How to Get Swarm of the Raven in Destiny 2
Swarm of the Raven is a grenade launcher that can be found in Destiny 2. Since it is a legendary weapon, it should come as no surprise to learn that it is very powerful in its particular niche. However, what makes Swarm of the Raven special is that it can be considered one of the best damage-dealers that can be found in the entire game. Having said that, it is important to note that there can be enormous variation from one Swarm of the Raven to another. This is because it comes with five perks of which four are randomized. First, the perk that remains the same from weapon to weapon would be Aggressive Frame, thus making it high damage as well as high recoil in nature. Second, there are seven possibilities when it comes to its sight/barrel. Third, there are nine possibilities when it comes to its magazine/battery. Fourth, there are five possibilities for its first trait. Fifth, there are four possibilities for its second trait.
For those who are curious, the seven possibilities for the sight/barrel are Volatile Launch, Confined Launch, Countermass, Hard Launch, Linear Compensator, Quick Launch, and Smart Drift Control. Volatile Launch provides a big boost to the blast radius in exchange for a slight penalty to the handling speed as well as a slight penalty to the projectile speed. Confined Launch provides a big boost to stability as well as a smaller boost to blast radius at the cost of shooting out a slower projectile. Countermass makes for much more controlled recoil plus smaller bonuses to both stability and handling speed. Hard Launch means a huge boost to projectile speed at the cost of poorer stability as well as a smaller blast. Linear Compensator provides small boosts to projectile speed, blast radius, and stability. Quick Launch is exactly what it sounds like in that it provides a big boost to handling speed as well as a smaller boost to projectile speed. Smart Drift Control offers better recoil, better stability, better handling speed, and even a slight increase to projectile speed.
Moving on, the nine possibilities for magazine/battery are Thermoplastic Grenades, Proximity Grenades, Spike Grenades, Alloy Casing, Augmented Drum, High-Explosive Ordinance, High-Velocity Rounds, Mini Frags, and Sticky Grenades. Thermoplastic Grenades mean that the grenades bounce further, which come with better stability as well as better projectile speed. Proximity Grenades are exactly what they sound like in that they have increased proximity detection. Spike Grenades do increased damage when the grenades manage to get a direct hit on the target, which isn’t to discount the increased stability of the weapon that fires them. Alloy Casing means a lighter weight for a much faster reload but also reduced stability. Augmented Drum make for a lot more ammo in each magazine at the cost of a reduced reload speed. High-Explosive Ordinance makes for less ammunition in each magazine but offers faster grenades with a bigger boom. High-Velocity Rounds are faster to reload as well as faster to shoot out. Mini-Frags are more numerous as well as faster to reload but provide a smaller boom that is most appropriate in light of their name. Sticky Grenades attach to surfaces upon contact before exploding when enemies approach.
As for the traits, the first one can be either Snapshot Sights, Threat Detector, Pulse Monitor, Field Prep, or Auto-Loading Holster. Snapshot Sights makes it faster to aim down the sights; Threat Detector increases stability, reload speed, and handling speed when enemies are close by; Pulse Monitor reloads some of the magazine on an automatic basis when the player is critically wounded; Field Prep increases ammo reserves while making it faster to reload while crouched; and Auto-Loading Holster reloads a holstered weapon on an automatic basis after a short while.
Meanwhile, the second trait can be either Genesis, Ambitious Assassin, Rampage, or Quickdraw. Genesis fills the magazine of the weapon from reserves upon breaking a combatant’s shield; Ambitious Assassin permits overflow of the magazine based on the rapid kill number before reloading; Rampage grants increased damage upon killing an enemy that can be stacked three times; Quickdraw is . . . well, a very fast draw.
Out of these perks, the only one that can be considered a must-have would be Spike Grenade. This is because Spike Grenade is the trait that enables Swarm of the Raven to do enough damage to make it one of the best damage-dealers in the game. Besides, interested individuals are free to go with the perks that they like. However, one popular example would be Field Prep because of its boost to ammo reserves.
How Can You Get Your Hands on a Swarm of the Raven with Spike Grenades?
In any case, those who want to get their hands on Swarm of the Raven will need to grind the Iron Banner event whenever it comes around. By collecting Iron Banner tokens, they can turn them in to Lord Saladin in exchange for Iron Engrams. Unfortunately, the process is random, meaning that they could be in for a lot of grinding if they aren’t lucky enough to get the right Swarm of the Raven right away. The pickier that interested individuals are about their perks, the more grinding that they can expect to undergo in said event.
To make the process easier on themselves, interested individuals should avoid completing any of the missions that will add more potential drops to the loot pool. After all, more potential drops mean that the chances of getting a particular drop out of them will suffer a decrease. As such, unless interested individuals have already done so, they should hold off on said missions until they have managed to get a Swarm of the Raven that they either desire or is at least willing to settle for.
As for making use of Swarm of the Raven, well, there is nothing particularly special about it. It is a grenade launcher, meaning that it should be used as a grenade launcher. However, interested individuals might want to go with an approach that suits their particular combination of perks. Moreover, it should be mentioned that the weapon does void damage, meaning that it can be very powerful when paired with the Tractor Cannon’s 50 percent damage buff. The more buffs that get stacked on, the more glorious the resulting numbers will be.
