Destiny 2 | Best BRAVE Hammerhead God Rolls and Perks (Into the Light)

As we enter the third week of Destiny 2 Into the Light update, two new BRAVE weapons have become available to farm: the destructive Forbarance Grenade Launcher and the nostalgic Hammerhead Machine Gun. Hammerhead was originally a Void Heavy Machine Gun from all the way back in the Forsaken era of Destiny 2 when it was released with Season of the Forge. Not only was it an excellent workhorse weapon capable of culling adds at an expert pace, but it also had a special place in the Curcible as a consistent and potent Heavy weapon. Hammerhead was one of the many victims of the DCV when Beyond Light was released but, thanks to its infamy and prestige, it earned a spot on the BRAVE Arsenal in the Into the Light update. 

Now, players new and old can pick up a newly branded BRAVE Hammerhead. Alongside a new paint job and some new Lynx motifs, Hammerhead has received a slate of new perks to bring it into the modern age, creating many new God Rolls to seek depending on what kind of Hammerhead is right for you: do you want an add-clearing machine, a Crucible menace, a Champion killer or something in between? Whatever you’re after, Hammerhead is one of the BRAVE Arsenal’s best weapons and a great hunt. 

Here are the best perks and God Rolls for the new BRAVE Hammerhead in Destiny 2 Into the Light.

If you want more Destiny 2 content, including a guide for the new Archie questline, then you can find it here on KeenGamer:

1. Destiny 2 | Where in The Tower is Archie Guide 
2. Destiny 2 Into the Light: How it Works
3. Destiny 2 Into the Light | 6 Essential Tips for Onslaught You Need to Know
4. The Best Thing You Missed from the Destiny 2: The Final Shape Preview
5. Destiny 2 Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon Guide | All Encounters Explained

The Brave Arsenal

How to Get the BRAVE Arsenal Hammerhead in Destiny 2: Into the Light

First things first, let’s go over how you can get your hands on the BRAVE Hammerhead for yourself. As one of the six weapons introduced after the initial six BRAVE weapons with Into the Light’s launch, Guardians weren’t able to begin farming Hammerhead until week three of the event, which began on April 23rd.

During the duration of Into the Light, Guardians can visit ARCITE 99-40 in the Hall of Champions to obtain a Weapon Quest called Bring Down the Hammer. This quest will ask you to either rapidly defeat opponents with Machine Guns (with bonus progress awarded in Onslaught) or to defeat combatants in Vanguard Ops activities.

No matter how you complete it, beating this quest is how you’ll unlock access to the Hammerhead Attunement, allowing you to drastically increase your chances of obtaining a Hammerhead whenever a BRAVE weapon drops from a bounty or Onslaught round. Furthermore, as an additional reward, Shaxx will give all players a curated limited-edition version of the Hammerhead with a fixed roll: Fourth Times the Charm and Killing Tally paired with Hammer-Forged Rifling and Armor Piercing Rounds.

Like all other BRAVE weapons, the regular Hammerhead will remain available and drop from the Onslaught playlist once The Final Shape expansion arrives on June 4th. However, if you’d like a specific limited-edition holofoil roll, you better get farming sooner rather than later as they – along with the curated roll from the Bring Down the Hammer quest – will no longer be available after June 4th.

Destiny 2 BRAVE Hammerhead Perk Pool

Now that you know how to get the BRAVE variant Hammerhead, let’s go over all the possible perk combinations it can roll with. In total, Hammerhead has seven traits in each column alongside a mix of eight magazine perks and nine barrel perks. The most important of these for general play will be the main perks in the final two columns which you can use to carve out a playstyle and identity with Hammerhead. 

In column 1, Hammerhead can roll with the following traits:

• Rewind Rounds
• Fourth Times the Charm
• Envious Assassin
• Under-Over
• Destabilising Rounds
• Rampage
• Feeding Frenzy

Meanwhile, in column 2, Headhead will randomly roll one of the following:

• Onslaught
• Killing Tally
• Desperate Measures
• High-Impact Reserves
• Surrounded
• Target Lock
• Tap the Trigger

BRAVE Hammerhead

Indomitability, BRAVE Arsenal Origin Trait

The new Hammerhead is part of the special BRAVE Arsenal of weapons introduced during the Into the Light update, meaning that it has access to the Indomitability Origin Trait. Depending on the subclass you’re running, Indomitability can synergise very nicely with certain builds and playstyles, especially on a weapon like Hammerhead.

Indomitability regenerates ability energy for each weapon kill, with the ability energy received depending on your subclass: if you’re on a Light subclass (Solar, Void, or Arc), each final blow will generate grenade energy, whereas if you’re on a Darkness subclass (Stasis or Strand), each final blow will generate melee energy, instead.

In general, Indomitability is one of the stronger Origin Traits because it offers a nice, meaty effect without having to think or plan much: simple kill stuff and, no matter what class or build you’re running, you’ll get higher uptime on your abilities. Where it comes to life is when you mix and match it with certain ability-based builds, such as a Feed the Void Voidlock with Scatter Grenades who can now reliably refund their grenade energy with each weapon kill, perhaps triggering Voltaile Rounds alongside constant healing. With that in mind, Hammerhead becomes an excellent vessel for this trait as it can act as both an add-clear weapon or a weapon used to take the tight to Champions and mini-bosses.

