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Destiny 2 Mindbender's Ambition god roll and drop location

The scorching shotty returns!

Mindbender’s Ambition is a legendary shotgun in Destiny 2. Originally part of the Forsaken expansion, it has been refreshed, and return as part of the Season of Defiance.

This Solar Shotgun focuses on slow, powerful shots, dishing out damage in chunks. It excels as part of a Solar build, frequently activating Scorch abilities.

This page will detail how to get Mindbender’s Ambition in Destiny 2, and what to look for in a Mindbender’s Ambition god roll.

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How to get Mindbender’s Ambition in Destiny 2

Mindbender’s Ambition is a Nightfall Exclusive weapon. This means it will only drop at the end of a Nightfall Strike, and only on a week where it is the featured weapon in the rotation.

When Mindbender's Ambition is up in the rotation, it can drop from the chest after a successful completion. There's a chance it will drop, but there are no guarentees it will be there on any indivdiual attempt. All you can do is take on the Nightfall repeatedly.

Whether the weapon drops is a matter of luck, but you do have the ability to tip the scales in your favor. Increasing the difficulty also increases the odds of the Nightfall weapon dropping, from Rare at the lowest difficulty to Common at the highest.

You can also equip the Ghost mod Prosperity (Vanguard). This gives playlist strikes and Nightfalls a chance to drop an additional piece of legendary gear upon completion. It’s never been confirmed that this includes the Nightfall weapons themselves, but anecdotally it seems to have an effect.


The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!


Mindbender's Ambition god roll recommendation in Destiny 2

Mindbender’s Ambition is best used in PVE, where it’s Solar damage and perk selection work well against tough enemies, and it excels as part of a Scorch build.

Here is our recommended Mindbender's Ambition god roll in Destiny 2:

  • Smoothbore
  • Assault Mag
  • Threat Detector
  • Incandescent
  • Stunning Recovery

Smoothbore tackles the primary drawback of shotguns: range. You still won’t be able to snipe with it, but extending the lethal damage of Mindbender’s Ambition is only a good thing.

Assault Mag is two perks in one. First, it increases stability. Given how hard a shotgun kicks, anything that helps keep followup shots aligned is great. Second, it increases your rate of fire. This weapon is a slow and heavy hitter. Less slow means more heavy hits.

Threat Detector is an ideal perk on shotguns. It increases reload, stability, and handling when enemies are close, aka the only time you will be using this weapon.

Incandescent is a great perk, especially for solar subclasses. Defeating a target spreads scorch, which does damage over time, to nearby enemies. Combine that with Solar 3.0 abilities that feed off of scorch and lead to explosive enemy ignitions and you’ve got a recipe for rapidly burning though large groups in no time.

Stunning Recovery is one of two selectable Origin Traits. None of the options are exceptional, but Stunning Recovery is great in certain situations. With it, stunning a Champion will partially refill your magazine, boost recovery, and trigger health regeneration. It’s very situational, but fighting Champions is exactly the sort of situation where it is nice to have an edge.

As per usual, once you have your preferred roll, be sure to upgrade it to a Masterwork to give it a stat boost, ability to generate Orbs on multi-kills, and add the option of a kill tracker!

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