Like everything else in Destiny 2 in the aftermath of The Final Shape, the Iron Banner has been altered. The PvP event now sports a two-week duration instead of one and is adding two weapons to its current pool of rewards–both of which are former Iron Banner weapons that now have new perks and rolls. The first of those, Claws of the Wolf, is an extremely deadly pulse rifle with a lot of aim assist that might help you snap some headshots over the next two weeks of competition.
You can get Claws of the Wolf easily enough from Iron Banner, but there are a lot of combinations you probably won’t want, especially with its mixed-up perk pool. Here’s how you can nab Claws of the Wolf and what perks are worth chasing on it.
How To Get Claws Of The Wolf
Now that Claws of the Wolf is back in the Iron Banner loot pool, there are a couple of ways to get ahold of one. The simplest is to just play Iron Banner matches–there’s a chance that, with each match, you’ll get a random weapon or armor drop, and that drop might be Claws of the Wolf. Even with only playing a handful of matches, I’ve already nabbed two, and since there are so many Pinnacle rewards and Iron Banner challenges to complete, odds are good that you’ll get a few without any thought required.
If you don’t get a lucky drop early on, though, you’re guaranteed a Claws of the Wolf for ranking up your Iron Banner reputation. The reward at reputation level 4 is one of these pulse rifles, which will add it to your Collections. At that point, you can expect it to drop from random Iron Banner engrams, and you’re also able to focus those engrams to get more Claws of the Wolf from Lord Saladin.
Like the other reputation vendors, Saladin offers the ability to focus engrams into specific weapon drops, allowing you to choose the thing you get (although the cost is higher than if you let the engrams drop a random item instead). So once you’ve got Claws of the Wolf, you can burn your stocked Iron Banner engrams for new drops in an attempt to get the roll you want.
Claws of the Wolf
Claws Of The Wolf God Rolls
Claws Of The Wolf PvP God Roll
Barrel: Smallbore / Arrowhead Break Smallbore: +7 Range, +7 StabilityArrowhead Break: +30 Recoil, +10 HandlingMagazine: Ricochet Rounds +5 Range, +10 StabilityFirst Perk: Headseeker / To The Pain Headseeker: Body shots increase precision damage and aim assist for a short period of time. Body shots landed while the perk is active refresh the time.To The Pain: While this weapon is equipped, taking damage increases handling and aim assist until this weapon is stowed. Taking more damage increases the effect.Second Perk: Zen Moment / Rampage Zen Moment: Causing damage with this weapon reduces recoil and flinch over time.Rampage: Kills with this weapon temporarily grant increased damage. Stacks up to three times.Masterwork: Range / Reload Speed
There are a few good combinations for Claws of the Wolf in the Crucible, depending a bit on your playstyle and what you’re going for. Generally, you want to favor stats like Range and Stability in your barrel and magazine choices, although if you really like Kill Clip, try to boost Reload Speed.
The main benefit of Claws of the Wolf is that, while its bullets don’t hit too hard, it fires extremely quickly and pretty accurately. Thus, pairing Headseeker, which gives you increased precision damage when you land body shots, and Zen Moment, which increases your aim assist and decreases your flinch the more you land shots, leans into the accuracy Claws of the Wolf already sports. You’re firing so many bullets so quickly that you’re getting a lot of benefit out of the synergy.
Alternatively, To The Pain, a new perk in The Final Shape, gives you a similar benefit when you’re under fire, increasing your aim assist as you duel and boosting your handling–great if you need to quickly whip out a shotgun to seal the deal. Zen Moment can also pair with To The Pain, but if you’d prefer a damage perk, Rampage gives you a 10% boost when you land a kill, which can help knock down secondary targets. Kill Clip can be even better–the damage boost is 25% when you reload within three seconds of a kill–but the reload on Claws of the Wolf can be painfully slow, so Rampage’s automatic activation might be the better call.
Claws Of The Wolf PvE God Roll
Barrel: Arrowhead Break +30 Recoil, +10 HandlingMagazine: Flared Magwell +15 Reload speed, +5 StabilityFirst Perk: Repulsor Brace Defeating a Void-debuffed target grants an overshield.Second Perk: Destabilizing Rounds Final blows cause nearby targets to become Volatile.Masterwork: Reload Speed
Though it’s not really a PvE weapon in most cases, Claws of the Wolf does benefit from the Void double-whammy of Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds, giving it some serious synergy with Void builds. To start, though, your choices on barrel and magazine are pretty open, but Handling and Reload Speed are good places to put your focus; Range and Stability matter a lot less when you’re not fighting other Guardians.
Your main focus is on getting Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds together, which gives Claws of the Wolf some serious power in PvE. First, Destabilizing Rounds cause targets near any enemy you kill to become Volatile, which debuffs them and makes them explore, spreading around more Volatile. If you use Claws to kill a Volatile enemy, you’ll trigger Repulsor Brace, which gives you an overshield. So especially when dealing with groups of weak enemies, the combination creates its own feedback loop that makes your killing more effective and your defense even stronger. Add this combo to a Void build that spreads around and takes advantage of more debuffs, and you’ll get even more shields for your trouble.
Check out the rest of our guides for The Final Shape for god rolls and more.
