Hunters have some great variety when it comes to their builds in Destiny 2. While they have always been argued to be the “best” class in PvP, they certainly do not lack in the PvE department. Their ability to pivot between high-damage super builds and fireteam support makes them a great choice for any player.
Here are 8 of the best Hunter builds in Destiny 2
Arc Hunter – One-Two Punch Combo
Aspects:
- Lethal Current
- Flow State
Fragments:
- Spark of Feedback
- Spark of Resistance
- Spark of Ions
- Spark of Shock
Exotic:
- Liar’s Handshake
Armor Mods:
- Hands On (Helmet)
- Heavy Handed (Arms)
- Impact Induction (Arms)
Shotgun metas have always had 2 driving forces behind them: One-Two Punch shotguns and the Hunter exotic Liar’s Handshake. Combined together they have dished out some massive damage that can shred many bosses, as long as you can get up close and personal.
This Arc Hunter build focuses on building up Combination Blow to boost your melee damage. Spark of Resistance gives you additional survivability while in melee range. Spark of Feedback works in tandem with Liar’s Handshake to further increase your melee damage. As with other Arc builds, jolting targets is great for strong area damage and getting energy back.
The basic gameplay loop of this build is dodging to activate Lethal Current, which allows your melee to Jolt your next target. You will then want to get three melee kills to max out Combination Blow. Once you have reached maxed stacks of Combination Blow, you should have no issue killing rank-and-file enemies. For beefier targets, combine Combination Blow with a One-Two Punch shotgun to shred their health bar.
Arc Hunter – Skip Grenade Spam
Aspects:
- Tempest Strike
- Flow State
Fragments:
- Spark of Shock
- Spark of Ions
- Spark of Focus
- Spark of Recharge
Exotic:
- Shinobu’s Vow
Armor Mods:
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
- Grenade Kickstart (Arms)
- Bomber (Class Item)
- Utility Kickstart (Class Item)
Grenades are arguably one of the most valuable abilities in Destiny 2. There are a variety of options, many of which deal a sizeable amount of damage. However, one’s that track aren’t in plenty, especially ones that don’t require a direct line of sight. That’s where this Skip Grenade Hunter build in Destiny 2 comes in.
Shinobu’s Vow is a Hunter exotic that gives you an additional Skip Grenade charge, as well as improves their tracking and gives some energy back when they deal damage. In PvP, Skip Grenades are great for weakening enemies and flushing them out from around corners. Spark of Shock will jolt the target, and Spark of Ions will give you energy recharge when killing jolted targets.
To start a fight you will throw a Skip Grenade to get some damage as well as jolt your target. You will then chase down your target, and finish them off to get some grenade energy back as well as create an Ionic Trace for even more ability energy. Shotguns and fusion rifles pair well with this build as the target will already be weakened, so you don’t have to worry about landing all your pellets or bolts.
Void Hunter – Invisibility Support
Aspects:
- Trapper’s Ambush
- Vanishing Step
Fragments:
- Echo of Obscurity
- Echo of Starvation
- Echo of Harvest
- Echo of Persistence
Exotic:
- Omnioculus
Armor Mods:
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
- Grenade Kickstart (Arms)
- Bomber (Class Item)
- Utility Kickstart (Class Item)
Omnioculus is one of the strongest Void exotics for Hunter. It grants an additional Smoke Bomb charge, refunds energy when you make an ally Invisible, and also gives damage reduction when Invisible. This can be extremely resourceful in high-end content, allowing you and your allies to take some heat off of yourself.
When throwing your Smoke Bomb or using Quickfall, you will want to hit at least 2 fireteam members, as this will refund the full Smoke Bomb charge. If you need to get another melee charge, then activate Gambler’s Dodge near enemies. You can also get some addtional melee and class ability energy by throwing your Vortex Grenade.
Void Hunter – Volatile Rounds
Aspects:
- Trapper’s Ambush
- Stylish Executioner
Fragments:
- Echo of Persistence
- Echo of Starvation
- Echo of Obscurity
- Echo of Harvest
Exotic:
- Gyrfalcon’s Haulberk
Armor Mods:
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
- Void Weapon Surge (Legs)
- Bomber (Class Item)
Volatile Rounds are one of the strongest AOE damage perks we have gotten in Destiny 2. It is great for AOE damage, but has the added benefit of being detonated off of damage dealt, not kills. This is especially nice in high-end activities when enemies have larger health bars.
