With Destiny 2’s Into The Light update touted as a celebration of the franchise’s history, it’s no surprise to see the infamous The Recluse SMG make its return with the BRAVE arsenal. Whether it regains its throne remains to be seen, but its perks are packing a punch nevertheless.
Master of Arms is back in the fourth column, even though it’s been slightly tuned down from its previous incarnation to prevent The Recluse from immediately sweeping away the competition. In combination with some of the amazing new perks it can be combined with, though, as well as the Indomitability Origin Trait, it’s difficult to envision a world where The Recluse doesn’t once again become one of the most sought after submachine guns in Destiny 2.
No matter how close to its original power level it is, the BRAVE arsenal’s reprised version of The Recluse is a weapon you should be grinding for in Onslaught with how deadly SMGs continue to be in PvE with the right roll. Here’s our recommendations on what to look for in a god roll of The Recluse in both PvE and PvP settings, as well as some of the best perk alternatives available in its pool.
What is The Recluse god roll in Destiny 2?
The Recluse PvE god roll
- First perk: Feeding Frenzy or Repulsor Brace
- Second perk: Master of Arms or Destabilizing Rounds
- Masterwork: Stability
The Recluse PvP god roll
- First perk: Dynamic Sway Reduction
- Second perk: Tap The Trigger or Master of Arms
- Masterwork: Range
In Destiny 2 PvE, the god roll for The Recluse SMG we recommend is Feeding Frenzy and Master of Arms. This is the classic perk combination it used to have when it was a Pinnacle weapon, and it’s still great today. With Master of Arms getting its damage bonus reduced down to 15 percent, though, the new Desperate Measures perk is an equally effective alternative in the fourth column.
This isn’t to say there aren’t a lot of amazing options for PvE in this perk pool. The legendarily synergistic pairing of Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds makes an appearance here, and it’ll undoubtedly be the go-to god roll for anyone looking to run The Recluse with the Void subclass. Even for players who aren’t Void mains, Destabilizing Rounds can still provide some great crowd control, and it’s easy enough to pair it with something like Feeding Frenzy instead to reduce the weapon’s downtime.
PvP is where The Recluse is really going to struggle in comparison to its former self, but Bungie’s still provided a handful of perks here which can make up for the shortcomings of 900 RPM submachine guns in the current meta. We recommend leaning into The Recluse’s stats for a PvP god roll, pairing Dynamic Sway Reduction with Tap The Trigger and a range masterwork to make it vastly more competitive at close to medium range.
Players can still opt into taking Master of Arms in the fourth column if they want to capitalize on an effective damage buffing tool, but the 15-percent damage buff won’t have as much impact as the old 20-percent buff did back in in its golden days. Master of Arms is best to take only if you’re consistently opening fights with your other weapon and only swap to The Recluse for a follow-up.
How to get The Recluse in Destiny 2
The Recluse SMG is available in Destiny 2: Into The Light via the BRAVE arsenal of weaponry released on April 9. Players can get a guaranteed drop of the gun by collecting its respective quest from Arcite 99-40 in the Hall of Champions, as well as follow-up drops as rewards from the Onslaught PvE activity. If players attune to The Recluse within the Hall of Champions, they can also dramatically improve its drop rate in subsequent Onslaught set completions.
It will remain exclusively available as a reward from Onslaught through the launch of The Final Shape in June, where it alongside the other BRAVE arsenal weapons will also become retroactively enhanceable. Limited edition versions of The Recluse with a unique ornament and the potential for double perks in the third and fourth columns will be a rare potential drop players can earn for the duration of Into The Light from April 9 to June 4.
