Best Destiny 2 Warlock Arc Builds for PvE and PvP

Are you a Warlock main and want to take your game to the next level? These are the best Warlock Arc builds in Destiny 2 for PvE and PvP. And by the way, as any great Warlock build, these will guide you every step of the way, including essential Exotics, Mods, and more.

Top Arc Warlock build

--	Name	Class	Area	Subclass	Excels in	Element	Status
	Blinding Vesper	Warlock	PvE	Arc	Endgame	Arc
	Arc Sunstar	Warlock	PvE	Arc	Casual Content	Arc

Best Warlock Arc build for PvE

Blinding Vesper

Excels In: Endgame (Dungeons, Raids, Legend content)

Goal of the Build: Blind and Jolt hordes of enemies through both your rift and weapons, allowing you and your allies to easily control the battlefield.

Mandatory Gear: Vesper of Radius. An Arc Special weapon is recommended (such as Delicate Tomb for casual content or Coldheart for higher-difficulty activities).

Name: Vesper of Radius

Class: Warlock Slot: Chest

Source: Exotic Engrams Requires: Free-to-Play

Exotic Perk: Rifts periodically release Arc shockwaves. Final blows with these shockwaves create an Arc explosion. While an Arc subclass is equipped, the shockwaves and subsequent explosions blind nearby targets. Rift energy recharges faster when you are surrounded by targets.

	Coldheart	Trace Rifle	Special	Arc	Exotic Engram
	Delicate Tomb	Fusion Rifle	Special	Arc	Exotic Kiosk

• Aspects: Electrostatic Mind and Arc Soul.
• Fragments: Spark of Brilliance, Spark of Beacons, Spark of Resistance, and Spark of Volts.
• Abilities: Chaos Reach, Ball Lightning, Storm Grenade, and Healing Rift.
• Stats: Max Resilience 🡒 Recovery 🡒 Discipline.
• Mods:
  • Helmet: Harmonic Siphon, Special Ammo Finder.
  • Arms: Bolstering Detonation, Focusing Strike.
  • Chest: Charged Up.
  • Legs: Elemental Charge, Insulation, Recuperation.
  • Class Item: Distribution, Special Finisher, Powerful Attraction.

Gameplay Loop

To begin the loop of this build, simply place a rift near a group of enemies. This should both blind the enemies (thanks to Vesper of Radius) and grant some rift energy back (from Distribution).

Defeating any of these blinded targets will generate an Ionic Trace, which will then make you amplified. Becoming amplified allows you to then blind even more combatants with your Arc special weapon of choice. Using your other abilities in addition to your weapon will generate more Ionic Traces and ability energy, allowing you to begin the loop again.

If you ever run out of special ammo, you should be making enough Orbs of Power to do special finishers whenever you need them. Also remember that you have additional avenues to synergies as well, like with Arc Soul.

Arc Sunstar

Excels In: Casual & Endgame (Dungeons, Raids, Legend content)

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: Fallen Sunstar. Coldheart is recommended, but Delicate Tomb can also work.

Name: Fallen Sunstar

Class: Warlock Slot: Helm

Source: Lost Sectors Requires: 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.

	Coldheart	Trace Rifle	Special	Arc	Exotic Engram
	Delicate Tomb	Fusion Rifle	Special	Arc	Exotic Kiosk

• Aspects: Arc Soul and Electrostatic Mind.
• Fragments: Spark of Magnitude, Spark of Shock, Spark of Beacons, and Spark of Brilliance.
• Abilities: Storm Grenade, Chaos Reach, Ball Lightning, and Healing Rift.
• Stats: Recovery 🡒 Resilience 🡒 Discipline.
• Mods:
  • Helmet: Harmonic Siphon, Ashes to Assets
  • Arms: Firepower, Bolstering Detonation
  • Chest: Charged Up
  • Legs: Elemental Charge, Arc Weapon Surge, Innervation
  • Class Item: Time Dilation, Bomber, Powerful Attraction

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.

Don’t miss our: Best Destiny 2 Warlock Solar Builds

Warlock Arc 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.

Stormcaller

Inarguably the weakest of the three light subclasses before the Light 3.0 updates, Stormcaller now has a surprising amount going for it. Being all about speed and mobility, this subclass can grant you movement and weapon handling speed without the need to equip popular neutral exotic armor pieces such as Transversive Steps or Ophidian Aspect.

All three aspects are powerful here, but Lightning Surge is the stand-out, allowing you to close the gap between you and your opponents while also unleashing a substantial amount of damage. Arc Soul (and by extension, Getaway Artist) is also a popular pick, granting a good amount of chip damage to make kills more consistent. Lastly, while the Arc fragments available don’t have too much build potential, some (such as Spark of Resistance, Recharge, or Magnitude) provide very potent neutral buffs that can work anywhere.

Pros:

• Extremely good neutral game
• Potent aspects
• Superior movement

Cons:

• Weak super abilities
• Lacks build potential
• Weaker-than-average fragments

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 top-tier builds for Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters here.