Oh hello, excuse me, do you have a moment to speak about the power of Warlocks?
For too long Warlocks have been the butt of the joke when it comes to being the most powerful class in Destiny 2, famed developer Bungie’s biggest RPG/Shooter project since the Halo franchise. Titans have the sheer force of their Thundercrash, Hunters are … Hunters, and believe you me Warlocks are right up there with them. What makes Warlocks great is that they offer a bevy of options that both work defensively and offensively. Need support during a boss’ DPS phase for max shields and massive damage? Well of Radiance. Playing a few rounds in The Crucible and need to counteract someone spamming Stasis? Chaos Reach. Want to border along the line of invulnerable soloing some PvE content? Attunement of Hunger. It can be overwhelming trying to figure it all out but we got you covered. Check out these five builds to take your Warlock to the next level across all activities in the Sol System.
5) Arc Soul Brother
For the Warlock who wants to let everyone know they don't need them.
You know what’s better than shooting one gun? Shooting three. With this build we are going to take advantage of No Time To Explain’s intrinsic perk, Time-Slip. Canonically, this causes a portal to open up and has the gun fire from another timeline alongside you. Literally, this just means more pow-pow for your boom-booms. Pairing this with the exotic gauntlet, Getaway Artist, is where the fun starts. Getaway Artist gives you the ability to consume your grenade and create an Arc Soul that follows you around and shoots at enemies for about 20 seconds. This build is such a blast for soloing Strikes, Dungeons, or any PvE content you like. It’s great in Crucible too, especially in Control matches, to single-handedly capture points by virtually becoming a one-person Fireteam.
Here’s what you’ll need to, frankly, confuse the hell out of everyone -
- No Time To Explain - Exotic Pulse Rifle, available from The Exo Stranger during the Beyond Light campaign.
- Getaway Artist - Exotic gauntlets, there is no quest for these - you’ll have to get lucky from world drops or check in with Xur over the weekend and see if he’s selling it.
- Attunement of Control (Middle-Tree Stormcaller) - This subclass gives you a really fun (and Stasis-repellent) Super in the form of Chaos Reach, but most importantly gives you access to Ionic Traces which help cool down your grenade and your Super after kills.
As far as Armor Mods go - you’re going to want to invest heavily into Discipline. Maxing it out at 100 should give you a ~32sec recovery time for grenades, therefore giving you more opportunities to proc Getaway Artist. Also, look into other mods like Bomber or High-Energy Fire to really expedite having grenades and bonus damage to keep popping off against opponents during every encounter.
Check it out in action and get some other cool ideas here -
4) A Vulgar Display of Devour
Are you talking to me??
A tried and true classic, centering a build around the Devour effect is still a banger. Attunement of Hunger is a Void-based subclass that lets you proc Devour by getting a melee kill, consuming your grenade, or using Nova-Bomb to get kills. What makes this effect so powerful is that it completely heals you and continues to heal you every time you get a kill while Devour is active, which is 11 seconds. What makes Devour completely flippin’ bananas is that the effect starts over every time you get a kill during that span and it also regenerates your abilities. So, for example; you’re running through an activity, kill something with your charged melee, proc Devour, run around for another eight or so seconds, get another kill, Devour resets to 11sec, you’re full of health and ready to take on wave after wave with restored abilities. This build is super useful in every activity, but it’s unstoppable when you pair it with the exotic chest piece, Mantle of Battle Harmony. This piece of armor has a perk called Absorption Cells. It’s an awesome perk that comes off a little wordy but is as simple as using weapons that match your subclass element to generate Super energy. Secondly, when your Super is maxed out you receive a whopping 20% bonus to weapons using the same damage-type. In this case, you’ll want to pair Void weapons (Gnawing Hunger, for example) since you are using a Void subclass. Blasting Pantera while rolling through baddies is optional, but encouraged.
Here’s what you’ll need to invite everyone to your Headbanger’s Ball -
- Mantle of Battle Harmony - Exotic chest piece, match your weapon type with your subclass type (in this case, Void) to generate Super energy constantly/gain a 20% damage buff when your super is maxed out. You can get this to randomly drop by soloing Legendary or Master Lost Sectors.
