Over the past year, machine guns have slowly become meta when it comes to PvE. This has resulted in the community taking each notable machine gun and putting it to the test, and THE SWARM is no exception.
As a Nightfall: The Ordeal weapon, THE SWARM is relatively difficult to obtain for some players—but is this extra grind worth it? How does THE SWARM compare to other meta options? What are its best rolls? And how exactly do you obtain it? Today, we’ll cover all that and more. Read on.
| Art | Weapon | 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 SWARM | High-Impact | Legendary | Heavy | Arc | Free-to-Play | Yes |  Heavy |  Arc | Average ❘ B | PvE | Nightfall: The Ordeals |  No |  Free-to-Play | Season 13 | Heavy | No |
How to get THE SWARM this Season
THE SWARM is one of six Nightfall-exclusive weapons available during Season of the Witch. Because all six weapons are on a weekly rotation, THE SWARM will appear with the same Nightfall every six weeks.
Nightfall focusing, Destiny 2
Once you’ve obtained at least one copy of this weapon, more can be purchased from Zavala at any time for a Vanguard Engram, 25 Legendary Shards, and 20,000 Glimmer. Adept variants of THE SWARM are also available through Zavala but follow the same six-week cadence mentioned previously. Adept versions also come at a higher price, requiring Nightfall Ciphers to purchase (obtainable via Grandmaster Nightfalls).
You can find our Destiny 2 God Roll Database here.
How good is THE SWARM
THE SWARM has never received all that much attention from the community, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth using.
Currently, the main draw to machine guns is in PvE, where ones with Bait and Switch or Target Lock can pump out substantial DPS. THE SWARM does feature Target Lock but does have one fatal flaw: its frame. Because of its relatively slow rate of fire, THE SWARM’s DPS can’t keep up with that of more popular choices like Retrofit Escapade.
In The Crucible, machine guns are typically a popular pick, which bodes well for THE SWARM. Most players prefer 450RPM (adaptive frame) machine guns due to their consistency, but THE SWARM isn’t a bad option in the slightest.
Because of all this, THE SWARM is B-Tier in both PvE and PvP. While it isn’t bad whatsoever, it doesn’t particularly excel in anything that other machine guns can’t do better.
Best alternatives:
| Art | Weapon | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo? | Element? | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo | Element | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? | Best of? | Top Perk? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Retrofit Escapade | Rapid-Fire | Legendary | Heavy | Void | The Witch Queen | Yes | Heavy |  Void | Strong ❘ A | PvE | Operation: Seraph's Shield |  Yes |  Witch Queen | Season 19 | Heavy | Craftable | Top-tier | |
 | Song of Ir Yût | 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 |
THE SWARM God rolls, Destiny 2
Best THE SWARM Rolls for PvE and PvP
THE SWARM PvE god roll
- Barrel: Fluted Barrel
- Magazine: Tactical Mag
- Perk 1: Feeding Frenzy
- Perk 2: Golden Tricorn (also good: Target Lock)
- Masterwork: Reload Speed
THE SWARM has a variety of top-tier perks on its side for PvE, but none of them feel as though they synergize together.
We’ll start with Fluted Barrel and Tactical Mag for bumps in stability, handling, reload speed, and magazine size. In the first column of main perks, Feeding Frenzy feels like the obvious pick. However, that perk is made almost completely obsolete by Target Lock, easily the best choice for the final column.
Because of how little synergy these two perks have together, we recommend Golden Tricorn over Target Lock for this weapon to fully embrace THE SWARM’s ad clear potential. If you do decide to use this for DPS, Target Lock is still the better choice; however, be aware that nothing in column one will help you there, so options like Retrofit Escapade are significantly better.
THE SWARM PvP god roll
- Barrel: Fluted Barrel (also good: Polygonal Rifling)
- Magazine: Accurized Rounds
- Perk 1: Dynamic Sway Reduction
- Perk 2: Golden Tricorn
- Masterwork: Handling
In regards to The Crucible, THE SWARM sees a fair bit of usage primarily due to its wide variety of consistency perks.
For your barrel and magazine, look for Fluted Barrel and Accurized Rounds. Polygonal Rifling is also an outstanding barrel option if you’re looking for a bit more stability.
The first column of main perks doesn’t have all that much going on, but we recommend Dynamic Sway Reduction as it’s the easiest to trigger in the small amount of heavy ammo you get per match. For the final column, Golden Tricorn is once again your best bet. Even if you never get the second stack of the buff to trigger, the 15% increased damage Golden Tricorn grants is enough to get subsequent kills with greater amounts of consistency.
THE SWARM: Is it worth farming?
Unless you can’t get your hands on more popular options like Retrofit Escapade and Song of Ir Yut, there’s no reason to go for THE SWARM. While it may seem promising on paper, this machine gun tries to do too many things and fails at nearly all of them, making it not worth farming for unless you’re desperate for a machine gun.
Interested in more top-tier Nightfall weapons? You should definitely check out the returning Warden’s Law hand cannon.
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