Though it’s a couple of years old by now, Something New is returning as part of Destiny 2‘s Solstice 2024 with a couple of coveted perks and combinations. And it certainly needed the glow-up.
The competition for Stasis hand cannons has gotten a bit bigger in The Final Shape thanks to Bold Endings, bringing a tremendous perk pool with the new Heavy Burst archetype. Something New, on the other hand, fires at a powerful (yet cumbersome) 120rpm. Luckily, the Solstice hand cannon is also stacked, and the Dream Work origin trait can also help its case if you’re not playing solo.
Here are our god rolls for Something New in Destiny 2.
Something New PvE god roll in Destiny 2
| Column | God roll(s) |
| Barrel | Polygonal Rifling, Smallbore, or Corkscrew Rifling. |
| Magazine | Appended Mag, Tactical Mag, or Flared Magwell |
| First perk | Rapid Hit, Demolitionist, or Subsistence |
| Second perk | Headstone, Explosive Payload, or Frenzy |
Something New is still a 120, so it continues to take a couple of seconds to reload fully. Since it can’t rely on an origin trait like Igneous Hammer or Better Devils, Rapid Hit is almost a must-have. You can make do with the origin trait or use Frenzy once it activates, however, freeing this up for one of the new top contenders: Demolitionist.
Demolitionist moved to the third column, which cuts both ways depending on what you want out of the build. The good news is it can finally be paired with Headstone for Stasis builds, but this does mean you can’t roll Rapid Hit/Demolitionist anymore. Demolitionist/Frenzy is a good all-rounder roll, though it loses access to Explosive Payload and Headstone.
Subsistence joins the fray as a way to mitigate long reloads by refilling your magazine. This works well with the Dream Work origin trait, which also refills your mag and boosts reload after getting assists, though it’s limited to once per manual reload. If you’re in lower-end content, you may also get good mileage out of Feeding Frenzy.
The fourth column brings its own stars, with Headstone being a great focus for Stasis-based builds and Explosive Payload continuing to be pretty much the best perk for general-use in 120rpm hand cannons. You can rarely go wrong with Frenzy here, either, with Kill Clip as a potential fallback option.
The rest of the perks struggle to compete: Precision Instrument takes too long to actually be useful, and even though Vorpal Weapon is a good damage buff against elite enemies, you can get a slightly lower value for every enemy with Explosive Payload. Wellspring can work for a circumstantial energy-based build, but if it was hard to justify having Demolitionist here, the case for Wellspring is even tougher.
The Dream Work origin trait enters the constellation, provided there are guardians around. Assisting allies (whether by getting the final blow or by letting them defeat a target you’ve tagged) will reload a chunk of your magazine and give you a small but noticeable bump in reload speed. We’re fond of consistency, so Rapid Hit will probably remain our top pick, but extra effects from the origin trait are welcome.
Something New PvP god roll
Something New can also do good damage in the Crucible, especially with the right perks. There isn’t much here that’s Crucible-focused, but the general-use damage perks it can roll will are more than enough. Here are our preferences:
| Column | God roll(s) |
| Barrel | Hammer-Forged Rifling |
| Magazine | Accurized Rounds |
| First perk | Snapshot Sights, Elemental Capacitor, or To the Pain |
| Second perk | Precision Instrument, Explosive Payload, or Kill Clip. |
The third column is a toss-up that’s highly dependent on preference. Snapshot Sights is the most familiar and most consistent of the three, making the weapon feel the same regardless of what you’re doing. Elemental Capacitor is highly subclass-dependent, so it’s up to playstyle. Lastly, To the Pain is a pair with Eye of the Storm, granting you stat buffs when taking damage. The choice is up to the player.
Precision Instrument isn’t the best perk for PvE, but it offers a nice damage bump in the Crucible without needing a kill. In some cases, it can vastly lower your time-to-kill, though the damage bonus only applies to headshots. Kill Clip‘s damage buff is bigger and applies to bodyshots and headshots alike, though you need to down an enemy before it takes place. And, of course, the ever-present Explosive Payload can be a good choice if you’re aiming for more flinch, even though it may come with a downside on range.
