Destiny 2 Hand Cannon buff has made this Iron Banner gun finally worth farming

The Crimil's Dagger hand cannon from Iron Banner in Destiny 2.Dexerto

Iron Banner is sticking around for another week, with Destiny 2 players focused on farming Tinasha’s Mastery and Archon’s Thunder, but there’s another gun that’s also worth pursuing.

Crimil’s Dagger was reprised in Episode: Echoes, with its new perk pool making it one of the best 120s in the PvP meta. However, Aggressive frame Hand Cannons were not performing well, with their faster-firing counterparts being preferred on most maps and modes.

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At least this was the case until Revenant Act 2, where Bungie buffed 120 RPM HCs to deal more damage, allowing them to kill all Resilience levels with two headshots and one body shot. This change has made them meta yet again, so you’ll want to farm Crimil’s Dagger before Iron Banner leaves rotation on December 10, 2024.

Crimil’s Dagger god roll – Meta analysis

  • Barrel: Fluted Barrel
  • Magazine: Accurized Rounds
  • Perk 1: Air Trigger
  • Perk 2: Precision Instrument
  • Masterwork: Handling
The Crimil's Dagger PvP god roll in Destiny 2.Dexerto

Crimil’s Dagger has an absolutely stacked perk pool, which can make choosing a god roll surprisingly tricky. Despite this, Precision Instrument is always worth using, as it provides free precision damage for simply landing shots. This helps improve consistency and range, which are both key for getting the most out of this weapon.

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As for what to partner this with, there are a few good options, but Air Trigger stands out most. This underrated utility perk provides a huge boost to Reload Speed whenever you are airborne. All you have to do is hop whenever you reload, and Crimil’s Dagger receives an Outlaw level boost without the need to get a kill first.

You might be surprised to hear that Air Trigger matches Outlaw, as the in-game description only claims to boost Reload Speed by +30, which is nothing compared to Outlaw’s +70. However, YouTuber CoolGuy tested this and found that Air Trigger actually matches Outlaw’s bonus yet only requires a fraction of the effort to trigger it.

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Given this, it’s clear that Air Trigger + Precision Instrument is an incredibly powerful roll, and Crimil’s Dagger is the only 120 RPM HC that can have both perks at the same time. Alternatively, swapping Air Trigger for Slideways works too, with this perk partially reloading the magazine whenever you slide, which is great for playing more aggressively and bypasses the need to reload altogether.

Assuming you’re sold, you can farm Crimil’s Dagger by either playing Iron Banner and hoping for a drop or focusing the Kinetic Hand Cannon at Saladin in The Tower. Each focus attempt costs one Iron Engram and 25,000 Glimmer, making this a potentially pricy endeavor if you get unlucky.

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To help deal with those steep costs, check out the best Glimmer farms to make sure you aren’t running out anytime soon. You can even spend excess Glimmer on more top-tier PvP weapons like Bygones, an incredible Pulse Rifle that has taken over the meta.