Best Warlock Subclass in Destiny 2: Ranked for PvE and PvP

Destiny 2 is a complex game with buffs, nerfs, and an ever-changing meta. And since Abilities and Supers are so strong, Subclasses are a crucial part of the game. With the right combination of Aspects, Fragments, and Exotics, the right Subclasses can take your game to the next level, allowing you to create some of the most powerful Warlock builds.

Today we review and rank each Warlock subclass for PvE and PvP. More importantly, we cover each subclass’s strengths and weaknesses and tell you how to optimize them. (PS: These are the best Hunter Subclasses).

Updated as of Season of the Deep (S21).

Best Warlock Subclasses for PvE

--	Subclass	Element	Tier	Trend	Area	Rank
	Voidwalker	Void	Best ❘ S	-	PvE	S › Best
	Dawnblade	Solar	Best ❘ S	-	PvE	S › Best
	Shadebinder	Stasis	Strong ❘ A	-	PvE	A › Strong
	Broodweaver	Strand	Strong ❘ A	-	PvE	A › Strong
	Stormcaller	Arc	Average ❘ B		PvE	B › Average

1. Voidwalker (Void 3.0)

• Ranking: S Tier (best in class for endgame content)

With all of its buffs, debuffs, and ad-clear potential, Voidwalker is one of the most well-rounded subclasses in the entire game. It has a good mix of options for both boss and ad clear scenarios and even has one of the coolest aspects in the game (in Child of the Old Gods). Plus, potent Warlock exotics like Contraverse Hold, Nezarec’s Sin, or the new Briarbinds (we cover how to get the Briarbinds here), can constantly keep your grenades and other abilities up.

From healing through Devour and Feed the Void to debuffing with Weaken and Echo of Undermining, Voidwalker can excel in anything from patrol to Grandmaster Nightfalls.

Preferred Exotic: Contraverse Hold is generally the top pick, but Nezrec’s Sin is fantastic with a Void weapon.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Contraverse Hold	Warlock	Arms	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Engrams	Season 4	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Perk: "Resist incoming damage while charging your Void grenade with Chaos Accelerant, Feed the Void, or Handheld Supernova. Charged Void grenades return an amount of grenade energy on a hit."
Nezarec's Sin	Warlock	Helm	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Void-damage kills increase ability energy recharge rate."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Feed the Void and Child of the Old Gods is the go-to setup for most, but swap Child of the Old Gods for Chaos Accelerant when using Contraverse Hold.
• Fragments: Echo of Undermining, Echo of Remnants, Echo of Persistence, Echo of Instability.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Resilience, Discipline.
• Abilities: Nova Bomb: Cataclysm is the best Super overall, and Vortex Grenade is easily the strongest grenade. And with only one melee ability, the rest (jump and rift choice) is up to you.

2. Dawnblade (Solar 3.0)

• Ranking: A Tier (best in class for team-based content)

A subclass primarily used for support, Dawnblade fills its lack of ad clear and boss damage with some of the most powerful buffs in the game. Radiant provides a whopping 25% increase to damage, and Restoration provides continuous health regeneration even through damage.

While these buffs are inherently powerful, Dawnblade lost much of its power through the Starfire Protocol nerf that came with Season of the Deep. Other Exotics like Boots of the Assembler and Sunbracers have filled the role nicely, but nothing quite matches the absurdity of pre-nerf Starfire.

All that said, Dawnblade is still excellent at what it does. Well of Radiance continues to be the best PvE Super in the game, while the potent buffs Solar offers have kept Dawnblade popular through its decline.

Preferred Exotic: Now that Starfire Protocol was nerfed into the ground, we’d recommend Sunbracers, Boots of the Assembler, or Lunafaction Boots.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Boots of the Assembler	Warlock	Legs	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 14	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "Standing in a healing rift creates Noble Seekers that seek out allies that are not in a rift and heal them. Noble Seekers from Empowering rift grant both you and your ally a damage bonus. Each time a Noble Seeker finds one of your allies, the duration of your rift is briefly extended."
Lunafaction Boots	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Your Rifts gain the additional ability to increase weapon reload speeds. Empowering Rift makes weapons effective over longer ranges."
Sunbracers	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Increases the duration of Solar Grenades. Solar melee kills grant unlimited Solar Grenade energy for a brief time."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: All three Dawnblade Aspects have heavy pros and cons that come with them. However, Touch of Flame and Heat Rises are generally the most useful.
• Fragments: Ember of Empyrean, Ember of Solace, Ember of Ashes, Ember of Torches.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Resilience, Discipline.
• Abilities: Well of Radiance is arguably the strongest Super in the entire game, so running it is a no-brainer. Fusion Grenades, Solar Grenades, and Celestial Fire are generally the best picks beyond the Super.

