Are you a Warlock main and want to take your game to the next level? These are the best Warlock Strand builds in Destiny 2, including builds for endgame and Solo players. And by the way, as any top-tier Warlock build, these will guide you every step of the way, including essential Exotics, Mods, and more.
Top Strand Warlock builds
| -- | Name | Class | Area | Subclass | Excels in | Element | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Mindspun Suspender | Warlock | PvE |  Strand | Endgame | Strand | Best in Class |
 | Masked Weaver | Warlock | PvE | Strand | Endgame | Strand |
Best Warlock Strand builds for PvE
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: There aren’t any clear Exotic armor choices for this build as it’s entirely contained in the subclass. Our favorite is Necrotic Grip, but any subclass-agnostic Exotic should work great. A primary weapon with Demolitionist also helps this build run smoother. Bonus points if it’s Strand!
| Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Necrotic Grip | Warlock | Arms | Beyond Light | Lost Sectors | Season 12 |  Beyond Light | Exotic Perk: "Damaging combatants envenoms them with poison that deals increasing damage over time. Defeating a poisoned combatant spreads the condition to nearby targets." |
- Aspects: Mindspun Invocation and The Wanderer are our choices for Aspects.
- Fragments:For Fragments, you’ll want to equip Thread of Mind, Generation, Continuity, 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:
- Helmet: Harmonic Siphon
- Arms: Grenade Kickstart, Impact Induction
- Chest: Charged Up
- Legs: Elemental Charge
- Class Item: Bomber, Outreach
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.
Throwing that Tangle at another group of enemies will Suspend them, starting the process over again. All of these Suspend instances also last longer due to Thread of Continuity. 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.
Masked Weaver
Excels In: Endgame (Dungeons, Raids, Legend content)
Goal of the Build: Support allies on the battlefield by spreading Woven Mail, providing heavy ammo, and severing enemies.
Mandatory Gear: Cenotaph Mask and The Navigator are the two pieces of Exotic equipment we’ll be using.
| Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cenotaph Mask | Warlock | Helm | Lightfall | Lost Sectors | Season 21 |   Lightfall | Exotic Perk: "Steadily reloads a portion of your equipped Trace Rifles's magazine from reserves. Damaging a vehicle, boss, or champion with a trace rifle marks them as the target. When an ally defeats the marked target, generate special ammo for yourself and heavy ammo for your allies." |
- Aspects: Weaver’s Call and Mindspun Invocation.
- Fragments: Thread of Rebirth, Evolution, Continuity, and Generation.
- Abilities: Threadling Grenade is our preference out of the three available; everything else is up to you.
- Stats: Resilience and Recovery are the only stats to worry about here.
- Mods:
- Helmet: Harmonic Siphon, Special Ammo Finder
- Arms: Focusing Strike, Impact Induction
- Chest: Resist and reserve mods
- Legs: Strand Scavenger, Strand Weapon Surge
- Class Item: Outreach, Bomber
Gameplay Loop
Because it relies on weapon and armor perks instead of abilities, Masked Weaver doesn’t have a specific loop. Basic knowledge of both Exotics is all you’ll need to succeed here.
Shooting an ally with The Navigator grants you and them Woven Mail, equating to 60% damage resistance. If you hit an enemy instead, you’ll Sever them, reducing their outgoing damage by 33%. Damaging combatants will also regenerate your grenade ability, and Navigator kills have a chance to spawn a Threadling.
When you’re ready to use your abilities, start by swallowing your grenade. After doing so, casting your rift will send out eight Threadlings immediately, providing substantial burst damage.
Lastly, damaging a vehicle, boss, or champion with The Navigator will mark them. Marked enemies will drop heavy ammo for allies upon death, providing even more support to your fireteam.
This simple build relies on The Navigator’s and Cenotaph Mask’s base power. While it’s not flashy (and doesn’t excel at killing enemies directly), constant heavy ammo and Woven Mail for your allies isn’t something to pass up.
Warlock Strand PvP build
Because of its competitive nature, stats are significantly more critical in the Crucible than in PVE. For Warlocks, high Recovery is a must as it is tied to your health and rift regeneration speeds. Additionally, because of Destiny’s ability-focused nature, high Discipline is irreplaceable too. Lastly, while it’s more important on Titan, mid-high Resilience can also be helpful. Some things (such as two-shot kills with Thorn) depend on the enemy’s Resilience stat, so having around Tier 6 or 7 is always useful.
Generally speaking, the most potent PvP mods come in the form of stat, unflinching, targeting, and dexterity mods. These all provide passive buffs that are strong enough to notice in moment-to-moment gameplay.
Subclasses
While there is usually a meta Warlock subclass or general setup to run for the Crucible, every element has unique strengths and weaknesses.
Broodweaver
Broodweaver functions as a mix between Stormcaller, Dawnblade and Shadebinder, providing strong crowd control in combination with useful movement abilities.
Each grenade does something unique but powerful: Grapple can either close the gap or give you space, Shackle can stop opponents in their tracks, and Threadling can seek down low health enemies to kill.
Pros:
- Has a nice variety of abilities and uses
- Area control, shutdown, and movement abilities
- Powerful subclass verbs (Suspend, Woven Mail, etc.)
Cons:
- Few options for Super, Melee, and Aspects
- Little access to subclass verbs compared to other Strand classes
- Acts as a jack of all trades, master of none
Best PvP Warlock Exotics
General Exotics
| 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." |
Because of their ease of use and 24/7 activation, neutral exotics are the most common for general PVP. Ophidian Aspect has always been an S-Tier pick, passively boosting the snappiness of your weapons. Transversive Steps excels for a similar reason, providing quicker and more fluid movement (plus the ability to get a free reload).
Before you go…
You can find all the absolute best builds for Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters here.
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