Over 70% of Destiny 2 players are using the wrong mod on Scintillation

Recent discoveries made by the Destiny 2 community have uncovered that a highly sought-after weapon mod is actually decreasing its effectiveness.

Scintillation, featured as this week’s Nightfall weapon from June 25 to July 2, is considered one of the top Linear Fusion Rifles ever added to Destiny 2. Its perk pool is stacked with a variety of meta perks such as Rewind Rounds, Envious Assassin, and Bait & Switch.

Despite high expectations, it has been discovered that the assumed perfect roll for Scintillation may not be as effective as originally thought. A post on r/DestinyTheGame revealed that the Backup Mag perk, which is often used on this rifle, actually decreases ammo reserves and does not significantly increase the magazine size. As a result, the total damage output of the Strand Linear Fusion Rifle is reduced.

During their experiment to test the effect of Backup Mag on Scintillation’s magazine capacity and ammunition reserves, Reddit user MadBuc made the following discovery:

Enhanced Battery: 6 in magazine, 15 in reserves
Enhanced Battery + Backup Mag: 6 in magazine, 11 in reserves
Enhanced Battery + Adept Mag: 7 in magazine, 11 in reserves
Backup Mag: 6 in magazine, 13 in reserves
Adept Mag: 6 in magazine, 13 in reserves

Be careful with magazine size-altering perks on Scintillation byu/MadBuc inDestinyTheGame

The Ionized Battery functions similarly to the Enhanced Battery. While it does allow for a larger magazine size of 7 rounds, it also reduces the reserves to 13. This decrease in reserve ammunition will have a greater negative effect on DPS than the slight increase in magazine size, particularly in extended boss battles or phases where fewer shots are fired.

According to Light GG, a majority (71.6%) of Scintillation users have chosen to equip Backup Mag, despite the mod being deemed largely useless for the weapon. Additionally, a significant portion (41.6%) of Scintillation (Adept) users have also opted for Backup Mag, with an additional 12.2% opting for the Adept Mag.

For players using Scintillation, equipping Counterbalance Stock is recommended if the Recoil Direction is not already at 100. If the Recoil Direction is already at 100, then Targeting Adjuster is the optimal choice. Additionally, players with Scintillation (Adept) can utilize Adept Charge Time, which is the most effective mod for the Strand Linear Fusion Rifle.