By Noah Smith
If you're wondering how to spend your hard-earned Ascendant Shards, here are the best Enhanced Perks to go for.
Ascendant shards are - by design - hard to come by in Destiny 2. Guardians throughout the galaxy will be wondering what is worth spending those precious shards on when it comes to weapon crafting; some descriptions in-game are tricky to decipher, alleging more bonuses than are actually implemented. First and foremost, there are two general categories of enhanced perks: those that simply give the perk more duration if it is a timed damage boost, or those that just add an additional stat boost.
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Take Swashbuckler for example - all the enhanced version of the perk does is increase the duration of that damage boost. If you have decided that Swashbuckler is your go-to perk and would not consider anything else, then go for it. The enhanced perk is always going to be just slightly better. But there are a few interesting options out there for the more adventurous guardians to try.
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10 Adaptive Munitions
Adaptive Munitions is already an S-tier perk. The enhanced version does exactly what you want: give the gun even more efficiency against non-matching shield elements. Instead of the 167-333-500 percent damage against shields for each tier, it jumps to 200-400-600 percent.
You're going to notice this change even more on weapons that fire rapidly (looking at you Come to Pass and Pointed Inquiry) as opposed to something like the bow Under Your Skin. You will get more time shooting at that 600 percent bonus with the faster firing weapons, shredding in the meantime.
9 Demolitionist
With void grenades being so oppressive right now, getting that ability energy back in a pinch is important. Enhanced Demolitionist will get you that energy back faster than non-enhanced, especially on special-ammo weapons. Throw this sucker on the Ragnhild-D and you will suddenly actually be able to use your grenades in the Crucible again.
For PvE, grenades can stun overload champions, suppress enemies, and clear whole rooms of adds in seconds. Grenades are very powerful during Season of the Risen, and we're sure that with the introduction of Arc and Solar 3.0, they will stay strong.
8 Elemental Capacitor
When using Arc subclasses, Elemental Capacitor can be very strong in PvP, keeping your gun's handling quite high; the enhanced version maximizes that. Plus, once you have started using Elemental Capacitor, moving away from it will feel very wonky. That is where enhanced perks are important. If you know you have found the perk for you, investing into it can make the gun feel more personal.
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Outside of PvP, Elemental Capacitor does not see much use. Look to craft your PvE weapons with something else, as there are far more impactful perks for the thrall in nightfalls than this one.
7 Field Prep
Do you want to use a rocket launcher with ten rockets in reserves? Then get enhanced field prep. Red Herring with enhanced Field Prep and Lasting Impression can do some incredible boss damage. Another fun combination would be Field Prep and Golden Tricorn: equip a void subclass and use abilities to clean up adds around the boss, while keeping the damage on them with the rockets.
Field Prep can really work well on any heavy or special ammo weapon, as those types are much harder to come by. It also has a lot of use in the Crucible, even with the amount of special ammo being toned down. Picking up a green brick that gives you just a few more shots can be game-changing.
6 Fourth Time's The Charm/Triple Tap
These next two perks are kind of in their own special group. Both the basic version of the perks require the guardian to rapidly hit precision shots to return rounds to the magazine (keep in mind these perks do actually stack on themselves). The enhanced versions increase the allotted time between precision shots to proc the perk, giving you more time to breathe and focus.
These two enhanced perks can be really helpful for guardians who like to keep their distance and pick off enemies one at a time. While it is not quite as common as Focused Fury and Overflow, it can recreate that effect.
5 High Impact Reserves
A very simple enhanced perk, it makes the perk proc earlier in the magazine than the basic perk. As an enhanced perk, it procs at just 75 percent of the magazine remaining. That means you get three-quarters of your magazine damage boosted, up to 25.6 percent in PvE (depending on the weapon).
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The perk can even be useful in PvP, giving the attacking guardian up to a six percent damage increase. That doesn't sound massive, but remember, fellow guardians can withstand much less damage than PvE bosses can, so that six percent can really pack a punch.
4 One for All/Stats for All
Okay yes, this combination is one of the general enhanced perks that simply buff the duration of time-limited boosts. However, it should be noted that this perk combination is fantastic at add-clearing, especially when you consider that with it you get to save your exotic slot for something a little spicier.
It only boosts the duration of the effects for a second, but over the course of a whole strike, that time can add up. If you have a dedicated One/Stats for All weapon, it might be worth investing the ascendant shards into as it will most likely stand the test of time.
3 Overflow
Overflow is a perk that you will see more efficient use of on weapons with smaller magazine sizes. The reason is that Enhanced Overflow only increases the ammo capacity to 225 percent. With smaller magazines, those single shots mean more so, if you can hit heads, having more chances to do so is huge. Take a Thoughtless and put Overflow on it, you can get up to 14-16 shots in the magazine; which is absolutely wild for a sniper rifle.
However, Thoughtless is the only weapon not using basic ammo that you can craft Enhanced Overflow on. Hopefully, in the future, we will get rocket launchers or fusion rifles with it, but for now, it can shin on the Season of the Risen sniper rifle.
2 Slideways
Slideways will always be a good perk in the Crucible. Getting a magazine refresh and a stability and handling stat boost for free usually cannot be beaten. While the enhanced version only increases the stat boosts from +20 to +25, in the Crucible those smaller numbers can mean life or death.
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Being able to place your target in the crosshairs just that tiny fraction of a second faster than your opponent is crucial, and being able to activate it for free is perfect.
1 Surrounded
Enhanced Surrounded is one of, if not the only, enhanced perks that actually increases the damage of the main effect as opposed to the duration of the effect. While it is only available on weapons from the Vow of the Disciple raid, if you have delved deep into the pyramid enough to unlock these weapon patterns, then you'll want to craft an Enhanced Surrounded Deliverance.
The only downside is that surrounded will not buff the melee damage on Lubrae's Ruin. However, Bungie underpowering glaives is a different conversation. Hopefully, in the future, we might see Enhanced Surrounded on a sword or submachine gun. Those will be the glory days of this perk.
Next: Destiny 2: How To Earn The Risen Title