You can unlock the Ikelos SMG by completing the new Exodus: Preparation quest. This mission tasks you with visiting Mars, Io, Titan, and Mercury to complete each destination’s Weekly Bounty. Doing so will not only progress the quest but earn you a new Exodus-Focused Umbral Engram. When decrypted, this engram can turn into the Ikelos SR, Ikelos SMG, First In, Last Out, or Berenger’s Memory.
However, you can narrow this reward pool down further, by only decrypting the CQC-Focused Umbral Engram. This is located in the second row of Focused Engrams in the Prismatic Recaster, so you will need to unlock this first before you can narrow down the loot pool. Costing 100 Altered Energy, the CQC-Focused Umbral Engrams only drop the Ikelos SMG and First In, Last Out shotgun. Creating these CQC Engrams will be your best method for farming the Ikelos SMG and you should be stocked up on Altered Energy if you completed the Ruinous Effigy quest.
Ikelos SMG God Rolls
Ikelos SMG PVE God Roll
- Corkscrew Rifling or Polygonal Rifling
- Extended Mag
- Subsistence
- Demolitionist or Surrounded
The Ikelos SMG is a 750 RPM (rounds per minute) submachine gun that deals Arc damage and has the added benefit of generating Warmind Cells. This makes it a very good contender for PVE activities going into Beyond Light. For the first slot, we are looking for either Corkscrew Rifling to boost our range, stability, and handling, or Polygonal Rifling. The latter solely focuses on increases the stability, so if you’re having issues with the recoil this is the perk to look for. Our ammo perk is Extended Mag to give us more killing potential and it synergizes nicely with the last two perks.
Subsistence is our first actual perk, as it lets us partially refill the magazine at the cost of reduced ammo reserves. Too offset this I suggest running an ammo finder perk to keep you always stocked up on bullets. You can run Graverobber, but this is mainly for those who are focusing on their melee ability. Our second perk can either be Demolitionist or Surrounded depending on your preference. Demolitionist is great for reducing our grenade’s cooldown, while Surrounded can be deadly with the Surrounded Mod offered from the Black Armory DLC.
Both are extremely potent, so this part comes down to personal preference. I always like to keep my grenade ready, so Demolitionist is the roll I use since it works wonderfully with Subsistence. But if you want raw damage, Surrounded is the perk you should keep an eye out for.
Ikelos SMG PVP God Roll
- Hammer-Forged Rifling
- Accurized Rounds
- Dynamic Sway Reduction
- Tap the Trigger
So I heard you like stability and range.
The PVP roll of the Ikelos SMG is all about reducing the gun’s recoil and letting us engage at longer distances. It’s a simple, but effective plan that makes this submachine gun especially deadly in the right hands. Your first set of perks should be Hammer-Forged Rifling and Accurized Rounds to increase your gun’s range. Submachine guns have always suffered from a lack of range, so getting both of these will help offset some of these issues.
Our second cluster of perks is Dynamic Sway Reduction and Tap the Trigger, both of which give the gun inanely solid stability. This will let you easily stay on target, especially when you first start engaging them. Every since Dynamic Sway Reduction’s buff it has become a must-have for any automatic weapon.
The Ikelos SMG might not be the best submachine in the game, but it’s a solid choice for those who want a replacement to The Recluse.
