The Forbearance grenade launcher is one of the most sought-after weapons in Destiny 2. This void grenade launcher packs a serious punch in both PvE and PvP.
Forbearance was introduced in Season of the Risen and many players are eager to get their hands on the weapon and its most powerful perk combinations.
In this extensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Forbearance including:
- An overview of the Forbearance grenade launcher
- The best PvE and PvP god rolls
- How and where to get Forbearance to drop
- Forbearance’s unique perks
- Forbearance vs. other top grenade launchers
- Forbearance lore & backstory
- Forbearance usage tips & strategies
- A complete Forbearance god roll crafting guide
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at this incredible grenade launcher.
Overview of Forbearance
Forbearance is a void grenade launcher that was introduced in Season of the Risen. It can be obtained as a random exotic drop by completing activities in The Witch Queen expansion.
Forbearance is a breech-loaded grenade launcher that fires single shots. It has excellent stats for a grenade launcher including very high impact, range, stability, and reload speed.
The standout perk on Forbearance is Chain Reaction which causes explosions to create more explosions. This perk synergizes extremely well with the grenade launcher weapon type.
In PvE activities, Forbearance can clear out huge groups of enemies thanks to the chained explosions from Chain Reaction. The void damage is also useful against tough enemies with void shields.
In PvP, Forbearance can demolish groups of enemy guardians who are bunched together on control points or other objectives. The high impact allows it to one-shot guardians in Crucible when you manage to land a direct hit.
Overall, Forbearance is one of the most lethal heavy weapons in Destiny 2 thanks to its chaining explosion perk and excellent base stats. It’s a must-have weapon for PvE activities like dungeons, raids, and nightfalls, as well as PvP modes like Trials and Iron Banner.
Forbearance God Rolls
Forbearance has some great synergy between its random perks and its intrinsic Chain Reaction perks. This allows for the creation of some extremely powerful god-roll combinations.
Here are the PvE and PvP god rolls you should look out for with this grenade launcher.
PvE God Roll
For PvE activities, you’ll want perks that enhance Forbearance’s add clearing and boss/major killing capabilities:
- Barrels: Volatile Launch or Hard Launch (increases blast radius)
- Magazine: Alloy Casing (increases blast radius)
- Perk 1: Ambitious Assassin (overflows mag after rapid kills)
- Perk 2: Chain Reaction
- Masterwork: Blast Radius
This god roll maximizes the blast radius, allowing Chain Reaction to devastate groups of enemies. Ambitious Assassin keeps the magazine topped off so you can keep firing salvos of chained explosions.
PvP God Roll
For PvP, you’ll want to focus on perks that improve consistency and damage:
- Barrels: Quick Launch (increases velocity and handling)
- Magazine: Spike Grenades (increases damage)
- Perk 1: Auto-Loading Holster (reloads when stowed)
- Perk 2: Chain Reaction
- Masterwork: Velocity
This roll allows you to quickly clean up enemies and secure multi-kills when opponents cluster on objectives. Spike Grenades and a Velocity masterwork give the grenades a straight, hard-hitting trajectory for easier direct impacts.
As you can see, Chain Reaction is a must-have perk in both PvE and PvP god rolls. This perk is what makes Forbearance such a lethal weapon.
Now let’s go over how you can get Forbearance to drop for yourself.
How to Get Forbearance
Forbearance is not a guaranteed drop. It can randomly drop from any of the following activities:
- Witch Queen campaign missions
- Wellspring activity
- Throne World activities and patrols
- The Witch Queen raid
- Nightfalls
- Xur’s Treasure Hoard
- Trials of Osiris matches and rewards
The best way to farm for this grenade launcher is to repeatedly run the Wellspring activity. Wellspring is matchmade, so you can continuously run it to try and get Forbearance as an end-of-activity exotic drop.
Make sure to equip as much Luck as possible before farming Wellspring to maximize your chances.
Once you get your first Forbearance drop, you’ll be able to begin focusing Umbral Engrams at the Helm into more rolls of the weapon. So even if RNG isn’t on your side initially, you’ll be able to farm for better rolls.
The Witch Queen raid is also a solid source thanks to the extra exotic chance upon looted raid completions. But Wellspring will likely be quicker and easier versus finding a raid team.
Be persistent and Forbearance will drop for you eventually!
Forbearance’s Unique Perks
Let’s take a closer look at the two unique perks that make Forbearance such a powerhouse:
Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction is the intrinsic exotic perk on Forbearance that sets it apart from other grenade launchers. Multikills reload the weapon from reserves and cause targets to detonate and deal additional damage to nearby enemies.
This perk allows Forbearance to easily wipe out swarms of adds in PvE. And in PvP, collateral kills are very possible when enemies bunch up on control points.
The synergy with other perks like Ambitious Assassin and Auto-Loading Holster allows you to truly unleash the add clearing potential of Chain Reaction.
Countermass
The other unique perk on Forbearance is Countermass. After aiming down sights for a short time, this weapon gains bonus stability and handling until you stop aiming down sights.
Countermass allows you to quickly line up shots and fire accurately from the hip. Combined with the excellent base stats, Countermass gives Forbearance extremely consistent shot placement.
