Tripwire Canary, the Season of the Seraph bow, can draw attention because of its perk pool and the familiar Veist Stinger origin trait, known for helping make Reed’s Regret, Taipan-4fr, and Funnelweb the destructive machines they are. Once you get into the god roll territory, though, Tripwire Canary shows up why it shines: having Dragonfly in the first perk column instead of in the second makes opens up a few interesting options, though these also come at the expense of other perks.
Being an Arc bow, though, Tripwire Canary has some strong competition: Point of the Stag (available from the Exotic Kiosk) comes with Archer’s Tempo/Vorpal Weapon, while Season of the Lost’s Wolftone Draw could roll Archer’s Tempo with Dragonfly or Demolitionist, and the timeless Arsenic Bite-4B can roll Rampage or Dragonfly paired with Explosive Head or Archer’s Tempo.
This doesn’t mean you should pass on Tripwire Canary, though. There are some god rolls and good perks to chase when it comes to this bow, and since it’s craftable, enhanced perks can help lean into some of its strengths. Here are our god rolls for Tripwire Canary.
Tripwire Canary PvE god roll in Destiny 2
- Bowstring: Elastic String, Polymer String, Flexible String
- Arrow: Fiberglass Arrow Shaft, Helical Fletching, or Compact Arrow Shaft
- First perk: Archer’s Tempo or Dragonfly (Honorable mention: Rapid Hit)
- Second perk: Explosive Head or Successful Warm-Up (Honorable mentions: Frenzy, Swashbuckler)
Between Archer’s Tempo and Dragonfly as the first perk and Explosive Head or Successful Warm-Up as the second, players already have a bit of variety, and that’s before adding in other damage perks like Swashbuckler. For parts, aim for lower draw time and accuracy.
Tripwire Canary PvP god roll in Destiny 2
- Bowstring: Elastic String, Polymer String, Flexible String
- Arrow: Fiberglass Arrow Shaft, Helical Fletching, or Compact Arrow Shaft
- First perk: Archer’s Tempo, Shot Swap
- Second perk: Explosive Head, Successful Warm-Up, or Opening Shot (Honorable mention: Harmony)
Bows in PvP aren’t overly common, especially not their Legendary variants. For Tripwire Canary, though, lean into a quicker draw time with the parts, then you can go for perks that reduce draw time even further or go for a more shoot-and-swap playstyle with Shot Swap, Opening Shot, or even Harmony.
Tripwire Canary god roll and best perks guide: third column
Archer’s Tempo
One of the crown jewels of bow perks is here in Tripwire Canary, easily carving a spot in our god roll. Archer’s Tempo decreases draw time after landing precision hits, and the enhanced version of it gives you an extra second to extend your buffs. This is usually best-in-slot since the few perks that can hold a candle to it are usually in the other column. Tripwire Canary brings you an extra choice in this column, though, and it’s certainly not a bad one.
Dragonfly
Bows don’t have as much crowd control as other weapon types, and players can offset that dearth through a few means. One is making sure you’re firing fast enough to kill the red-bar enemies quickly. Another is through some area-of-effect damage, and that’s where Dragonfly comes in.
Dragonfly creates an elemental explosion when you kill an enemy with a precision hit. Since bows are a precision weapon, odds are you’ll have plenty of uptime with Dragonfly. This also means you can shoot a group of enemies and have Dragonfly kill or damage any enemies in its vicinity.
Dragonfly and Archer’s Tempo are two really strong perks in their own right, and choosing between the two usually comes down to preference and how you want your bow to feel.
Rapid Hit
Rapid Hit is a third contender and a decent one at that. Rapid Hit grants reload speed and stability after landing precision hits. Rapid Hit acts on your reload (the time before you can fire again) and provides a bonus to stability, while Archer’s Tempo mitigates draw time (how long you take when pulling the arrow). Archer’s Tempo is usually stronger, but if you can’t find it, Rapid Hit isn’t too bad either.
