Top 5 Warlock Builds for Destiny 2's Season of the Chosen

Destiny 2 Warlock Void Build

In the enigmatic realm of Destiny 2, Warlocks stand as enigmatic spellcasters, their arcane powers capable of bending the fabric of reality. With the ever-expanding arsenal of subclasses and abilities, choosing the optimal Warlock build is paramount for navigating the treacherous landscapes of the game. While countless permutations exist, there are a select few configurations that rise above the rest, empowering Warlocks with unparalleled versatility and devastating potential.

Among the most formidable options is the Voidwalker, a master of darkness capable of unleashing withering attacks and manipulating the void energy that permeates the universe. By harnessing the power of the Attunement of Chaos, Voidwalkers can amplify their Nova Bomb’s destructive force or unleash a barrage of Void projectiles with the Dark Matter ability. Additionally, the ability to generate Devour orbs provides constant self-regeneration, ensuring survivability in the face of relentless foes.

Another potent choice is the Dawnblade, a solar Warlock adept at soaring through the air and unleashing fiery devastation. By embracing the Attunement of Sky, Dawnblades gain the ability to hover weightlessly, extending their aerial mobility and allowing for precision attacks from advantageous positions. The Well of Radiance Super empowers allies with a potent damage buff and healing boost, making it an invaluable asset in both PvE and PvP scenarios.

Solar Warlock: Scorching and Searing

The Solar Warlock is a master of fire and light, wielding abilities that scorch and sear their enemies. Here’s a closer look at their potent Solar abilities:

Scorching

Scorching refers to the Warlock’s ability to apply a burn effect on enemies, causing them to take damage over time. This effect can be triggered through various abilities, such as Incandescent, which grants your weapons a chance to scorch enemies on kills, and Ember of Searing, which causes targets hit by your Scorch to explode, dealing Solar damage to nearby enemies.

Searing

Searing represents the Warlock’s more direct and explosive Solar offense. Abilities like Solar Grenades ignite enemies on impact, dealing significant damage. Additionally, the Sunbracers Exotic gauntlets empower the Warlock’s Solar Grenades further, granting increased duration and allowing them to explode twice.

Below is a table summarizing the key aspects of Scorching and Searing:

Ability Type	Effect	Example Abilities
Scorching	Applies burn effect, causing damage over time	Incandescent, Ember of Searing
Searing	Explosive Solar damage	Solar Grenades, Sunbracers

The Well of Radiance: Support and Healing

The Well of Radiance is a super ability available to Warlocks in Destiny 2 that creates a healing and empowering aura for allies within its radius. It provides the following benefits:

Continuously heals allies over time
Grants increased weapon damage
Reduces incoming damage
Provides a boost to grenade and melee recharge rates

Subsection 4: Advanced Well of Radiance Strategies

To maximize the effectiveness of the Well of Radiance, consider the following strategies:

Positioning

Place the Well strategically to maximize its coverage and minimize exposure to enemy fire. Consider locations near choke points, cover, or objectives.

Timed Placement

Coordinate with teammates to deploy the Well at crucial moments, such as during encounters with powerful enemies or when the team needs a boost.

Class Synergy

Pair the Well of Radiance with other supportive abilities, such as the Lunafaction Boots exotic leg armor for increased rift duration, or the Phoenix Protocol exotic chest armor for Phoenix Dive, which creates a fresh Well of Radiance upon using a Super.

Team Composition

Consider the team composition when selecting the Well of Radiance subclass. Its healing and support capabilities can be particularly valuable in activities where survival and damage output are crucial.

Nova Bomb: Area-of-Effect Devastation

The Nova Bomb is a devastating area-of-effect Super that can be used to clear out large groups of enemies. It comes in two flavors: Vortex and Cataclysm.

Vortex

Vortex Nova Bomb creates a singularity that pulls in nearby enemies, deals damage over time, and explodes for additional damage. It’s great for dealing with groups of smaller enemies or enemies that are grouped together in a small area.

Cataclysm

Cataclysm Nova Bomb is a single, massive explosion that deals high damage to everything in its vicinity. It’s great for taking out large groups of enemies or bosses, but it’s not as effective against smaller groups of enemies or enemies that are spread out.