Indomitability Origin Trait

Best Hammerhead God Rolls in Destiny 2

Champion Killer (PvE) | Rewind Rounds + Target Lock

The first Hammerhead roll we’ll be recommending is one suited to dealing with Champions or meaty, higher-health targets like mini-bosses. Although Machine Guns aren’t as strong in single-target damage as, say, Rocket Launchers, their flexibility and ability to be consistent at both add-clear and boss damage at the same time makes them a far more comfortable weapon pick. With that in mind, Rewind Rounds and Target Lock make the perfect combination for dealing with these types of enemies.

Rewind Rounds will refill your magazine from reserves once you reach zero in the magazine, with the number of bullets refunded based on the number of hits you landed. On the other hand, Target Lock is a rather infamous perk at this point which increases damage the longer you remain firing at a single target. 

As you can already see, these perks go perfectly together on a high-magazine weapon like a Machine Gun: firing at a high-health target will trigger Target Lock, letting you deal bonus damage while racking up hits for Rewind Rounds, allowing you to go further beyond once you reach zero in the magazine. While this roll is geared more towards boss targets, Rewind Rounds can even benefit you in general play as the multiple hits don’t have to be on a single enemy, allowing you to refund ammo by just being accurate and slaying out.

Rewind Rounds + Target Lock

Double Damage Perks (PvE) | Rampage + Killing Tally 

A quick look at Hammerhead’s new perk pool and seasoned players are sure to notice that the new BRAVE Hammerhead is one of the few guns in the game with access to multiple damage perks. What’s even more interesting is that you can get a Hammerhead with a damage perk in each column, a deadly combination which can turn Hammerhead into an add-slaying monster. 

Rampage and Killing Tally and both perks which give you bonus damage upon landing a final blow. In the long-gone days of the Forsaken era, Rampage used to be the go-to damage perk and, while it isn’t the king it once was, it’s still a pretty effective perk in PvE, granting you a stacking damage bonus with each final blow. Meanwhile, Killing Tally increases the weapon’s damage for each final blow until you either stow or reload it. 

While this roll lacks a lot of the comfort and quality of life of other Hammerhead rolls, it makes up for it with sheer damage output. Having two damage perks makes Hammerhead become an add-slaying machine, one which can rip through entire hoards of enemies in a single magazine. You are a lot more limited with this roll as both Rampage and Killing Tally have pretty strict requirements but, if you’re able to juggle them, I’m sure you’ll find a lot to love with this roll. 

Rampage + Killing Tally

Comfortable Quick Switch (PvE) | Envious Assassin + Onslaught 

If you like the sound of the last roll but would like something with a bit more utility and comfort, we recommend searching for a Hammerhead with Envious Assassin and Onslaught. Instead of damage perks, these traits are more unique, affording either a way to overflow Hammerhead’s magazine or increase its fire rate. 

Envious Assassin transfers ammo from your reserves as you defeat targets with your other weapons (Kinetic and Energy in Hammerhead’s case), with the potential to overflow the magazine based on the number of kills you get. Onslaught used to be a perk only found on the Breakneck and it increases your rate of fire for each final blow you get with the weapon, a maximum of three stacks. 

Compared to the Rampage roll, this Hammerhead is one you’ll want to keep tucked away in your back pocket until the right moment. As you get kills with your Primary or Special, you’ll be overflowing Hammerhead’s magazine, something you can take advantage of when you eventually pull it out. With a much larger magazine than usual, you can take further advantage of Onslaught, allowing you to fire more bullets at a faster fire rate without running out of ammo too quickly. Like the Rampage roll, this is better suited for add clear so pick your poison. 

Envious Assassin + Onslaught

Menace in the Crucible (PvP) | Under-Over + High-Impact Reserves

Back in the days of Black Armory and beyond, Hammerhead became a mainstay for many Crucible players as one of the best Heavy weapons for PvP. Well, now that Hammerhead’s back from the Content Vault, it may continue its reign of terror with some slightly tweaked perk combinations. If you’d like to return to the glory days and run Hammerhead as a Crucible menace, run it with Under-Over paired with High Impact Reserves. If you’d like to go a step beyond that, try to get one with Hammer-Forged or Extended Barrel as well as High-Calibre or Ricochet Rounds. 

These two perks are mainly focused on increasing consistency, especially in the Crucible environment where Heavy weapons are, generally, pretty rare and have low ammo counts. To service that limitation, Under-Over deals bonus damage to Guardian Overshields, as well as a small damage increase to regular Guardian shields (the white part of your health bar). On the other hand, High-Impact Reserves increase the damage of rounds at the end of the end of the magazine. 

In Crucible, Heavy Ammo crates will only give you a limited amount of Heavy, even in a Machine Gun, so High-Impact Reserves will almost always be active and grant you bonus damage for easier kills. The same can be said about Under-Over as it will let you rip through the first two-thirds of a Guardian’s health bar with ease, priming them for a much easier clean-up. While this roll doesn’t have the flexibility we’ve mentioned before, you won’t really need it if your only goal is to use it in the Crucible. In that environment, consistency is key and this roll affords you that. 

Under-Over + High-Impact Reserves

Those were our recommended God Rolls for the new BRAVE Hammerhead in Destiny 2 Into the Light. As we mentioned earlier, all the BRAVE weapons, including Hammerhead, will continue to be available from Onslaught once The Final Shape launches on June 4th: however, the limited-edition variants with the holofoil ornament and double perks, as well as the curated Weapon Quests, will leave on June 3rd.