Destiny 2 Lotus-Eater god roll guide for PvE and PvP with best perks

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Step into the shadows of Destiny 2’s Nightfall playlist and discover the Lotus-Eater, the game’s first Void rocket-assisted sidearm that’s redefining power in both PvE and PvP. With its explosive perks and devastating Void synergy, mastering the Lotus-Eater’s god rolls could turn the tide of battle and elevate your Guardian to unstoppable status. Ready to unlock the secrets behind its perfect build and where to claim this elusive weapon? Your journey to domination begins here.

In this Destiny 2 guide, we’ll walk you through how to get a Lotus-Eater, which perks can drop on it, and what we would consider the PvE god rolls to be for this weapon.

How to get Lotus-Eater in Destiny 2

The Lotus-Eater in Destiny 2 can be obtained exclusively from the Nightfall playlist during its weekly rotation, where it appears as a final chest reward after completing the Nightfall strike. To increase the chances of acquiring the weapon, players should aim to complete Grandmaster Nightfalls with a Platinum score, which guarantees the Adept version of Lotus-Eater, featuring enhanced stats and curated rolls. Once obtained, additional rolls can be decoded at Zavala using Vanguard Engrams, Nightfall Ciphers, and Glimmer, but only after the weapon has been acquired initially. Players need to check the weekly Nightfall rotation to know when Lotus-Eater is available, as its appearance is not constant.

The Lotus-Eater is one of many rotating Nightfall weapons that you can get by completing a Nightfall in the week that it’s available.

You can check what the weekly weapon is by visiting Commander Zavala in the Tower. You’ll see the “featured” weapon at the top of his Focused Decoding menu, which will show the weapon that will drop from Nightfalls that week.

Nightfall weapons have a much higher chance of dropping when you complete the Nightfall on higher difficulty levels. Grandmaster Nightfalls are guaranteed to drop one Adept Nightfall weapon, which will net you access to special Adept mods that can further increase your stats.

Finally, you can spend a Nightfall Cipher (Adept) on additional rolls of the Featured Nightfall weapon as long as you’ve completed the Nightfall that week and have the weapon (Adept versions cost 10 Nightfall Ciphers). You can increase your Nightfall Cipher (Adept) haul by running the Grandmaster Nightfall.


All Lotus-Eater perks in Destiny 2

The Lotus-Eater in Destiny 2 features a robust perk pool divided into two main columns. In the first perk column, players can choose from Reconstruction, Feeding Frenzy, Repulsor Brace, Beacon Rounds, Strategist, and Shoot to Loot. The second perk column includes Withering Gaze, One For All, Destabilizing Rounds, High Ground, Adrenaline Junky, and Reverberation. These perks offer a mix of reload efficiency, damage boosts, overshield generation, and debuff applications, enabling versatile builds especially suited for PvE. Popular combinations often pair Repulsor Brace or Reconstruction in the first slot with Destabilizing Rounds or Withering Gaze in the second to maximize Void synergy and crowd control capabilities.

Below, we’ll list out all the possible perks in Lotus-Eater’s left and right columns. We’ll be skipping the barrel and magazine perks, but you’re looking to prioritize velocity and reload speed wherever possible. As always, we’re using the excellent and reliable Light.gg database to pull our data.

Here’s what Lotus-Eater can drop with in the left column (two perks can drop in the left column and you can toggle between them):

  • Reconstruction
  • Feeding Frenzy
  • Repulsor Brace
  • Beacon Rounds
  • Strategist
  • Shoot To Loot

Here’s what Lotus-Eater can drop with in the right column:

  • Withering Gaze
  • One For All
  • Destabilizing Rounds
  • High Ground
  • Adrenaline Junky
  • Reverberation

Below, we’ll offer some perk combination recommendations for Lotus-Eater.


Lotus-Eater god rolls for PvE in Destiny 2

The Lotus-Eater god roll for PvE in Destiny 2 focuses on maximizing its Void Rocket Sidearm potential with a combination of Quick Launch barrel for increased velocity and handling, High-Explosive Ordnance magazine to boost blast radius and velocity, and key perks like Repulsor Brace, which grants an overshield after defeating Void-debuffed enemies, and Destabilizing Rounds, which spreads a Volatile debuff to nearby targets upon kills. This setup enhances crowd control and survivability, making Lotus-Eater an S-tier weapon for PvE activities, especially when paired with Void subclass abilities. The weapon is obtained from Nightfall strikes and can be further focused at Zavala in the Tower.

We’re going to focus entirely on PvE in this guide, as that’s both our expertise and where a large part of the community spends their time. If you’re interested in PvP recommendations, we suggest checking out a YouTuber like FalloutPlays, who specializes in PvP.

