Destiny 2: How to Get Hawkmoon and God Roll

Image: Bungie via HGG / Brett Moss

Human Made

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.

Reviewed by Ashley Johnson

Hawkmoon is one of the best, most consistent Hand Cannons for PVP in Destiny 2. While the Exotic mission, Harbinger, was removed when The Witch Queen released, Hawkmoon itself is still available. And, unlike most Exotic weapons, it has random rolls that you can get for a more customized experience. In this article, we’ll discuss where you can purchase Hawkmoon in Destiny 2, where it’s best used (as well as a rundown of what it does), and of course, the god rolls! We’ll start with how to get it, which is thankfully quite simple.

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How to Get Hawkmoon

The only way to get Hawkmoon in 2023 in to buy it from Xur. Xur is a traveling merchant that arrives only on the weekends (Friday reset – Tuesday reset). Each week, Xur has a rotating selection of Exotic and Legendary gear, in addition to two Exotic weapons with random rolls — Hawkmoon and Dead Man’s Tale.

Each week, Xur’s Hawkmoon (and DMT) rolls are different. This allows players to still get the god roll they want, even if it might take a while with only one roll per week. Hawkmoon costs 125,000 Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards, 1 Exotic Cypher, and 1 Ascendant Shard.

Where to Use Hawkmoon

Hawkmoon is a PVP weapon through and through. There’s really no reason to use it in PVE, since there are plenty of other Hand Cannons better for that role. Hawkmoon excels in PVP because of its perks and general feel, but also because Hand Cannons just work better as PVP weapons. At least in the current state of the game, that is.

Take Hawkmoon into Crucible and see for yourself why it’s so strong. The Paracausal Shot Exotic perk is a beast in PVP, making Hawkmoon a ton of fun to shred enemy Guardians with. It’s also a pretty simple perk to understand and make use of. For every precision hit or kill you get with Hawkmoon, you’ll get a stack of Paracausal Charge. The last round in the magazine gets a damage boost based on the amount of Charges you have, so landing precision shots is crucial. Once you get down to the last round, don’t store Hawkmoon, or you’ll lose the buff. That last shot is incredibly deadly, though, so use it wisely.

Hawkmoon’s strength lies in its simplicity and ease of use. You don’t have to be a PVP master to use Hawkmoon well. All you have to do is get a few precision shots, then remember not to store it or reload before you use the last shot. It’s a truly powerful PVP Hand Cannon that anyone can pick up, but it also has a high skill cap, since it does require precision shots.

The only downside here is that Hawkmoon is really not usable in PVE. Paracausal Shot doesn’t do enough damage to be worth using over other Exotics in a PVE environment, and having Grips take up a perk slot isn’t nearly as helpful in PVE as in PVP. You could use it in some easy content like base level playlist activities, but it’s really just a PVP weapon.

How to Get and Complete the Hawkmoon Catalyst

Obtaining and completing catalysts can be annoying task sometimes, but this one is pretty simple. To get the Hawkmoon catalyst, you’ll have to rely on some luck in one of the three ritual playlists (Vanguard Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible). The catalyst can drop randomly from any of those, but there’s no way to narrow down which you’ll get. If you have a lot of catalysts left to acquire, it might take some time to get the Hawkmoon one specifically. It’s all RNG, so there’s no way to narrow it down to just the one you want. Once you do have the catalyst, though, you’ll just have to complete its masterwork objective.

To complete the catalyst and apply its effects, all you have to do is kill 700 enemies with Hawkmoon. The best place to do this is to farm adds in places where they either infinitely spawn or you can reset easily. The Shuro Chi checkpoint in Last Wish is arguably the best (and you can just use the Wish Wall to get there quickly), but the Thrallway checkpoint from Shattered Throne also works well.

Here are the bonuses provided by the Hawkmoon catalyst once you complete it:

• +1 Magazine Size
• Hunter’s Trance perk: Grants bonuses to handling, reload speed, and range based on the number of Paracausal Charges you have.

The Hawkmoon catalyst is incredibly important, but even if you don’t have it yet, you can still use this weapon. You’ll just want to make sure and grind for it as soon as possible, since it gives so many free bonuses.

Best Perks for Hawkmoon

Since Hawkmoon is one of only a couple Exotics that roll with random perks (the other being Dead Man’s Tale), it has a tendency to confuse a lot of players. In this section, we’ll take a look at barrels, magazines (even though there’s only one for Hawkmoon), traits (standard perks), and grips (which give more stat bonuses). If you’re hoping to catch Xur with a good roll, here are the choices to be on the lookout for!

Barrels

• Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Smallbore

In PVP, range is the most important stat barrels can affect. Hammer-Forged Rifling gives a flat +10 range bonus, with no negatives. It’s largely considered the best barrel for PVP overall, and for good reason.

Smallbore is another solid choice, though, since it gives +7 to both range and stability. If you feel like you could use a bit of stability along with the range, there’s nothing wrong with going for Smallbore instead. Both are great choices, so you can’t go wrong with either.

Magazines

• Alloy Magazine

Since Hawkmoon has an Exotic perk that involves the last shot of the mag, there aren’t any options to change it. Alloy Mag is what we have — no substitutions. But that’s not so bad, really. Alloy Mag gives faster reloads upon emptying the mag, which is exactly what you’ll want on Hawkmoon anyway. If anything, Alloy Mag should help you remember not to accidentally reload the last shot.

Traits

• Opening Shot
• Rangefinder
• Moving Target

For this perk (often the most impactful), you have three solid PVP options. Opening Shot grants improved accuracy and range for your first shot during a fight. This helps pick up easy kills from further than usual, especially if your target doesn’t see it coming.

Rangefinder increases zoom magnification and range, which is why it’s always good in PVP. It’s simple and effective, and it’s one of the best PVP perks in Destiny 2.

Lastly, Moving Target gives bonus movement speed and aim assist while you’re ADS while moving. For using Hawkmoon while on the go, Moving Target is the best choice.

Grips

• Heavy Grip
• Smooth Grip

It’s not usual for a weapon to have grip options, but Hawkmoon doesn’t really follow the standard perk/trait rules. The grips function as stat bonuses, with each having a different stat spread that drastically impacts how the weapon feels.

Heavy Grip gives a strong +10 stability to help with landing headshots, but you will lose -10 handling. Losing that much handling sucks, but stability is far more important, since Hawkmoon needs precision kills so badly.

Smooth Grip is a more balanced option, giving +5 to both stability and handling. If you choose to use Opening Shot as one of your perks, it’s better to go with Smooth Grip, since you won’t want to lose 10 handling when using that perk.

Hawkmoon PVP God Roll (Full)

• Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rifling or Smallbore
• Magazine: Alloy Mag
• Trait: Opening Shot, Rangefinder, or Moving Target
• Grip: Heavy Grip or Smooth Grip

There you have it! Those are the best PVP options for a Hawkmoon god roll right now. You do have some flexibility with perks, which is always nice! Hawkmoon is a really fun weapon to use, so if you have the materials to spare, it’s definitely worth the trip to Xur.

Join the High Ground!

That’s it for our guide on how to get Hawkmoon in Destiny 2 — thanks for reading! Good luck getting the rolls you need from Xur, and let us know your setup in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more guides on Destiny 2 and your other favorite games.

Happy gaming!