Destiny 2 Luna's Howl god roll guide: Best perks, barrels, and magazines

Destiny 2 Luna's Howl god roll
(Image credit: Bungie)

The last batch of revised weapons is arriving in Destiny 2's Into the Light update, most notably including the beloved Luna's Howl. This fan favourite hand cannon used to absolutely clean up in PvP before it was sunset from the game. But now the Solar weapon is back with a newly refreshed list of perks. What's the god roll going to be?

If you're still looking for ideal rolls on Into the Light guns, you'll want to make sure you don't miss out on the Hammerhead god roll with Onslaught.

Luna's Howl PvP god roll

  • Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Smallbore
  • Magazine: High-Caliber Rounds, Ricochet Rounds
  • 3rd column: Eye of the Storm, Slideshot
  • 4th column: Kill Clip, Precision Implement

PvP is where Luna's Howl really shines. Its best perks will be pretty familiar to anyone used to playing with PvP hand cannons—Eye of the Storm provides better handling and accuracy as you trade with other players and get damaged, while Slideshot is a range and stability buff that you can keep up most of the time provided you're sliding lots. Either perk will make the gun smoother to use.

For damage buffs, Kill Clip offers a damage increase when you reload post-kill, and Precision Implement grants a stacking precision damage bonus provided you hit your target, letting you trade more effectively with opponents. Both perks make duelling slightly more forgiving—when active, you can kill a target with two headshots and a bodyshot, instead of the usual three crits. The extra damage also helps mitigate damage falloff, essentially giving you more range to take someone down at the optimal TTK. Where's Magnificent Howl? You may ask. This perk's damage buff is a massive 50%, but the caveat is that it requires you to consistently get precision kills in order to earn it. If you're not doing that, something like Precision Implement will likely serve you better.

Since you'll have some handling or stability through your 3rd column perk, Hammer-Forged Rifling or Smallbore are a good barrel choice to buff your effective range. Magazine wise, High-Caliber Rounds provide extra range and flinch, while Ricochet Rounds offer range and stability plus can be fired around corners.

Luna's Howl PvE god roll

  • Barrel: Fluted Barrel, Corkscrew Rifling
  • Magazine: Appended Mag, Flared Magwell
  • 3rd column: Heal Clip, Subsistence
  • 4th column: Incandescent, Magnificent Howl

Your PvE options for Luna's Howl are also straightforward. The combo of Incandescent/Heal Clip is becoming far more common on Solar weapons, but it's still pretty good—especially when you consider the subclass synergy of using Ember of Benevolence to get increased grenade, melee, and class ability recharge every time you reload your gun. Plus applying scorch is always handy. It's generally just a very good roll if you're running Solar.

In terms of alternatives, Subsistence is a generally a good PvE perk, and there's also no reason you can't use Magnificent Howl against regular enemies and treat the gun like a slightly weird Hawkmoon if you favour precision. Word of warning, though; don't use Subsistence and Magnificent Howl together, as the former will actively get in the way of reloading for the latter's damage buff. Since Heal Clip also relies on reloading, Heal Clip/Magnificent Howl could be a pretty fun roll.

I'd recommend Fluted Barrel or Corkscrew Rifling for their stability and handling buffs, and either Flared Magwell—if you're going with a reload-based perk like Magnificent Howl or Heal Clip—or Appended Mag for the extra bullets if you aren't.

Sean Martin
Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.