The Forward Path AR Guide: How to Get, God Rolls, Tier List

The Forward Path is a Kinetic Adaptive Frame auto rifle reintroduced to Destiny 2 in Season of the Wish as a part of the Iron Banner ritual playlist. As an activity-specific weapon, it is a must-farm for PvP enthusiasts and anyone looking for a powerful and versatile primary weapon.

This auto rifle excels at consistent, mid-range dueling. It shines in PvP thanks to its excellent base stats and perk options like Dynamic Sway Reduction and Tap the Trigger, which make it a laser beam of accuracy. For those who prefer a more aggressive playstyle, perks like Moving Target and the iconic Iron Gaze can maximize its dueling potential. In PvE, it remains a reliable workhorse with strong perk combinations such as Feeding Frenzy and Multikill Clip for effective add-clear. While it may not have elemental synergies like a Solar weapon, its raw performance in the Kinetic slot makes it a top-tier choice.

From this guide, you will know:

• How good is the The Forward Path AR
• How to get The Forward Path
• Stats and Perks of The Forward Path
• The Forward Path God Roll
  • The Forward Path PvE God Roll
  • The Forward Path PvP God Roll
• If The Forward Path craftable

If you enjoy dependable, mid-range combat and want an auto rifle that feels incredibly responsive and accurate, The Forward Path is absolutely worth focusing your Iron Banner engrams on.

Is The Forward Path AR Good?

Short answer: Very good. The Forward Path is A-tier in PvP and a solid B-tier in PvE with the right perks.

The Forward Path Tier list:

• PvE: A-tier. A stat monster with perk combinations that maximize dueling consistency and ease of use.
• PvP: B-tier. It has strong, reliable perk combinations but faces stiff competition from craftable and elemental primaries with more potent synergies.

Why PvE A-tier: Its excellent base stats, particularly high Handling and Aim Assistance, make it feel incredibly snappy and forgiving. It has access to top-tier consistency perks like Dynamic Sway Reduction paired with Tap the Trigger or Iron Gaze, turning it into a laser beam that is easy to control and land critical hits with. This combination allows it to achieve a very fast and forgiving Time-to-Kill (TTK) in its optimal range.

Why PvP A-tier: It can roll strong, classic workhorse perks like Feeding Frenzy and Multikill Clip, making it a very effective Kinetic weapon for add-clear. However, as a Kinetic primary without a unique damage perk or subclass verb synergy (like Incandescent or Voltshot), it is often outshone by other craftable options that offer greater utility or damage potential in endgame builds. It’s a great choice if you don’t have a crafted god-roll, but not a must-have for PvE endgames.

How to Get The Forward Path in Destiny 2

The Forward Path is a Kinetic Adaptive Frame auto rifle available through the Iron Banner playlist. Since Iron Banner is a limited-time event that appears for one week every few weeks, you’ll need to plan your playtime to farm for this weapon.

Step 1: Play Iron Banner Matches

The Forward Path is a possible reward at the end of any Iron Banner match. Simply queue into the playlist via the Crucible node and complete matches. Wins have a slightly higher chance to reward weapons.

Step 2: Increase Your Iron Banner Reputation

As you play matches and complete Iron Banner bounties, you will earn reputation with Lord Saladin. Ranking up reputation is a key source of Iron Banner Engrams and specific weapon rewards.

Step 3: Focus Engrams at Lord Saladin

The most reliable way to target The Forward Path is by visiting Lord Saladin in the Tower Courtyard. Use your Iron Banner Engrams and Glimmer to focus rolls of The Forward Path directly. This allows you to bypass pure random drops.

Step 4: Complete Event Challenges

Each Iron Banner week, Lord Saladin offers a pinnacle challenge. Completing this challenge often grants a powerful reward and significantly boosts your reputation gains, accelerating your engram farming.

Fastest Way to get The Forward Path:

1. Play Iron Banner matches during its active week.
2. Complete all daily Iron Banner bounties for extra reputation.
3. Use earned Iron Banner Engrams to focus The Forward Path at Lord Saladin.
4. Keep focusing until you land a strong roll (Dynamic Sway Reduction + Tap the Trigger for PvP or Feeding Frenzy + Multikill Clip for PvE).

The Forward Path Farming Tips:

• Play During Bonus Reputation Weeks: Some Iron Banner events grant double reputation gains, making them the most efficient farming weeks.
• Equip Iron Banner Gear: Wearing legacy Iron Banner armor or using an Iron Banner emblem slightly boosts your reputation gains.
• Stack Bounties: Grab Iron Banner bounties before farming — they provide a sizable chunk of reputation upon completion.
• Farm with a Fireteam: A coordinated team means more wins, faster matches, and slightly better drop rates.
• Focus Your Engrams: Don’t just rely on random drops — focusing engrams at Lord Saladin is the most consistent path to your god roll.

Quick Summary

• The Forward Path is only available when Iron Banner is active.
• Best way: Play matches → earn engrams and reputation → focus engrams at Lord Saladin.
• Focus perks: Dynamic Sway Reduction + Tap the Trigger/Iron Gaze (PvP), Feeding Frenzy + Multikill Clip (PvE).
• Get it while you can — once Iron Banner ends, you must wait for its return to continue farming.

Perks of The Forward Path AR

Column 3 Perks

This column is dedicated to consistency and reload perks that enhance the weapon’s core performance.

• Dynamic Sway Reduction: The premier PvP pick. It drastically increases accuracy and stability while holding down the trigger, ensuring your shots stay on target during extended duels.
• Feeding Frenzy: The top choice for PvE. Rapidly stacking reload speed after multiple kills keeps you in the fight and synergizes perfectly with damage perks.
• Moving Target: A strong alternative for PvP, granting +10 Aim Assist while aiming down sights and faster movement while strafing, improving your dueling capability.
• Threat Detector: Provides handling and reload bonuses when enemies are close. Situational, but useful in aggressive PvP or close-quarters PvE scenarios.

