In Destiny 2, the latest update was supposed to make the popular weapon “Breakneck” viable again. Let’s see if the top weapon is worth it now.
This is the weapon: The legendary automatic rifle Breakneck is a primary weapon for the kinetic slot. The gun is considered one of the unique top weapons and can be earned through the Gambit mode.
With a fire rate of 450, Breakneck is among the precise representatives of its kind. Additionally, the weapon has a decent range for an automatic rifle, which is further enhanced by its intrinsic Masterwork.
What makes this gun special are these two perks:
- Rampage – Kills with the weapon temporarily increase damage (up to 3x stackable).
- Onslaught – with Rampage stacks, your fire rate and reload speed are increased. This perk can only be found on Breakneck.
What happened to Breakneck? When Shadowkeep ushered in Year 3 of Destiny 2 last fall, there was a ton of new content and adjustments. In addition to a squish, Bungie overhauled a whole bunch of perks.
What these perks had in common was that the developers believed they enabled too much damage and were significantly stronger than competing abilities. Breakneck also underwent an overhaul.
Unfortunately, the Destiny developer went overboard and “massacred” the automatic rifle. The more Rampage stacks were accumulated, the weaker the weapon suddenly became. Little remained of its former shine as a top weapon.
Update aims to fix the fiasco
Here’s the current state of Breakneck: The latest update 2.7.1 finally addressed the poor state of Breakneck. However, it still hasn’t fully recovered.
A problem was fixed where “Onslaught” reduced damage at “Rampage” stacks x2, while the fire rate was not increased.
Bungie
For the top weapon, the Rampage perk does not work as usual and increases damage linearly. Instead, you receive variable damage values and a gradual increase in fire rate:
- Without Rampage, you have a 450 fire rate.
- With Rampage x1, you have a 600 fire rate.
- With Rampage x2, you also have a 600 fire rate.
- With Rampage x3, you achieve a 720 fire rate.
The damage values behave differently in PvE and PvP. Therefore, we consider the two areas separately.
This is what Breakneck can do in PvE: In combat against NPC enemies, Breakneck performs better than before the update. However, the new values do not compare to the killer weapon of the past.
- The damage without Rampage and with Rampage x1 is nearly identical. However, due to the increased fire rate, you cause more DPS. Your damage over time is about 33% higher.
- At Rampage x2, you maintain the 600 fire rate but gain about 10% extra damage. This increases your DPS by nearly half.
- At maximum Rampage x3, your damage decreases again after the update. Depending on the target, you lose between 7 and 15% damage. The high fire rate can only partially compensate for this. Your DPS value increases barely noticeably compared to the previous level.
Destiny experts believe that while Breakneck plays solidly again, it does not deserve the title of “top weapon.” The problem is the too low base damage and the lack of damage boost at Rampage x3.
In comparison to other contenders for the primary weapon throne, the automatic rifle currently cannot keep up in PvE. You can read which weapons are currently performing well here.
This is what Breakneck can do in PvP: In the Crucible, the top weapon can indeed run at high speeds and take down other Guardians in no time. However, you must first rack up some kills and shoot very accurately.
These are the damage values in PvP:
- Without Rampage, you achieve a TTK (Time to Kill) of 0.93 seconds. You need to land 6 critical hits and 2 body hits.
- Rampage x1 lowers your TTK to 0.7 seconds. Now you need 7 crits and 1 bodyshot.
- Rampage x2 improves your TTK again, this time to 0.6 seconds. You need 7 headshots for that.
- Rampage 3x brings it down to 0.58 for the best TTK. However, you must land 8 critical hits in a row.
Even in the Crucible, it is noticeable that the maximum Rampage level does not really bring much. Moreover, it is relatively difficult to stack Breakneck that high in practice. A Rampage stack lasts without a special mod for 3.5 seconds (with 4.5 seconds).
What do you think of Breakneck – do you give the top weapon a new chance or does the gun stay in the vault? You can read how the recent changes have affected another automatic rifle and why the Exotic is finally viable here.