Shot Swap
Shot Swap helps with weapon swapping after you get a kill with Tripwire Canary. Killing a target with it allows you to swap and stow this weapon more quickly. If you’re swapping between two Primaries in PvP (for instance, a 120rpm hand cannon to weaken an enemy and a bow to finish them off), this perk will make it easier to keep that flow going. This perk will also allow you to swap it more easily in PvE, but for anything with AI combatants, you’re better off with other perks in this column.
Sneak Bow
Since the removal of Primary ammo, Sneak Bow lost a good deal of its utility. It prevents you from pinging your enemies’ radar if you shoot while crouched, which is circumstantial enough that it’s easier to rely on Archer’s Tempo even in PvP.
Slickdraw, Perfect Float
These two perks are close to an instant dismantle. Perfect Float touches on airborne effectiveness, a contentious stat at best. Its Frenzy-like activation requires you to be in combat for “a moderate amount of time” before it kicks in. Slickdraw, on the other hand, makes sure you can swap to your weapon quickly to shoot at a target, all while making it harder to hit your target by decreasing target acquisition. And if that wasn’t enough reason to bypass those perks, they’re also in the running against Archer’s Tempo and Dragonfly.
Tripwire Canary god roll and best perks guide: fourth column
Explosive Head, Successful Warm-Up
Another popular duo in bow god rolls in Destiny 2, Explosive Head and Successful Warm-Up usually feature at the top—and for good reason. Explosive Head is a simple bonus to damage, which comes in handy in all content (particularly in higher-end activities). It also makes it easier to stun Overload Champions. Successful Warm-Up, on the other hand, vastly increases draw time after getting a kill, and subsequent kills prolong its duration.
Much like Archer’s Tempo and Dragonfly in the other column, these are excellent choices, and they combo well with whatever you have in the other column. You can pair Explosive Head with Archer’s Tempo for a strong bow that fires quickly, Dragonfly with Successful Warm-Up for a bow with good crowd control and draw time, or even use Dragonfly with Explosive Head for a powerhouse with some area-of-effect clearing capabilities, especially when using the bowstrings that reduce draw time. There’s a lot to choose from.
Frenzy
Frenzy is a classic perk in most weapons, and it’s not unwelcome in bows either. Despite its long activation requirement, Frenzy can come in handy as a way to boost damage, handling, and reload speed. Frenzy is a good choice, but Explosive Head offers a similar damage boost in body shots with an easier trigger. And for damage alone, the next contender on the list can be an even better choice.
Swashbuckler
Tripwire Canary isn’t the first bow to get Swashbuckler, and this perk is certainly not an option. Swashbuckler’s stacking bonus damage adds up to five stacks, and players can instantly max out all stacks by getting a melee kill. Having Swashbuckler in a bow can be counter-intuitive since you’re more commonly going to be out of melee range, but if you can keep the stacks coming, you’ll get a hefty damage boost. You can also pair Swashbuckler with Archer’s Tempo so you don’t miss out on draw time, or run Swashbuckler/Dragonfly for an add-clearing monster.
Harmony
Harmony can work well if you’re opening an engagement with a bow and swapping to a different weapon to finish the job in PvP. If you’re using Tripwire Canary to soften enemies up before changing weapons, the bonus damage from finishing off an enemy with your other weapon can help. For PvE, though, you’ll get more consistent bonuses from the other damage-boosting perks, since Tripwire Canary is bound to be your workhorse gun.
Opening Shot (PvP)
Opening Shot helps you get an edge on an engagement by increasing accuracy and range on the first shot of your attack, though this perk is far more PvP-focused than in PvE. Whether you’re opening an attack with your bow or closing an engagement with it, you’ll get some benefit out of this perk.
Under-Over
Under-Over is a niche perk at best, and even then, its effectiveness isn’t too great. Under-Over deals bonus damage to combatant shields and even more to combatants with overshields, but you’ll get more benefits (and more consistent ones) by using any of the damage-boosting perks in this column.
