The Palindrome is one of Destiny 2‘s most beloved hand cannons, and for good reason. This Void 140rpm is one of the most popular archetypes in one of the most popular weapons, and with Void 3.0, players have even more reason to use it.
With the release of The Witch Queen, however, Bungie reworked some of The Palindrome’s perks to accommodate the new Vanguard Origin Traits, but developers also changed up its perk pool, as seen on light.gg’s The Palindrome page. The most noticeable change is the removal of Rampage, one of the most popular damage-boosting perks. Though it lost one of its best options in the second perk column, the Palindrome is still easily worth taking into PvE activities and remains an excellent choice for PvP.
Though finding a god roll hinges on personal preference, The Palindrome has a few perks that outperform the competition and stand out above the rest. Here are our god rolls for The Palindrome across both activity types:
The Palindrome PvE god roll
- Barrel: Smallbore, Fluted Barrel, or Hammer-Forged Rifling
- Mag: Flared Magwell, Light Mag, Appended Mag, or High-Caliber Rounds
- First perk: Overflow or Outlaw (Honorable mention: Stats for All)
- Second perk: One for All (Honorable mention: High-Caliber Rounds, Turnabout)
The Palindrome PvP god roll
- Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Smallbore
- Mag: High-Caliber Rounds, Ricochet Rounds
- First perk: Quickdraw or Killing Wind
- Second perk: Rangefinder
While there are a few different combinations, The Palindrome is a fairly straightforward hand cannon to build for. The parts aim to mitigate some of the Palindrome’s shortcomings. In our PvE god roll, that translates to a magazine that boosts mag size or reload speed (depending on preference) and a barrel that boosts stability, range, or handling to make the gun more comfortable. For PvP, we went with boosts to range, with High-Caliber Rounds and Ricochet Rounds for the added flinch.
Some of the perks are also clear-cut, with Overflow and Outlaw as clear top performers in PvE. Stats for All isn’t a bad option, especially when paired with One For All. Likewise, it’s easy to narrow down some top contenders in PvP. Since god rolls are highly personal, though, here’s a breakdown of the Palindrome’s best perks to show what could take their place in a god roll.
First perk column
Overflow and Outlaw (PvE)
Outlaw is one of the most popular perks in Destiny 2, and Overflow is nothing to dismiss either. Outlaw vastly boosts your reload speed when getting a precision kill, while Overflow overfills your magazine up to twice its base size when picking up Special or Heavy ammo. This means you can squeeze in over 20 rounds in your Palindrome, making it so reloads are fairly sparse, especially if you land a reload-boosting perk or use Adept Reload Speed as a mod on the Adept version of the Palindrome. These can also both be versatile in the Crucible.
Quickdraw and Killing Wind (PvP)
Quickdraw and Killing Wind have been a staple in PvP god rolls in Destiny 2, and they’re no exception in The Palindrome. Quickdraw lets you draw your weapon more quickly, making it easier to pull off the fast-paced weapon swaps needed in the Crucible, while Killing Wind gives you extra range and mobility after a kill. Not only are they excellent PvP perks, but the rest of the competition doesn’t stand a chance.
Stats For All (PvE)
Stats For All boosts handling, stability, reload, and range for some time after shooting three different targets. It’s not a bad perk on its own, and it shines even more when combined with One For All (which can happen in The Witch Queen‘s version of The Palindrome). That said, Overflow and Outlaw still take the top two spots in our PvE god roll, with Stats For All not too far behind.
Compulsive Reloader
Much like Adrenaline Junkie was when it launched in Season of the Splicer, Compulsive Reloader needs help. It gives you a bonus reload speed for approximately 30 percent of your magazine, and after that, it’s completely useless. Though it could have some edge use cases, this is the worst perk in the slot, at least until Bungie buffs it.
Second perk column
One For All (PvE)
With the removal of Rampage from the Palindrome’s perk pool in The Witch Queen, this hand cannon only has access to One For All. Luckily for players, though, this can be one of the best damage-boosting perks in Destiny 2 if you activate it, and this time, it can roll alongside Stats For All. Players who can slot One For All in their playstyle should definitely take this.
High-Impact Reserves (PvE)
High-Impact Reserves is a decent damage-boosting perk. If Rampage was in the picture, this would be relegated to a backup option. With the perk gone, however, High-Impact Reserves is the only damage-boosting perk the Palindrome has outside of One For All, which instantly pushes it up in PvE—even if it only activates starting from the bottom half of your magazine.
Rangefinder (PvP)
In PvP, having more range can help offset some of hand cannon’s deficiencies against other archetypes and even give players an edge against other hand cannon users. Rangefinder is a free way to get that advantage without any triggers, so make the most of it. There is also little competition against this perk for PvP, with Unrelenting and Thresh being fairly niche perks (both in PvE and PvP).
Unrelenting, Thresh (PvE or PvP)
Neither of these perks is stellar on its own. You might get some use out of them if they slot into your playstyle, but more often than not, you’ll want to go with the tried-and-true. Unrelenting can help with health regeneration and survivability and might get some use in the Crucible. Likewise, Thresh can help fill up your Super (and also works in PvP), but they’re backup perks at best.
Turnabout (PvE)
Turnabout is an odd utility pick, but one that can prove comfortable in the right circumstances. Breaking an enemy’s shields with it will grant you an overshield, which can be handy in higher-level content. Of course, this means players will need to actually run an activity where enemies have shields to get some benefit out of it. And in activities with the Match Game modifier, Turnabout will only apply to kills with the Void element, making it even more of an edge case. It’s not necessarily a bad perk, but it involves too many variables to activate reliably.