Aspects

Warlocks have access to a number of Aspects that can enhance their Nova Bomb Super.

Chaos Accelerant

Chaos Accelerant grants Warlocks an additional charge of their Nova Bomb Super. This allows them to cast it twice in a row, which can be very powerful in certain situations.

Dark Matter

Dark Matter increases the damage of Warlocks’ Nova Bomb Super. This is a great Aspect for taking down large groups of enemies or bosses.

Entropic Pull

Entropic Pull causes Warlocks’ Nova Bomb Super to pull in nearby enemies before exploding. This is a great Aspect for dealing with groups of smaller enemies or enemies that are grouped together in a small area.

Fragments

Warlocks can also equip Fragments that further enhance their Nova Bomb Super.

Fragment	Effect
Echo of Undermining	Increases the damage of Warlocks’ Nova Bomb Super against enemies that are affected by Void debuffs.
Echo of Instability	Causes Warlocks’ Nova Bomb Super to explode twice, dealing additional damage.
Echo of Expulsion	Causes Warlocks’ Nova Bomb Super to create a damaging shockwave when it explodes.

Shadowshot: Interruption and Control

Warlocks in Destiny 2 thrive on strategy and versatility. With their vast arsenal of abilities and their devastating Super, the Shadowshot, they can control the battlefield like no other class. Shadowshot offers potent crowd control and interruption effects that are ideal for both cooperative and competitive play.

Tether: Anchor

Anchor is a Shadowshot variant that tethers enemies in place, preventing them from moving or casting abilities for a short duration. This is highly effective against high-value targets or in situations where you need to quickly disable a group of enemies.

Tether: Devour

Devour sacrifices the tethering effect in favor of granting bonus Super energy every time an enemy is killed within the Shadowshot. This is useful in challenging encounters, allowing for frequent use of Shadowshot to control large numbers of enemies.

Tether: Orpheus Rigs

When combined with the Orpheus Rigs Exotic boots, Tether’s cooldown is drastically reduced with each enemy tethered. This enables Warlocks to continuously cast Shadowshot, providing unparalleled crowd control and Super uptime.

Generator Duration

Generator Duration extends the time that the Shadowshot anchor remains active, providing a longer period of crowd control and increased Super energy gain.

Deadfall

Deadfall creates a trap beneath the Shadowshot anchor, preventing enemies from moving or shooting through it. This is ideal for controlling chokepoints or creating a safe zone amidst enemy hordes.

Vanishing Step

Vanishing Step is a Blink-like ability that Warlocks can use to quickly escape danger or reposition themselves after casting Shadowshot. This is particularly valuable when dealing with overwhelming enemy forces.

Tether Variant	Effect
Anchor	Tethers enemies in place
Devour	Grants bonus Super energy on enemy kills
Orpheus Rigs	Reduces Shadowshot cooldown with each enemy tethered
Generator Duration	Extends Shadowshot anchor duration
Deadfall	Creates a trap beneath the Shadowshot anchor
Vanishing Step	Allows Warlocks to Blink after casting Shadowshot

Verity’s Brow Build: Enhanced Grenade and Super Abilities

This Warlock build revolves around Verity’s Brow, an exotic helmet that grants improved grenade and super abilities. Let’s explore it in detail:

Subsection 1: Verity’s Brow

Verity’s Brow increases the damage of your grenades and super abilities by 25% for 10 seconds after an ally activates an Empowering Rift. This bonus stacks up to 3 times, resulting in a potential damage increase of 75%.

Subsection 2: Empowering Rift

To fully utilize Verity’s Brow, it’s crucial to place Empowering Rifts frequently. These Rifts boost your allies’ damage and reload speed, making them an integral part of this build.

Subsection 3: Grenade Energy

This build relies heavily on grenade energy. The best way to generate it is through Verity’s Brow’s perk, which grants bonus energy when an ally picks up an orb of power while standing in your rift.

Subsection 4: The Stag

To enhance survivability, consider using The Stag as an alternative helmet. It provides you with a rift on critical health and reduces incoming damage while wearing it.

Subsection 5: Dawn Chorus

For Solar subclasses, Dawn Chorus is a strong choice. It increases the damage of your Daybreak super by 25% for 10 seconds after throwing a grenade.

