Destiny 2: 3 Best PVE Builds for Hunter in Episode: Heresy

Bungie / Brett Moss

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I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love racing games, MMOs, and shooters, but I'll play just about anything.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

This season hasn’t seen a ton of change for Hunters, with the exception of some really solid interactions with the new Artifact perks. Unfortunately, I would say that Hunters are the weakest class in PVE right now, as they just aren’t quite as explosive as Titans and Warlocks. That being said, though, there are some specific builds that still have a ton of strength. From Invisible Void shenanigans to blowing up enemies with Arc, here are some of the best builds for Hunters in Episode: Heresy!

Note: For the sections on best fragments and best artifact mods, I’m only going to list ones that specifically synergize well with the build. The rest are up to personal preference and don’t matter as much compared to the listed ones.

Prismatic Stasis

Prismatic Hunter build — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

Super: Silence and Squall
Melee: Withering Blade
Grenade: Duskfield Grenade
Aspects: Stylish Executioner and Winter’s Shroud
Best Fragments: Ruin, Hope
Exotic Armor: Relativism (Inmost Light / Coyote or Wormhusk)
Best Artifact Mods: Volatile Marksman, Maligned Harvest, Void Flux

This build makes the most out of Hunter Stasis while also allowing access to the Void aspect, Stylish Executioner. This episode, specifically, allows you to get a ton of use out of this aspect thanks to the Volatile Marksman artifact perk. With that perk making it incredibly easy to spam Volatile debuffs, you’ll be able to activate Stylish Executioner constantly. Stylish Executioner allows you to go invisible every time you defeat a target that is affected by any elemental debuff. This is truly incredible, as it doesn’t even have to be your debuffs. If one of you allies jolts a target, you can go invisible by defeating it. Someone scorched a dreg? That’s more invisibility for you. Honestly I think this is the strongest use of this aspect, and the Stasis side of Prismatic pairs best with it since you can slow targets all the time with Withering Blade, and Winter’s Shroud can also do the same thing. Especially if you combine it with a Relativism Exotic class item with Coyote on it so you can spam dodge even more.

For Exotic weapons, I recommend just using whatever is meta for your situation. Since Void Machine Guns are usually legendary, that frees up the Exotic slot for something else. Fusion Rifles paired with Particle Reconstruction in the artifact are really good right now, but you can also use Exotics like Barrow Dryad, Outbreak Perfected, or whatever else you prefer. There are tons of options, and they all work with this build. You can even use Exotics that apply elemental debuffs to further your synergy with Stylish Executioner.

Gathering Storm

Hunter Arc build — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

Super: Gathering Storm
Melee: Disorienting Blow or Combination Strike
Grenade: Whichever you prefer
Aspects: Flow State and Ascension
Best Fragments: Amplitude, Ions, Discharge
Exotic Armor: Gifted Conviction
Best Artifact Mods: Overclock and Load, Dielectric, Flashover, Defibrillating Blast

This build is heavily centered around this episode’s artifact synergies with the Arc subclass. Between Dielectric helping generate Bolt Charge to Flashover making Bolt Charge explosions even stronger, it’s impossible to ignore Arc this episode. To make the build more exciting, the best Exotic to use is Gifted Conviction. It improves the Ascension and Tempest Strike aspects, allowing them to blast nearby targets with jolt when you activate either. It also grants damage resistance when you jolt a nearby target.

Personally I think just using Ascension is good enough to get a lot of value out of this Exotic. Ascension lets you perform an air move to summon Arc Staff and do a big AOE burst that both amplifies allies and jolts targets. With Gifted Conviction, this also gives you an instant damage resist boost. Ascension also gives three fragment slots, so it’s even better. In particular, the Ions and Discharge fragments have a great damage loop, as Ions gives Bolt Charge and creates an Ionic Trace when you jolt a target, while Discharge also makes Ionic Traces and gives you a Bolt Charge stack when you collect one. So it’s a great way to cycle Bolt Charge and Traces over and over again.

For your Exotic weapon, I highly recommend one of the various Arc Exotics that are meta right now. In the heavy slot, the best options are Queenbreaker for DPS or Thunderlord for ads (and also some DPS). In the other slots, I like Coldheart and Trinity Ghoul for Exotics, while Pyschopomp and Techeun Force are great legendary options. Really any Arc weapons can be utilized well this episode, but those are just my top picks.

Tether

Hunter Void build — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

Super: Shadowshot: Deadfall
Melee: Snare Bomb
Grenade: Whichever you prefer
Aspects: Trapper’s Ambush and Vanishing Step
Best Fragments: Cessation, Vigilance, Starvation, Persistence
Exotic Armor: Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk
Best Artifact Mods: Volatile Marksman, Maligned Harvest, Void Flux

This last build is a classic one. Tether has always been one of the strongest supers for Hunter (when it works), and Shadowshot: Deadfall is the best right now compared to Moebius Quiver. The build centers around what most Void builds for Hunter do best–invisibility. However, unlike the Prismatic invisibility build from earlier, this one is a little more straightforward and not as dependent on the artifact. Trapper’s Ambush lets you quickly consume you melee charge to create a smoke cloud which makes you and allies invisible and also weakens enemies. Then you can also use Vanishing Step to go invisible every time you dodge.

And since we’re on the actual Void side of things, the fragments are a little bit better as well. Cessation lets you use finishers to create a Volatile burst and create Void Breaches, then Starvation allows you to gain Devour every time you pick up a Void Breach or Orb of Power. This synergy is really strong, so it’s important to remember to finish targets whenever you can. Then Echo of Persistence increases the duration of Void buffs you receive, so you can remain Invisible and have Devour for longer. It also works with Overshields, which makes Echo of Vigilance even better. Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk is the perfect Exotic armor piece for this build, as it gives more Void buffs and gives more invisibility synergies.

The best weapons for this build are Void Machine Guns, so Exotics are pretty versatile. Le Monarque is really strong right now, as are Choir of One and Graviton Lance. You could also use a Fusion Rifle like Telesto to make use of Particle Reconstruction in the artifact, but you can also accomplish that with legendary Fusions as well. There are a bunch of ways you can customize this build more to your liking, so I recommend trying out various weapons to see which works out best for you.

Destiny 2: 3 Best PVE Builds for Hunter in Episode: Heresy

Utilize the new artifact perks to the fullest.

Prismatic Stasis

Gathering Storm

Tether

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Destiny 2: 3 Best PVE Builds for Hunter in Episode: Heresy

Utilize the new artifact perks to the fullest.

Prismatic Stasis

Gathering Storm

Tether

Destiny 2 Navigation

Visit the HGG Shop, Traveler?

Join the Discussion

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