Destiny 2: How to Get Falling Guillotine and the God Roll

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Penned by Brett Moss

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.

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Falling Guillotine is one of the strongest heavy weapons in Destiny 2. This sword has been around for quite a while now — when swords were at their peak, it even rivaled The Lament.

In this article, we’ll cover how to get the Falling Guillotine in Destiny 2. We’ll also talk about its god roll and the best places to use it in gameplay so you can make the most of this amazing sword.

Let’s get started!

Further Reading:

• Best Swords in Destiny 2
• Top Legendary Weapons in Destiny 2

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How to Get a Falling Guillotine

Falling Guillotine isn’t hard to acquire at all, as there are several ways to get it. We’ve listed the methods from easiest to most complicated below, so just pick one and you’ll pretty much be set!

Easiest Method: Splicer Decoder

The Splicer decoder can be found at the Prismatic Recaster in the Helm. To access it, navigate to “Past Seasons” and select Season of the Splicer, then select the Tier 1 Blades focusing option. This gives you a 1/3 shot at getting a Falling Guillotine, the other options being Temptation’s Hook and the season’s class-specific sword. To purchase this engram, you’ll need 1 Umbral Engram and 25 Decrypted Data (earned by playing Override).

Note that this method requires the season pass for Season of the Splicer. If you have it, this is easily the best way to farm Falling Guillotine. If you don’t have the pass, you’re better off choosing a different method — the only way to buy it now is to purchase the Beyond Light Deluxe Edition.

#2 Harder Method: Gunsmith Materials

Turning in Gunsmith Materials is the best way to get a Falling Guillotine if you don’t have the Splicer season pass. You can turn in 100 Gunsmith Materials for a “world drop” weapon. Gunsmith Materials are earned from dismantling weapons, so go clear out your weapon vault and hope for the best!

Even if you do have the season pass, you should still turn in your materials just in case. You may get a Guillotine fairly quickly, but be warned — there are a lot of weapons available in this pool, so it’ll likely take a long time to get a god roll this way.

#3 Hardest Method: World Drops

While this method will take far longer than any other, it is one that you can do passively. Falling Guillotine can drop randomly from pretty much any activity in the game that isn’t tied to a specific loot pool. If all else fails, you can just play anything and hope you get one.

Falling Guillotine God Roll

The god roll for Falling Guillotine in Destiny 2 has a couple different perk options, but not as many as other weapons do. This sword excels in PvE, so you’re going to want to optimize for a Falling Guillotine PvE god roll.

Here are your perk choices:

• Jagged Edge, Honed Edge, or Hungry Edge
• Swordmaster’s Guard
• Relentless Strikes
• Whirlwind Blade

The main place where you have options is in the Edge type. Jagged gives +10 Impact, but -20 Ammo Capacity and Magazine. Honed gives +5 impact but has no negatives. Hungry gives no bonus to impact, but +20 to Ammo Capacity and Magazine. 

The guard type honestly isn’t all that important, as it only affects the amount of strikes required to charge the sword’s ability (unless you actually guard with it). Swordmaster’s Guard is technically the best since it includes +10 Charge Rate/Time, but the other options aren’t bad. Just avoid Heavy Guard, which gives -10 Charge Rate/Time. 

Relentless Strikes is absolutely a necessity, as the only other options are Tireless Blade (mostly useless) and Energy Transfer (entirely useless). Relentless Strikes gives you ammo back after three consecutive light attacks, so it’s perfect.

Any Falling Guillotine god roll would not be complete without the Whirlwind Blade perk. It’s one of the best sword perks in the game, so it’s almost always what you want. It grants bonus damage for a short period after landing “rapid sword strikes”, so it pairs perfectly with Relentless Strikes. You can also occasionally opt for Surrounded as your final perk, but only do this for specific situations where you know it’ll be good. The other two options for the last perk (En Garde and Counterattack) are completely useless.

When to Use Falling Guillotine

Falling Guillotine has seen a significant drop in usage this season. After multiple nerfs, swords are no longer the most dominant heavy type like they were earlier this year. However, there are still many good places to whip out your favorite ones. Here are a few:

Prophecy Dungeon: Prophecy remains a haven for sword users, specifically thanks to the first boss and the infamous cube room. Since this dungeon has so many close range encounters, swords will always be a nice addition to your arsenal here. Just don’t use them on the final boss unless you’re very confident in your ability to stay on the map. 

Deep Stone Crypt Raid: Swords are excellent for DSC, especially the Atraks-1 encounter. While The Lament is the king of that encounter, Guillotine provides an excellent option for players who haven’t acquired it yet. Swords are also good in the third encounter, where everything is close range. 

Gambit: Since the Primeval stage of Gambit games is always chaotic and filled with high-HP bosses and mini-bosses, Falling Guillotine is a great choice. It can shred through Primeval Envoys with ease and maybe take out an invader or two while it’s at it. 

Lower Level Strikes: You definitely don’t want swords in end game strikes like the Grandmaster Nightfall, but you can use them in some of the lower tier ones. Even in some Legend and Master Nightfalls, swords are viable. Just make sure the strike you’re playing doesn’t put a focus on long-range combat first.

Join the High Ground

Falling Guillotine is one of the most fun swords in Destiny 2, so it’s definitely worth picking up. Have fun spinning at bosses with it, and as always, keep the high ground by joining our email list and social media channels.

Happy gaming!