Subsection 6: Fallen Sunstar

For Stasis subclasses, Fallen Sunstar is a great option. It gives you unlimited grenade energy while in a Well of Radiance and increases the duration of your Stasis abilities.

Subsection 7: Other Exotics

Consider using other exotics like Sanguine Alchemy, Ophidian Aspect, or Contraverse Hold for additional benefits and customization options.

Subsection 8: Grenade Choices

The best grenades for this build are those that deal high damage, such as Warlock’s Firebolt Grenade or the Solar subclass Grenade.

Subsection 9: Super Ability Choices

The best super ability choices for this build are ones that can benefit from the damage bonus provided by Verity’s Brow. Consider using Daybreak for Solar subclasses, Nova Bomb for Void subclasses, or Chaos Reach for Arc subclasses.

Contraverse Hold Build: Infinite Grenades for Voidwalkers

This build centers around the Exotic gauntlets, Contraverse Hold. These gauntlets grant you increased grenade damage and return grenade energy when you damage enemies with your grenades. This allows you to loop grenades near-infinitely, dealing massive damage to enemies.

Key Aspects

Subclass: Voidwalker
Exotic Armor: Contraverse Hold
Grenade: Vortex Grenade
Fragments: Echo of Undermining, Echo of Instability, Echo of Remnants
Aspects: Feed the Void, Child of the Old Gods
Mods: Grenade Kickstart, Bomber, Well of Ordnance
Stats: Discipline (for faster grenade regeneration), Recovery (for survivability)

Gameplay Loop

The gameplay loop for this build is to throw your Vortex Grenade, detonate it with your melee, and then use the increased grenade energy to throw another grenade. The Echo of Undermining fragment amplifies your grenade damage on detonated targets, while the Echo of Instability and Echo of Remnants fragments provide additional grenade energy and damage reduction. Child of the Old Gods grants you improved void weapon damage, making your grenades even deadlier.

Stat Distribution

Stat	Recommended Value
Discipline	100
Recovery	100
Resilience	100
Mobility	80
Intellect	50
Strength	50

Best Warlock Builds for Destiny 2: Optimizing Your Voidwalker, Dawnblade, and Stormcaller

Warlocks in Destiny 2 are versatile masters of the Void, Solar, and Arc energies. With a range of subclasses and abilities, they offer a diverse array of playstyles and effectiveness in both PvE and PvP environments. Here are the top Warlock builds for each subclass, balancing power, survivability, and utility:

Voidwalker: Embrace the Darkness with Nezarec’s Sin

Nezarec’s Sin is an exotic helmet that amplifies the power of Void abilities, making it an ideal choice for Voidwalker Warlocks. Combine it with the following perks:

Subtree: Attunement of Hunger
Grenade: Magnetic Grenade
Melee: Devour
Super: Nova Bomb (Cataclysmic)
Exotic Armor: Nezarec’s Sin

This build enhances Void ability damage, regenerates health through Devour, and grants an overshield on Super activation. It excels at clearing adds and dealing heavy damage to bosses.

Dawnblade: Soar Through the Sky with Sunbracers

Sunbracers are exotic gauntlets that grant Solar melee ability kills, which trigger fiery explosions. For Dawnblade Warlocks, the following build maximizes their effectiveness:

Subtree: Attunement of Sky
Grenade: Solar Grenade
Melee: Heavenly Fire
Super: Daybreak
Exotic Armor: Sunbracers

This build focuses on chaining melee kills to deal massive damage. Heavenly Fire creates explosions, while Daybreak grants aerial superiority and extended Super duration. It’s highly effective in PvE for add control and boss DPS.

Stormcaller: Unleash the Tempest with Crown of Tempests

Crown of Tempests is an exotic helmet that increases ability regeneration for Stormcaller Warlocks. The optimal build combines these perks:

Subtree: Attunement of Control
Grenade: Arcbolt Grenade
Melee: Ball Lightning
Super: Stormtrance (Conduction)
Exotic Armor: Crown of Tempests

This build prioritizes ability spam, constantly refreshing Arcbolt Grenades and Ball Lightning melee charges. Stormtrance with Conduction amplifies damage with each kill, making it a devastating crowd control and boss-killing tool.