Are you a Warlock main and want to take your game to the next level? These are the best Warlock builds in Destiny 2, including builds for endgame, Solo, and casual players. Whether you’re into Solar, Void, or are into the brand-new Strand subclass, these builds have you covered.
And by the way, as any great Destiny 2 build, these will guide you every step of the way, including essential Exotics, Mods, and more (PS: PvP builds are covered here).
Top 10 Warlock builds
-- | Name | Class | Area | Subclass | Excels in | Element | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Harnesser of Flame | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Mid to Endgame PvE content | Solar | Best in Class |
![]() | Commander of Chaos | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Grandmaster Nightfalls | Void | Best in Class |
![]() | Sun Wizard | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Casual PvE Content | Solar | |
![]() | Mindspun Suspender | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Mid to Endgame PvE content | Strand | Best in Class |
![]() | Stasis Engineer | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Grandmaster Nightfalls | Stasis | Best in Class |
![]() | Arc Summoner | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Casual PvE Content | Arc | Best in Class |
![]() | The Frostmaker | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Grandmaster Nightfalls | Stasis | |
![]() | Noble Assembler | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Team-based content | Solar | |
![]() | Radiant Timestrider | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Casual PvE Content | Solar | |
![]() | Sorcerer of Swarms | Warlock | PvE | ![]() | Casual PvE Content | Strand |
More Destiny 2 Builds:
Best Warlock PvE builds
Harnesser of Flame
Excels In: Endgame (Dungeons, Raids, Legend content)
Goal of the Build:The goal of the build is to grant you the ability to throw infinite Fusion Grenades and cast infinite Empowering Rifts using Starfire Protocol.
Mandatory gear: While no weapons are required, DoT (damage over time) options such as Anarchy and Witherhoard are some of the best choices. For armor, you’ll want Starfire Protocol. Fusion Grenades are strong on their own, and Starfire Protocol allows you to throw as many as you want.
Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Starfire Protocol | Warlock | Chest | Free-to-Play | Exotic Engrams | ![]() Free-to-Play | Exotic Perk: "Fusion Grenades have an additional charge and recharge from empowered weapon damage. Fusion Grenade kills grant Rift energy." |
- Aspects: Touch of Flame is an obvious pick here because of the grenade-centric goal of the build. The second aspect, however, is your choice.
- Fragments: As for fragments, Ember of Ashes is the only one you need. Ember of Searing, Empyrean, and Mercy are the other three we use, but you can get creative here.
- Abilities: Fusion Grenades and Empowering Rift are musts as they are what make Starfire Protocol work.
- Stats: Resilience (for damage resistance) and Recovery (for a quicker rift cooldown).
- Mods: The only mods you’ll need are (for DPS, Time Dilation and Surge mods will also help):
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Ashes to Assets | Helmet | 3 | Rank 5 | Gain bonus Super energy on grenade kills. | General |
![]() | Firepower | Arms | 3 | Rank 5 | Your grenade final blows create Orbs of Power. | General |
![]() | Bolstering Detonation | Arms | 2 | Rank 5 | Grants class ability energy when you cause damage with a grenade. | General |
![]() | Insulation | Legs | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces class ability cooldown each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | General |
Gameplay Loop
The gameplay loop for this build is reliable and straightforward, making it one of the strongest and easiest-to-use builds in the game.
To begin, place your Empowering Rift and simply shoot at enemies with your weapons (this is where Witherhoard and Anarchy come in handy). Doing so will give you Fusion Grenade energy, which you can use to kill ads or DPS a boss. If you get a kill with a Fusion Grenade, your rift will automatically recharge completely, allowing you to start the process all over again.
If you fail to get a kill with your grenade, Insulation and other class ability regeneration mods can help you recover quicker, as mentioned earlier. If you happened to add more mods to this build, your specific gameplay loop might be more complex. However, even if you stick to the basic framework we covered here, you’ll be able to do tons of DPS and kill ads like nothing.
Commander of Chaos
Excels In: Grandmaster Content
Goal of the Build: Be able to debuff everything in sight while maintaining Devour for survivability.
Mandatory Gear: Our two exotics for this build are Collective Obligation and Secant Filaments. While Collective can prove hard to get, its ability to spread Void debuffs is unmatched.
Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Secant Filaments | Warlock | Legs | The Witch Queen | Lost Sectors | Season 16 | ![]() The Witch Queen | Exotic Perk: "Casting an empowering rift will grant you Devour. Damage dealt by you and your allies from within your empowering rift will disrupt combatants." |
- Aspects: Feed the Void and Child of the Old Gods.
