Speleology—the study of cave-diving and spelunking. Yes, I know that’s the first question you’ve got when you see the Speleologist machine gun in Destiny 2, but what about its god rolls and best perks?
There are a few great picks for this machine gun in Destiny 2. The 900 RPM Solar Speleologist comes with an added benefit in the Radiolaria Transposer Origin Perk meaning kills with the weapon leave pools of Vex milk on the ground for enemies to walk into, taking extra damage over time. As such, it’s great as an add-clearing weapon and could even replace your primary, freeing you up for more boss-damage weapons in your Kinetic and Energy slots.
Here are the perks you should be chasing for the Speleologist.
What is the god roll for Speleologist in Destiny 2?
Speleologist PvE god roll
Below you’ll find our pick for the PvE god roll for the Speleologist.
| Column | Perk(s) |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Smallbore |
| Magazine | Appended Mag |
| Trait One | Deconstruct Envious Assassin |
| Trait Two | Killing Tally Incandescent |
| Origin Trait | Radiolaria Transposer |
There are plenty of great PvE rolls for this machine gun, which is important as there’s no shortage of great machine guns in Destiny 2 right now. In our first roll, we’re leaning toward boosting the number of shots we put down range by picking up Deconstruct and Killing Tally; this roll is great for those looking to use Speleologist as a primary instead of a heavy.
Our second roll gives us synergy with Solar and Prismatic builds by picking up Incandescent. The ignitions created on-kill help a lot with add-clear too, but this won’t straight-up replace your primary like our first roll does as you’ll be caught reloading. We can remedy this with Envious Assassin, which automatically loads the gun if we land kills.
Speleologist PvP god roll
Not to be forgotten, our PvP god rolls for Speleologist:
| Column | Perk(s) |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Polygonal Rifling |
| Magazine | Accurized Rounds Steady Rounds |
| Trait One | Firmly Planted |
| Trait Two | Strategist Incandescent |
| Origin Trait | Radiolaria Transposer |
There are few rolls here that make sense in PvP for the Spelelogist. It’s already at a detriment due to its status as a 900 RPM machine gun, while slower-firing versions in the weapon’s class are much more popular in the Crucible. Nevertheless, if you’re willing, go for Firmly Planted in the first column and pair it with Strategist to get your class ability back quickly. Incandescent is a decent second-column pick too, but you won’t be making too many ignitions due to the ammo economy in PvP.
How to get Speleologist in Destiny 2
Speleologist is an Episode: Echoes weapon, meaning you’ll need to complete seasonal activities during the episode to earn this weapon. It can also drop from the Encore exotic mission as well as the Nessus Battlegrounds, and once you’ve added one to your collections, you’ll be able to use your seasonal engrams to roll for random copies.
Get five Deepsight versions of the machine gun, and you’ll unlock its Destiny 2 crafting recipe in The Enclave where you can craft a copy with enhanced perks. You can also use Deepsight Harmonizers to unlock the recipe faster, but I wouldn’t recommend spending them on Speleologist—you’ll receive plenty of copies of the weapon by completing activities.