Gyrfalcon’s Haulberk grants your weapons Volatile Rounds upon leaving Invisibility. Combined with Stylish Executioner, you can reactive Invisbility only by getting a kill. When you need a boost to your damage, utilize a finisher on a target while you are Invisible. This will also give you an Oversheild. Pair this with any Void weapon like Funnelweb and you can clear a room in mere seconds.
Solar Hunter – Tripmine Lockdown
Aspects:
- On Your Mark
- Knock ‘Em Down
Fragments:
- Ember of Searing
- Ember of Singeing
- Ember of Solace
- Ember of Resolve
- Ember of Mercy
Exotic:
- Young Ahamkara’s Spine
Armor Mods:
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
- Grenade Kickstart (Arms)
- Bomber (Class Item)
- Reaper (Class Item)
This Solar build centers around the Tripmine grenade, which is great at locking down tight spaces. It excels in PvP activities like Trials, especially when you have a small, compact map like Javelin-4 and The Burnout. Common hallways as well as spawnpoints can easily become deadly traps for your enemies.
The gameplay loop of this build is set your Tripmine Grenade and Proximity Knife in locations where enemies will want to push. The damage from both of these will Scorch your enemies and generate grenade energy. If you are going in for a kill, make sure to Dodge to activate Reaper to create an Orb of Power to kill more ability regeneration.
Solar Hunter – Proximity Knife
Aspects:
- Knock ‘Em Down
- On Your Mark
Fragments:
- Ember of Torches
- Ember of Eruption
- Ember of Searing
- Ember of Empyrean
- Ember of Mercy
Exotic:
- Caliban’s Hand
Armor Mods:
- Solar Siphon (Helmet)
- Heavy Handed (Arms)
- Impact Induction (Arms)
- Solar Weapon Surge (Chest)
This is one of my favorite Hunter builds in Destiny 2. Proximity Knife is a forgiving melee that can still do damage even if you miss your throw. Caliban’s Hand incentivizes this more, as it increases your melee regeneration rate by 500% when your Proximity Knife is stuck on a wall or the floor.
The highlights of this build are AOE daamge and long uptime on Restoration, helping a lot with survival. Knock ‘Em Down will refund your knife you get a kill while Radiant. You will activate Radiant through Ember of Torches when you throw your knife. To extend Radiant and Restoration, you will need to get kills with a Solar weapon or your abilities.
To get this build running, you will need to get a kill with your Proximity Knife, which will create an Ignition and spawn an Orb of Power through your Heavy Handed Mod. Then you will want to defeat a Scorched target to create a Firesprite, which on pickup will give you Restoration. Then follow-up with a Solar weapon kill or ability kill to extend the timer of Restoration.
Stasis Hunter – Withering Blade & Dodge Spam
Aspects:
- Touch of Winter
- Grim Harvest
Fragments:
- Whisper of Shards
- Whisper of Chains
- Whisper of Hedrons
- Whisper of Durance
- Whisper of Rime
Exotic:
- Radiant Dance Machines
Armor Mods:
- Grenade Kickstart (Arms)
- Heavy Handed (Arms)
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
- Reaper (Class Item)
Stasis still seems to be the least used subclass across all characters. While it is not a weak subclass, it often times is less than flashy than its competition. This build utilizes Radiant Dance Machines to spam your dodge and Withering Blade, your melee ability.
To get things started, you will want to dodge near enemies to activate Radiant Dance Machines. You will then want to throw your melee to get kills and boost the timer on Radiant Dance Machines. When you run out of melee charges, you can use your dodge to get a charge back. Due to Heavy Handed, your melee kills will be generating Orbs of Power.
Strand Hunter – Ensnaring Slam
Aspects:
- Ensnaring Slam
- Widow’s Silk
Fragments:
- Thread of Mind
- Thread of Continuity
- Thread of Warding
- Thread of Generation
Exotic:
- The Sixth Coyote
Armor Mods:
- Heavy Handed (Arms)
- Focusing Strike (Arms)
- Bolstering Detonation (Arms)
This is one of the newer Hunter builds in Destiny 2, seeing as the subclass has only been out since Lightfall’s release in February. Because of that, there is not as much build variety with the limited Fragment and Aspect options.
The build is made to Suspend as many targets as possible with Ensaring Slam. Sixth Coyote gives you a second Dodge charge, which will be used up each time you use Ensnaring Slam. Once you Suspend a target, you will want to kill them to generate more class ability energy from Thread of Mind.
Conclusion
There is not a limit to what Hunters can do with their builds. Hunter exotics are strongly complimentary and elevate these builds to new levels. While the meta and builds with shift with Seasonal Artifact Mods and new releases, these Hunter builds will still be potent options in both PvE and PvP content.
