Destiny 2: How to get the Ikelos SMG and the God Roll

Image: Bungie via HGG / Kody Wirth

Human Made

Penned by Kody Wirth

Kody is our expert Destiny 2 and shooter genre writer. He lives in Oregon.

Reviewed by Ashley Johnson

Ikelos weapons have always been top-tier options to go for in Destiny 2. These four legendary weapons have consistently well-rounded stats, are consistently revised with some of the best weapon Perks, and are surprisingly easy to acquire for the most part. Sure, plenty of great weapons have emerged since their release, but there’s just something about Ikelos weapons that makes them worth pursuing.

For this guide, we’ll be focusing on the Ikelos SMG. It remains one of the best rapid-fire weapon options for PVP and acts as a great replacement for the Recluse, despite Submachine Guns being somewhat ignored in recent updates. Let’s take a look at what it will take to snag the Ikelos and which rolls you should be on the lookout for.

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How to Get the Ikelos_SMG_v1.0.2

The revised version of the Ikelos SMG was first introduced as part of Season of Arrivals. At the time, you could unlock it by playing through the Exodus: Preparation Quest. This required you to complete the weekly bounty for Mars, IO, Titan, and Mercury to move the quest forward and earn an Exodus-Focused Umbral Engram. 

Unfortunately, this only gave you a chance at earning the SMG out of a loot pool that also included the Ikelos Sniper Rifle, First In, Last Out Shotgun, and Berenger’s Memory Grenade Launcher. Since these were Umbral Engrams, however, they could be focused to narrow down the loot pool. By using the CQC-Focused Umbral Engrams in the Prismatic Recaster, you could limit your reward to either the First In, Last Out, or the Ikelos SMG.

Of course, those planetary locations are no longer available thanks to The Darkness blinking them out of existence. That means the above method doesn’t work anymore — at once point, you couldn’t even get the Ikelos SMG! Now it’s part of the World Loot Pool, meaning there’s no specific guaranteed way to unlock it. Instead, you can earn it randomly from activities, by focusing Umbral Engrams that aren’t limited to the current seasonal loot, and by earning rank-up packages from the Gunsmith.

Your best option for grinding out potential Ikelos SMG rolls is earning rank-up packages from Banshee-44. This can easily be done by acquiring a stockpile of weapon parts, which you earn from dismantling unwanted weapons and armor. Turning in one hundred of these will net you a Legendary Engram specific to The Gunsmith. While there’s no guarantee, it is the simplest method available, and potentially the quickest, thanks to how much loot you can earn and discard.

Ikelos SMG Stats 

So, why should you care about the Ikelos SMG? Let’s take a look at the base and hidden stats to start:

Base Stats

• Impact: 22
• Range: 54
• Stability: 39
• Handling: 73
• Reload Speed: 32
• Rounds Per Minute: 750
• Magazine: 30

Hidden Stats

• Aim Assistance: 42
• Inventory Size: 45
• Zoom: 13
• Recoil: 90
• Bounce Intensity: 10

If you couldn’t tell, the Ikelos SMG is an Aggressive Frame Submachine Gun, meaning it deals out high damage in exchange for a massive kick. It’s also an Energy weapon that deals Arc damage and, with the right Armor Mod, can easily spawn Warmind Cells. In short, the massive kick and limited benefit to aiming down sights are easily overlooked for the overall accuracy, speed, and range.

Ikelos SMG God Rolls to Look Out For

The Perk pool for the Ikelos SMG is highly curated, meaning most of the options you roll are worth holding onto. However, there are specific options that are best for PVE or PVP use — here are a few combinations to try for.

Dynamic Sway and Tap the Trigger

Anything that lets you increase your accuracy just by firing counts as a blessing. Dynamic Sway Reduction increases stability and accuracy by holding down the trigger, while Tap the Trigger provides an initial burst of the same stats when you first pull the trigger. Basically, you get targeting benefits no matter how you fire, and only compound it if you just started firing and decide to empty your clip.

This fully takes advantage of the weapon’s solid handling and aim assist while downplaying the massive kick. It’s a perfect option to improve your hip-firing ability in PVP.

Subsistence and Demolitionist

A great way to simplify your build is to take advantage of the cycle of using weapons to increase the recharge speed of an ability that automatically reloads your weapon when used. Subsistence and Demolition do just that, increasing your Grenade recharge rate with successful kills, then reloading your weapon when you throw a Grenade. If you focus on increasing your Discipline stat on top of it, you can have a steady flow of Grenades to use in PVE play.

Threat Detection and Surrounded

Threat Detection and Surrounded encourage you to get into the thick of it and take on multiple enemies. If you do, you increase your reload speed, handling, and stability, along with your damage output if three or more enemies are near. This truly turns the Ikelos SMG into an effective short-range weapon that’s perfect to bring out in a crisis situation.

The combination means that not only can you lay down more damage in a pinch, but you also have a greater chance of landing hits and taking minimal damage. It’s unfortunately not the best roll for PVP, due to how inconsistent the trigger for Surrounded will be, but it’s great for handling ADS in PVE.

Dynamic Sway and Vorpal Weapon

Sometimes you just need a shutdown machine in PVE and Crucible — a weapon that’s built to take down vehicles, bosses, and Guardians casting their Super. Vorpal Weapon does just that by increasing damage against those enemies and you can pad your ability to lay down more damage thanks to Dynamic Sway Reduction.

Again, you’ll likely have more success with this roll in PVE. However, if you’re willing to run it in PVP, there’s nothing sweeter than silencing a freshly popped Super. And thanks to the decent range on this weapon, you don’t have to be in harm’s way to do it.

Best Ikelos SMG Barrel and Magazine Rolls

There are arguably different barrels and magazines that fit best with the Perks above. However, trying to pursue a full roll that includes specific rifling, magazines, and two distinct Perks can be a long and fruitless effort. So, to keep things simple, here are the top-tier barrel and magazine options to keep if you get one of the above god rolls.

Barrels

• Corkscrew Rifling: A well-balanced barrel that slightly increases your range, stability, and handling speed.
• Polygonal Rifling: A barrel optimized for recoil reduction that increases your overall stability.
• Smallbore: A dual-strength barrel that moderately increases your range and stability.

Magazines

• Seraph Rounds: Rounds over-penetrate targets and bounce off hard surfaces.
• Tactical Mag: This magazine slightly increases stability and moderately increases your reload speed and magazine size.
• Accurized Rounds: Rounds travel a longer distance and moderately increase your range. 

You likely see the trend here. Focus on rifling and magazines that either strengthen already-solid stats (stability, range, and handling speed) or improve the lower stats (recoil). If possible, try to land a roll with options that includes both a moderate boost to one or two stats and a lesser boost to three stats. This can ensure you highly strengthen at least one core stat while balancing out the remainder of them.

Join the High Ground

The Ikelos SMG is a long-standing mid-to-high tier weapon that is worth adding to your vault. While it may not be as straightforward to grind as it once was, stacking up on weapon parts can help you roll multiple options in no time. Be sure to share this article on your favorite social platforms to help your Fireteam find just the right Ikelos SMG roll, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest on Destiny 2. 

Happy gaming!