Destiny 2: Cruel Mercy God Roll Guide

Cruel Mercy is a Heavy Burst Arc Pulse Rifle. As a Pulse Rifle, the weapon will not be used often in standard PvE activities, but as the difficulty in content increases, it becomes more appealing. The perk pool itself is on the light side when it comes to top-tier perks for PvE. The PvP perks are better for the Pulse Rifle, so that will be your predominant focus when farming for the weapon.

Cruel Mercy has twelve perks to choose from. The left column has Demolitionist, Dragonfly, Eddy Current, Fourth Times the Charm, Keep Away, and Lone Wolf. The right-column perks are Adrenaline Junkie, Desperado, Frenzy, Headseeker, Kill Clip, and Rolling Storm.

PvE God Roll

For the PvE enthusiasts, there are not many perks you want to chase after for Cruel Mercy. Fourth Times the Charm is an obvious option, as it increases the damage per second of the Pulse Rifle. The extra ammo before reloading gives you a better chance to eliminate your targets. However, the best choice for Cruel Mercy is Dragonfly for two reasons. One offers an extra Area of Effect damage and synergizes with a perk from the right column.

The right-column perk that synergizes perfectly with Dragonfly is Rolling Storm. The Dragonfly explosions can cause the bolt charges to detonate, making for a lethal combination. Players will not need an Arc Build to make use of Rolling Storm. A more standard option in the right column is Frenzy. For the predominant use of Cruel Mercy being Grandmaster Nightfalls, you will often be in combat for an extended duration, so that Frenzy will proc comfortably. The increased damage, handling, and reload speed will help to improve the Pulse Rifle’s power.

• Barrel: Smallbore
• Magazine: Ricochet Rounds
• Left Column: Dragonfly
• Right Column: Rolling Storm/Frenzy
• Masterwork: Reload Speed
• Origin Trait: Vanguard’s Vindication

PvP God Roll

The PvP battleground is where Cruel Mercy shines the most. The range you can play with Pulse Rifles makes it difficult for enemies to approach you without taking damage. Maps with shorter sightlines and enclosed spaces make the Pulse Rifle significantly weaker. The best perk in the left column is Lone Wolf. Unless someone else is utilizing Pulse Rifles on your team and sticking close to you, you will get the entire benefit from Lone Wolf, while Keep Away might not always be active if enemies manage to approach you.

Headseeker offers a better neutral game over Kill Clip, which relies on a reload after a kill. Landing a body shot and a precision hit should not be difficult for Pulse Rifle players. Headseeker will decrease the Time to Kill on opposing Guardians and make it so you are not solely relying on precision hits to secure eliminations.

• Barrel: Smallbore
• Magazine: Ricochet Rounds
• Left Column: Lone Wolf
• Right Column: Headseeker
• Masterwork: Stability
• Origin Trait: Omolon Fluid Dynamics

Acquiring Cruel Mercy

Players can focus Cruel Mercy at Commander Zavala in the Tower if they have acquired the weapon previously. Cruel Mercy drops on a weekly rotation from Nightfalls. Luckily, it is available this week alongside Lotus Eater from the Warden of Nothing Nightfall. Players can acquire the Adept version of the Pulse Rifle by completing the Warden of Nothing Nightfall on Grandmaster difficulty. Players gilding their Conqueror seal this week can also attain Cruel Mercy from other Grandmaster Nightfalls. If you have acquired the Adept version, you can spend ten Nightfall Ciphers at Commander Zavala this week to obtain a new one.