3. Shadebinder (Stasis)

• Ranking: A Tier (Excels in endgame content)

Arguably the best Stasis subclass for PvE, Shadebinder can easily take advantage of all the element has to offer.

With Bleak Watcher and Iceflare Bolts, slowing and freezing enemies can be extremely easy. Winter’s Wrath is also worth mentioning, which serves as one of the game’s best utility and roaming supers.

There aren’t too many Stasis-specific exotics for Warlocks, but Osmiomancy Gloves can fill most needs. Allowing you two Coldsnap Grenades, you can now have twice as many Stasis turrets.

Shadebinder’s lack of outright killing potential is easily supplemented by how much utility slowing and freezing enemies provide—especially in high-difficulty content.

Preferred Exotic: Osmiomancy Gloves is the only Stasis Warlock exotic that is worth using, and it’s also excellent at what it does.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Osmiomancy Gloves	Warlock	Arms	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 16	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Your Coldsnap grenades have an additional charge that recharges quicker on direct impact. The seeker spawned from Coldsnap grenades travels further."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: While you could make builds with the rest of the available Aspects, Bleak Watcher and Iceflare Bolts are far and away the strongest.
• Fragments: Whisper of Durance, Whisper of Torment, Whisper of Hedrons, Whisper of Bonds.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Discipline, Intellect.
• Abilities: With only one melee and Super option, there aren’t many abilities you can choose from. However, for grenades, we prefer Coldsnap.

4. Broodweaver (Strand)

• Ranking: A Tier (for low-level casual content)

The Broodweaver is extremely versatile. From providing some substantial damage through Threadlings to Suspending everything on the battlefield, there’s nothing a Strand Warlock can’t do.

Broodweaver’s Super, Needlestorm, also is worth mentioning. While many use it for ad clear, it’s just as great for boss damage, especially with Thread of Evolution.

The one issue with Broodweaver is its survivability (or lack thereof). With Thread of Warding it’s not nearly as big of an issue, but it’s still this subclass’ fatal flaw.

Overall, Broodweaver is extremely fun to use. Other subclasses may be better (especially in high-level content), but Strand excels in its own way with the right build.

Preferred Exotic:  Swarmers is the only Strand-specific exotic Warlock has, so it’s a no-brainer to run it for the time being.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Swarmers	Warlock	Legs	Lightfall	Lost Sectors	Season 20	Lightfall	Exotic Perk: "Destroying a Tangle spawns a Threadling. Your Threadlings unravel targets that they damage."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Both Mindspun Invocation and Weaver’s Call grant some pretty substantial buffs, allowing you to generate more Threadlings or Suspend everything in sight. However, if you’d instead like to spec into Suspend, running The Wanderer instead of Weaver’s Call is a great choice.
• Fragments: Thread of Generation, Thread of Evolution, Thread of Warding, Thread of Fury

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Resilience, Discipline.
• Abilities: While Grapple is super fun, it’s not that useful on Warlock. Depending on what you’re building into, both Threadling and Shackle Grenade can be great here.

5. Stormcaller (Arc 3.0)

• Ranking: B Tier (for low-level casual content)

Stormcaller is extremely fun and, thanks to recent buffs, feels more powerful than ever before.

After numerous buffs directed at Arc Souls in PVE, they finally feel potent enough to use in mid-level content. Pair this with Fallen Sunstar or Crown of Tempests for ability energy and Amplified for a quick fire rate, and you’ll have a second set of bullets firing at enemies 24/7.

The main downside of Stormcaller are the Supers. While fun, both Stormtrance and Chaos Reach don’t provide enough damage to be considered useful in most scenarios.

There are many exotic armor pieces for Arc Warlock, but Getaway Artist, Fallen Sunstar, and Crown of Tempests are the three standouts. While Crown of Tempests and Fallen Sunstar provide more of the same abilities, Getaway Artist gives you something new.

All in all, Arc Warlock is entertaining to use, and Arc 3.0 did a lot for it, but it still leaves a lot to be desired.

