The dust has settled a bit following the release of Lightfall, Destiny 2's latest expansion. Now that it's been out for some time, we can finally take a look at the revamped mod system and put together what we consider to be top-tier Meta builds.
What makes a build good? It all depends on what you want to do. If you're a PVE fanatic, you might find more value in builds that are better for burst damage and survivability. PVP players might need faster recovery and snappier movement options. Things that don't necessarily hit hard, but certainly hit fast. Let's get down to brass tacks and take a look at the best PVE and PVP builds for Solar Warlocks in Destiny 2 Season of Defiance.
Table of Contents
Best Solar Warlock PVE Build: Well of Grenadiance
This build is all about spamming Fusion Grenades until your fingers get sore. While this is a great one-size-fits-all style build, it excels in Endgame content. This is what I've used for the last several Raid and Dungeon releases and until Bungie brings Starfire down a peg, I can't see myself avoiding it any time soon.
Scorch is going to become your favorite Subclass Verb here, so make sure you lean into it as much as possible. Your ability uptime is going to be very consistent, so make sure you get into the rhythm of melee, Rift, grenade, grenade, weapon damage, grenade, grenade, weapon damage, grenade, grenade. This is a song you're going to want to commit to memory.
Required Gear
- Exotic Armor: Starfire Protocol (Chest)
Remember that the whole point of this build is to unleash a nearly infinite number of grenades, so Starfire Protocol is the way to go here.
Class Setup
- Super: Well of Radiance
- Grenade: Fusion Grenades
- Class Ability: Empowering Rift for synergy with Starfire Protocol when not in a Well of Radiance.
- Melee: Your choice! but I recommend Incinerator Snap for PVE. It has a shorter reach than Celestial Fire, but it will tag more enemies at once.
- Jump: Burst Glide. Gotta go fast!
Aspects
- Touch of Flame: This grants additional effects to your grenades, and for our purposes, significantly increases the lethality of Fusion Grenades
- Icarus Dash (recommended): While the second Aspect here is really up to you, I like to stick to Icarus Dash as a "get out of jail free" card. The additional survivability from Heat Rises doesn't really work with Well of Radiance.
Fragments
- Ember of Ashes for more Scorch stacks
- Ember of Searing for Melee energy
- Ember of Mercy for survivability when reviving teammates
- Ember of Wonder because applying more Scorch means more Ignitions and free Orbs of Power.
Armor Mods
Outside of Stat Mods, you'll want to min/max for ability uptime to further lean into the grenade, melee, and rift spam that this build is all about.
- Head Mods: I recommend Solar Syphon x2 and Heavy Ammo Finder for more orbs and heavy ammo
- Arm Mods: I recommend Grenade Kickstart and Firepower for more grenade energy and orb generation
- Chest Mods: I recommend Emergency Reinforcement and whatever damage reduction mods of your choosing. Emergency Reinforcement is crazy strong right now and a requirement for high-end content
- Leg Mods: I recommend Solar Weapon Surge and Recuperation. You can choose 2 copies of either mod here, whichever is more important to you at any given time. If you're struggling to survive, I'd recommend 2 Recuperation mods, but if you need a slightly higher DPS, I'd say a second or even third Weapon Surge mod to help with an increase in damage output.
- Bond Mods: I recommend Time Dilation, Proximity Ward, and Healthy Finisher. You can swap out Proximity Ward and Healthy Finisher for a second copy of Time Dilation if you want more time with your Armor Charges, but again, if you want more survivability, go with my recommendations.
Weapons
- Kinetic Slot: Witherhoard (recommended) While not required, Witherhoard is a kinetic slot grenade launcher that deals DOT (damage over time). It is a great way to apply constant DPS to enemies, keep your grenade uptime going consistently, and is just a fun weapon to use.
- Energy Slot: The choice here is yours, but I do recommend my personal favorite, Calus Mini Tool with Incandescent. If you don't have a Calus Mini Tool, you can run any solar weapon you like here, but since we're leaning into Scorch, I recommend having a weapon with Incandescent.
