One of Destiny 2's all-time best and most popular guns is back and better than ever

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You can't beat the classics

Destiny 2 Season 19
(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 Season of the Seraph is underway, and one of its hottest weapons has been part of the game, in some form, for years. 

Per Light.gg, the beloved Ikelos submachine gun, first introduced in the bygone Warmind DLC, is back as V1.0.3. You can get the new version of the gun from the latest seasonal activities, and it can even drop with Deepsight Resonance so you can craft the thing with enhanced perks – provided you have the luck or sheer endurance to grind out a whopping five blueprints. (Five blueprints, Bungie!? In this economy?)

This is one gun that looks to be worth the effort, though, because the V3 Ikelos SMG comes with an updated perk pool. See, I've had two V2 Ikelos SMGs kicking around my Vault for years: one with Subsistence and Demolitionist for grenade builds, and one with Subsistence and Surrounded for general dude-shootin'. V3 has lost Subsistence but it can roll Feeding Frenzy and Threat Detector, so no problem there. In the final column, it can hit Frenzy, Surrounded, or – and this is the real cherry on top – the highly coveted Voltshot. 

Voltshot was introduced last season with the release of Arc 3.0, and it didn't take players long to realize that it's easily the best of the new element-themed weapon perks. It's sort of like Kill Clip, but instead of a damage bonus, reloading after a kill gets you supercharged rounds that apply the Jolt status on your next hit. Jolt can turn any weapon into a room-clearing monster, so seeing it on an already great gun has set tongues wagging. And remember, you can get enhanced Voltshot by maxing out a crafted Ikelos. Be still my heart. 

To top it off, the latest version of this tried-and-true gun comes with a new Origin Trait, Rasputin's Arsenal, which partially reloads your magazine after popping a shield. This is sort of like a weaker, contextual version of Subsistence, and it's a totally free extra so you really can't complain. The Season of the Seraph has quite a few promising weapons, and we still haven't seen the Destiny 2 Spire of the Watcher dungeon gear which seems to be of Tex Mechanica make based on teasers in the Artifact, but it's going to be hard to top the best version of a famously fabulous gun. 

Season of the Seraph is the last season before Destiny 2 Lightfall drops, so get up to date on what's new in the expansion.

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.