Destiny 2 Retrofit Escapade Will Destroy Bosses – Is It Broken?

It's sort of broken.
Destiny 2 Retrofit Escapade broken god roll in inventory.
Image via Bungie

Destiny 2‘s Retrofit Escapade Machine Gun has been destroying bosses during Season of the Seraph. In a META where Linear Fusion Rifles and Rocket Launchers rain supreme, we’re seeing a Machine Gun output so much damage that it’s breaking raid boss’ health bars. How, though? Is it genuinely that good? Or is the Retrofit Escapade broken?

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I’m going to explain exactly what’s up with the Retrofit, and why it’s doing so much seemingly unintended damage.

Is Destiny 2’s Retrofit Escapade Broken?

Retrofit Escapade Volatile explosion on Shrieker boss.
Image via Bungie

Sort of. As it stands, it’s Volatile Rounds that’s broken, but the Retrofit Escapade is the only gun capable of taking full advantage of that.

If you have a Retrofit Escapade with Fourth Time’s the Charm and Target Lock – you’re capable of outputting a pretty hefty lump of damage. Not an insane amount, but enough to be considered META along with Linears and Rockets. However, if you proc Volatile Rounds on your Retrofit and then do DPS, your total damage is going to go through the roof.

Volatile Rounds works through a stack system. Every shot adds a stack to an enemy, and with enough stacks, the Volatile explosion is triggered. With how many shots you’re getting off with that Retrofit roll, the Volatile stacking can’t keep up and bugs out. This results in Volatile explosions triggering significantly more times than intended – resulting in the crazy boss-melting damage that you’ve been seeing.

This effect is amplified if you run multiple Retrofits with Volatile Rounds. A full raid team running Retrofit with a Divinity is capable of outputting enough damage to outright break several bosses. The damage is so severe that the boss’ health bar can’t actually keep up – resulting in some pretty unusual effects.

The Sisters on King’s Fall, for example, will start randomly healing during the damage phase. The Harpy on Spire of the Watcher also bugs out, completely losing its pathing during DPS due to the explosions.

Related: Destiny 2 Fire and Forget God Roll Guide – How to Get

Destiny 2 Retrofit Escapade God Roll

Destiny 2 Retrofit Escapade god roll on D2Gunsmith.
Image via D2Gunsmith

If you want to reproduce the crazy Retrofit Escapade boss-melting damage that you’ve seen online, you’ll need this specific roll:

  • Arrowhead Break.
  • Extended Mag.
  • Fourth Time’s the Charm.
  • Target Lock.

You’ll also want a boss spec and reload speed masterwork. This roll alone is enough for respectful damage, but to make full use of it, you’ll need a way to reliably proc Volatile Rounds. Hunters have a pretty easy time with Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk. Warlocks will need to utilize a grenade Void build, as will Titans.


Retrofit Escapade will probably be getting patched soon – but it’s only a matter of time before something else breaks. Follow Gamer Journalist on Facebook and you’ll be kept up to date on all things Destiny 2, and more.

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