- Heavy Slot: Again, this is completely up to you. Right now, Grenade Launchers and Rockets have become favorable, but Linear Fusion Rifles are still a great option. Regardless of what it is, I recommend a Solar Heavy weapon to lean into the synergy of the build.
Stat Distribution
For these, you'll want to focus on 100 Resilience and at least 90 Recovery for both survivability, but also Rift uptime. Next would be a minimum of 60 Discipline, but anything higher is obviously better. The rest of the stats are completely up to you. Mobility isn't that important overall for Warlcok and I constantly run 20, 10, or even fewer stat points in Mobility.
Conclusion
This is the best build for Endgame activities for Solar Warlocks that I've ever used. I am constantly healing or incredibly resistant to incoming damage, dealing massive damage myself, and supporting my teammates. I cannot recommend it enough.
Best Solar Warlock PVP Build: Writhing Healfire
This is a Poison-and-Healing-based build that will make you into an aggressive and supportive teammate for modes like Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris. While this is completely reliant on having the Poison-based Exotic weapons and gear, I think that its setup still works well without them as a baseline for a non-Poison build, too. If you don't like the Thorn or Necrotic Grips, try adding your own spin to it!
Required Gear
- Exotic Armor: Necrotic Grips (Gauntlets)
Spread. Poison.
Class Setup
- Super: Daybreak
- Grenade: Healing OR Solar
- Class Ability: Healing Rift
- Melee: Celestial Fire
- Jump: Burst Glide. Gotta (get outta trouble) fast!
Aspects
- Touch of Flame: This grants additional effects to your grenades, and for our purposes, significantly increases the lethality of Fusion Grenades
- Icarus Dash OR Heat Rises: While the second Aspect here is really up to you, I like to stick to Icarus Dash as a "get out of jail free" card. Heat Rises offers some additional survivability while in your Super, though!
Fragments
Unlike in PVE, your PVP fragments likely won't have as great of an effect on your build. That said, I do have some recommendations that should help you get the edge over your opponents. These will make you healthy and help you land your Daybreak swords even better than you would normally.
- Ember of Mercy makes it so that when you revive a teammate, you get Restoration.
- Ember of Solace extends your Restoration
- Ember of Ashes more Scorch means enemies take more damage and explode if you hit them enough
- Ember of Beams aggressively tracking Daybreak swords. Go nuts.
Armor Mods
Outside of Stat Mods, you'll want to min/max for weapon steadiness and handling. These are all pretty straightforward and grant bonus weapon stats and ability recovery.
- Head Mods: I recommend Kinetic OR Energy Targeting
- Arm Mods: I recommend Grenade Kickstart and Reloaders of your choice
- Chest Mods: I recommend Unflinching mods of your choice
- Leg Mods: I recommend Absolution, Better Already, Orbs of Restoration
- Bond Mods: I recommend Reaper, Bomber, Outreach
Weapons
- Kinetic Slot: I recommend Thorn OR Osteo Striga for DOT damage. Remember, we're trying to be as annoying as possible and while Osteo might sound like a strange choice, it can wreak havoc very quickly.
- Energy Slot: The choice here is yours, but I do recommend either a Shotgun or a Sniper rifle. If you're trying to get into people's faces with your shorter-range primary, a Shotgun compliments that well. A Sniper is a great option for balance against your shorter-range primaries too. You really can't go wrong either way, but try mixing it up based on the map!
- Heavy Slot: Again, this is completely up to you. Right now, Grenade Launchers and Rockets have become favorable, but Linear Fusion Rifles are still a great option. Regardless of what it is, I recommend a Solar Heavy weapon to lean into some build synergy.
Stat Distribution
For these, you'll want to focus on 100 Resilience and at least 90 Recovery for both survivability, but also Rift uptime. Next would either be Discipline or Strength, whichever is more important to you.
Conclusion
This might not seem like the most conventional build, but considering this is the only subclass in the game that seems to lend itself really well to the Poison God fantasy, I think it's a ton of fun to use in Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris.
These are the best Solar Warlock builds for PVE and PVP in Season of Defiance. Make sure you save them in your new Loadout slots before you start moving on to your next build!
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