Look, let’s be real. Not every scout rifle in Destiny 2 needs to feel like a surgical instrument. Sometimes you just want to feel like a space cowboy, and the Long Arm god roll is basically the closest you’re going to get to that Tex Mechanica fantasy without using an Exotic slot on Dead Man’s Tale. It’s heavy. It’s chunky. It’s got that lever-action kick that makes every trigger pull feel like you’re actually doing something important.
But here is the thing: a lot of people are chasing the wrong perks.
Since it dropped in the Spire of the Watcher dungeon, the Long Arm has lived in a weird spot. It’s an Aggressive Frame, which means it hits like a truck but moves like a tractor. If you don't build it right, it feels sluggish. It feels bad. But when you nail the perk combination, it becomes one of the most reliable utility weapons in the game, especially for Arc 3.0 builds that need a long-range punch.
Why the Long Arm God Roll is a PVE Beast
Most players immediately look for damage perks. That’s the instinct, right? You want things to die faster. But with a 120 RPM scout, the bottleneck isn't usually the raw damage—it’s the reload speed. God, the reload is slow. It’s a shell-by-shell reload, meaning if you empty the mag, you’re going to be standing there for an eternity while your Guardian casually slides bullets in one by one.
This is why Compulsive Reloader or Rapid Hit are basically mandatory for the PVE Long Arm god roll.
I’ve spent hours in the Spire, and honestly, Rapid Hit is the king here. It rewards you for what you should already be doing: hitting headshots. As you stack those precisions, your stability goes up and your reload speed skyrockets. It turns a clunky farm tool into a precision machine. If you combine that with Explosive Payload, you’re laughing. Explosive Payload is arguably the best PVE perk for scouts because it has no falloff damage and it staggers red-bar enemies like crazy. It makes the gun feel "bigger" than it actually is.
The Ad-Clear Alternative
Maybe you don't care about single-target stagger. Maybe you want to watch the world burn—or at least spark. Because this is an Arc weapon, it can roll with Voltshot. Now, usually, I’d say Voltshot on a slow-firing scout is a trap. Why? Because you have to reload to proc it. On a lever-action gun with a slow reload, that sounds like a nightmare.
However, if you have a reload masterwork and maybe some loader mods on your arms, a Long Arm god roll with Voltshot becomes a pocket sniper that clears entire rooms. You pick off one dreg, do a quick flip-load, and the next shot chains lightning to everything nearby. It's satisfying in a way that’s hard to describe until you’ve actually done it in a Grandmaster Nightfall where you need to stay far back but still clear trash mobs.
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Dominating the Crucible with a 120 Scout
PVP is a different beast entirely. In the current meta, 120 RPM scouts occupy a niche. They aren't going to out-duel a Submachine Gun at close range, obviously. You’ll get shredded. But at 80 meters? You are the apex predator.
For the PVP Long Arm god roll, you need to lean into the "Two-Tap" potential or at least the flinch factor. Opening Shot in the final column is almost a non-negotiable for me. It makes that first bullet "sticky." In Destiny terms, that means the aim assist is so high that if you aim anywhere near the head, you’re getting that yellow number. It’s great for peek-shooting. You pop out of cover, let one fly, and duck back in.
The Perks You Actually Want for Trials
- Hip-Fire Grip: Hear me out. It sounds like a meme. But this is a Tex Mechanica weapon. It’s designed to be fired from the hip. If you’re being rushed by a Shotgun ape, being able to hip-fire with accuracy while backing up is a lifesaver.
- Moving Target: If you’re a strafe-heavy player, this is your bread and butter. It gives you better target acquisition and faster movement while ADS. Simple. Effective.
- High-Impact Reserves: This is for the math nerds. It won't consistently lower your Time-to-Kill (TTK) against every resilience tier, but it makes the gun much more forgiving at the end of the magazine.
Handling and Feel: The Stats Nobody Talks About
We talk about perks until we’re blue in the face, but the barrels and magazines are what make the Long Arm god roll feel "human."
Since it’s an Aggressive Frame, the handling is garbage. It’s like trying to aim a telephone pole. You want Fluted Barrel. Always. It gives you a massive boost to handling and a little bump to stability. If you get a roll with Heavy Mag or something that tanks your handling even further, you’re going to hate using it, even if the main perks are perfect.
For the magazine, Accurized Rounds is the gold standard for PVP to keep that damage drop-off as far away as possible. For PVE, Tactical Mag is the sleeper hit. It gives you a bit of everything: stability, reload speed, and an extra bullet.
How to Farm the Spire of the Watcher Effectively
You can't just buy this gun from a vendor. You have to go get it. The Long Arm drops from the first encounter of the Spire of the Watcher dungeon (the Ascend the Spire encounter).
The good news? It’s a relatively fast encounter.
The bad news? The loot pool is diluted with armor and the Seventh Seraph Carbine.
If you’re serious about getting the Long Arm god roll, wait for Spire to be the featured weekly dungeon. When it’s featured, you can farm the encounters infinitely. Grab two friends, get a checkpoint for the first encounter, and just cycle it. You can finish a run in under five minutes if you’re coordinated with the yellow-bar minotaurs and the wire nodes.
Honestly, don't burn yourself out. I’ve seen people do 50 runs and get nothing but boots. Then they get a "4 out of 5" roll and realize it’s actually better than the "perfect" one they were chasing.
The Verdict on the Long Arm
Is it the best scout rifle in the game? No. A well-rolled Hung Jury or a Dead Man’s Tale with the right catalyst will probably outperform it in pure efficiency. But Destiny isn't just about efficiency. It's about how the gun feels in your hands.
The Long Arm god roll offers a specific playstyle. It’s for the player who likes to sit back, line up a shot, and feel the weight of the hammer falling. It’s an Arc workhorse that thrives in content where distance is your best friend.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session:
- Check your Vault: You might already have a Rapid Hit / Explosive Payload roll gathering dust. If you do, pull it out and take it into a Lost Sector.
- Prioritize Handling: If your roll feels slow, swap your armor mods to Dexterity and Targeting mods specifically for Scouts. It changes the entire experience.
- Farm the First Encounter: If you don't have one, wait for the dungeon rotation. Don't bother with the final boss if you only want the scout; the loot pool is too crowded at the end.
- Pair with Arc 3.0: Use the Fragment Whisper of Ions (or the Arc equivalent, Spark of Ions) if you're using a Voltshot roll to create Ionic Traces on every jolted kill.
The hunt for the perfect lever-action is a grind, but when you finally hear that metallic clack-shink after a headshot, you'll get it. It's just a cool gun. Period.