- Fragments: Echo of Undermining, Echo of Instability, Echo of Domineering, and either Echo of Expulsion or Echo of Harvest
- Abilities: We’ll utilize Suppressor Grenade for additional debuffing potential, and Secant Filaments require Empowering Rift to work.
- Stats: Resilience is, as always, the most crucial stat here, with Recovery and Discipline not far behind.
- Mods: The only mods you’ll need are:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Harmonic Siphon | Helmet | 1 | Rank 6 | Rapid final blows with weapons matching your Subclass create an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Grenade Kickstart | Arms | 3 | Rank 7 | When your grenade energy is fully expended, you gain grenade energy. Additionally, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain additional grenade energy for each stack. | Active |
![]() | Charged Up | Chest | 3 | Rank 7 | Increases the maximum number of stacks of Armor Charge you can carry by 1. | Generator |
![]() | Stacks on Stacks | Legs | 4 | Rank 7 | Picking up an Orb of Power grants you 1 additional stack of Armor Charge. | Generator |
![]() | Bomber | Class Item | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown when using your class ability. | General |
Gameplay Loop
Because there are so many moving parts to this build, there’s no one “loop” you’ll need to execute. You have multiple ways to debuff enemies: Weaken and Suppression with a grenade, Volatile from melee and Volatile Rounds, and more Weaken from Child of the Old Gods. Plus, you’ll get Devour by placing your rift or getting an ability kill.
After debuffing an enemy with any of these sources, shoot them once with Collective Obligation. Holding reload will cause the weapon to fire bullets that debuff enemies with any effect you shot earlier. After the chaos subsides, you should have most abilities recharged and ready for a second round.
Like the Harnesser of Flame build shown earlier, this is strong on its own but can be expanded upon in numerous ways to fit the activity you’re playing.
Sun Wizard
Excels In: Casual Content (Seasonal Activities, Strikes, etc.)
Goal of the Build: While it’s simple at its core, this build allows you to rain terror from above by throwing an infinite amount of Solar Grenades. It provides excellent ad-clear and can give you a seemingly-infinite damage buff via surge mods. P.S: This build is heavily inspired by one of Imagine’s amazing build videos.
Mandatory Gear: Any solar weapons can be helpful here, but we recommend a CALUS Mini-Tool with Incandescent. Sunbracers is the exotic we’ll be using here, as it grants you tons of Solar Grenades and has unmatched synergy with Heat Rises.
Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Sunbracers | Warlock | Arms | Free-to-Play | Exotic Engrams | ![]() Free-to-Play | Exotic Perk: "Increases the duration of Solar Grenades. Solar melee kills grant unlimited Solar Grenade energy for a brief time." |
- Aspects: Touch of Flame and Heat Rises.
- Fragments:Ember of Ashes, Ember of Searing, Ember of Empyrean, & Ember of Resolve
- Abilities & Stats: Solar Grenade, Phoenix Dive, and Incinerator Snap are the required abilities for this build.
- Stats: Resilience and Recovery are the only two stats you might want to spec into here. Since you’ll be in the air for most of the time here, you might be taking more fire than usual, meaning anything to help you survive is a great choice.
- Mods: The only mods you’ll need are:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Ashes to Assets | Helmet | 3 | Rank 5 | Gain bonus Super energy on grenade kills. | General |
![]() | Harmonic Siphon | Helmet | 1 | Rank 6 | Rapid final blows with weapons matching your Subclass create an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Firepower | Arms | 3 | Rank 5 | Your grenade final blows create Orbs of Power. | General |
![]() | Bolstering Detonation | Arms | 2 | Rank 5 | Grants class ability energy when you cause damage with a grenade. | General |
![]() | Momentum Transfer | Arms | 3 | Rank 5 | Causing damage with a grenade reduces your melee cooldown. | General |
Gameplay Loop
Get a kill with your charged melee ability to start the gameplay loop. If you’re struggling with this step, try binding your charged melee to a unique button so you can send it off at a more specific time.
Getting that powered melee kill will proc Sunbracers, granting you five seconds of ‘infinite’ Solar Grenades. Realistically, you can only fire a maximum of five in this time due to the time it takes to execute the animation. Swallow your first grenade to get Heat Rises, then take to the skies and watch everything below burn via your other Solar Grenades. Any kills in the air (including those from the grenades) will give you 30% of your melee energy, allowing you to repeat this loop infinitely.
