The Apex Predator is back in Destiny 2, and it’s living up to its name. This refurbished rocket could be at the top of the food chain when it comes to sheer damage thanks to the invaluable perks it received in Season of the Deep, giving it a few powerful perk options to crown in its god roll.
Perks aren’t the only thing on its side, though: Apex Predator also is part of the Adaptive Frame subfamily, which boasts more damage than the rest of the options (paired with Aggressives). As a bonus, the overhauled Apex Predator is also craftable, meaning you can make your own god roll after you’ve unlocked its Patterns. And there are plenty of amazing options to choose from.
Here are the perks you should use with Apex Predator in Destiny 2.
What is the Apex Predator PvE god roll in Destiny 2?
- Barrel: Quick Launch or Hard Launch
- Mag: Impact Casing, Alloy Casing, or High-Velocity Rounds
- First perk: Reconstruction, Slideways, or Demolitionist (Honorable mention: Tracking Module)
- Second perk: Bait and Switch or Explosive Light (Honorable mentions: Frenzy, Vorpal Weapon)
Apex Predator is back with an extra dose of ruthlessness in its perk pool. Season of the Deep marked the introduction of Vow of the Disciple’s Bait and Switch in some other weapon types, and rocket launchers were contemplated with this tremendous perk.
That’s not the only former raid perk to appear in the loot pool, though: Apex Predator also has access to Deep Stone Crypt’s Reconstruction, which passively reloads and even overflows your magazine.
How to get the Apex Predator in Destiny 2
You can get the Apex Predator in Destiny 2 as a part of the Last Wish loot table by farming any encounter of the raid. The first encounter makes the work the easiest for you, as you can use the checkpoint before the raid’s final boss, Kalli, to fight her as many times as necessary until you get the rocket launcher to drop.
While chances are that your drop won’t be a red-border weapon, you can use the Deepsight Harmonizer to get the Pattern you need. If you want to craft the Apex Predator, keep in mind that you need five Patterns to do so.
You can also complete the raid that has the quest called O Deepsight Mine. This quest requires you to finish all the Last Wish encounters and enables you to get a Deepsight weapon of your choice when you go back to Hawthorne.
Best perks for Apex Predator: third column
The Apex Predator perks we’ll be looking at for the third column are:
- Reconstruction
- Slideways
- Demolitionist
- Tracking Module
Reconstruction refills the magazine by 10 percent every four seconds, which means you get a free extra rocket every four seconds, and you overflow the magazine with an extra rocket every four seconds after that.
While Reconstruction is inarguably the most popular choice, and it’s at the top of our god roll, it’s hardly the only one worth considering. Slideways isn’t a bad option, making for a slightly manual Auto-Loading Holster that activates after you slide and with a small cooldown.
Related: How to get The Hothead in Destiny 2
Demolitionist, on the other hand, allows you to reload by throwing a grenade. This perk has lost some of its primacy with the death of Starfire Protocol, but it can still come in handy.
Lastly, Tracking Module deserves an honorable mention if you’re struggling to land your shots or if the boss moves around too much. This shouldn’t be a problem in some encounters like Oryx, but it can be tricky against mobile bosses such as Simmumah the Lucent Necromancer in Ghosts of the Deep, for instance.
Best perks for Apex Predator: fourth column
The Apex Predator perks we’ll be looking at for the fourth column are:
- Bait and Switch
- Explosive Light
- Frenzy
- Vorpal Weapon
- Bipod
- Surrounded
- Threat Detector
- Incandescent
For the second perk, Bait and Switch gives you the most raw firepower, and its activation criteria isn’t too demanding. You’ll need to damage a target with all three weapons to gain a whopping 35 percent bonus damage for 10 seconds (11 with the enhanced version). You can pair Apex Predator with Izanagi’s Burden or Witherhoard, for instance, which already puts one of the weapons in your rotation.
Bait and Switch is the king of our god roll, but Explosive Light is also gunning for the crown. This perk activates by picking up Orbs of Power, which are practically ubiquitous in the post-Lightfall sandbox and give you 25 percent more damage. It’s a downgrade from Bait and Switch, but it’s by no means a reason to skip this perk.
Related: The Supremacy god roll and best perks in Destiny 2
Frenzy and Vorpal Weapon are among the rest of the perks worth mentioning in this god roll since they’re also decent damage boosts. They lack the firepower of the other options, however, so they take a backseat. Frenzy gives you more damage than Vorpal Weapon, though, you need to be in combat for 12 seconds before it activates (which can be annoying if you miss the cutoff before starting a boss encounter).
Bipod, at least in the early Season of the Deep sandbox, is a detrimental perk since it slashes your damage by a shocking 40 percent, which hardly makes up for the increased magazine size. Surrounded also gives you a slightly bigger boost than Bait and Switch, though it has a much more cumbersome trigger. The same principle applies to Threat Detector.
Incandescent can potentially serve as a source of Scorch, though you will likely get more benefits from Reconstruction or Demolitionist here, too.
Best parts for Apex Predator
As far as Apex Predator’s parts go, anything that helps its projectile speed is welcome. We aimed for Quick Launch since it also lets you swap quicker (pairing well with Bait and Switch), but Hard Launch also works.
The magazine is up to preference. Impact Casing gives you a bit of extra damage, but High-Velocity Rounds gives you improved projectile speed and reloads, while Alloy Casing gives you an even bigger reload speed without negatively impacting your projectile speed.
