Add the Strand rocket-assisted Pulse Rifle Mint Retrograde to your arsenal, and know which rolls you should grind for.
The Mint Retrograde is the first in a new weapon archetype introduced with Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate. It’s a rocket-assisted frame Pulse Rifle. Strand-element, in this case, and it’s amazing. Getting the god roll for the weapon just makes it moreso.
Here are the god rolls you want for the Mint Retrograde.
Mint Retrograde PvE god roll
Our Mint Retrograde PvE god roll has one goal: high damage output and add clear potential.
In endgame content, you can expect to have the weapon out not only while doing mechanics but also during a DPS phase, and the Retrograde has perks perfectly suited to both roles.
| Mint Retrograde god roll – PvE | |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Linear Compensator (+5 Stability, +5 Velocity, +5 Blast Radius) |
| Magazine | Appended Mag (+1 Magazine, or one additional round in the chamber) |
| Perk 1 | Rewind Rounds (Stores how many hits you get with the weapon, then, when the magazine empties, returns 60% of that value to it) |
| Perk 2 | One for All (Hitting three different enemies in a short span increases damage by 35% for 10 seconds. Buff does not refresh and must be reapplied) |
| Origin Trait | Problem Solver (Sustained damage to Champions, bosses, and minibosses reduces their damage output and increases this weapon’s handling and reload speed) |
| Masterwork | Blast Radius (+10 Blast Radius when maxed out) |
| Mod | Backup Mag (+1 Magazine) |
With this setup, the Mint Retrograde is viable in almost any PvE scenario. In the spaces between boss DPS, One for All ensures you always have a damage buff active. Most bosses have lots of trash mobs around them to shoot anyway, so refreshing the buff won’t be hard.
Rewind Rounds helps keep the weapon active longer, minimizing reloads and thus downtime.
Linear Compensator is the best compromise Barrel, making the Mint Retrograde more consistent at most distances and in most encounters. Appended Mag is a straight upgrade to the gun’s effectiveness, and with Backup Mag, you can have up to seven shots available.
Mint Retrograde PvP god roll
The Mint Retrograde isn’t as strong in PvP as it is in PvE, but it’s more than usable. Your Trait selection changes almost entirely, though, so you’d need to farm one specifically for Crucible. Unless you get a Tier 3+ version with multiple options, of course.
| Mint Retrograde god roll – PvP | |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Quick Launch (+10 Velocity, +15 Handling) |
| Magazine | Appended Mag (+1 Magazine) |
| Perk 1 | Beacon Rounds (Final blows grant the weapon’s projectiles tracking and improve its reload speed. Additional hits enhance the effect) |
| Perk 2 | Master of Arms (One final blow grants a damage bonus for seven seconds. A second grants a larger one for four seconds) |
| Origin Trait | Vanguard Determination (Using your class ability causes final blows to grant damage resistance) |
| Masterwork | Velocity (+10 Velocity when maxed out) |
| Mod | Backup Mag (+1 Magazine) |
The longer a shot takes to reach an enemy in Crucible, the more time they have to shoot back and not be dead. So Velocity is key for the Mint Retrograde’s projectiles.
Beacon Rounds helps alleviate that issue somewhat by adding tracking to your shots. Master of Arms helps with follow-up fights, though you’ll need to pick up at least a bit of extra Special Ammo to make more than two kills feasible.
How to get Mint Retrograde
The Mint Retrograde is exclusively a Pinnacle Ops reward. That means you’ll need to complete Exotic missions just for a chance at one to drop. The Whisper is the quickest of these, and Encore is probably the most rewarding (once Bungie figures out all the bugs).
Every Legendary Engram that appears during a Pinnacle Ops activity has a chance to drop the Mint Retrograde. That includes the ones that come from the final reward chest and those that appear after defeating an enemy.
Each Pinnacle Ops activity also has a midpoint reward chest that drops a single piece of loot. The Mint Retrograde can also come from there. Focus on missions with bonus rewards whenever possible.
As with anything in Destiny 2’s endgame progression, the higher the difficulty of the activity you choose, the better your odds of getting a higher Tier drop. You don’t want to make these missions so hard that you can’t complete them, but they might be that way for longer than you’d like.
For much more on The Edge of Fate expansion, check out our dedicated Destiny 2 page.