If you ever fail to kill something with your melee, just get kills in the air with your weapons—you’ll get it back soon after due to Heat Rises. As a nice bonus, casting Phoenix Dive while Heat Rises is active grants Restoration, which you can extend with Solar kills via Ember of Empyrean.
This build was already strong before Solar 3.0, but with the new aspects and fragments, it has gotten even more powerful. While it doesn’t excel much in higher-level content, this is a great build to run in seasonal activities and other lower-end content if you want to mix it up.
Mindspun Suspender
Excels In: Endgame (Dungeons, Raids, Legend content)
Goal of the Build: Dominate the battleground with both Suspend and Threadlings, immobilizing and damaging combatants with little effort.
Mandatory Gear: Swarmers are the clear choice for armor here, and a primary Demolitionist weapon makes ability rotations smoother. Bonus points if it’s Strand!
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." |
- Aspects: Weaver’s Call and Mindspun Invocation are our choices for Aspects.
- Fragments: You’ll want to equip Thread of Mind, Generation, Evolution, and Warding.
- Abilities & Stats: Shackle Grenade is the top pick here because of its uses with Mindspun Invocation.
- Stats: Discipline is easily the most crucial stat to build into, with Resilience and Recovery being extremely useful as well.
- Mods: An Elemental Siphon mod matching your primary weapon’s element will be your main source of Orbs and Armor Charge. The Untangler, Threaded Blast, and Allied Unraveling Artifact Perks also work perfectly if you’re playing during Season of Defiance. Also:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Grenade Kickstart | Arms | 3 | Rank 7 | When your grenade energy is fully expended, you gain grenade energy. Additionally, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain additional grenade energy for each stack. | Active |
![]() | Stacks on Stacks | Legs | 4 | Rank 7 | Picking up an Orb of Power grants you 1 additional stack of Armor Charge. | Generator |
![]() | Bomber | Class Item | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown when using your class ability. | General |
Gameplay Loop
Consuming your Shackle Grenade with Mindspun Invocation grants you 25 seconds of Weaver’s Trace, making all final blows create an explosion of Suspend. Killing these Suspended targets will create a Tangle and grant class ability energy; destroying that same Tangle will create Threadlings.
Because of Swarmers, Threadlings will Unravel targets they hit. You can generate additional Threadlings by casting your rift, which also grants you grenade energy to start the process over again. To top it all off, collecting Orbs of Power from your Siphon mod will give you Woven Mail and grenade energy indirectly via Grenade Kickstart.
Stasis Engineer
Excels In: Grandmaster Content
Goal of the Build: Slow and freeze large groups of enemies using countless Bleak Watcher turrets.
Mandatory Gear: The Osmiomancy Gloves are the exotic we’ll be using for this build.
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." |
No weapons are required, but some can exponentially increase the effectiveness of this build. You can run a primary gun with Demolitionist or one with Headstone. Wellspring as the second perk can help even more.
- Aspects: Iceflare Bolts and Bleak Watcher, allowing you to slow and freeze the maximum number of enemies possible.
- Fragments: Whisper of Refraction, Durance, Torment, and Chains. If you choose to run a Headstone weapon, you’ll want Whisper of Refraction, Durance, Chains, and Shards.
- Abilities: Coldsnap Grenade is essential here as it will give you two grenade charges via Osmiomancy Gloves.
- Stats: Discipline is far and away the most crucial stat here to allow for the maximum amount of turrets possible.
- Mods: An Elemental Siphon mod matching your primary weapon’s element will be your main source of Orbs and Armor Charge. Also:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Bolstering Detonation | Arms | 2 | Rank 5 | Grants class ability energy when you cause damage with a grenade. | General |
![]() | Grenade Kickstart | Arms | 3 | Rank 7 | When your grenade energy is fully expended, you gain grenade energy. Additionally, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain additional grenade energy for each stack. | Active |
![]() | Stacks on Stacks | Legs | 4 | Rank 7 | Picking up an Orb of Power grants you 1 additional stack of Armor Charge. | Generator |
Gameplay Loop
The primary loop of this build is just to throw turrets onto the field whenever you get them. Whisper of Torment and max Discipline will hopefully carry you to your next grenade charge without a problem. However, this is also where the two types of weapons mentioned previously come into play.
Adding a Demolitionist/Wellspring weapon here is self-explanatory: getting kills with it will regenerate your grenade quicker.