Preferred Exotic: Getaway Artist is the most fun pick, while Crown of Tempests and Fallen Sunstar tend to be the most useful.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Crown of Tempests	Warlock	Helm	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Arc ability kills increase the recharge rate of your Arc abilities and extend the duration of Stormtrance."
Getaway Artist	Warlock	Arms	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Engrams	Season 6	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Perk: "Convert your Arc Grenade into a supercharged Arc Soul. The Arc Soul functions as an autonomous turret."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Even though Lightning Surge is great fun, Electrostatic Mind and Arc Soul beat it out in terms of utility.
• Fragments: Spark of Shock, Spark of Ions, Spark of Magnitude, Spark of Discharge.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Resilience, Discipline.
• Abilities: Because both Supers provide about the same amount of damage output, your choice here depends on your playstyle or the build you’re running. As for grenades, Storm or Pulse are the two top picks.

Best Warlock Subclasses for PvP

--	Subclass	Element	Tier	Trend	Area	Rank
	Dawnblade	Solar	Best ❘ S	-	PvP	S › Best
	Stormcaller	Arc	Strong ❘ A		PvP	A › Strong
	Shadebinder	Stasis	Strong ❘ A	-	PvP	A › Strong
	Voidwalker	Void	Average ❘ B		PvP	B › Average
	Broodweaver	Strand	Average ❘ B	-	PvP	B › Average

1. Dawnblade (Solar 3.0)

• Ranking: S Tier

With unique movement abilities and absurd health regeneration, it’s no wonder Dawnblade is such a menace in PVP.

Icarus Dash and Heat Rises allow you to utilize vertical movement while not bogged down by airborne effectiveness. Movement in Daybreak is similar, allowing you to fly across the map raining death from above.

Dawnblade (and Solar as a whole) also provides excellent support opportunities in the form of Restoration. This buff goes through damage, meaning you’ll restore health while taking damage. Radiant is also an irreplaceable buff in PVP, allowing for significantly more consistent kills.

Dawnblade is simply unmatched in general utility, movement, and support, making it one of the best subclasses for PVP.

Preferred Exotic: Rain of Fire can grant easy reloads and damage increases, while Transversive Steps and Ophidian Aspect are timeless favorites.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Ophidian Aspect	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 2	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Provides a small benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons."
Rain of Fire	Warlock	Legs	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 17	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Air dodge reloads all of your weapons and improves the airborne effectiveness of Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles; final blows with these weapons make you radiant."
Transversive Steps	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Heat Rises and Icarus Dash’s movement bonuses are hard to resist, but Touch of Flame could be used in rare situations.
• Fragments: Ember of Solace, Ember of Torches, Ember of Empyrean, Ember of Benevolence.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Discipline.
• Abilities: Daybreak is great for both its movement and killing capabilities, and Celestial Fire’s range and tracking is usually preferred. Solar Grenade is excellent here, but unique grenades like Healing can excel just as much.

Stormcaller (Arc 3.0)

• Ranking: A Tier

Regarding PVP, Stormcaller got treated relatively nicely in the Arc 3.0 updates of Season of the Plunder. With extra firepower through Arc Soul to being able to close the gap with Lightning Surge, Stormcaller provides loads of abilities that fit the “space magic” idea perfectly.

Stormcaller’s grenades and melees are top-tier, ranging from Storm Grenade’s substantial damage to Ball Lightning’s range. Plus, while they aren’t the best Supers in the game, both Stormtrance and Chaos Reach can prove helpful in various situations.

In some ways, Stormcaller almost feels underrated in PVP. Arc subclasses have always gotten a bad rep in the community, but Stormcaller isn’t anything to scoff at—its unique and powerful abilities prove to be extremely useful in the Crucible.

Preferred Exotic: Getaway Artist enhances the powerful effects of Arc Soul even more and is usually the go-to pick for an Arc-based exotic.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Getaway Artist	Warlock	Arms	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Engrams	Season 6	Forsaken Pack	Exotic Perk: "Convert your Arc Grenade into a supercharged Arc Soul. The Arc Soul functions as an autonomous turret."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Arc Soul and Lightning Surge are easily the two top options for Stormcaller in PVP.
• Fragments: Spark of Magnitude, Spark of Feedback, Spark of Focus.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Discipline.
• Abilities: Both Chaos Reach and Stormtrance are excellent in particular scenarios, so use whatever you’re more comfortable with. Storm, Lightning, and Arcbolt Grenades tend to be used most often, but most Arc Grenades tend to be good. Lastly, we prefer Ball Lightning over Chain Lightning, but once again, there isn’t a clear winner.

Shadebinder (Stasis)

• Ranking: A Tier

Providing tons of options to freeze opponents, a Shadebinder is appreciated on any PVP team.

Iceflare Bolts is one of the strongest Aspects in the game overall, allowing you to gain a high potential of freezing multiple enemies at once. Frostpulse is an easy way to freeze targets, allowing you to stop nearby enemies in their tracks with a press of a button. Bleak Watcher can also prove helpful when used strategically; however, it does require practice and map knowledge.

