Rocket sidearms were one of Destiny 2‘s most beloved archetypes when they released, so fans were stoked when The Edge of Fate brought Mint Retrograde, the first rocket-firing pulse rifle. Despite the apparent similarities, though, the two weapon types serve different goals.
The newly minted weapon can certainly take over your Kinetic slot due to its ease of use and efficiency. It deals Strand damage, so it will grant you huge chunks of Darkness energy if you’re using a Prismatic subclass. You can also use it to fuel Elemental Honing on your other weapons.
Here’s how to get Mint Retrograde and PvE our god rolls for it. Since this weapon isn’t well-suited for PvP, we’ll only cover the PvE side of it.
Mint Retrograde PvE god roll in Destiny 2
- Barrel: Volatile Launch or Linear Compensator (for the extra blast radius).
- Mag: Appended Mag, High-Explosive Ordnance, or High-Velocity Rounds.
- First Perk: Rewind Rounds or Envious Arsenal (Honorable mention: Beacon Rounds)
- Second Perk: Bait and Switch, Elemental Honing (DPS rotations); Elemental Honing, Master of Arms, or Chain Reaction (general use).
Rocket sidearms’ good ammo economy makes them perfect weapons for taking down slightly chunkier enemies that land somewhere between a red-bar foe and a Champion. They could also serve the role of a primary-adjacent weapon in double-special builds, combined with a more potent weapon like Mountaintop or a sniper for damage on bigger enemies.
Mint Retrograde, however, doesn’t have the same economy. At base, it has around five shots in the magazine and 12 in reserves, firing three rounds per ammo consumed. You can’t use it as liberally as a rocket sidearm, but it excels at a couple of specific roles, and your choice of perks depends on what you want out of this weapon. It’s one of the most stellar guns Destiny 2 has released in a hot minute, though, so it can work well in most scenarios.
If you’re looking for a little extra firepower for your DPS rotations on a boss or a sturdier target, you can get the biggest mileage out of Bait and Switch and Elemental Honing. The former has been a tried-and-true staple of any heavy weapon since it was buffed in 2022 and requires little setup. The latter needs a slightly more cautious use of your different damage types, but both can work well when used properly.
Elemental Honing also works well as a neutral perk, since you’ll get some stacks in normal combat. In those scenarios, however, Master of Arms and Chain Reaction also make for good choices. Master of Arms doesn’t have steep requirements (only one or two kills with any weapon), and Chain Reaction gets you some area-of-effect damage on a kill. Since Mint Retrograde’s ammo economy isn’t as good as a rocket sidearm’s, for instance, Chain Reaction may help save a bit of ammo. The smaller ammo pool is also why we wouldn’t recommend One For All over Master of Arms, unless in extremely specific scenarios.
The first perk helps lean into some of these roles even more, and while they don’t translate to direct damage buffs, they help make the weapon even better at what it’s supposed to do. Rewind Rounds is your one-stop shop, but Envious Arsenal is tailor-made for Bait and Switch setups. Beacon Rounds is more of a neutral setup, but Rewind Rounds can still be more desirable.
How to get Mint Retrograde in Destiny 2
Mint Retrograde is a random drop from Pinnacle Ops missions, which include old Exotic missions. It can drop as a reward during the mission, either as part of the loot chests in each section or as an end-of-activity prize. Our first roll of Mint Retrograde dropped for us in the first chest of Kell’s Fall, after taking down the Machinist.
Since RNG in Destiny 2 can be particularly unforgiving, trying to make the most of your extra rolls is key to maximizing your odds of getting this weapon and boosting your level more efficiently.
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