RELATED: Destiny 2: How To Complete The Wait For It…Challenge In Vault Of Glass Raid

The Merciless Catalyst does mitigate some of the problems with this weapon and fortunately isn’t too bad to grind for. It still takes some effort of course and upgrading can take a while, especially with the weapon’s role in the game.

Updated on September 28, 2021 by Ben Baker: For a time the Merciless was a broken weapon which made spending time figuring out how to get Merciless Catalyst a bit pointless. Who wants to devote several hours to get a gun that doesn’t work properly? Fortunately, the problem has since been fixed and the Merciless is now a great weapon to use against bosses in PVE. To illustrate this the guide has been updated to include the stats of the Merciless Catalyst. There is also advice on when and how to use it effectively in combat for both PVE and PVP content. Under the right circumstances, this weapon is a monster, but it does require some micromanaging and solid teamwork.

What The Merciless Catalyst Does

The Merciless Catalyst provides two benefits to the Merciless fusion rifle once it’s obtained:

Increase weapon range by 36 Increase stability by 36

RELATED:

Destiny 2: What The Trinity Ghoul Catalyst Does & How To Find It

The boost to weapon range is nice as it allows players to fight from a greater distance rather than having to be on top of the enemy like before. The increased stability already synergizes with the weapon’s other stability boosts resulting in a very accurate weapon.

Weapon Stats With The Merciless Catalyst

Impact – 75

Range – 45

Stability – 39

Handling – 47

Reload Speed – 49

Charge Time – 1040

Magazine – 8

Conserve Momentum – Non-lethal hits with projectiles make Merciless charge faster until a kill.

Impetus – Reloading immediately after a kill increases weapon damage briefly.

How To Find The Merciless Catalyst

The Merciless Catalyst will randomly drop whenever the player completes a Heroic or Nightfall Strike. Higher difficulties don’t seem to affect the drop rate so it’s recommended to do the easier Strikes to increase completion efficiency.

RELATED: Destiny 2: How To Get Corrupted Key Codes

There are also a number of other Catalysts that can drop during a Heroic or Nightfall Strike, such as the Legend of Acrius Catalyst. There doesn’t seem to be a way to guarantee the Merciless Catalyst will take priority. Players will need to be patient and keep grinding these Strikes until the Merciless Catalyst appears.

Upgrading The Merciless Catalyst

After the player gets their hands on the Merciless Catalyst they’ll want to consider upgrading it. To do this the player will need to kill 500 enemies using the Merciless weapon. It doesn’t matter if the player uses other weapons in tandem so long as the Merciless deals the final blow.

Merciless is a tricky weapon for this grind given it’s more suited for team play. But going to the standard farming locations including the new farming spot a player found in the Cosmodrome is always a good idea. It’s also recommended to take this along on boss hunts as it can snowball very quickly against tough enemies.

Tips For Using The Merciless Catalyst

The Merciless weapon serves two roles in Destiny 2, provide support in team fights and to snowball bosses. This is largely because of its Intrinsic trait Conserve Momentum. Any non-lethal hits the player does will cause the weapon to reload faster.

RELATED:

Destiny 2: How To Get The Ager’s Scepter Catalyst & What It Does

This means the player can damage other enemies to give other players the kill while giving the Merciless weapon a blazing reload speed. Against bosses, the Merciless can damage the boss while gaining a faster and faster reload speed. Of course, this requires having a tremendous amount of ammo, but players should keep these things in mind when grinding out the 500 kills to upgrade the Merciless Catalyst.

Advice On Using The Merciless Catalyst

The Merciless Catalyst gives the weapon better stats and makes it more viable for many parts of the game. It’s a brutal tool against bosses as mentioned earlier thanks to the ability to fire faster and deal more damage with each non-lethal shot. This makes it a fantastic weapon in PVPE content and various raids.

In PVP it’s a bit of a mixed bag. With some pre-charging, the Merciless can soften up enemies for teammates and give the player a damage boost when they do go in for the kill. The problem is that it requires careful coordination with a teammate to fully exploit. Most players would likely prefer a weapon that only relies upon themselves to get the most out of in PVP.

More: Destiny 2: What The Graviton Lance Catalyst Does & How To Find It