Exotic Perks
Cranial Spike
Subsistence
Stats
Impact | 100 | ||||
Range | 60 | ||||
• Damage Falloff | |||||
Stability | 30 | ||||
Handling | 50 | ||||
Reload Speed | 50 | ||||
• Reload Time | |||||
Aim Assistance | 60 | ||||
Inventory Size | 55 | ||||
Zoom | 18 | ||||
Airborne Effectiveness | 17 | ||||
Recoil | 89 | ||||
Rounds Per Minute | 120 | ||||
Magazine | 14 | ||||
Selected Perks | |||||
Popularity: Overall | Select 4 perks to see their popularity. | ||||
Popularity: Perks | |||||
Popularity: Trait Combo | |||||
Popularity: MW Bonus |
Perk Playground
Curated Roll
Random Rolls
TIP: Theorycrafter Recommendations
The blue/red/gold icons & glows below are Theorycrafter Recommendations. They are the perks that trusted community theorycrafters like for this weapon and can disagree with what is most popular. The colors indicate the game mode for which they prefer the perk.Learn More
Color Icon Game Mode Blue PVE Red PVP Gold PVE & PVP
Popular Trait Combos
Popular Individual Perks
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20.0%
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12.4%
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12.3%
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12.0%
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11.5%
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9.9%
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7.6%
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7.0%
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6.8%
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19.6%
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18.8%
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17.9%
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12.6%
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11.1%
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10.3%
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9.4%
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36.1%
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14.0%
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9.7%
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9.7%
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8.6%
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7.7%
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7.7%
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6.1%
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26.9%
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25.4%
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25.2%
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22.3%
Your Rolls
TIP: Popularity Ranks
The letters F thru S below are Popularity Ranks. They measure how popular your roll is versus the most popular roll for this weapon among the global community. The most popular roll is ranked S+. The least popular is ranked F-. Popular doesn't necessarily mean "good"; unpopular doesn't necessarily mean "bad". Use what you enjoy!
Learn More
TIP: Theorycrafter Recommendations
The blue/red/gold icons & glows below are Theorycrafter Recommendations. They are the perks that trusted community theorycrafters like for this weapon and can disagree with what is most popular. The colors indicate the game mode for which they prefer the perk.Learn More
Color Icon Game Mode Blue PVE Red PVP Gold PVE & PVP
TIP: API Perk Swap
The Bungie API now allows us to swap weapon perks for you*. Click individual perks below to swap them in-game. Click "Equip Popular Perks" to pick the perks that result in the highest popularity rank (if you're not already using them).* You must be in orbit, a social space, or logged off.
Related Collectible
Lore
Dead Man's Tale
"Long, short, they all end the same way." —Katabasis
Gaelin-4's war beast leads us through balmy Venusian jungle. Our rifles low, our Ghosts high in the canopy like sentry drones.
"My vehicle is old. Needs maintenance. Been running too long without cutting the engine," I say.
Gaelin sends me a sideways look. "That shipwright still around? She used to make cider in the autumn. I swear, she kept us like a pack of strays."
I sigh. "No, I mean this thing." I run my hand over my body. "Besides, you know I can't go back there." I straighten the leather wrap around my Tex-foundry rifle.
"You know I literally tune myself, right?" asks the Exo Hunter.
"Why? You're immortal."
"And you're not?"
"I know, but I'm… slower. I feel slower."
"Uh huh."
"Just not like what I used to feel like. Not… spry. Not up here either." I tap my helmet.
"Tragedy. I feel for you. Have Gilgamesh tune you then."
I chuckle. "Yeah… he'd love that."
"You two having issues again?"
I shake my head in a stiff, narrow lie. "You think we come back the same every time?"
"I do. Straight from the manufacturer ," Gaelin-4 says.
"Sometimes I get the feeling… something's different."
Gaelin stops and squints at me.
I dip my head and let my hood fall forward. "Nothing I can put my finger on, just little things. Adjustments."
"You think he's changing you?" Gaelin's voice sounds more serious than surprised.
I wait too long to answer. It's not because I don't know my answer, but because I want to feel like I still doubt it. I raise my head. Gaelin meets my eyes and looks up to the canopy.
He leans his shoulder into me and drops his voice to a whisper. "My Clip's a good one, but you need to realize Ghosts don't know anything. Nobody does. They're just like us. They get curious. They question. If you think something's coming unwound, you need to sit down and talk it out."