In comparison, the setup with a Headstone weapon is slightly more complicated but benefits you a little more. Once you trigger Headstone and generate a stasis crystal, simply destroy it to get increased grenade regeneration for five seconds (via Whisper of Shards).
This build has been a monster in Grandmaster Nightfalls since Bleak Watcher was released, but Osmiomancy Gloves and Headstone weapons have boosted it to another level. Freezing so many enemies not only makes them easier to kill but also inhibits them from hurting you and your fireteam in any way, making this a simple yet well-rounded build that can fit any team composition.
Arc Summoner
Excels In: Casual Content (Seasonal Activities, Strikes, etc.)
Goal of the Build: Consistently have turrets assisting you and allies on the battlefield, allowing for great ad clear and slightly more boss DPS.
Mandatory Gear: We’ll be using Fallen Sunstar here to provide ability energy for the entire Fireteam. Coldheart is our preferred weapon, but Delicate Tomb or any other Arc weapon can theoretically be used.
Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Fallen Sunstar | Warlock | Helm | The Witch Queen | Lost Sectors | Season 18 | ![]() The Witch Queen | Exotic Perk: "Ionic traces you create move faster and grant you additional ability energy. Nearby allies also gain ability energy when you collect an ionic trace." |
- Aspects: Arc Soul and Electrostatic Mind are the two aspects we’ll utilize.
- Fragments: Fragments, on the other hand, depend on what Arc weapon you decide to use. If you’re running Coldheart (or any other Arc special weapon), use Spark of Magnitude, Shock, Beacons, and Brilliance. If you’re instead running an Arc primary weapon, Beacons and Brilliance can be replaced with your choice.
- Abilities: We’ll use Storm Grenade simply because it feels the strongest currently; however, Pulse Grenade and others are fine as well. Melee and Super are completely up to you, although we like Chaos Reach and Ball Lightning.
- Stats: Recovery and Resilience are great. We also recommend mid to high levels of Discipline to top off your grenade ability if needed.
- Mods: The only mods you’ll need are:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Ashes to Assets | Helmet | 3 | Rank 5 | Gain bonus Super energy on grenade kills. | General |
![]() | Harmonic Siphon | Helmet | 1 | Rank 6 | Rapid final blows with weapons matching your Subclass create an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Firepower | Arms | 3 | Rank 5 | Your grenade final blows create Orbs of Power. | General |
![]() | Bolstering Detonation | Arms | 2 | Rank 5 | Grants class ability energy when you cause damage with a grenade. | General |
![]() | Innervation | Legs | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | General |
Gameplay Loop
Start by placing a rift down to grant you and your allies Arc Souls. Then, simply use the rest of your abilities and shoot everything in sight with your Arc weapon. Any Ionic Traces you collect will grant you and your allies substantial amounts of ability energy and will make you Amplified (buffing your Arc Soul and other abilities).
With that being the only information you need to succeed, this build is simple yet effective. While it may not be the greatest in high-difficulty PVE content (or in anything with a high-health boss), it’s one of our favorite builds to run and has become a community favorite as a result of Arc Soul’s recent buffs.
The Frostmaker
Excels In: Solo Content
Goal of the Build: The goal here is to slow and freeze everything in sight, giving you tons of super energy and, eventually a weapon damage boost.
Mandatory Gear: The primary weapon we’ll be utilizing here is Ager’s Scepter, a Stasis Trace Rifle.
Art | Weapon | Type | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo | Element | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo? | Element? | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Ager's Scepter | Trace Rifle | Exotic | Exotic | Special | Stasis | Beyond Light | Yes | ![]() | ![]() | Best ❘ S | PvE + PvP | Exotic Kiosk | ![]() | ![]() Beyond Light | Season 15 | Kinetic | No |
This pairs exceptionally well with a Stasis subclass and Mantle of Battle Harmony.
Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Mantle of Battle Harmony | Warlock | Chest | Beyond Light | Lost Sectors | Season 13 | ![]() Beyond Light | Exotic Perk: "Takedowns with weapons that have a damage type matching your subclass element grant you Super energy. While your Super energy is full, you instead gain a temporary bonus to weapon damage of the type matching your subclass element." |
To use this build to its maximum potential, you’ll want to equip a stasis Power weapon such as Reed’s Regret or Palmyra-B.
- Aspects: Iceflare Bolts is convenient here as it will cause all of your freezing effects to spread. Glacial Harvest is also needed as it will allow us to gain both ability energy and an overshield.
