Destiny 2 Buzzard: God Rolls and How to get it

Every season comes with at limited selection of exclusive Nightfall weapons; the Buzzard sidearm is part of the list. Previously a statically-rolled ritual weapon from Season of Dawn, Buzzard now has random rolls and an Adept version.

In this guide, we cover how to get Buzzard, how it compares to competitors, and exactly what rolls you should look out for.

Art	Name	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	Buzzard	Adaptive	Legendary	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	C › Weak	-	Nightfall: The Ordeals	No	Free-to-Play	Season 20	Kinetic	No		Kinetic Tremors

How to get Buzzard in Season 21

There are several Nightfall-exclusive weapons in total, but as of Season of the Deep (S21), only six are currently on rotation, with only one dropping each week. This means you can only farm the Buzzard sidearm once every six weeks!

Once you unlock Buzzard in Collections, you can purchase additional copies from Zavala’s Focused Decoding screen. Each weapon costs:

• 1 Vanguard Engram
• 25 Legendary Shards
• 20,000 Glimmer

2023 Nightfall weapon rotation

Art	Weapon	Type	Element	Ammo	Rotation	Week #
	Scintillation	Linear Fusion Rifle	Strand	Heavy	February 4, 2025	Week 1
	Rake Angle	Glaive	Stasis	Special	February 11, 2025	Week 2
	Shadow Price	Auto Rifle	Arc	Primary	February 18, 2025	Week 3
	The Palindrome	Hand Cannon	Arc	Primary	February 25, 2025	Week 4
	PLUG ONE.1	Fusion Rifle	Arc	Special	March 4, 2025	Week 5
	Lotus-Eater	Sidearm	Void	Special	March 11, 2025	Week 6
	Scintillation	Linear Fusion Rifle	Strand	Heavy	March 18, 2025	Week 7
	Rake Angle	Glaive	Stasis	Special	March 25, 2025	Week 8
	Shadow Price	Auto Rifle	Arc	Primary	April 1, 2025	Week 9
	The Palindrome	Hand Cannon	Arc	Primary	April 8, 2025	Week 10
	PLUG ONE.1	Fusion Rifle	Arc	Special	April 15, 2025	Week 11
	Lotus-Eater	Sidearm	Void	Special	April 22, 2025	Week 12
	Scintillation	Linear Fusion Rifle	Strand	Heavy	April 29, 2025	Week 13
	Rake Angle	Glaive	Stasis	Special	May 6, 2025	Week 14
	Shadow Price	Auto Rifle	Arc	Primary	May 13, 2025	Week 15
	The Palindrome	Hand Cannon	Arc	Primary	May 20, 2025	Week 16
	PLUG ONE.1	Fusion Rifle	Arc	Special	May 27, 2025	Week 17
	Lotus-Eater	Sidearm	Void	Special	June 3, 2025	Week 18

Buzzard Focused Decoding, Destiny 2

💠 This guide highlights the Nightfall weapons this season, as well as the schedule for the coming weeks.

How good is the Buzzard today

Being a sidearm, Buzzard has already been ignored by most of the PvE community. However, Buzzard is one of the better PvE sidearms we’ve seen. With perks like Perpetual Motion, Fourth Time’s the Charm, Kinetic Tremors, and Frenzy, this gun has a surprising amount going for it.

Buzzard can also get some good rolls for the Crucible. From Perpetual Motion to Swashbuckler to Rangefinder, this weapon has a wide selection of solid perks that allow anyone to excel.

All that said, Buzzard is going in the B Tier. While it’s relatively good for a sidearm, the weapon type isn’t favored in today’s meta.

Best alternatives:

Art	Name	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	Drang (Baroque)	Together Forever	Legendary	Primary	Solar	Beyond Light Pack	Yes	Primary	Solar	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Presage	Yes	Beyond Light Pack	Season 17	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Incandescent
	Mykel's Reverence	Rapid-Fire	Legendary	Primary	Strand	Lightfall	Yes	Primary	Strand	B › Average	PvE	Root of Nightmares Raid	Yes	Lightfall	Season 20	Kinetic	Craftable
	Senuna SI6	Omolon Adaptive	Legendary	Primary	Stasis	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Stasis	A › Strong	PvP	Lost Sector	No	Free-to-Play	Season 20	Kinetic	No	Top-tier

Best Buzzard Rolls for PvE and PvP

We’ve covered how to get Buzzard, but what are the rolls you should look for in PvE and PvP? Read on, and we’ll explain our favorites.

Buzzard god rolls, Destiny 2

Buzzard PvP god roll

• Barrel: Smallbore (also good: Hammer-Forged Rifling)
• Magazine: Ricochet Rounds
• Perk 1: Perpetual Motion (also good: Encore)
• Perk 2: Swashbuckler (also good: Rangefinder)

We’ll start with Smallbore and Ricochet Rounds in the first two columns to get some extra range and stability. For your first perk, both Encore and Perpetual Motion are outstanding; which one you pick depends purely on your playstyle. In the final column, Swashbuckler is best, but there aren’t any outright terrible perks here, either.

Buzzard PvE god roll

• Barrel: Smallbore (also good: Hammer-Forged Rifling)
• Magazine: Ricochet Rounds (also good: Flared Magwell)
• Perk 1: Perpetual Motion
• Perk 2: Kinetic Tremors (also good: Frenzy or Multikill Clip)

As with all weapons, stats don’t matter too much for PvE. Therefore, we’ll recommend the same Barrel and Magazine as PvP. If reload speed becomes a problem, swap Ricochet Rounds for Flared Magwell. Moving to perks, Perpetual Motion is our favorite for the third column. For the fourth, you’ll want to look for Kinetic Tremors, Multikill Clip, or Frenzy.

Buzzard Adept farm: Is it worth it?

If you and your fireteam are up for a challenge, venturing into Grandmaster Nightfalls on the right week will grant you the Adept version of Buzzard. Compared to their standard variants, Adept weapons give more stats when Masterworked, have additional perks per column and can accept unique Adept mods.

Similar to the base version of Buzzard, you can purchase additional copies of the Adept variant from Zavala once it’s unlocked in Collections. These come at a steeper price: one Vanguard Engram, 50 Legendary Shards, 50,000 Glimmer, and ten Adept Nightfall Ciphers (available from Grandmaster Nightfalls).

PS: Remember that Grandmaster Nightfalls are only available during the latter part of the season.

Before you go…

Interested in more top tier Nightfall-excusive weapons? You might want to check out the Hung Jury SR4 too!