The Crimson is a popular Hand Cannon in Destiny 2 thanks to its unique abilities. The Cruel Remedy perk allows kills to heal the wielder and precision kills to top off the magazine. Combined with its strong damage potential, it’s an effective weapon for tanky builds.
But determining if tracking down and upgrading the 
Crimson Catalyst is worth it or not is a different story. It does boost the weapon’s potential, yet, for some players, it’s more of a bonus than a requirement. To decide for yourself, here’s everything you need to know about the Crimson Catalyst and how to get a hold of one.
Updated on October 13, 2021 by Ben Baker: The Destiny 2 Crimson should honestly be a staple weapon for all players. It comes with handy perks like burst damage, refill ammo, and healing, all of which make it easy to use. For more experienced players, though, the usefulness of this weapon may be questionable as it compromises damage for sustainability. It may not be the most efficient weapon, but victory is always more efficient than defeat, so for some, it’ll be worth it. In the end it’s up to the tastes and preferences of the player but it’s worth giving a shot. To this end and to help with this decision, this article has been updated with the weapon’s stats and examples of how best to use this weapon.
What It Does
The Crimson Catalyst comes with a single perk:
- It increases the weapon’s range by 18.
That’s not exactly a groundbreaking change for an already powerful weapon. That being said, any range boost on a Hand Cannon is a welcome one, and this boost can give the Crimson more utility in combat. That extra bump in range can let the player use the Crimson in more situations than otherwise and avoids having to switch to something else.
But players should know that there is a bit of farming involved in getting the Crimson Catalyst and it takes quite a few kills to upgrade it. Read on below to learn how to obtain and upgrade this piece of hardware.
Weapon Stats With The Crimson Catalyst
- Impact – 92
- Range – 60
- Stability – 82
- Handling – 50
- Reload Speed – 64
- Rounds Per Minute – 415
- Magazine – 14
-
Banned Weapon
– The Crimson fires a 3-round burst.
-
Cruel Remedy
– Kills with the Crimson heal the player. Precision kills will also refill the magazine.
How To Find It
The Crimson Catalyst is a random rare drop whenever the player kills a non-Guardian enemy anywhere in the game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a low-level enemy wandering around in the environment, or a powerful Fallen lurking in a playlist. Any enemy that isn’t a Guardian can drop the Crimson Catalyst upon dying.
Of course, the chances of this happening are pretty low, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to increase those odds. Further compounding the issue is the fact that there’s no guarantee this particular Catalyst will drop when the game triggers a Catalyst drop. As a result, players will be in for quite a bit of grind to get the Crimson Catalyst specifically.
Upgrading
Once obtained, players will want to spend some time upgrading the Crimson Catalyst to get its full potential. To upgrade the Crimson Catalyst players will need to get 300 precision kills using the Crimson. They can be any type of enemy, including Guardians, but the kill must be made using a Precision shot.
These kills can also be done retroactively. This means that if the player achieved any precision kills using the Crimson prior to obtaining the Crimson Catalyst it’ll count towards the 300. A great way to maximize efficiency is to aim for precision kills with the Crimson while grinding for the Crimson Catalyst.
Tips For Getting & Upgrading The Crimson Catalyst
Because any enemy kill has the chance of dropping the Crimson Catalyst, the player could opt for chasing after low-level enemies. This allows them to burn through a large number of kills, which gives more chances for a drop to occur.
Alternatively, the player can aim for getting the Crimson Catalyst to drop organically while pursuing other goals. For instance, players could be grinding Strikes to get the Deathbringer Catalyst to drop, and result in a Crimson Catalyst during that time. Then it’s just a matter of upgrading the Crimson Catalyst afterward.
Advice On Using The Crimson Catalyst
The Destiny 2 Crimson is solid in both PVP and PVE settings. In PVP, its perks combine to fire three shots, heal the player, and refill the magazine. If used carefully and with great accuracy, players will never need to reload, and can receive heals as they fight. That being said, it doesn’t compare DPS-wise against something like the 
Hawkmoon. Usually, the enemy’s strategy against the Crimson will be to out-damage its healing.
In PVE this is less of a concern, as enemies aren’t this smart. This makes Crimsons a great weapon when fighting against tough enemies or bosses. Keep in mind these fights will take a bit longer, though, as the DPS isn’t as good as the competition. For players struggling to stay alive in these fights, the Crimson is a perfect choice. For players who don’t have this problem, however, choosing something with better damage may be more appropriate.
Generally speaking, any Hunter who wants to take advantage of something like the 
Lucky Pants buff will want this gun. Hunters will benefit the most from the healing and get the most perks with Handcannons. Beginners will also find this weapon very useful as they learn the ropes and begin to understand enemy patterns and strategies.