TL;DR
- The Whatchamacallit is a Legendary Häkke Arc SMG with an Aggressive Burst frame — it fires four-round bursts, not full-auto.
- It drops from the Pinnacle Ops playlist — any mission, any difficulty.
- Attune to it at the Pinnacle Ops vendor to boost your drop rate.
- Once you get one drop, you can buy additional copies from Zavala.
- Best PvE perks: Collective Pugilism + Jolting Feedback. Best PvP perks: Headseeker + Gear Shift.
- S-Tier for PvE add clear, A-Tier for PvP as an off-meta pick.
What Is the Whatchamacallit SMG in Destiny 2?
Yes, that’s its real name. The Whatchamacallit is a Legendary Häkke Submachine Gun that arrived with the Monument of Triumph update in Destiny 2. It is one of only two Aggressive Burst Frame SMGs in the game, which means it fires in hard-hitting four-round bursts instead of going full-auto like most SMGs.
It is an Arc weapon, so it pairs naturally with Arc subclasses and opens up access to perks like Jolting Feedback and Gear Shift. If you want an SMG with real burst potential and Arc flavor, this is worth the farm.
The Whatchamacallit has been around before but came back as part of the Monument of Triumph legacy weapon return. It ships with an updated perk pool and full compatibility with the current progression system, including Tier upgrades.
How to Get the Whatchamacallit SMG in Destiny 2
The Whatchamacallit drops exclusively from the Pinnacle Ops playlist. This playlist cycles through Exotic missions and high-difficulty arena modes like Onslaught. The good news is that any Pinnacle Ops mission can drop it — difficulty and modifier choices do not affect whether it can land. Just play the content you enjoy.
Here is the fastest way to farm it:
Step 1 – Play Any Pinnacle Ops Mission
Launch any available Pinnacle Ops activity from The Portal. Legendary Engrams and reward chests at the end of each run have a chance to drop the Whatchamacallit. It is a random world drop within this playlist, so you might get one on your first run or your fifteenth.
Step 2 – Attune to the Whatchamacallit
To tilt the odds in your favour, use the Attunement system. Visit the Pinnacle Ops vendor and attune yourself to the Whatchamacallit. This increases how often it shows up in your drops during any Pinnacle Ops session. There is no cost and no cooldown — you can switch your attunement freely between runs.
Watch for daily rotating bonus activities in the Pinnacle Ops playlist. These bonus days give extra drops, making them the most efficient time to farm if you are targeting this specific weapon.
For more on how the attunement system works, see our full Monument of Triumph guide.
Step 3 – Buy from Zavala After Your First Drop
Once the Whatchamacallit drops for you at least once, you unlock the ability to buy additional copies directly from Zavala in the Tower. This is useful when you need to keep rerolling to find your god roll without replaying full missions.
You can also try the Oblation: Bloodline Exotic mission inside Pinnacle Ops — it has a solid chance to drop the weapon as part of its end-of-mission rewards.
Whatchamacallit Perk Pool
The Whatchamacallit has a focused perk pool. Here is what you can roll:
- Barrel: Arrowhead Break, Fluted Barrel, and others
- Magazine: Accurized Rounds, Flared Magwell, and others
- Perk 1: Light Touch, Headseeker, Keep Away, Collective Pugilism
- Perk 2: Jolting Feedback, Gear Shift, Sword Logic, Frenzy, Rangefinder, Dragonfly
- Origin Trait: Problem Solver, Vanguard Determination, Hakke Breach Armaments, Accelerated Assault (special drops only)
The perk pool is on the smaller side, but what is there is well-suited to the weapon’s burst-fire style. For PvE, you want perks that reward staying in the fight. For PvP, you want perks that extend range and forgive missed crits.
