark Decider has some clear contenders for PvE. The PvE-oriented perks it brings would fight for the top spot in any god roll, and Dark Decider doesn’t really offer many viable alternatives to them. This means there are only a few really good choices—and luckily for players, they’re more than enough to give Dark Decider some much-needed firepower.
For parts, aim for Arrowhead Brake to bring Dark Decider’s terrible recoil direction of 43 to a passable 73, which can turn into a good 88 if you run Counterbalance Stock. In the absence of Arrowhead, Chambered Compensator and Counterbalance bring that to a half-decent 68. Having 100 recoil direction means that weapon’s recoil is almost fully vertical, so bringing those numbers up can help dramatically with how the weapon feels.
With a perfect god roll, we recommend getting Subsistence as your first perk. Combined with Dark Decider’s Veist Stinger origin trait, it can fire for a long time before you reload. If you’re not feeling the weapon too much because of its stability or poor recoil, Dynamic Sway Reduction could be a good backup choice. Iron Grip isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker either, but the -30 to reload speed hurts its case.
The last perk column is where Dark Decider’s god roll really shines. It can roll Voltshot, which makes for tremendous crowd control—and if you’re aiming for crowd control, Dragonfly is a solid alternative to Voltshot, even if less flamboyant. For sheer damage, though, Dark Decider also has Golden Tricorn, which offers one of the biggest weapon damage buffs in the game if you keep it at two stacks (one by killing an enemy with Dark Decider, the other by getting an Arc ability kill).
Dark Decider doesn’t bring too many options, but the ones it does bring along are good enough to make this weapon a viable option—even though it suffers from its archetype and recoil.
Dark Decider PvP god roll and best perks in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Arrowhead Brake, Corkscrew Rifling, or Hammer-Forged Rifling
- Mag: Accurized Rounds (Honorable mentions: Tactical Mag, or Flared Magwell)
- First perk: Dynamic Sway Reduction or Iron Grip (Honorable mention: Well-Rounded)
- Second perk: Rangefinder or Golden Tricorn (Honorable mention: Iron Reach)
Dark Decider does come with some heavy downsides on its own. It’s a 720rpm auto rifle, which means it suffers heavily from its intrinsic low range. Additionally, its base recoil direction (43) means you have to put some serious effort into making this weapon’s recoil less than terrible (which is why Arrowhead Brake is so important).
For PvP, Dark Decider swings in the other direction compared to PvE, and our god roll focuses on maximizing range and/or stability. Arrowhead continues to be borderline essential here, and the bonuses to handling in addition to recoil direction don’t really hurt its case. If you can’t get it, though, aim for anything that gives you more range. The magazine also has one clear choice for PvP: Accurized Rounds. You need every bit of range you can get, and Accurized is the best in slot.
The first perk in our god roll is a toss-up between Dynamic Sway Reduction and Iron Grip. Dynamic Sway Reduction gives you similar results with fewer downsides, while Iron Grip gains points for its bonuses to stability (which indirectly help you land shots at range) and uniqueness. The hefty penalty to reload speed doesn’t help its case too much, though, so choosing between that and Dynamic Sway Reduction is up to preference. Well-Rounded isn’t a bad option either, though its trigger—charged melee abilities or grenades—limits the uptime you’ll have on it in the Crucible.
The last column is also a simple choice. Mostly, the decision will be between Rangefinder and Iron Reach, both attempting to mitigate Dark Decider’s terrible range. Rangefinder has been watered down recently, but it’s still one of the best options for PvP. Iron Reach gives a +20 range, but that bonus is tied to a whopping -30 in stability, making it very much a use-at-your-own-risk case.
The PvP god roll can also borrow some elements from PvE. Voltshot has some room in the Crucible, though not as much as it does in PvE. Dragonfly and Golden Tricorn can have some utility, with Tricorn being the main way of boosting Dark Decider’s damage with a perk. Gutshot Straight, in the Seraph Sandbox, does far more harm than good, so that one’s off the list.
