Destiny 2 Compact Defender: God Rolls & How to get it

TL;DR – Summary

Activity	God Rolls	Tier Ranks
	Perk 1: Destabilizing Rounds (also good: Cooling Baubles) Perk 2: Thermal Atomization or Desperate Measures (also good: Repulsor Brace)
	Perk 1: Rangefinder (also good: Delicate Tuning) Perk 2: Kill Clip or Desperate Measures

Released with the Renegades DLC, Compact Defender is a  Void Heat Weapon (Blaster) that can be farmed by participating in Renegades Destination activities. This sidearm blaster packs quite the punch and rolls with some very solid perks, but at the cost of heavy heat buildup. This guide covers its place in the current Meta, top rolls for PvE and PvP, and how to farm it.

Chapters

How good is the Compact Defender

While Compact Defender borrows the 360 RPM from Lightweight Sidearms, its status as a Dynamic Heat Blaster means it does far more damage per shot, especially to powerful foes. However, this comes at the cost of much faster heat buildup, and with the high RPM, you’ll need to pace your shots or be ready to vent often.

Despite this, the weapon still hits hard, and with Destabilizing Rounds in Column 3, you’re able to tack on a damage perk to turn this into a true monster of a gun. Compact Defender is A-Tier for PvE and B-tier for PvP.

Best alternatives:

	Heliocentric QSc	Sidearm	Primary	Solar	Lost Sector	Season 22
	Insurmountable	Sidearm	Primary	Void	Revenant Activities	Episode 2
	Farewell	Sidearm	Primary	Kinetic	World loot pool	Season 14

Compact Defender Perks and God Rolls

The Compact Defender void dynamic blaster can roll with the following perks:

• Perk 1: Delicate Tuning, Rangefinder, Proximity Power, Hipfire Grip, Built to Blast, Destabilizing Rounds, Cooling Baubles.
• Perk 2: Thermal Atomization, Repulsor Brace, Precision Instrument, Swashbuckler, Kill Clip, Frenzy, Desperate Measures.
• Origin Trait: Air-Cooled Vents.

Compact Defender God Rolls, Destiny 2

Compact Defender PvE god rolls

First and foremost, we’ll need to address that high heat-generating stat. Being at a base of 90 means it doesn’t take long to reach the max, so Ionized Heatsink and a Cooling Efficiency
Masterwork should knock it down to a more comfortable 60. And as always, Fluted Barrel provides the overall QoL.

Perk 1 has no real competition thanks to Destabilizing Rounds appearing in this column instead of Perk 2, but Cooling Baubles is a solid alternative for dealing with heat buildup. Speaking of Perk 2, you’ll find far more choices here, but we believe Thermal Atomization or Desperate Measures are your best choices to make this weapon the best it can be, especially with the high heat stat making TA up almost always.

Compact Defender PvP god rolls

With how low the range is on this weapon, it’s not worth going for solely range-boosting barrels and batteries, so it’s best to spread it out amongst the lesser stats, which, thankfully, here are just range and stability. Smallbore, Particle Repeater, and a Range masterwork are all you need to get your stats in the right place.

As for your perks, Perk 1 has the granddaddy of range boosters: Rangefinder. Now granting +10 range on ADS, you’re hitting even farther than before! Delicate Tuning gets an honorable mention, but as it decays in effectiveness as you reach 50% heat, it’s not worth it unless you really pace those shots. Perk 2 has a good variety of damage boosters, but Kill Clip or Desperate Measure are arguably your best choices given the current sandbox. Precision Instrument is also a good choice, though its effectiveness in PvP varies widely.

How to get Compact Defender

The Compact Defender can be earned via Lawless Frontier activities, such as Invasions or Bounty Hunts. Leveling up with the syndicates within Tharsis can boost your drop rates and reward tiers, so be sure to earn more rep to nab better loot. We cover all Renegades Destination Weapons here.

How to get Compact Defender, Destiny 2

Before you go

Interested in more top-tier weapons from Renegades activities? You should definitely check these All or Nothing God Rolls.