Best Whatchamacallit God Roll for PvE
For PvE, the Whatchamacallit shines as an Arc add-clear tool. It is great at deleting trash mobs between damage phases and works especially well with Arc melee builds. Here is what to look for:
- Barrel: Fluted Barrel — boosts handling and stability, which this weapon needs
- Magazine: Flared Magwell — improves reload speed and stability
- Perk 1: Collective Pugilism — kills generate melee energy, which feeds Arc builds perfectly
- Perk 2: Jolting Feedback — generates Ionic Traces, which in turn feed Collective Pugilism again. This creates a strong loop for Arc subclasses.
This combo works especially well if you are running an Arc Titan or Arc Hunter build. The two perks create a feedback loop that constantly refreshes your melee ability. If you enjoy melee-heavy Arc builds, pair this with our PvE weapons tier list to fill the rest of your loadout.
Alternatively, if Jolting Feedback is not available, Frenzy and Sword Logic are solid backup options that reward sustained combat.
Best Whatchamacallit God Roll for PvP
In PvP, the Whatchamacallit is an off-meta weapon. It is not going to top the Crucible leaderboard, but with the right roll it can absolutely compete within its effective range of around 18 to 20 metres. The burst-fire nature means you need to control your recoil and aim for the head.
- Barrel: Arrowhead Break — helps a lot with recoil direction on a burst weapon
- Magazine: Accurized Rounds — pushes range further
- Perk 1: Headseeker — compensates for body shots by increasing precision damage after a non-crit hit. This is the best pick for a burst weapon in PvP.
- Perk 2: Gear Shift — boosts damage and extends effective range. With this active, you can two-burst a Guardian within range if all shots hit the head.
Keep Away is a viable alternative to Headseeker if you want even more range and are confident in your headshot consistency. Rangefinder also works if you prefer passive range bonuses.
Want to see how the Whatchamacallit stacks up against the current Crucible lineup? Check our Destiny 2 PvP Crucible meta guide.
Is the Whatchamacallit Worth Farming?
Yes, especially if you run Arc builds in PvE. The Collective Pugilism and Jolting Feedback combo is genuinely strong and makes this one of the more unique add-clearing SMGs available right now. It fills a different role to most SMGs thanks to its burst frame — it rewards precision and punishes full sprays.
For PvP it is more of a personal preference pick. If you enjoy off-meta weapons and want something that can still pull its weight in Crucible without being mainstream, the Whatchamacallit delivers. Just do not expect it to outperform top-meta options without skill behind it.
The weapon can also be upgraded to Tier 5 through Monument of Triumph’s upgrade system, which unlocks enhanced perks and mods, making your god roll even stronger over time.
Tips for Farming the Whatchamacallit Efficiently
- Always attune first. Never go into a farm session without setting your attunement to the Whatchamacallit. It takes seconds and meaningfully improves your drop rate.
- Check for daily bonuses. Pinnacle Ops bonus days offer more drops per run. These are the best sessions to grind.
- Use Pinnacle Ops Exotic missions. Activities like Oblation: Bloodline give additional rewards beyond base drops, giving you more chances per run.
- Buy from Zavala to reroll. Once unlocked, buying from Zavala is often faster than replaying full missions when you just need better perk combinations.
- Farm with bonus power modifiers active. Higher difficulty modifiers within Pinnacle Ops do not change drop eligibility but can reward more engrams per run in some rotations.
If you are still working on getting the right power level for Pinnacle Ops content, our power level guide will help you get there fast.
Whatchamacallit vs Other SMGs in Destiny 2
The Whatchamacallit sits in a very small sub-category — Aggressive Burst SMGs. There are only two of this type in the game right now, which already makes it stand out. Most SMGs in Destiny 2 are full-auto, which makes the four-round burst feel noticeably different.
The burst-fire frame makes it more ammo efficient than high-RPM SMGs. Instead of draining a magazine in seconds, you get controlled bursts that deal concentrated damage. This is useful against tougher enemies where body-shot spam with a fast SMG would be wasteful.
For a full breakdown of how it compares across all weapon types, see our best exotic weapons ranking and PvE weapons tier list.
Where to Get Destiny 2
Destiny 2 is free to play across all platforms. You can download it from the official links below:
