Cold Front: A Shiny Toy

Happy Dawning, all, and an optimistic New Year. Bungie has given us some shiny new toys, and among these is the new SMG, Cold Front. Cold Front is the featured 2019 Dawning weapon, made extremely farmable due to its availability through deliveries of special cookies to vendors.

The SMG is a 750 rpm Aggressive Frame, rolling with perks like Corkscrew Rifling and Extended Barrel. Already, the gun snappy and accurate, with enough reach to cover further ranges. However, the problem lies in its next set of perks. Cold Front has a magazine bottoming out at 27 bullets; with Extended Mag and the Backup Mag weapon mod, the total comes to 33. The gun offers a few alternatives to the mag size: Accurized and Steady Rounds give a boost to range and stability, making the most out of the bullets. Drop Mag and Flared Magwell give boosts to reload, but also cut down the magazine capacity. The two main perks, however, bring the SMG up to par. Reload can be a cinch with perks like Underdog and Feeding Frenzy; grabbing a kill or almost being killed will net a swift reload. The final perks give the gun plenty of direction: Kill Clip is an all-around favorite, synergizing with the reload perks. Dynamic Sway Reduction increases accuracy the longer the trigger is held, making use of the Aggressive Frame. Rangefinder gives a solid boost to reach, as well. The most significant of these perks is Vorpal Weapon, giving the gun more damage against bosses, vehicles, and enemy supers.

PVE

The gun feels average in strikes and similar activities. It easily melts through at least a couple of ads, allowing Feeding Frenzy to give a nice reload bonus. Vorpal Weapon is helpful in a pinch, but does not help with minor enemies, and when it comes time to melt bosses, the special and power weapons simply outperform. It is hard-hitting and far-reaching, which feels refreshing for a SMG, but it’s magazine size drags it down. There are simply not enough bullets to make the Vorpal Weapon perk feel useful, and enemies can easily punish players for reloading.

PVP

Cold Front was made for PvP. The range and the handling melt enemies efficiently, and the accuracy is incredible. The 750 rpm keeps enemies down, and gives it a leg-up on other weapons like the Antiope-D. Kill Clip shines as it usually does in PvP, and Vorpal Weapon helps ward off enemy supers, even if the perk is situational. However, the magazine is a drag in PvP as well. Even with the reload perks, enemies often survive engagements because the magazine is a few bullets short. A good companion with this weapon would be heavy-hitters like Eriana’s Vow or a fusion; tenderize and then finish with the SMG.

Cold Front is an SMG players should test for themselves. The RPM is rapid and the accuracy is sharp, but magazine size keeps Cold Front from being a competitive pick.