Shadebinder’s other abilities don’t disappoint, either. Winter’s Wrath and Penumbral Blast allow for more easy freezing opportunities and are great ways to shut down both Supers and shotgun rushers alike.

Like in PVE, Shadebinder can excel greatly in PVP when used properly. While it doesn’t outright kill enemies, freezing and slowing them can prove extremely useful in any situation.

Preferred Exotic: Osmiomancy Gloves help greatly when using Coldsnap Grenades or Bleak Watcher, but neutral exotics like Transversive Steps and Ophidian Aspect tend to be used more frequently.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Ophidian Aspect	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 2	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Provides a small benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons."
Osmiomancy Gloves	Warlock	Arms	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 16	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Your Coldsnap grenades have an additional charge that recharges quicker on direct impact. The seeker spawned from Coldsnap grenades travels further."
Transversive Steps	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Iceflare Bolts and Frostpulse tend to be the winners here, but Bleak Watcher isn’t a bad option if you know how to use it.
• Fragments: Whisper of Rending, Whisper of Torment, Whisper of Chains, Whisper of Bonds.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Recovery, Discipline, Resilience.
• Abilities: There aren’t many abilities to choose from here, but Coldsnap or Duskfield Grenade and Healing Rift tend to be the most desirable options.

Voidwalker (Void 3.0)

• Ranking: B Tier

Voidwalker provides a fair amount of utility in some scenarios but is still often regarded as average for PVP.

The debuff and healing potential of Weaken and Devour deserve to be mentioned, but the Radiant and Restoration effects of Solar tend to do the same thing better. Additionally, other than Child of the Old Gods (which absolutely deserves to be discussed here), the Aspect choices for Voidwalker aren’t the strongest or most flashy.

A wide variety of Supers, however, helps Voidwalker stand out a slight amount. Nova Warp is a passable roaming Super, and both Nova Bombs excel in different situations.

While Voidwalker isn’t the strongest subclass in PVP, it does have many unique facets that help it stand out from the pack.

Preferred Exotic: Because there isn’t an extremely strong Voidwalker PVP exotic, we recommend using a passive exotic instead (Transversive Steps, Ophidian Aspect, etc.).

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Ophidian Aspect	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 2	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Provides a small benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons."
Transversive Steps	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Child of the Old Gods is the best Aspect here, with Feed the Void and Chaos Accelerant being about the same. Both can be good in some situations, but it depends on your playstyle.
• Fragments: Echo of Persistence, Echo of Remnants, Echo of Undermining.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

Stats: Discipline, Recovery, Intellect

Abilities: Super choice is mostly up to you here, but overall we think Nova Bomb: Cataclysm is best. Vortex Grenade, Suppressor Grenade, and Axion Bolt are all good options for grenades, and Empowering Rift can be used here if Feed the Void is equipped.

5. Broodweaver (Strand)

• Ranking: B Tier

While other Strand subclasses excel in PvP due to high Suspend uptime, Broodweaver just doesn’t hit the mark.

The main focus of Broodweaver is Threadlings, which just aren’t that powerful in PvP. While they do pretty good damage, they’re extremely easy to destroy before they get to you.  Broodweaver’s abilities also aren’t inherently potent; they rely on other debuffs to make them useful. And with most relying on Unravel instead of Suspend, this ability set lacks in the Crucible compared to PvE.

Broodweaver definitely isn’t bad by any means, but there simply isn’t a point in running it over Warlock’s three other subclasses.

Preferred Exotic: Swarmers is the only Strand-exclusive exotic, but we recommend running a neutral one instead (Transversive Steps or Ophidian Aspect).

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Swarmers	Warlock	Legs	Lightfall	Lost Sectors	Season 20	Lightfall	Exotic Perk: "Destroying a Tangle spawns a Threadling. Your Threadlings unravel targets that they damage."
Transversive Steps	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded."

Preferred Aspects and Fragments:

• Aspects: Mindspun Invocation and Weaver’s Call seem to be best right now, but that isn’t saying much. They still leave a lot to be desired compared to other subclass’ options.
• Fragments: Thread of Evolution, Thread of Generation, Thread of Binding, Thread of Continuity.

Preferred Abilities and Stats:

• Stats: Discipline and Recovery.
• Abilities: The only choice you really have here is your grenade, the best being either Shackle or Threadling.

Your turn

What is your favorite Warlock Subclass right now? Let us know in the comments below!