- Attunement of Hunger (Bottom Tree Voidwalker) - This subclass is centered around Devour, which is the foundation of this build. It’s Nova-Bomb traps enemies and does damage over time, which is great for clearing rooms and control points.
- Void Weapons - Any weapon(s) you feel comfortable with will work here. You just want to make sure they are Void to take advantage of the Absorption Cells perk.
As always, you’re going to want to use Armor Mods to make sure you are getting the full extent of your build. Invest heavily into Intellect to max out your Super faster and really take advantage of the 20% damage buff you get from Absorption Cells.
See what makes this build special here -
3) La Esperanza Caliente
There just isn't a better way to announce yourself to the game.
This is my personal favorite build in Destiny 2, combining speed and lethality. It’s simple, gets the job done, and everyone loves an aggressive Warlock (at least that’s what I tell myself when I’m pulling a Leroy Jenkins into the fray). Attunement of Sky is your Top Tree Dawnblade option and offers some all-around great abilities in Celestial Fire, a powerful long-range projectile melee, and Winged Sun which grants you the ability to shoot down sights, throw grenades, and use melees in mid-air. Heat Rises grants more glide time and more accuracy in the air when you consume your grenade, and airborne kills elongate the buff. Daybreak is a fun, easy to use Super and Icarus Dash lets you dodge around while you’re in the air. All in all this is a no-nonsense build for players who tend to be more on the aggressive side, but are savvy enough to throw a changeup once in a while. Since this is a Solar class, you can use a Warmind Cell Mod called Wrath of Rasputin to cause cells to spawn on Solar splash-damage and in turn use them to heal allies, which is a remarkably sneaky play. Check out this list of mods and see what you have to make this build the best of both worlds.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your Fireteam throw a fiesta and your enemies take a siesta -
- Attunement of Sky - Every Warlock has this, just go pick Top Tree Dawnblade and get to work.
- Ophidian Aspect - Exotic gauntlets, I love these for this build because they reload and ready your weapons lightning (excuse me, blazing) quick, especially if you’re throwing some Reload Speed Mods on top of it to make those airborne kills as quick and efficient as possible.
- Long/Mid-Range Weapons - They’re a good option if you’re hanging back, activating Heat Rises, and picking off enemies while you utilize Icarus Dash/call out plays in PvP or PvE. Dead Man’s Tale is a good call so you don’t have to miss too much of the action but still stay safe.
- Ikelos/Seventh Seraph/Solar Weapons - Lots of options here. All of these weapons spawn Warmind Cells which have a boatload of benefits, depending on what mods you have equipped.
- If you’re using a Solar weapon that isn’t an Ikelos or Seventh Seraph weapon make sure it causes some kind of splash damage (i.e. has the Dragonfly perk) and you have Wrath of Rasputin equipped.
No need to overthink this one, max out your Intellect to get your Super back as quick as possible. This is obviously great for Crucible or any PvP event, but it’s going to spawn Orbs of Light for your teammates and Warmind Cells as well (as long as you have Wrath of Rasputin equipped) so they can recharge abilities or destroy adds in Strikes, Raids, you name it. This is an all around build that you can customize however you see fit, tailoring to your style of play, making this a sight for sore eyes in any activity.
See it in action here -
2) Throwing Shade
Stasis has been massively controversial since its introduction.
Stasis. Love it, hate it, it’s here to stay(sis). Is it the reason I’d rather read The Fountainhead translated into Wingdings instead of participating in Trials of Osiris every weekend? Probably, but hey, my pain is your gain (just kidding, there is nothing more satisfying than shattering frozen enemies into a gazillion pieces, I promise you). Introduced to us in Beyond Light, this subclass has been the bane of everyone but it’s wielder’s existence since launch. Despite a handful of nerfs, Stasis is still wicked powerful in PvP and PvE alike. It boasts abilities that either slow targets down or freeze them entirely, thus making them vulnerable and easy to kill. Thanks to the Aspect/Fragment System you can customize these builds as you see fit so you can get the most out of your subclass. We are centering this build around Penumbral Blast, the ranged melee ability that freezes the target on contact, and Iceflare Bolts, an Aspect that causes seekers that lock in on targets after you shatter a frozen enemy. Combining these two with Monte Carlo and Claws of Ahamkara are going to proc a constant flow of seekers and shatter damage to consistently give you the upper-hand.