- Fragments: Whisper of Bonds, Fissures, Rime, and Conduction. These give numerous buffs, including more super energy and shatter damage.
- Abilities & Stats: While no specific abilities are required, Discipline, Resilience, and Recovery are all good stats to spec into.
- Mods: The only mods you’ll need are:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Harmonic Siphon | Helmet | 1 | Rank 6 | Rapid final blows with weapons matching your Subclass create an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Special Ammo Finder | Helmet | 3 | Rank 5 | Increases the drop chance of Special ammo on kill. | General |
![]() | Charged Up | Chest | 3 | Rank 7 | Increases the maximum number of stacks of Armor Charge you can carry by 1. | Generator |
![]() | Stacks on Stacks | Legs | 4 | Rank 7 | Picking up an Orb of Power grants you 1 additional stack of Armor Charge. | Generator |
![]() | Innervation | Legs | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Special Finisher | Class Item | 1 | Rank 7 | Finishers generate Special ammo for the whole fireteam. Consumes 3 stacks of Armor Charge. | Active |
![]() | Empowered Finisher | Class Item | 3 | Rank 7 | Generator |
Gameplay Loop
here isn’t a specific gameplay loop here; just use Ager’s Scepter and your abilities to freeze and kill as many enemies as possible. Both Whisper of Bonds and Mantle of Battle Harmony will give you super energy from said kills, and dropped Orbs of Power allow you to use Special Finisher as necessary.
Once you reach full super energy, you have three options that are all very strong. The first is to use your super to kill a large group of ads (or even damage a boss!). Assuming you have excess Ager’s ammo, a second option is to use the firing mode from Ager’s Scepter’s catalyst, making the weapon freeze everything and do more damage. The third and final option is not to use either and instead take advantage of Mantle of Battle Harmony’s second perk, giving you extra Stasis weapon damage after a Stasis weapon kill (as long as you keep full super energy).
Unlike other builds, the Frostmaker is extremely potent while not having a super specific gameplay loop, meaning it can be effective anywhere.
Noble Assembler
Excels In: Solo Content
Goal of the Build: Empower yourself and allies using support exotics and abilities such as Healing Grenade and Lumina.
Mandatory Gear: The two main pieces of equipment we’ll use here are Lumina and Boots of the Assembler.
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." |
Both will empower allies and you, making this build a fantastic option for team play.
Art | Weapon | Type | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo | Element | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo? | Element? | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Lumina | Hand Cannon | Exotic | Exotic | Primary | Kinetic | Forsaken Pack | Yes | ![]() | ![]() | Strong ❘ A | PvE + PvP | Exotic Kiosk | ![]() | ![]() Forsaken Pack | Season 7 | Kinetic | No |
- Aspects: Heat Rises and Touch of Flame.
- Fragments: This build only requires three fragments: Ember of Benevolence, Torches, and Solace. The fourth slot is entirely up to you.
- Abilities: Healing Grenade is best here to build into the support identity even more.
- Stats: Discipline is excellent to get your Healing Grenade back quicker. Beyond that, Resilience and Recovery are the clear options here, as always.
- Mods: There are no specific mods needed for this build, making it one of the most accessible and easy to set up right now.
Gameplay Loop
While there isn’t a specific gameplay ‘loop’ for this build, everything works in conjunction, and understanding all the moving parts is vital to your success.
Kills with Lumina will drop Noble Rounds, which you can shoot at allies to give both you and them a damage buff. This will also proc Ember of Benevolence, giving you more ability energy. This ability energy will give you your melee back, which, when used, will provide you and your nearby allies Radiant (which, once again, procs Benevolence). Throwing or swallowing your grenade will also grant Restoration, giving you even more ability energy.
Lastly, placing down your rift will activate Boots of the Assembler’s perk, spawning Noble Seekers and empowering allies while giving you the Ember of Benevolence buff. As you can see, everything has a place in this build, allowing you to chain support ability after support ability. Even better, you’ll receive buffs from most of these sources, making you more potent while also helping allies.
Radiant Timestrider
Excels In: Casual Content (Seasonal Activities, Strikes, etc.)
Goal of the Build: Pair Vex Mythoclast’s great utility with various Solar 3.0 buffs to create a well-rounded build that can handle ads and bosses alike.
Mandatory Gear: The gear you’ll need here is self-explanatory: Vex Mythoclast and Rain of Fire. Not only will Rain of Fire provide you with easy reloads—but it’s also practically made to be used with Vex Mythoclast.
