Destiny 2: How to Get Yeartide Apex God Roll

TL;DR

• Yeartide Apex is a Solar 900 RPM Lightweight Frame SMG — one of the few SMGs that can roll Heal Clip with Incandescent in the same column combination.
• It was originally a Solstice 2025 exclusive, but as of Monument of Triumph (June 2026), it’s available permanently from the Tenet of Bravery vendor in the Tower for 2 Legendary Marks per Solstice Weapon Engram.
• The top PvE god roll is Heal Clip + Incandescent — healing on kills plus Scorch spread makes it one of the best Solar primaries for sustained add-clear.
• The alternative PvE roll is Heal Clip + Chaos Reshaped — 35% damage buff after extended combat plus periodic healing makes this combination close to unkillable in content where you stay engaged.
• The PvP god roll is Lone Wolf + Target Lock — Target Lock drops the time-to-kill to 0.67 seconds on a Lightweight SMG.
• Chaos Reshaped was previously exclusive to Salvation’s Edge raid weapons — Yeartide Apex is the first non-raid source of this perk.
• Yeartide Apex is not craftable — you cannot unlock a pattern and craft a god roll. You must farm engrams until you get the roll you want.

Destiny 2 Yeartide Apex is a Solar Lightweight Frame SMG that first appeared during Solstice 2025. Its perk pool is exceptional — it’s one of the only SMGs in the game that can pair Heal Clip with Incandescent, and it’s the first weapon outside the Salvation’s Edge raid to access Chaos Reshaped. Since Monument of Triumph made it permanently available through the Tenet of Bravery, there’s no time pressure to get it. This guide covers the best PvE and PvP god rolls, all barrel and magazine choices, and how to farm it efficiently in 2026.

Yeartide Apex Overview

Yeartide Apex is a Solar Legendary Submachine Gun with the Lightweight Frame archetype — 900 RPM, superb handling, and a movement speed bonus while equipped. It fires fast, kills fast, and pairs naturally with Solar subclasses on all three classes.

The weapon’s Origin Trait rotates between Dream Work and Tex Balanced Stock:

• Dream Work: Once per reload, assists or assisted final blows partially refill the magazine from reserves, potentially overflowing it. Strong in team PvE content — get a kill assist, get a free partial reload.
• Tex Balanced Stock: Damaging targets while hip-firing increases handling, reload speed, and movement speed while aiming down sights. Useful for players who occasionally hip-fire at close range.

Both Origin Traits are serviceable. Dream Work is better in group PvE where assist kills are common. Tex Balanced Stock benefits players who already hip-fire in chaotic close-range scenarios. Neither is a deciding factor in which roll to keep — focus on the main perk columns first.

Yeartide Apex Full Perk Pool

Column 1 (Perk 1):

• Heal Clip – Reloading after a final blow grants an immediate heal. One of the best survivability perks in the game for aggressive playstyles.
• Attrition Orbs – Dealing sustained damage creates an Orb of Power. Excellent for team content and super generation loops.
• Demolitionist – Final blows with this weapon generate grenade energy. Reloading after throwing a grenade partially refills the magazine.
• Feeding Frenzy – Each rapid kill grants progressively faster reload speeds for a short time.
• Lone Wolf – Increases aim assist. Effect is stronger when no allies are nearby.
• Recycled Energy – Rapid final blows replenish class ability energy.
• Transcendent Moment – While Transcendent, this weapon deals bonus damage and becomes more stable.

Column 2 (Perk 2):

• Incandescent – Defeating a target spreads Scorch to nearby enemies. More powerful combatants and Guardians cause Scorch in a larger radius.
• Chaos Reshaped – This weapon gains 20% bonus damage while in combat for 12 seconds. Staying in combat for another 12 seconds raises the bonus to 35% and begins periodically healing the wielder.
• Target Lock – Damage increases the longer the weapon remains on a target. Significantly reduces time-to-kill in PvP.
• Burning Ambition – Rapid precision hits apply Scorch to enemies. Not AoE like Incandescent, but useful in grenade builds that want additional Scorch stacking.
• Harmony – Final blows with other weapons improve this weapon’s damage and performance for a short duration.
• Binary Orbit – Improved handling and range while Transcendent or near teammates with matching subclass elements.

