Cold Front is returning with a shiny new coat of Dawning-inspired paint and new perks up its sleeve. The Dawning SMG hasn’t changed much in form since its debut in Dawnings past, but it’s still a good contender.
Cold Front has a slew of good perk options, but its stability is a bit lacking, which drops its effectiveness down a bit. Still, it packs plenty of firepower for taking down lesser enemies, and if you’re a fan of 750rpm SMGs, this one might just take your Kinetic slot.
Here are our choices for Cold Front god rolls, both in PvE and PvP.
Cold Front PvE god roll in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Smallbore, Fluted Barrel, or Polygonal Rifling
- Mag: Tactical Mag or Flared Magwell
- First perk: Subsistence or Perpetual Motion, or Stats For All
- Second perk: Rampage, One For All, or Frenzy (Honorable mention: Cascade Point)
For PvE, we’ve focused on stability and perks that help the weapon perform better. Both the barrel and the mag focus on stability in some form, and Cold Front already has good handling, so you can focus on landing shots. Perpetual Motion and Stats For All grant stat boosts, while Subsistence just makes sure you can keep firing for longer. Pair that with a damage perk of your choice and you’re set.
Cold Front PvP god roll in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Smallbore, Fluted Barrel, Polygonal Rifling
- Mag: Accurized Rounds, Tactical Mag, or Flared Magwell
- First perk: Tap the Trigger or Perpetual Motion
- Second perk: Rangefinder or Rampage
For PvP, it’s helpful getting a bit of stability and range. We recommend using parts to offset that, then go with Tap the Trigger to have an easier time landing shots or Perpetual Motion for some general stat boosts once it procs. For the other perk column, you can go Rangefinder to extend your engagement range a bit or Rampage to keep piling up kills.
Cold Front god roll and best perks guide: third column
Subsistence, Perpetual Motion, Stats for All
Subsistence and Perpetual Motion usually feature at the top of PvE god rolls, and this one is no exception. These two strong perks bring tremendous utility to a weapon, and Cold Front benefits greatly from it. Perpetual Motion slightly offsets the weapon’s low stability and makes it feel better, while Subsistence refills your magazine on each kill and allows you to go longer without reloading—a good bonus to have on add-clear weapons.
Stats For All is another strong choice, especially considering you can get two perks for the price of one trigger if you have One For All. Perpetual Motion and Subsistence are simpler to trigger, but if you can hit three different enemies—by no means a far stretch—you’ll get a free boost to range, stability, handling, and reload speed.
Unrelenting
Unrelenting is a quintessential middle-of-the-pack perk: it’s good enough that you shouldn’t necessarily dismantle a weapon with it, but it’s not strong enough to come out on top against the hard hitters. Unrelenting regenerates health after defeating multiple enemies, which can come in handy in some fights.
Tap the Trigger
Tap the Trigger is more of a PvP-oriented perk. It briefly helps offset Cold Front’s poor stability, allowing you to get a leg up early into an engagement. You’re still reining in the low stability after its effect ends, but the increased precision at the beginning should be enough to put you in a more favorable spot.
Slickdraw, Air Assault
It’s better to steer clear of these two less-than-stellar perks. Slickdraw increases handling at the cost of a steep decrease in target acquisition, and the last thing you need with Cold Front is a harder time hitting those shots. Air Assault also leans into the Aerial Effectiveness attribute, which isn’t exactly coveted in the Seraph sandbox.
Cold Front god roll and best perks guide: fourth column
Rampage, One For All, Frenzy
Cold Front can bring some established contenders to its god roll. Rampage and One For All are classics with the potential of providing a high damage buff, while Frenzy brings both a good buff and stat bonuses.
Rampage stacks on each kill, and you need to kill three enemies to keep it going. One For All requires you to hit three different enemies (and its sister perk Stats For All shares that trigger) for a hefty 10-second damage buff. Frenzy has no trigger except being in combat, but it’s relatively easy to maintain in most activities. The choice is up to the user, though, since you can’t really go wrong with any of the three if you’re getting enough uptime on it.
Cascade Point
Cascade Point is similar to Harmony, but with an impact on fire rate instead of damage. Since Cold Front is bound to be your workhorse gun, you may not get as much uptime on Cascade Point unless you’re switching weapons constantly. This perk can come in handy if you think you’ll get enough uptime on it and if you don’t mind the sudden changes in the gun’s behavior by firing more quickly. Cold Front’s low stability doesn’t really help its case firing more quickly, too, but Cascade Point can be a fun, if gimmicky, way to spice up this years-old Dawning SMG.
Rangefinder
Rangefinder is helpful for opening up engagement ranges in the Crucible, especially if paired with Smallbore or Accurized Rounds due to their boosts. It’s not useless in PvE, but it’s far more necessary in PvP.
Thresh
Free Super energy isn’t a bad effect to have, but Thresh is usually up against better perks. Sure, the Super energy helps, but having more damage is usually more helpful in engagements. If your playstyle doesn’t really rely on Supers and is closer to saving them for the perfect time, you’ll pass this one in a heartbeat. If not, you’ll still have to choose between Thresh and Rampage, One For All, or Frenzy—and odds are Thresh will lose that fight.
Gutshot Straight
Gutshot Straight is in a similar position as Slickdraw, especially when applied to Cold Front. You don’t really need to drop target acquisition with Cold Front since every bit helps offset the stability. The damage bonus from Gutshot Straight is worse than the triumvirate at the top of our god roll, and to top it off, it only applies to body shots and not precision hits. You’d essentially be taking a smaller damage bump with bigger downsides.
