Retraced Path

For complete perks, see d2gunsmith.com, light.gg or destinytracker.com.

The Retraced Path is the first Legendary Trace Rifle in Destiny, added during the 30th Anniversary Event in December, 2021. As CoolGuy mentions in his video review (linked below), the available perks and resulting perk combos offer substantial flexibility. Some of the final column perks are so strong you don’t necessarily need to combo them with anything. That being said, we’ll only highlight combo rolls since you don’t need a wishlist to tell you “Keep ones with Tricorn” 😉

PvP Thoughts#

“Crucible, very strong with this perk set. I really enjoy it and I don’t have a bad thing to say about it; it melts” – CoolGuy > “With the Harmony buff active, this thing will melt people in about 0.6s … No, it’s not Trials meta … But it’s incredibly useful, effective and fun." – TrueVanguard

CoolGuy has a thorough review “Destiny 2: Retraced Path MELTS in PvP, but needs help in PvE”. In particular Harmony and Golden Tricorn are the standout perks, with TrueVanguard showing off a bit of Harmony-based gameplay; “You’ve GOTTA Try This Combo - Retraced Path”. It has a bunch of kick on the initial burst, so you’ll want to even it out with Stability when you can. With Particle Repeater, Polygonal Rifling and the effects of the Perpetual Motion perk you could max out Stability.

PvE Thoughts#

Ekuegan has a review up with his recommended PvE rolls: “Retraced Path” God Roll Guide. CoolGuy’s review above also features a PvE section. With the addition of Trace Rifle armor mods and the Retraced Path itself, one could assume we’ll someday see Trace Rifles featured with Seasonal Artifact mods, so I’d reccomend keeping one or two PvE rolls around until next season.

🚦 Start Again (CoolGuy’s Pick) (pvp)#

If you’re going into engagements “maining” the Retraced Path, this is the roll for you. Choose Perpetual Motion or Killing Wind depending on if you want a pre- or post-kill benefit.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Smallbore
  • Magazines: Particle Repeater
  • Perks 1: Perpetual Motion, Killing Wind
  • Perks 2: Golden Tricorn
  • Masterworks: Stability MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Chambered Compensator, Corkscrew Rifling, Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Particle Repeater, Tactical Battery, Projection Fuse

🔀 Convergence (CoolGuy’s Pick) (pvp)#

To proc Harmony, you’ll need to be swapping over to the Retraced Path after a kill, so run this if you’re relying more heavily on your primary weapon.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Smallbore
  • Magazines: Particle Repeater
  • Perks 1: Perpetual Motion, Killing Wind
  • Perks 2: Harmony
  • Masterworks: Stability MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Chambered Compensator, Corkscrew Rifling, Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Particle Repeater, Tactical Battery, Projection Fuse

🚧 Overstepped Grenade Bounds (Ekeugan’s Pick) (pve)#

Great for add clear; endless grenades from Demolitionist and endless reloads from both Demolitionist and Subsistence.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Ionized Battery
  • Perks 1: Subsistence
  • Perks 2: Demolitionist
  • Masterworks: Reload MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel, Corkscrew Rifling, Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Hammer-Forged Rifling, Arrowhead Brake
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery, Particle Repeater, Projection Fuse, Enhanced Battery

🚧 Overstepped Damage Bounds (Ekeugan’s Pick) (pve)#

If looking to maximize damage with the Retraced Path, this is the roll for you. Tricorn gives you a refreshable 15% damage buff and then a potential 50% (?!) buff after ability-based activation.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Ionized Battery
  • Perks 1: Subsistence
  • Perks 2: Golden Tricorn
  • Masterworks: Reload MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel, Corkscrew Rifling, Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Hammer-Forged Rifling, Arrowhead Brake
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery, Particle Repeater, Projection Fuse, Enhanced Battery

🥾 A Thousand Steps (Ekeugan’s Pick) (pve)#

Solid roll to have on hand if/when running into solar shields or if this shows up in the Seasonal Artifact with a Barrier mod.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery
  • Perks 1: Genesis
  • Perks 2: Disruption Break
  • Masterworks: Reload MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel, Corkscrew Rifling, Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Hammer-Forged Rifling, Arrowhead Brake
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery, Particle Repeater, Projection Fuse, Enhanced Battery

♻️ Enhanced Roundabout (Slif’s Endgame Pick) (pve)#

In endgame content, combine a Special Weapon with deep ammo reserves that can expend very little ammo to proc One for All (versus a shotgun, sniper, etc.) to receive a massive 35% damage boost. Pair this with Genesis for free ammo when up against Solar-shielded enemies or Shoot to Loot when you need to trace-rifle-snipe from behind cover/across the map. The other perks in column three aren’t standouts in endgame PvE. I could imagine this coming in super handy in encounters like Sedia/The Corrupted with those Solar-shielded knights. I’m also voting for the 20% reload speed buff from Tactical Battery or Light Battery and the Masterwork, over minor bumps to Stability or Range in those slots.

• Collector’s Edition Roll
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery
  • Perks 1: Genesis, Shoot to Loot
  • Perks 2: One for All
  • Masterworks: Reload MW
• Extended Perks (referred to with a ‘+’ below)
  • Barrels: Fluted Barrel, Corkscrew Rifling, Smallbore, Polygonal Rifling, Hammer-Forged Rifling, Arrowhead Brake
  • Magazines: Tactical Battery, Light Battery, Particle Repeater, Projection Fuse, Enhanced Battery