"Wait… did Clip change yo—"
"Please," Gaelin scoffs. "You're paranoid." He turns to keep walking and calls back, "Life changes you. Same with them. I'm the only one that stays the same."
Gaelin raises a fist and we stop. His war beast sniffs the air and turns us east. We continue walking.
"What'd you name the beast?"
"Castus."
"You've been reading too many of the Spider's books ."
"Some of 'em are good."
I laugh. "Aren't you the man that said anything you got tying you down can be made into a noose?"
"Yeah, some time ago."
"You've been taking a lot of jobs with him ? Those Fallen?"
"You're one to talk, Emperor's lackey . Some of those Eliksni aren't so bad."
Ok really, PvP this thing rocks, pairs well with a shotty or other close range gun.
PvE the easy or hitting and killing every red bar at range, and chunking even higher health enemies, pair with sundering gaze (season perk) and enjoy. Hunter need more exotics that pair with guns like this.
High caliber rounds, ricochet rounds, armor piercing rounds, and flared magwell are all very good magazines. Flared magwell is especially good if you're using killing wind or vorpal.
Vorpal weapon, Outlaw, Killing Wind, Moving Target and Subsistence are all fantastic perks. Killing Wind and Moving Target are specifically good for PvP.
Don't worry about the stocks or barrels unless you want to get technical. In that case, choose whatever maximizes the stat that you care about.
Tbh, you can't really go wrong with the perks, but I'd suggest to avoid Outlaw since the weapon already has a built in Rapid Hit like perk for reloading.
Edit: You probably want fluted, ricochet, moving target and short action stock if you want to have optimal stats.
Because its a 120 scout, that means recoil isnt exactly a huge problem so you dont need to dump all that much into stability, but having it at 40-60 lets it keep that flinch resistance for when you duel, preventing you from being flinched too hard out of your aim. That is of course you also have unflinching mods (kind of required for this gun) and medium-high resil.
Moving on we have the the +5 to range. We want just a little bit of range so we can edge out those initial hits on cranial spike consistently and now moving target.
This perk on this weapon is actually very important for 2 reasons.
1. The movement speed increase paired with high mobility (I use DMT with a 100 mobi hunter) actually serves really well to out trade people at range or dodge sniper aim. On other scouts that can run this perk (and on MIDA), having the extra movement speed is a great boon.
2. With a targeting mod and moving target, this weapon achieves exactly 100 aim asisst at x5 cranial spike.
Okay finally now all the handling. With this weapon being a scout, having high handling is an absolute must for one specific reason; you are constantly zoomed in. Being that as it may, you want the excessive 80 handling to swap to weapons for closer encounters if you come out of zoom and see a CQ blip. The excessive handling also allows for you to go in and out of zoom much faster which is something you definitely want if you play any sort of competitive match, especially trials or survival.
For PvP the roll matters much less than before and is up to personal preference. Moving target helps with aim assist and movement while ADSing, Outlaw helps with its abysmal reload speed, and Vorpal helps against killing roaming supers. Since it's a 120 scout and gains a bonus to range on headshot you'll want handling and stability instead of range.
PvP Recommended roll(s): Fluted Barrel + Steady Rounds/Flared Magwell/Ricochet Rounds + Vorpal Weapon/Moving Target/Outlaw + Fitted Stock
For PvE, don't waste your exotic slot on it. Cranial spike no longer gives bonuses to reload speed or damage anymore, so it relies solely on its Kinetic damage bonus and Exotic Primary damage bonuses, which is not worth the exotic slot considering you have other much more efficient and better feeling options. Instead, it's heavily recommended to take a Legendary Scout rifle in case you need it as opposed to this.
PvE recommended roll - Fluted Barrel + Flared Magwell + Vorpal Weapon + Fitted Stock
Overall one of the best PvP weapons in the game got completely neutered to one of the most mediocre, usurped by fucking Jade Rabbit. If you pick one up it'll most likely be because Xur has a good roll and you'll try it out to or keep in your vault in case of a buff, but since it hasn't been touched in a long while it's fair to say it's being left to rot. And in PvE the lack of inherent damage bonuses killed its viability entirely vs legendary kinetic scout rifles like Hung Jury, Randy's Throwing Knife, Servant Leader, and Nameless Midnight.
Me, whose RNG from Presage was shite: you SOB i'm in
Fr though I've liked this gun ever since I got my first roll with Killing Wind and another roll with Subsistence the run after. Puts in work for PvP and PvE alike, and it's more than its stats, it genuinely feels amazing to use even post-Catalyst nerf. Congrats bungo on a well-designed exotic.