Yeartide Apex PvE God Roll

Roll 1: Heal Clip + Incandescent (Best All-Around PvE Roll)

• Barrel: Smallbore (boosts Range and Stability) or Polygonal Rifling (boosts Stability and Recoil Direction)
• Magazine: High-Caliber Rounds (boosts Range, stuns enemies) or Flared Magwell (boosts Stability and Reload Speed to offset the low base Reload)
• Perk 1: Heal Clip
• Perk 2: Incandescent
• Origin Trait: Dream Work (team content) or Tex Balanced Stock (solo)
• Masterwork: Reload Speed (base Reload is only 27 — needs help)

Heal Clip + Incandescent is the most versatile PvE roll on Yeartide Apex. Reload after a kill, get an instant heal. The kill also spreads Scorch to nearby enemies through Incandescent, which chains into Ignition explosions in Solar builds. This combination works on any Solar subclass without requiring specific Fragments or Aspects — it’s a self-sufficient add-clear roll that provides survivability and crowd control on its own.

The only other SMG that can roll this combination was the Rite of the Nine variant of No Survivors. If you missed that, Yeartide Apex is the direct replacement. The Lightweight Frame’s 900 RPM keeps kill times fast, ensuring Heal Clip and Incandescent proc consistently throughout a combat encounter.

Roll 2: Heal Clip + Chaos Reshaped (Best Sustain Roll)

• Barrel: Arrowhead Brake (Recoil control, Handling) or Smallbore
• Magazine: Flared Magwell (Stability and Reload Speed)
• Perk 1: Heal Clip
• Perk 2: Chaos Reshaped
• Masterwork: Reload Speed

Chaos Reshaped transforms Yeartide Apex into a sustained damage machine. After 12 seconds in combat, the weapon gains a 20% damage bonus. Staying engaged for another 12 seconds (24 seconds total) raises the bonus to 35% and starts periodically healing the wielder — in addition to the instant heals from Heal Clip on kills.

This roll is especially powerful in content where you’re constantly fighting — Grandmaster Nightfalls, Pantheon encounters, or long boss rooms where enemies don’t stop spawning. Once you’ve been in combat long enough to hit the 35% bonus, the combination of Chaos Reshaped healing and Heal Clip healing makes Yeartide Apex borderline unkillable in lower-difficulty content.

Chaos Reshaped was previously exclusive to Salvation’s Edge raid weapons — Yeartide Apex is the first non-raid source of this perk. If you want the perk without running the raid, this is your only option outside of Salvation’s Edge weapons.

Roll 3: Attrition Orbs + Chaos Reshaped (Team Content / Orb Generation)

• Barrel: Arrowhead Brake
• Magazine: High-Caliber Rounds
• Perk 1: Attrition Orbs
• Perk 2: Chaos Reshaped
• Masterwork: Range

This roll prioritises team utility. Attrition Orbs creates Orbs of Power through sustained damage — at 900 RPM, Yeartide Apex generates Orbs faster than most weapons at this RPM tier. Combined with Chaos Reshaped’s damage ramp, this is the highest DPS output roll in team scenarios where Orb generation also feeds into super uptime.

The tradeoff is no Heal Clip, so survivability relies on external healing sources from your subclass or a support teammate. Best used in coordinated fireteams running content like raids or dungeons where healing coverage already exists. For solo or less coordinated content, the Heal Clip rolls are safer.

Roll 4: Demolitionist + Burning Ambition (Grenade Build)

• Barrel: Fluted Barrel (Handling and Stability)
• Magazine: Flared Magwell
• Perk 1: Demolitionist
• Perk 2: Burning Ambition
• Masterwork: Reload Speed

This roll is purpose-built for grenade-heavy Solar subclass builds. Demolitionist generates grenade energy on kills and refreshes the magazine on grenade throws. Burning Ambition stacks Scorch on precision hits, which combines with grenade-focused builds like Ashen Wake on Titan, Starfire Protocol on Warlock, and Young Ahamkara’s Spine on Hunter to amplify Solar verbs significantly. Less universal than the Heal Clip rolls, but the best option for dedicated grenade builds.

