Adrenaline Junkie is a powerful damage perk that’s similar to Swashbuckler, but for grenades: stacking handling and damage on successive weapon kills up to 33%, or granting the full damage boost all at once after a grenade kill. An Adrenaline Junkie weapon seems like a perfect fit for a grenade-heavy build, but it typically occupies that same slot as another favorite perk for grenade enthusiasts: Demolitionist.
Easy Judgment And The Last Breath Farming In Prophecy
Note: as of Season of the Wish (2024) The Last Breath is no longer available from Prophecy. Judgment is still available, but it’s now Stasis instead of Kinetic.
Judgment and The Last Breath are fantastic weapons in their own right. 140 RPM Hand Cannons are solid picks in PvE and a top choice for PvP, while 600 RPM Auto Rifles are easily best in class. Adaptive Frame Auto Rifles have the second-highest damage-per-second in their class, second only to Rapid Fire Frames. But the ability to control your recoil on an Adaptive Frame Auto makes the trade-off worth it. The Last Breath is competing against Chroma Rush in most PvE content, but while Chroma Rush can roll Adrenaline Junkie too it can’t pair it with Demolitionist. You’re better off running Rampage together with Feeding Frenzy, Heating Up, or Subsistence instead.
Judgment is an Adaptive Hand Cannon that’s up against Fatebringer and its Adept version, as well as Palindrome and its respective Adept. In PvE Fatebringer has a unique set of perks and combos like Explosive Payload and Firefly, and Osmosis-Firefly that brings three damage types into one weapon. You can find Adrenaline Junkie on Fatebringer, but again, you can’t pair it with Demolitionist. You can, however, use Osmosis with Fatebringer, which may become more relevant in the future if Stasis shields begin appearing regularly.
Corrective Measures In Vault Of Glass
The Void Machine Gun Corrective Measures returned to Destiny 2 about seven months after Commemoration, which I personally think has the best perk for any non-Pinnacle Machine Gun in the game: Reconstruction. That said, Corrective Measures has a unique Demolitionist-Adrenaline Junkie roll that’s especially exciting given that Heavy weapons return more grenade energy with Demolitionist than Special or Primary weapons. It’s very easy to keep stacks up with Corrective Measures, and reloading on throwing your grenade means you’ll rarely have to reload.
More Options For Hothead
The Nightfall-exclusive Rocket Launcher Hothead leverages Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie towards high-DPS, but it’s probably not the best roll for pure boss damage. Clown Cartridge is going to be a more consistent perk option is you’re simply shooting at a raid boss, but for more casual activities the Demo/Junkie roll is a ton of fun with insane damage output. Heavy weapons with a somewhat-lengthy reload love Demolitionist, and this roll makes Hothead a very comfortable shooting experience. You can find Hothead in Nightfall strikes during weeks where Hothead is one of the two rotating rewards, and its Adept version is available in Grandmaster Nightfall strikes.
BxR-55 Battler Grenade Build
Edit: As of Season18 BxR-55 Battler can no longer roll with Adrenaline Junkie.
Lightweight Pulse Rifles aren’t in a great place in PvE at the moment, but the Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie roll makes the BxR-55 Battler significantly more serviceable. Compared to Judgment and Last Breath the BxR has significantly more range and hip fire accuracy, and Adrenaline Junkie bumps up its damage to make it competitive against other primary options. The BxR’s unique frame is a bit of an oddity, especially with its unusual scope, but it’s the perfect pairing with Forerunner to relive the Halo days by spamming grenades. You can farm the BxR by participating in Dares of Eternity.
New Witch Queen Weapons Bring More Perk Combos
The Witch Queen more than doubled the number of weapons that can roll with Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist simultaneously. Let’s start by taking a look a look at the full list of new weapons:
- Deliverance – Fusion Rifle
- Ogma PR6 – Pulse Rifle
- Fortissimo-11 – Shotgun
- Crisis Inverted – Hand Cannon
- Insidious – Pulse Rifle
- Typhon GL5 – Grenade Launcher
Deliverance and Insidious are both craftable, but you’ll need to run the Vow of the Disciple raid regularly if you want to unlock their patterns. As a bonus for being able to craft the exact roll you want you’ll also be able to craft enhanced versions of both Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist, further increasing their potency by a small amount. For Junkie you’ll get a slightly more forgiving period to score kills with its effect, and Demo meanwhile will grant slightly more energy per kill.
Ogma PR6 and Typhon GL5 are both world drop weapons that can drop from dozens of different sources. You’ll also find these weapons at the Gunsmith, who offers world drop weapons with random rolls each day. Ogma PR6 can also roll with a unique Demolitionist / Wellspring combo if you don’t mind skipping the damage perk. Finally, Fortissimo-11 and Crisis Inverted drop from the Strikes playlist and Crucible playlists respectively. Both weapons have a deep loot pool, so you might be hunting for a while.
I highly recommend keeping a close eye on your Ogma PR6 rolls this year, and keep in mind that Special weapons with Demolitionist generate more grenade energy per kill, and they can secure kills more reliably on harder targets. If you love this perk combo I think a craftable Deliverance is a must-have.
Season 17’s New Adrenaline Junkie & Demolitionist Rolls
Season of the Haunted introduced new weapons that roll with the Adrenaline Junkie / Demolitionist combo.
- Nezarec’s Whisper – Glaive
- Chain of Command – Machine Gun
- Forgiveness – Sidearm
- Unforgiven – Submachine Gun
Chain of Command, the Season 17 Ritual Weapon, is a guaranteed Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist roll. Forgiveness is a new Trials of Osiris Sidearm that rolls with the excellent origin trait Alacrity. The Void SMG Unforgiven in the Duality dungeon can also get the combo in addition to a few other new perks like Repulsor Brace. Finally, Nezarec’s Whisper is currently the only Glaive in the game that can roll with this combo.
Season 18 Weapons With Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist
Season of Plunder brings with it another round of weapons that can roll with this perk combo:
- Out of Bounds – Submachine Gun
- The Inquisitor – Shotgun
- Smite of Merain – Pulse Rifle
Out of Bounds is an Arc SMG that drops from Crucible activities, while The Inquisitor is a slug Shotgun available from Trials of Osiris. Lastly, Smite of Merain is a Pulse Rifle available in King’s Fall that not only rolls with Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist, but also with Pugilist and Swashbuckler!
Season 19 Weapons With Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist
Season of the Seraph has a new batch of weapons that can roll with both perks simultaneously:
- Lodbrok-C – Auto Rifle
- Wilderflight – Grenade Launcher
- Terminus Horizon – Machine Gun
- Blowout – Rocket Launcher
Lodbrok-C is a Stasis Auto Rifle that exists in the world loot pool, while Wilderflight is a void Grenade Launcher that drops from the dungeon Spire of the Watcher.
Lightfall Weapons With Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist
Season of Defiance and Lightfall introduced more weapons that can roll with the combo:
- Rufus’s Fury – Auto Rifle
- Autum Wind – Pulse Rifle
- The Hothead – Rocket Launcher
Season 21 Weapons
Season of the Deep added a handful of new options for this perk combo, including one weapon weapon from the reprised Last Wish raid and two from Ghosts of the Deep:
- Transfiguration – Scout Rifle
- New Pacific Epitaph – Grenade Launcher
- No Survivors – Submachine Gun
Season 22 Weapons
Season of the Witch and Crota’s End have a great line-up of Adrenaline Junkie and Demolitionist weapon rolls:
- Word of Crota – Hand Cannon
- Oversoul Edict – Pulse Rifle
- The Guiding Sight – Scout Rifle
- Unending Tempest – Submachine Gun
- Heliocentric QSC – Sidearm
Season 23 Weapons
Season of the Wish and Into the Light added a few new items capable of rolling Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie:
- The Mountaintop – Grenade Launcher
- The Undercurrent – Grenade Launcher
- Double-Edged Answer – Sword
- Imperative – Scout Rifle
Event Weapons
These weapons are available during various yearly events, and their rolls change every year. The following weapons were available with Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie during the year of Lightfall:
- Horror Story – Auto Rifle – Festival of the Lost
- Mechabre – Sniper Rifle – Festival of the Lost
- Crowning Duologue – Rocket Launcher – Solstice
Contrails 