Column 4 Perks

This column features the damage and utility perks that define your roll’s potential.

• Tap the Trigger: An S-tier PvP perk on auto rifles. It provides a substantial burst of stability and accuracy at the start of firing, making the initial, most critical shots laser-accurate. It procs every time you press the trigger.
• Iron Gaze: A unique Iron Banner perk that massively increases Aim Assistance at the cost of significant range. Excellent for close-to-mid-range duels if you can manage the range falloff.
• Multikill Clip: The best PvE damage perk. Reloading after a kill increases damage, stacking multiple times for potent add-clearing potential.
• Swashbuckler: A great alternative for PvE, granting increased damage after a melee kill or final blows with the weapon. It pairs well with melee-focused builds.

Quick Take

• PvP God Roll: Dynamic Sway Reduction (Column 3) paired with either Tap the Trigger (maximum consistency) or Iron Gaze (extreme stickiness) in Column 4. This combination creates an incredibly easy-to-use and forgiving dueling weapon.
• PvE God Roll: Feeding Frenzy (Column 3) paired with Multikill Clip (Column 4). This classic combo allows for fast reloads that directly feed into a powerful damage bonus, ideal for mowing down enemies.

The Forward Path is a stat monster whose perks double down on its strengths. It may lack flashy, verb-based perks, but its raw consistency and top-tier perk combinations make it one of the most reliable Kinetic auto rifles for the Crucible.

The Forward Path God Roll

The Forward Path shines because it combines fantastic base stats with a curated perk pool focused entirely on consistency and dueling power, making it one of the most reliable Kinetic auto rifles for the Crucible while still holding its own in PvE.

The Forward Path PvE God Roll

In PvE, your focus is on reload speed and damage output to efficiently clear waves of enemies. The Forward Path offers a classic and powerful combo.

• Feeding Frenzy – The top-tier reload perk for add-clearing. Rapidly stacking reload speed after multiple kills keeps you in the fight and seamlessly feeds into your damage perks.
• Multikill Clip – The premier damage option. Reloading after a kill grants a stacking damage bonus that can quickly clear entire rooms. It’s the perfect partner for Feeding Frenzy.
• Dynamic Sway Reduction – A strong alternative for consistency. If you struggle to control recoil or are engaging longer-range targets, this perk ensures your bullets land exactly where you aim.
• Swashbuckler – A great damage alternative that is easy to activate, especially on melee-focused Titan or Warlock builds. A single melee kill grants a full, powerful damage buff.

Together, these perks create a potent and familiar loop. The definitive PvE god roll is Feeding Frenzy + Multikill Clip, creating a powerful cycle of kills, fast reloads, and increased damage. For a more relaxed or melee-focused playstyle, Feeding Frenzy/Dynamic Sway Reduction + Swashbuckler is also an excellent choice.

The Forward Path PvP God Roll

In the Crucible, The Forward Path’s high Aim Assistance and Handling are its foundation. The perks build on this to create an incredibly easy-to-use and consistent dueling weapon.

• Dynamic Sway Reduction – The premier consistency perk for PvP. It drastically reduces recoil and boosts accuracy while you fire, making it a laser beam during extended mid-range duels.
• Tap the Trigger – An S-tier perk on auto rifles. It provides a massive burst of stability and accuracy at the start of every trigger pull, ensuring your initial, most critical shots are perfectly accurate. It’s incredibly strong when paired with Dynamic Sway Reduction.
• Iron Gaze – A unique and powerful option that massively increases Aim Assistance, making the weapon exceptionally “sticky” and forgiving. The significant range penalty requires careful engagement positioning.
• Moving Target – A strong alternative that grants +10 Aim Assist while aiming down sights and faster strafe speed, improving your ability to win one-on-one fights.

For barrels and magazines, focus on Range and Stability:

• Arrowhead Brake or Smallbore (barrel)
• Ricochet Rounds (magazine)
• Stability or Range Masterwork for the final touch.

This maximizes the weapon’s ease of use, making The Forward Path a top-tier contender in the competitive auto rifle landscape.

Can you craft The Forward Path?

You cannot craft The Forward Path. It does not drop with Deepsight (red borders) and has no pattern to unlock, so there is no way to craft a personalized version at the Enclave.

The only way to get this auto rifle is during the limited-time Iron Banner playlist, which is available for one week at a time, multiple times per Season. You can earn copies as random end-of-match rewards or by focusing Iron Banner Engrams at Lord Saladin in the Tower. This means if you want a specific god roll, you will need to farm Iron Banner matches for engrams and reputation during its active weeks and focus your rolls before the event ends.

Conclusion

The Forward Path is one of the most consistent and user-friendly Kinetic auto rifles available in the current Crucible sandbox. It brings together excellent base stats, particularly high Handling and Aim Assistance, with a perk pool entirely dedicated to winning one-on-one duels. In PvP, it feels incredibly snappy and forgiving thanks to combinations like Dynamic Sway Reduction and Tap the Trigger. In PvE, while outshone by elemental primaries with modern perks, it remains a reliable workhorse with classic, effective rolls like Feeding Frenzy and Multikill Clip.

Because it’s an Iron Banner weapon and not craftable, you are at the mercy of Lord Saladin’s engram focusing. Players who enjoy dueling in the mid-range, value consistency over flashy perks, or are building out their PvP arsenal should absolutely farm for a good roll when Iron Banner is active. If you already have a crafted Ammit AR2 or a perfect Summoner, you may not need it — but for most Guardians seeking a top-tier, easy-to-use auto rifle, The Forward Path is absolutely worth the Iron Banner grind.