Destiny 2 Bait and Switch: Weapons and Perk guide

Initially written off as a passable perk, Bait and Switch went from overlooked to overpowered in a single patch. Plus, Bait and Switch recently went from being a Perk exclusive to Vow of the Disciple weapons to becoming available on various other weapons. 

Today, we’ll be crunching the numbers on Bait and Switch, reviewing what weapons roll with it, and how to take its potency to 11.

Updated as of Season of the Wish (S23).

Bait and Switch weapons in Destiny 2

Bait and Switch can only roll on a few select weapons, meaning it’s relatively exclusive for now. Here is a list of all of the weapons available that can roll with Bait and Switch:

Art	Weapon	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	The Supremacy	Sniper Rifle	Rapid-Fire	Legendary	Special	Kinetic	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Special	Kinetic	Best ❘ S	PvE + PvP	Last Wish Raid	Yes	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Kinetic	Craftable	Top-tier	Kinetic Tremors,Bait and Switch
	Submission	Submachine Gun	Lightweight	Legendary	Primary	Kinetic	The Witch Queen	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	Average ❘ B	PvE + PvP	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Kinetic	Craftable		Bait and Switch
	Deliverance	Fusion Rifle	Precision	Legendary	Special	Stasis	The Witch Queen	Yes	Special	Stasis	Best ❘ S	PvE	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Kinetic	Craftable	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Insidious	Pulse Rifle	Aggressive Burst	Legendary	Primary	Arc	The Witch Queen	Yes	Primary	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE + PvP	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Lubrae's Ruin	Glaive	Adaptive	Legendary	Special	Solar	The Witch Queen	Yes	Special	Solar	Worst ❘ D	-	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Energy	Craftable		Bait and Switch
	Forbearance	Grenade Launcher	Wave	Legendary	Special	Arc	The Witch Queen	Yes	Special	Arc	Best ❘ S	PvE	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Undercurrent	Grenade Launcher	Wave	Legendary	Special	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Arc	Average ❘ B	PvE	Nightfall: The Ordeals	No	Free-to-Play	Season 23	Energy	No		Voltshot,Bait and Switch
	Forbearance (Brave)	Grenade Launcher	Wave	Legendary	Special	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Arc	Best ❘ S	PvE	Onslaught Activity	No	Free-to-Play	Into the Light	Energy	No	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Apex Predator	Rocket Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Solar	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Heavy	Solar	Best ❘ S	PvE	Last Wish Raid	Yes	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Incandescent,Explosive Light,Reconstruction,Bait and Switch
	Cataclysmic	Linear Fusion Rifle	Precision	Legendary	Heavy	Solar	The Witch Queen	Yes	Heavy	Solar	Best ❘ S	PvE	Vow of the Disciple Raid	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 16	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Cold Comfort	Rocket Launcher	Aggressive	Legendary	Heavy	Stasis	Deluxe Edition	Yes	Heavy	Stasis	Best ❘ S	PvE	Ghost of the Deep Dungeon	No	Deluxe Edition	Season 21	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Explosive Light,Bait and Switch
	Cataphract GL3	Grenade Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Strand	Lightfall	Yes	Heavy	Strand	Strong ❘ A	PvP	Trials of Osiris	No	Lightfall	Season 22	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Bait and Switch
	Song of Ir Yût	Machine Gun	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Crota's End Raid	Yes	Free-to-Play	Season 22	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Voltshot,Sword Logic,Reconstruction,Bait and Switch

Bait and Switch on Vow of the Disciple weapons, Destiny 2

What does Bait and Switch do: Hard Figures

The official perk description, surprisingly, is very clear on the mechanics of Bait and Switch:

Deal damage with all equipped weapons within a short time to give this weapon a damage boost.

As per usual, Bungie doesn’t give us the specifics of what a “short time” constitutes, but thanks to community testing, we know the following:

• Dealing damage with any weapon starts a hidden 7 second timer.
• Once you deal damage with all three weapons within that window, a 10 second timer starts.
• This timer starts as soon as the third weapon lands a hit, not when you swap back to the weapon with Bait and Switch.
• The perk buffs damage by 35% for the entire duration.
• Perk cannot be refreshed until the timer fully expires.

Pretty simple, right? Land hits with all three weapons, and a clean 35% damage buff is yours. What’s more is that the hits do not need to be all on the same enemy, so you can prep with the first two weapons on another enemy, then swap back to the main enemy and start the buff there. But more on that in the next section.

It is important to note that the perk activates the moment the third weapon lands its hit. This third weapon, in theory, should always be the weapon Bait and Switch is on.

Like most enhanced perks, the enhanced version of this perk doesn’t augment this significantly, only offering a measly 1-second addition to the buff timer.

How to trigger Bait and Switch, and what synergizes with it?

Bait and Switch is best utilized against bosses in Raids and Dungeons. While it can be effective against champions in some situations, higher-level content reduces the stun timer, meaning a smaller window in which to use it to its full capacity.

This perk is a Heavy-weapon and DPS-focused perk, plain and simple. While it rolls on all three types of weapons, wasting limited ammo to activate the perk on subpar DPS weapons is not advised, though I can imagine some might find a niche application. 

Bait and Switch on Apex Predator, Destiny 2

Given the nature of the perk, Bait and Switch is most effective when paired with weapons that swap quickly and that do some form of damage over time. Naturally, that makes Witherhoard your best friend, especially if you have completed the catalyst, which boosts its handling by a tremendous amount. For your energy weapon, anything works well so long as it has high handling.

Finally, this perk synergizes well with reload or magazine-augmenting perks, such as Fourth Time’s the Charm, Reconstruction, and Envious Assassin. This allows you to make the most out of the buff while reducing reload downtime.

Before you go…

As always, we encourage you to take this perk a step further and make it your own! And just as Bait and Switch is a top-tier Arc perk, definitely check out Voltshot, another top-tier perk exclusive to Arc weapons.