Now let’s compare Forbearance to some other top grenade launchers.
Forbearance vs. Other Grenade Launchers
Even among exotic heavy grenade launchers, Forbearance stands out for its insane and clear potential and lethality in PvP.
Here’s how it stacks up against some of its main competition:
- Witherhoard – Witherhoard has great sustained damage over time. But Forbearance’s frontloaded burst damage outpaces it for wiping out groups of weak enemies. And Forbearance is better in PvP thanks to Chain Reaction vs. Witherhoard’s tricky grenades.
- Anarchy – Anarchy got heavily nerfed so it’s not the boss shredder it once was. Forbearance puts out much better burst damage on majors and bosses now.
- Salvation’s Grip – Salvation’s Grip is more utility-focused rather than damage-focused. Forbearance is far superior in terms of lethality.
- Parasite – Parasite benefits from seriously boosting its damage against bosses based on the number of shots fired. But Forbearance has it clearly beat when it comes to demolishing groups of normal enemies.
As you can see, Forbearance stands tall when compared to its exotic counterparts. The chaining explosions enable it to clear out adds better than any of them. And it has more than enough burst damage for majors and bosses.
Next, let’s examine the story and lore behind this epic grenade launcher.
Forbearance Lore & Backstory
Forbearance was created by a Guardian named Alfred Uzoma who fought during the Red War campaign against Dominus Ghaul and the Red Legion.
During the Red War, Uzoma helped evacuate civilians in the Last City as the forces of the Red Legion invaded and occupied the city after disabling the Guardians’ powers.
Uzoma came upon the remains of a ruined foundry and used their equipment to build Forbearance as an act of defiance against the Red Legion. The grenade launcher helped him fight back against the occupying forces despite being cut off from the Light.
The name Forbearance is based on Uzoma exhibiting restraint, patience, and calmness during an extremely bleak time for humanity and Guardians alike. He persevered in spite of the Red Legion’s attempt to destroy everything he held dear.
Uzoma tragically perished during the Red War. But thanks to the detailed notes he left behind, the grenade launcher was later recreated so more Guardians could wield this powerful weapon of resistance.
Now let’s go over some tips for using Forbearance effectively.
Forbearance Usage Tips
Here are some tips to maximize your success with the Forbearance in both PvE and PvP:
- Aim down sights – Make sure to frequently ADS with Forbearance to take advantage of the Countermass stability and handling buff. This allows you to fire shots accurately.
- Go for direct hits – Try to score direct hits on enemies rather than rely on splash damage. Direct hits reward more damage which helps activate Chain Reaction. This is especially important in PvP.
- Lead targets at range – When firing at distant enemies, aim slightly ahead of them to account for the arcing projectile trajectory. This will help land those crucial hits.
- Bounce grenades off surfaces – Bouncing projectiles off walls and surfaces can allow you to hit enemies behind cover. Use the environment to your advantage.
- Use quick access sling mod – This mod lets you immediately stow your weapon after firing for extremely fast uptime of Auto-Loading Holster.
- Pair with Witherhoard – Combining Forbearance with the Witherhoard grenade launcher gives you the ultimate add clearing loadout.
- Fire from the air – Take advantage of the improved aerial accuracy intrinsic to grenade launchers and rain-down explosions from above.
Using these tips will help you wield Forbearance effectively in any PvE or PvP combat scenario.
Next, let’s go over how to craft the perfect Forbearance with enhanced perks.
Crafting the Forbearance God Roll
Thanks to weapon crafting added in The Witch Queen expansion, you can eventually craft your own perfect Forbearance god roll once you unlock the necessary patterns.
Here is the process for crafting the ultimate Forbearance PvE god roll:
- Unlock the Forbearance pattern by dismantling drops of the weapon. You need 5 deep-sight resonance versions of the grenade launcher.
- Level up your crafted Forbearance to level 10 to unlock enhanced perks.
- Choose Volatile Launch in the first column for increased blast radius.
- Choose Alloy Casing in the second column to further boost blast radius.
- Choose Enhanced Ambitious Assassin in the third column. This gives bonus reserves when activated.
- Keep the default Chain Reaction in the fourth column.
- Choose a Blast Radius masterwork.
- Add quick access sling mod.
- Apply your preferred shader.
This will create an absolute monster of a Forbearance for devastating massive groups of enemies with endless chained void explosions in PvE.
For PvP, follow similar steps but with the recommended PvP god roll perks covered earlier.
The crafting system allows you to bypass the frustrations of random rolls and craft a Forbearance tailored to your needs.
Conclusion
Forbearance stands out as one of the most lethal weapons added in Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen expansion. This void grenade launcher can dish out some seriously impressive damage thanks to its unique Chain Reaction perk.
With the right rolls focused on blast radius and chaining explosions, Forbearance can clear out hordes of enemies in PvE with ease. It also shines brightly in PvP when opponents cluster together.
While acquiring that first random drop may test your luck, the grenade launcher is worth farming for. And the crafting system allows you to eventually create your perfect god-rolled Forbearance.
Forbearance truly lives up to its inspiring name and will aid any Guardian with its incredible power in the eternal struggle against the forces of the Darkness.