Here’s what you’ll need to make someone quit playing Destiny for the rest of their life -
- Shadebinder Subclass - This is only available in the Beyond Light expansion, which you have to pay for. On top of that, you have to earn virtually everything within this subclass through quests in Beyond Light. It’s stupid strong, but you have to earn it.
- Monte Carlo - Exotic Auto Rifle, this gun has a perk called Monte Carlo Method that actually cools down your melee simply by causing damage with this gun. Better yet, when you get a kill with this weapon it has a chance of restoring your melee entirely giving you more chances to throw Penumbral Blast around.
- Claws of Ahamkara - Exotic gauntlets, this is a cheeky play but honestly I love it. This exotic’s main perk gives you two melee charges. Two melee charges means more Penumbral Blasts. More Penumbral Blasts means more seekers, more seekers, more easy kills, more easy kills mean more Super energy … you get the idea.
As far as Fragments go, that’s up to you. They have a long list of stat tradeoffs and other benefits, take a look at what you have and see what caters to your play style. When it comes to Armor Mods I think most players will probably want to lean into Strength and just get that melee back as often as possible. I reckon you’ll be getting it back pretty quick with this build to begin with, so if you’d rather invest in Recovery or Intellect to round yourself out then go ahead and try that.
Take an in-depth look at this subclass here -
1) Light Russian
That Well of Radiance really tied the room together.
Well of Radiance was brought into the game back in the Forsaken DLC and has been one of my favorite things to see in the wild and also probably been a big reason why other Guardians haven’t tossed me off the Tangled Shore yet. It’s main draw is that it is one of the few pure support subclasses in Destiny 2. Your Warlock creates a glorified Rift that gives everyone an overshield, regenerates health at an insane rate, and also buffs damage as long as you’re inside. It’s perfect for Raids, Boss DPS phases, holding it down in PvP, and just about everywhere. What puts this at the top is something you may not have thought about the first time you busted it out - it’s a Solar subclass so this gives us the option to use Warmind Cells within the build as long as Wrath of Rasputin is equipped or you are using an Ikelos/Seventh Seraph weapon. So, not only are you absolutely destroying opponents from the comfort of your Well of Radiance, but you’re also spawning cells to do even more damage and support teammates.
Here’s what you’ll need to be a hero to all (and make up for being killed by The Architects) -
- Well of Radiance (Middle Tree Dawnblade) - Every Warlock has this by now, simply go into your character screen and pick it out to get started.
- Warmind Cell Mods - Honestly, up to you. There are so many good options here that you can cater to your playstyle to capitalize getting the best of both worlds - but you're going to need Wrath of Rasputin because Solar-splash damage is what will get the cells to spawn and Fireteam Medic will heal allies to activate Benevolent Dawn.
- Xenophage - Exotic Machine Gun, there’s a lengthy quest to get this gun but it dishes out Solar damage at an insane rate to melt health-bars and generate Warmind Cells. Another good play here could be Lumina, an exotic hand cannon that deals buffs to teammates that makes everyone overpowered inside Well of Radiance, but also procs Benevolent Dawn to keep your abilities topped off consistently.
- Phoenix Protocol - Exotic chest piece, the crown jewel of this build. Kills and assists inside Well of Radiance return Super energy. Pairing this with Xenophage maxes your chances for multi-kills and spawning Warmind Cells, therefore getting your Super back faster and becoming everyone’s best friend.
Important to know that this is specifically a support class through and through, Warmind Cells are what makes this a force to be reckoned with. Every ability tied to Attunement of Grace either empowers or heals your teammates nearby which activates Benevolent Dawn. This buffs your ability regen very quickly, therefore keeping you in the fight to continue healing and handing out buffs. As far as mods go, keep it simple by boosting Recovery to keep gaining extra Rifts to help teammates and keep Benevolent Dawn rolling at all times to get the rest of your abilities charged up over and over again.
Don’t take my word for it, check out how powerful it can be here -
So, there you have it. Those are some of my favorite builds for Warlocks in Destiny 2. With tons of combinations it was hard to narrow this down to only five - what are some of your favorites? What did I miss? Let me know down in the comments and if you ended up trying any of these out.