There are some really great rolls in the Lotus-Eater perk pool, but a few combos really take the weapon from good to great. We’re going to give you two.

The Void Verb Lotus-Eater

Of the two recommendations, this one is the one we’d recommend most people go for, as it ticks two of the most important boxes: It’s powerful and it’s unique for this archetype.

Left column:

  • Reconstruction
  • Repulsor Brace

Right column:

  • Destabilizing Rounds

Starting with the more important perk, you’re going to want Destabilizing Rounds in your right column, as it’s extremely powerful for clearing large rooms of enemies or just doing additional blast damage. Its ability to apply Volatile Rounds for a brief period of time just makes it that much better.

For your left column perks, you’d ideally want Reconstruction with a Repulsor Brace toggle. Reconstruction removes your need to ever reload this thing, really, and Repulsor Brace synergizes very well with Destabilizing Rounds, keeping you healthy with a Void Overshield basically all the time.

The Blaster Master Lotus-Eater

This recommendation is definitely secondary to the Void Verb one. It’s not as powerful or as unique, but it is extremely versatile as the perks rely less on synergizing with your subclass. If you just can’t get enough of the Lotus-Eater and wish you could use it when running a Strand build or something, go for this one.

Left column:

  • Reconstruction
  • Beacon Rounds/Strategist

Right column:

  • One For All

Again, starting with the important perk, you’re really looking for One For All in the right column. One For All can typically be annoying to get going, but because the Lotus-Eater has some splash damage, you should have no problem hitting the three enemies required to activate this perk. You’ll then get a really big, potent damage bonus for a few seconds before needing to start over again. This is another of One For All’s annoyances – that you have to wait for it to fall off to reset it – that is mitigated by the explosive nature of this gun.

In the left column, you’re looking for Reconstruction and Beacon Rounds. Reconstruction makes it so you never have to reload, whereas Beacon Rounds makes your shots track and gives you a reload speed bonus. Beacon Rounds is definitely more useful for controller players than keyboard and mouse players. There is a dark horse pick for Strategist here, as getting class energy back can be really helpful in a lot of builds, but for general play you probably want to look to the other two.

What makes Lotus-Eater god rolls stand out in Destiny 2

The Lotus-Eater god rolls stand out in Destiny 2 due to their unique synergy of perks that maximize the weapon’s Void damage potential and utility in both PvE and PvP. Key perks like Repulsor Brace grant an overshield upon defeating enemies with Void debuffs, providing survivability, while Destabilizing Rounds cause defeated targets to explode with Void energy, spreading Volatile status to nearby enemies and enabling crowd control and barrier champion stuns.

For PvE, god rolls typically combine Quick Launch for increased velocity and handling, High-Explosive Ordnance or Extended Mag for blast radius and ammo capacity, and the Repulsor Brace + Destabilizing Rounds perk combo to maintain constant overshields and explosive damage chains.

In PvP, rolls focus on High-Velocity Rounds to boost projectile speed and reload, with perks like Strategist to generate class ability energy on kills and High Ground for damage boosts when positioned advantageously, enhancing lethality and mobility.

This combination of perks leverages the Lotus-Eater’s rocket-assisted frame to deliver rapid, explosive Void damage while sustaining the player with overshields and ammo regeneration, making its god rolls highly sought after for their power and versatility across game modes.

What perks make Lotus-Eater stand out in Destiny 2 gameplay

The Lotus-Eater stands out in Destiny 2 gameplay primarily due to its unique perks that enhance Void damage, survivability, and crowd control. Key perks include:

  • Repulsor Brace: Grants an overshield when defeating Void-debuffed targets, significantly boosting survivability in prolonged fights.

  • Destabilizing Rounds: Causes defeated enemies to explode with Void energy, spreading the Volatile status to nearby foes and enabling chain explosions for massive area damage.

  • Reconstruction: Eliminates the need to reload by passively reloading ammo, allowing for sustained fire.

  • Beacon Rounds: Improves projectile tracking and reload speed on kills, enhancing precision and uptime.

  • High Ground: Provides a damage buff when positioned above enemies, offering a consistent 25% damage increase that refreshes with kills.

  • Withering Gaze: Weakens targets after aiming for a short time, increasing damage dealt and preventing healing.

These perks synergize to make Lotus-Eater a powerful Void rocket-assisted sidearm, excelling in clearing groups of enemies quickly in PvE with explosive chain reactions and providing strong utility and damage boosts in PvP scenarios. The combination of overshields, explosive damage, and ammo regeneration makes it a versatile and dominant weapon choice.

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Leigh Alexander

Role: Freelance Game Journalist, Consultant, Critic, Editor, Freelancer
Genre: Analytics, Indie Games, Industry, Criticism, Game Culture

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