About the choice of the right perks for all situations is passionately debated in Destiny 2. We clarify once and for all whether Kill Clip or Rampage should be on your weapon and what works particularly well for the Crucible.
What exactly is being debated? Since the release of the Destiny 2 expansion Forsaken, Guardians can finally find Random Rolls, meaning weapons with randomly rolled perks. Since then, Guardians have been discussing the best weapon rolls, also known as God Rolls.
In these debates, the perks Kill Clip and Rampage almost always come up, which many Guardians consider to be the best perks in the game, as they can significantly increase your weapon’s damage output. Since in 99% of cases, only Kill Clip or Rampage can be rolled on a weapon, the same question always arises: Which perk is better?
We analyze what the abilities actually do and why there is no clear answer to the question of the best perk. As a bonus, we also shed light on what makes the perk Headseeker unique and why it is so bad. But let’s start!
Kill Clip – The fun begins only after reloading
This is what the perk Kill Clip does: According to the ability description, you deal increased damage when you reload after a kill. So far, so good. What does this mean in concrete terms?
Typical of Bungie, most descriptions in the game are not very helpful. Fortunately, there are clever Guardians who test the numbers behind such perks and publish them.
What’s particularly interesting is the fact that both Rampage and Kill Clip perform differently between PvE and PvP content. This is due to an update from Bungie in March 2018, which increased the damage buff for both perks when fighting against AI-controlled enemies.
The specific numbers for Kill Clip are as follows:
- PvE – After reloading after a kill, you deal 53% more damage for 5 seconds
- PvP – After reloading after a kill, you deal 33% more damage for 5 seconds
After a kill, you have about 3 seconds to complete the reload before Kill Clip becomes ineffective. If you land a kill while Kill Clip is active, reloading again will not grant a new buff. You must wait for Kill Clip to expire before you can benefit from the perk again.
What’s interesting is the significant difference in damage between PvE and PvP. However, the difference is even more pronounced with the Rampage perk.
Rampage – A lot of fun in a short time
What does the Rampage perk do? The description states that kills temporarily deal more damage. The perk can be stacked up to three times. Again, quite cryptic. However, the exact numbers behind it have also been discovered and are as follows:
- PvE – After a kill, you receive the Rampage buff for 3.5 seconds. With one stack (i.e., one kill), you deal 21% more damage; with 2 kills and 2 stacks, it is already 43%, and with 3 stacks, it’s a hefty 65% increased damage.
- PvP – Also in the Crucible, the Rampage perk activates for 3.5 seconds, however, the damage bonuses are significantly lower. For each stack, you gain 10% additional damage, resulting in a maximum of 30% damage increase. Other sources report 11% per stack, which is likely due to rounding differences.
The great advantage of Rampage is that you can maintain the buff consistently at x3 as long as you continue to eliminate enemies within the 3.5 seconds. Each kill resets the timer.
However, the differences in damage between PvE and PvP are stark. You lose more than 30% in the Crucible compared to PvE.
Now that we’ve clarified what the perks do, let’s move on to the comparison. What is better? One hint can be made here: It is NOT Headseeker.
Headseeker – The Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
What does the Headseeker perk do? The description of the perk sounds appealing. It increases precision damage after body shots. What sounds like a great perk is, upon closer inspection, a dud.
To understand this, let’s look at the exact numbers, which are also identical between PvE and PvP content on pulse rifles:
- Body shots increase precision damage by 10%
- This buff is not increased if multiple shots hit the body before landing a precision shot. Whether you aim one or two shots of a volley at the body, the bonus remains 10%
- Cannot be stacked – the effect is limited to a single volley
This is why the Headseeker perk is a total waste: If you fire a volley from your pulse rifle and hit the body first, subsequent projectiles will deal 10% more damage on a precision hit. This is absurd since precision shots deal significantly more damage.
Sounds weird? It is. Even if you are not the best shots, Kill Clip or Rampage are always the better choice. Headseeker increases damage only marginally and does not improve the time taken to take down another Guardian in the Crucible.
Or to put it bluntly: Hit all shots critically and you will ALWAYS deal more damage than if you have to activate Headseeker through body shots first.
Kill Clip or Rampage? Which is better?
The answer: Both! In fact, both perks are among the best in Destiny 2, but shine in different disciplines. In the Crucible, Kill Clip is the best choice, while with Rampage you can best kick the aliens in the butt.
This is why Kill Clip is the better choice in the Crucible: The reasons why you should rely on Kill Clip in combat against other Guardians are manifold:
- With Kill Clip, you have a larger time window in which you deal increased damage, namely 8 seconds (3 seconds reload time + 5 seconds Kill Clip). So if a new enemy does not appear immediately, you can time the buff. With Rampage, you have exactly 3.5 seconds; then it’s over.
- This means that with Kill Clip, you can first take cover and regenerate, which is not possible with Rampage.
- When activating Kill Clip, you have a full magazine available since you must reload to activate the perk. If you have to reload first with the active Rampage buff, your time is almost up.
- The damage bonus with Kill Clip is significantly higher. As long as you don’t achieve a triple stack with Rampage (which is extremely difficult in the Crucible), Kill Clip always deals more damage.
- Kill Clip offers fantastic synergies. Pulse rifles like the Verflossen or the Crown Speech become true monsters with Kill Clip, as you only need two volleys to take down a Guardian with full health. This direct effect rarely occurs due to the lower damage bonus of Rampage.
Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course, there may be situations where Rampage is the better choice. For example, at Ada-1, you can acquire a mod that extends the Rampage perk by a whole second. However, this comes at the expense of other useful mods like Targeting Adjuster or an extended magazine.
Titans with the one-eyed mask do not necessarily need to regenerate health after a fight. The overshield generated by the helmet allows Titans to dive right back into the fray and thus benefit from the Rampage perk.
In general, it can be stated that Kill Clip is almost always the better choice in the Crucible compared to Rampage. The situation is different in PvE content.
This is why you should use the Rampage perk in PvE: Now that we have established that Kill Clip is the better choice in the Crucible, let’s take a look at PvE content. Ultimately, Rampage proves to be a significantly better alternative for several reasons:
- The damage bonus with a threefold stack of Rampage is better than with Kill Clip (65% vs. 53%). More damage = more fun!
- In front of you, you get significantly more aliens than Guardians. The easier it is to maintain the triple Rampage buff. Combined with a reloading perk like Outlaw, you could theoretically sustain the Rampage buff indefinitely.
- To trigger Kill Clip, you need to reload; Rampage works all the time and immediately.
In summary, Rampage is the better choice in PvE because you encounter more enemies and can thus benefit from the buff for longer. Additionally, the damage bonus compared to Kill Clip is higher.
One thing is for sure: If you find a weapon with the combination of Kill Clip / Rampage along with a perk for faster reloading, you hold a jewel in your hand that you shouldn’t dismantle casually. Unless it has Headseeker on it, then you are out of luck.
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