Destiny 2‘s New Purpose Pulse Rifle is unique to the Duality Dungeon and drops only from the final chest after defeating the Nightmare of Caiatl, Empress Imperial. It might not fire particularly fast, but every burst packs a punch and has some of the best possible rolls of its weapon type in the game. We’ll cover what to look for in this god roll guide.
New Purpose Pulse Rifle PvE God Roll
There are only a few truly bad rolls on the New Purpose for either PvE or PvP, but get the perks presented here and expect to shred anything that comes your way.
Barrel: Arrowhead Brake, Chambered Compensator
The New Purpose hits like a truck and kicks like a mule. Equipping Arrowhead Brake goes a long way toward taming this weapon’s recoil while adding some ready speed with a moderate Handling stat buff. Chambered Compensator doesn’t boast such powerful buffs, but with minor increases to Handling, Stability, and Range, it’s an excellent secondary pick.
Magazine: Ricochet Rounds, Armor Piercing Rounds
Like almost every other primary weapon in Destiny 2, the best Magazine pick is Ricochet Rounds. The moderate Stability buff and smaller Range increase make the New Purpose much more effective and easy to use. Armor Piercing Rounds are great for PvE as it allows the weapon to do extra damage to combatant shields, making low-difficulty content a bit more comfortable.
PvE Trait 1: Feeding Frenzy, Perpetual Motion
Weapon uptime is paramount in Destiny 2 PvE, with usability coming a close second. Feeding Frenzy will ensure your reloads are quick the more enemies you defeat before needing to top off, and Perpetual Motion grants Stability, Handling, and Reload Speed so long as you’re always moving. Depending on how you fight the enemies of humanity, either pick will work wonders.
PvE Trait 2: Desperado, Adaptive Munitions
There can be no other top choice in the second Trait slot. Desperado is a flat increase to your DPS by decreasing the delay between shots and increasing the New Purpose’s rate of fire for a massive net gain in damage. If you can’t land Desperado, Adaptive Munitions makes the weapon a beast against enemy shields.
New Purpose Pulse Rifle PvP God Roll
Like many of the best weapons in Destiny 2, the New Purpose has useful rolls for both PvE and PvP.
Barrel
Both choices listed in the PvE section are great options for PvE as well.
Magazine: Ricochet Rounds, High-Caliber Rounds
Ricochet Rounds are fantastic no matter where they’re used, but High Caliber Rounds are helpful in PvP for the additional flinch they add to your shots. You won’t stop every player from getting a kill shot with flinch, but it can help win some fights you would typically lose.
PvP Trait 1: Perpetual Motion, Well-Rounded
The bonuses provided by Perpetual Motion are too good to pass up in both PvE and PvP, and in Crucible, you’re bound to be moving far more often. Well-Rounded requires a little more setup to activate (using a grenade or doing damage with a charged melee), but the Range, Stability, and Handling bonuses you get per stack can make or break an engagement.
PvP Trait 2: Desperado, Vorpal Weapon
There’s no beating Desperado if you can get it, but Vorpal Weapon can be a lifesaver if you see an enemy Super heading your way. Vorpal increases damage against enemy Guardians in their super, and if you’re particularly accurate, you might even take them out before they can reach you. Even if you don’t defeat the Super, you’re liable to do much more damage than they might expect.
Acquire any of these rolls for your New Purpose Pulse Rifle, and you’ll be set for the long haul. Get a perfect roll, and you’ll be able to take either PvP or PvE by storm, as the weapon is something special when it has everything it needs. We’ve covered other god rolls here, including the Stormchaser, Austringer, Calus Mini-Tool, and Eyasluna, among others. Our Destiny 2 guides hub has much more.