Yeartide Apex PvP God Roll

• Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rifling (Range) or Smallbore (Range and Stability)
• Magazine: Ricochet Rounds (Range and Stability) or High-Caliber Rounds (Range, flinch)
• Perk 1: Lone Wolf
• Perk 2: Target Lock
• Masterwork: Range

Yeartide Apex’s PvP perk pool is more linear than PvE. The second column is almost entirely decided by Target Lock — nothing else in that column competes for PvP viability. Target Lock scales damage the longer you stay on a target, reducing the time-to-kill from 0.73 seconds to 0.67 seconds on a Lightweight SMG. That’s fast enough to win most duels within SMG effective range if your aim is consistent.

Lone Wolf in column one is the best option for the PvP roll. It passively boosts aim assist, with a stronger effect when you’re the last Guardian alive — useful in Trials situations. Heal Clip is a reasonable alternative in casual modes where you want the survivability benefit, but Lone Wolf is more consistently useful across all PvP modes.

Yeartide Apex starts with 64 Handling, which is already high enough that you don’t need to invest stats into it. Instead, stack Range and Stability through barrel and magazine choices. With Smallbore + Ricochet Rounds and a Range Masterwork, the Range reaches around 51 — competitive with top-tier SMG options and only marginally behind Multimach CCX at equivalent setups.

Chaos Reshaped is an alternative to Target Lock in PvP if your aim is inconsistent. At Chaos Reshaped x2 (24 seconds of continuous combat), the time-to-kill drops to an absurd 0.53 seconds — but that requires staying engaged for nearly half a minute, which rarely happens in competitive play. Target Lock is the better and more realistic choice for most PvP scenarios.

How to Get Yeartide Apex in 2026

Yeartide Apex is permanently available through the Tenet of Bravery vendor in the Tower Courtyard as of Monument of Triumph (June 9, 2026). It was originally exclusive to Solstice 2025 as a time-limited event weapon, but since seasonal events are no longer running in Destiny 2, all Solstice weapons moved into the permanent Monument of Triumph reward system.

Step 1 – Unlock the Tenet of Bravery

Go to the Tower Courtyard and interact with the Monument of Triumph structure. Then make any purchase — even the cheapest 2-Mark item — from the Tenet of Bravery vendor. This one purchase unlocks all four Tenet vendors (Bravery, Devotion, Sacrifice, Death). The Solstice Weapon Engram is at Tenet of Bravery.

Step 2 – Earn Legendary Marks

Legendary Marks are the currency for Tenet vendor purchases. Earn them by completing Monument of Triumph Triumphs — these span nine years of Destiny 2 content across raids, dungeons, Crucible, Gambit, destinations, and more. The fastest early Marks come from scenic spot Triumphs (visit specific locations on destinations) and from the 50 free Marks granted on first login after June 9, 2026. See our Legendary Marks guide for the fastest farming methods.

Step 3 – Buy Solstice Weapon Engrams

Each Solstice Weapon Engram costs 2 Legendary Marks and has a random chance to reward Yeartide Apex or other Solstice weapons. There is no weekly cap on engram purchases — you can buy as many as you want in one session. Every drop from the Tenet vendor comes at Tier 5 with a full upgrade path, so you don’t need to worry about getting an outdated or weak version.

Because the weapon is not craftable, you’re rolling the dice on perk combinations each time. Keep buying Solstice Weapon Engrams until you land the roll you want. With 2 Marks per engram and Triumphs generating Marks steadily as you play, the farming loop is low friction — just keep checking in and spending when you have surplus Marks.

Is Yeartide Apex Worth Getting in 2026?

Yes. Yeartide Apex is A-Tier in both PvE and PvP, and the Heal Clip + Incandescent roll is one of the best Solar primary options available in 2026. The combination of healing on kill, Scorch spread, and the Lightweight Frame’s movement bonus makes it a strong choice for any Solar build that runs a primary SMG.

The main limitation is that it isn’t craftable. You can’t guarantee a specific roll — you’re buying Solstice engrams until the right perks align. The good news is that 2 Legendary Marks per pull is cheap, engrams are infinite, and you don’t need to run any specific activity to farm them. It’s a low-effort grind compared to raid farming or Dungeon checkpoint loops.

For Solar add-clear in content like Grandmaster Nightfalls, Pantheon 2.0, or competitive Crucible, Yeartide Apex with the right roll holds its own against every other Solar SMG in the game. For related weapon farming in 2026, see our guide on the best weapons from the Desert Perpetual raid for a fuller picture of the top Solar options across the current loot pool.