Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
Imperial Decree is one of the few powerful Shotguns in Destiny 2 that can be crafted. This means it is far easier to acquire a god roll for PVP or PVE, which is great considering this thing has a few perks that make it viable for both.
As far as Kinetic Aggressive Frame Shotguns go, you can’t really go wrong with Imperial Decree. The main difficulty will be acquiring enough patterns given it can only drop from the Recovered Leviathan Weapons engram at the War Table using Defiant Engrams. Once this season is removed, anticipate the gun being available from the Exotic Mission Rotator.
Because Imperial Decree slits in the Kinetic weapon slot, this frees up your Energy weapon for one of the powerful Primary ammo-using weapons – like Funnelweb or Out of Bounds. This makes a god roll Imperial Decree an appealing choice for PVP players.
| Imperial Decree - PVP | |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Smallbore (+7 Stability, +7 Range) |
| Magazine | Accurized Rounds (+10 Range) |
| Perk 1 | Slideshot (Sliding partially reloads this weapon’s magazine and temporarily boosts range and stability) |
| Perk 2 | Opening Shot (Improved accuracy and range on the opening shot of attack) |
| Origin Trait | To Excess (Final blows with this weapon while your Super is full grant a bonus to Strength and Discipline for a moderate duration) |
| Masterwork | Range (+10 when fully masterworked) |
| Mod | Sprint Grip |
Start off the Imperial Decree build with Smallbore and Accurized Rounds. The Barrel option provides a small bump in Range and Stability while the Magazine will lift it by 10 points. You could go with Full Choke if you don’t mind the loss of precision damage.
To maximise the Range stat, slap on Slideshot and spend your time sprint-sliding around the map. This is where you’ll want to put on Sprint Grip, to make the ADS speed that much faster. The other perk should be Opening Shot, which gives accuracy and a range boost. Round off the god roll with a Range Masterwork.
When it comes to PVE, there are a whole lot of excellent Shotguns that might have slightly more appealing perks. Hunters chasing a One-Two Punch shotty should check out Matador 64 while Heritage remains great all year round. But if you want an Imperial Decree god roll for PVE, here’s what you’ll likely need.
| Imperial Decree - PVE | |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Corkscrew Rifling (+5 Stability, +5 Range, +5 Handling) |
| Magazine | Tactical Mag (+1 Magazine, +10 Reload Speed, +5 Stability) |
| Perk 1 | Auto-Loading Holster (The holstered weapon is automatically reloaded after a short period of time) |
| Perk 2 | Trench Barrel (After a successful melee hit, this weapon gains increased damage, handling, and reload speed for a short duration – or until three shots are fired) |
| Origin Trait | To Excess (Final blows with this weapon while your Super is full grant a bonus to Strength and Discipline for a moderate duration) |
| Masterwork | Handling (+10 when fully masterworked) |
| Mod | Major Spec |
Corkscrew Rifling and Tactical Mag work together to lift a variety of stats. You’ll get much more Stability (which is needed if you’re firing quickly), a bump to Range, improved Handling and Reload Speed, and a boost to the Magazine.
The two perks you want to throw on will be Auto-Loading Holster and Trench Barrel. The first of these remains a top-tier pick on Special and Power weapons as any avoiding DPS downtime is a must. Trench Barrel used to be exclusive to the IKELOS Shotgun, but now other shotties can benefit from the damage boost. Remember to melee, shoot three times, and melee again.
Use the Handling Masterwork to make it faster to swap to it and aim, and then a Major Spec mod to help you knock down the powerful foes. When you use this Shotgun against a boss, slap on a Boss Spec.
Imperial Decree is an interesting and oftentimes powerful Shotgun, especially if you can craft a god roll. While there are other, potentially stronger, Shotguns out there, you can at least get this one without diving into a raid. Take a look at the Shacknews Destiny 2 Strategy Guide for more god roll recommendations.