Art | Weapon | Type | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo | Element | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo? | Element? | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Vex Mythoclast | Fusion Rifle | Exotic | Exotic | Primary | Solar | Free-to-Play | Yes | ![]() | ![]() | Average ❘ B | PvE | Vault of Glass Raid | ![]() | ![]() Free-to-Play | Season 14 | Energy | No |
Running a kinetic legendary fusion rifle will elevate this build even more, but it is in no way necessary if you prefer snipers or shotguns.
- Aspects: Icarus Dash and Heat Rises.
- Fragments: Ember of Solace, Ember of Empyrean, Ember of Tempering, and Ember of Benevolence
- Abilities: Healing Grenade is the only ability you’ll want to run for this build.
- Stats: The generic Recovery/Resilience/Discipline combination works best.
- Mods: No mods are required here, so use your slots on simple picks such as:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Harmonic Siphon | Helmet | 1 | Rank 6 | Rapid final blows with weapons matching your Subclass create an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Solar Weapon Surge | Legs | 3 | Rank 7 | Your Solar weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. | Passive |
Gameplay Loop
Start by getting a kill with Vex Mythoclast (or a kinetic fusion rifle, if you happen to be running one). Assuming you have the Vex Mythoclast catalyst, you’ll get two damage buffs: Radiant from Rain of Fire and the second damage buff from Vex’s catalyst. These will stack together, allowing you to eliminate majors and minibosses as quickly as standard red bars. These buffs will also continue to stack when you activate Vex Mythoclast’s linear fusion rifle mode, allowing you to even put some good damage into bosses.
On the other side of this build, Healing Grenade will grant you Restoration, allowing for extreme survivability. Having allies walk through your Healing Grenade will also provide you with faster ability regeneration via Ember of Benevolence, and kills with Vex can extend both Radiant and Restoration via Empyrean.
While this build isn’t too flashy, it’s enjoyable and easy to use. As long as you have the two required Warlock exotics, you’re automatically set up for success with this one.
Sorcerer of Swarms
Excels In: Casual Content (Seasonal Activities, Strikes, etc.)
Goal of the Build: Fill the battlefield with Threadlings to dominate foes and spread Unravel.
Mandatory Gear: Swarmers is the only required piece of gear, allowing you to spawn even more Threadlings with additional effects. A Strand primary weapon with Hatchling or Demolitionist contributes significantly to this build but is not required.
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." |
- Aspects: Weaver’s Call and Mindspun Invocation.
- Fragments: Thread of Warding, Generation, and Evolution. For the final one, we recommend Rebirth, Fury, or Finality.
- Abilities: hreadling Grenade is the easy choice for even more Threadlings.
- Stats: Your priorities should be Resilience, Recovery, and Discipline.
- Mods: You’ll want a Siphon matching your primary weapon’s element, one Surge of your choice and:
Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Impact Induction | Arms | 2 | Rank 5 | Causing damage with a melee attack reduces your grenade cooldown. | General |
![]() | Charged Up | Chest | 3 | Rank 7 | Increases the maximum number of stacks of Armor Charge you can carry by 1. | Generator |
![]() | Stacks on Stacks | Legs | 4 | Rank 7 | Picking up an Orb of Power grants you 1 additional stack of Armor Charge. | Generator |
![]() | Innervation | Legs | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | General |
![]() | Bomber | Class Item | 1 | Rank 5 | Reduces grenade cooldown when using your class ability. | General |
![]() | Time Dilation | Class Item | 3 | Rank 7 | Your decaying Armor Charge has a longer duration. | Generator |
Gameplay Loop
TConsuming your Threadling Grenade with Mindspun Invocation will perch five Threadlings. Once you cast your rift, you’ll send those five plus an additional three out at once for a total of eight.
Your rift, melee, and potentially your weapon (while using Demolitionist) all recharge your Threadling Grenade, allowing you to repeat the loop above consistently. If you instead have a Hatchling weapon, it’ll directly spawn more Threadlings as opposed to recharging the grenade.
Because of Swarmers, destroying Tangles will spawn two Threadlings. This exotic also makes Threadlings apply Unravel to targets, resulting in more Tangles. Lastly, with Thread of Warding, picking up Orbs of Power generated through weapon multi-kills grants Woven Mail for some extra damage resistance.
Before you go…
DIM links would be appreciated
Why use solace and empyrean on the first build if you have no way of getting radiant or restoration?? Is there something I am missing?