The Adjudicator SMG from Destiny 2.
Image via Bungie

Adjudicator god roll and best perks in Destiny 2

A perk pool you shouldn't ignore.

The Prophecy Dungeon has received its first refresh since season 15 in Destiny 2’s Season of the Wish. Not only do its weapons now have unique Origin Traits, but new arrivals like the Adjudicator have the potential to shake up the metagame.

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Precision Frame SMGs might not be the talk of the town in Destiny 2 right now, but Adjudicator’s near-perfect perk pool makes it impossible to ignore. Mainstays Kinetic Tremors and Rampage are joined by surprise alternatives like Onslaught that give players no end of god rolls for PvE and PvP. That’s before factoring in new Origin Trait Crossing Over, which grants free bonuses to range, handling and damage at various points in the magazine.

If you’re heading into the Prophecy dungeon’s second encounter to farm, here are our recommendations for the best Adjudicator god rolls in PvE and PvP.

What is the Adjudicator god roll in Destiny 2?

Adjudicator PvE god roll

A graphic depicting Adjudicator with its perks and stats. It has Subsistence and Onslaught equipped.
Onslaught and Subsistence are a perfect pair. Screenshot by Dot Esports via D2Foundry
  • Barrel: Smallbore or Polygonal Rifling
  • Magazine: Tactical Mag
  • First perk: Subsistence
  • Second perk: Onslaught or Kinetic Tremors
  • Masterwork: Range or Stability

In PvE, the Adjudicator god roll we recommend pairs Subsistence with Onslaught. Both of these perks proc on a killing blow, allowing you to simultaneously up the fire rate of the weapon to improve your time-to-kill while refilling a portion of the magazine. This way, you can stay in the fight longer and fight more efficiently on top of that—an excellent combination that’s tough to pass up despite the other excellent perks on offer. Onslaught will be especially popular with players who don’t like how slow a 600 RPM submachine gun is, as you can quickly ramp up toward the fire rate of more popular archetypes.

However, if the Adjudicator’s fire rate doesn’t bother you, you’ll want to look at Kinetic Tremors in the fourth column. Kinetic Tremors is an incredibly strong perk against powerful combatants as it casts damaging shockwaves if you land enough shots on a single target. With how stable the SMG is, you won’t have any trouble activating the effect, and the additional area-of-effect damage can be useful in various endgame PvE content runs.

There aren’t many barrel or magazine options for the gun that feel necessary, but it does feel good to lean into the Adjudicator’s strengths with range and stability. Tactical Mag won’t be a perfect fit for everyone, but the extra bullet with the stability boost helps it to feel good to use and makes Subsistence more impactful too from my experience.

This is even more true if you slot Backup Mag into the mod slot, but that’s a harder call to make over the traditionally best Destiny 2 options like Major and Minor Spec.

Adjudicator PvP god roll

A graphic depicting Adjudicator with its perks and stats. It has Dynamic Sway Reduction and Fragile Focus equipped.
The Adjudicator can be a monster at range. Screenshot by Dot Esports via D2Foundry
  • Barrel: Smallbore
  • Magazine: Accurized Rounds
  • First perk: Dynamic Sway Reduction or Perpetual Motion
  • Second perk: Fragile Focus or Onslaught
  • Masterwork: Range

In PvP, the Adjudicator god roll Dynamic Sway Reduction and Fragile Focus are best. SMGs might be on the way out in the Crucible if the recent and sizeable sandbox shifts are effective in the way Bungie hopes, but Adjudicator can still find its place with the right setup. Target Lock is irrelevant now, but Fragile Focus’ buffs make its huge range increase worthwhile as a fight opener. You can easily reach 100 range with the Adjudicator, and its predictable recoil pattern makes boxing at close to medium range all the more doable.

Pair that with a utility perk like Dynamic Sway Reduction or Perpetual Motion, and the submachine gun is a statistical monstrosity. If you don’t want to lean too heavily into its range though, you can still opt for a damage perk such as Onslaught or Rampage in the fourth column. Onslaught in particular has been effective on other weapons at catching unsuspecting players offguard, and the Adjudicator is no different in that regard. It’s worth experimenting to see what fits your playstyle best, especially when Prophecy is farmable.

A lot of the same picks will come up as PvE in the barrel and magazine slots, but Accurized Rounds takes the spotlight for the big range bonus. Range is traditionally king when it comes to Crucible, so building into the stat can’t hurt when the magazine column doesn’t have many other standout options from a PvP perspective.


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Author
Alexis Walker
Alexis is a freelance journalist hailing from the UK. After a number of years competing on international esports stages, she transitioned into writing about the industry in 2021 and quickly found a home to call her own within the vibrant communities of the looter shooter genre. Now she provides coverage for games such as Destiny 2, Halo Infinite and Apex Legends.