Destiny 2 Destabilizing Rounds: Weapons and Perk guide

by | May 22, 2023

Much like Incandescent for Solar or Voltshot for Arc, Void has its own signature perk called Destabilizing Rounds. It can be hard to acquire but once you do, it will greatly improve the ad-clearing of your Void build.

Today we will go over the weapons that can roll Destabilizing Rounds, what the perk itself does, and how to get the most value out of it.

Destabilizing Rounds weapons in Destiny 2

Currently, the list of weapons that can roll Destabilizing Rounds is very short. It can only roll on some of the newest Void weapons, and we highly recommend getting at least one of them. This is the list of all weapons that can roll Destabilizing Rounds:

ArtNameTypeArchetypeRarityAmmo?Element?RequirementsIn loot pool?AmmoElementTierExcelsSourceCraftable?RequiresReleasedSlotCan be Crafted?Best of?Top Perk?
Death's Razor artDeath's RazorSwordVortexLegendaryHeavyVoidFree-to-PlayYesHeavy ammo Destiny 2 HeavyVoid Void
C › Weak
-Engram FocusingCheckmark icon V3 YesDestiny 2 Icon (final) Destiny 2
Free-to-Play
Season 20HeavyCraftableDestabilizing Rounds
Ecliptic Distaff artEcliptic DistaffGlaiveAdaptiveLegendarySpecialVoidFree-to-PlayYesSpecial ammo Destiny 2 SpecialVoid Void
A › Strong
PvEPlaylist: PursuitError icon V2 NoDestiny 2 Icon (final) Destiny 2
Free-to-Play
Season 20EnergyNoTop-tierDestabilizing Rounds
Nessa's Oblation Shotgun

Nessa’s Oblation with Destabilizing Rounds, Destiny 2

If you are reading this still in Season 20, try to get the Regnant grenade launcher or Ecliptic Distaff glaive as they both are seasonal weapons.

Otherwise, Nessa’s Oblation shotgun from the Root of Nightmares raid is your best bet. And of course, whenever Iron Banner returns try to get The Hero’s Burden SMG as that is by far the best weapon to roll Destabilizing Rounds for.

What does Destabilizing Rounds do: Hard Figures

What the perk does is pretty straightforward:

Final blows cause nearby targets to become volatile.

-Weapon PerkPvE Damage increasePvP Damage increaseDurationActivation | EffectsTypeWeaponsReleased
Destabilizing Rounds perk artDestabilizing RoundsFinal blows cause nearby targets to become volatile.-Weapon Kills apply Volatile to other enemies in a 6.5-meter radius around the target.SpecificVarious

From the community research at light.gg, we know that:

  • Weapon kills apply Volatile within a 6.5 meter radius.
  • There’s a 3-second cooldown before you can trigger the perk again (according to players on Reddit)

All this means that you have to be a bit thoughtful whenever you are using this perk, unlike its elemental counterparts like Incandescent and Volshot.

What does a Volatile do in Destiny 2?

Whenever an enemy slightly glows with purple and has void particles around it,it means it’s volatile. This status in-game is described as follows:

The target is afflicted with unstable Void energy and will explode upon taking additional damage

This is quite self-explanatory: Volatile makes enemies explode. And the explosions are strong enough to clear a horde of red bar enemies.

However, do not mistake this for Volatile Rounds buff. Volatile Rounds is a buff for your equipped Void weapon. It inflicts Volatile on your enemies and allows the gun to pierce the Barrior Champions’ shields and stun them.

How do you trigger Destabilizing Rounds, and what synergizes with it?

Destabilizing Rounds is a god-tier perk when used right. Ensure the enemies are grouped up, and use your weapon with the perk to apply Volatile and clear them out.

The only downside of the perk is the 3-second cooldown. This creates a window in which you are not very efficient. To solve that, here are a few fragments, aspects, and exotics for each class you can use:

Warlocks: Chaos Accelerant and Echo of Instability

The Echo of Instability fragment gives you Volatile Rounds upon grenade kills. This is especially good when you have your build focusing on getting grenades back quickly.

Pairing that with something like an Echo of Expulsion fragment or Chaos Accelerant can make the buff even more potent.

Hunters: Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk and Echo of Cessation

Echo of Cessation creates a burst of Void energy whenever you use a Finisher and applies Volatile to nearby enemies. Similar to Destabilizing Rounds. With this fragment, defeating volatile targets will create a Void Breach that restores class ability energy.

This is a go-to fragment for Void Hunters that take advantage of invisibility and the Vanishing Step aspect. The absolute must for this kind of build is the Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk exotic chest piece. It gives your Void weapons Volatile Rounds after being invisible.

Titans: Controlled Demolition aspect

For Titans, everything is much simpler. The Controlled Demolition aspect makes enemies Volatile whenever you hit them with an ability. Which is extremely powerful and easy to use. You can focus on your melee or grenades and still consistently apply Volatile to enemies.

These are only some ideas for your Void builds that can improve the use of Destabilizing Rounds. Experiment with different builds and find a good balance between offensive and defensive buffs. It’s usually never a good idea to dump everything into one effect.

Before you go…

New ways to increase Destabilizing Rounds’s potency and synergy with Void builds are always coming. As always, we encourage you to take this perk a step further and make it your own! And just as Destabilizing Rounds is a top-tier Void perk, definitely check out Kinetic Tremors, its Kinetic counterpart.

About The Author

Edward Strazd
Edward Strazd
Destiny 2 is unironically my favorite game of all time. And it is always a pleasure to work with anything Destiny-related. Which is also why I’m here, helping you learn more about the game to be a better and fancier Guardian. You can find Edward on Twitter.
More from Edward Strazd
0 Comments
Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hunter Prismartic Build Twitter Card v2 Destiny 2

Best Destiny 2 Infographics

Get our exclusive D2 infographics before everyone else, for FREE! Also, a weekly email covering all the best loot at reset.

You have Successfully Subscribed!