With Destiny 2: Lightfall finally released, the community has been hard at work testing all sorts of unique builds for every class with the new, exciting subclass element, Strand. We here at GameDrudge have been no different. I have committed time to doing research, playtesting and experimenting with this new element in order to find out the best builds for each class to take full advantage of Strand. If you’re struggling finding the right builds for your Guardian, here are some great Strand builds for Destiny 2 to take advantage of.
Destiny 2: Lightfall was released on February 28th, 2023. Click here to get my first impressions on the expansion, and look out later for a full review!
Titan: Ability Spam/Support Build
Titan mains, before Lightfall released, we were mocked. Shunned. Made fun of. “Another dumb melee class” they said. “Will never find success in endgame activities” they said.
Look at them now. Looking up at the mighty Titan as we stand at the mountaintop of corpses that Strand has allowed us to make. Look down on them, and laugh. If you were a Titan main that was afraid that Strand was just going to be another boring melee class, fear not my brother in arms. It can be so much more with this build. This build is going to be built around smart ability usage utilizing the exotic Heart of Inmost Light. Multiple melee charges with Strand allows us to use the exotic perk much more often, giving us empowered abilities AND reduced cooldowns. Its also going to be utilizing lots of Woven Mail buffs for both you and your teammates. Woven Mail has proven to be an incredibly effective buff allowing you to shrug off hits that would normally kill you outright.
Titan Strand Abilities
For this build, you’re going to want to use the the aspects Drengr’s Lash and Into the Fray, given… well its the only aspects we have right now as Titans. If you’re reading this in the future, feel free to play around with the aspects, but these have worked great for where we are right now. I’m predicting that Into the Fray will be a staple, while Drengr’s Lash could probably get swapped out later. But for now, this is what we got.
For Fragments, we’re going to be using Thread of Generation and Thread of Fury. Feel free to play around with the other fragments, but these two are ESSENTIAL to this build. Generation allows us to get more grenade energy on ANY damage dealt, and with the Tangles you’ll be creating, Thread of Fury will get you even more melee energy to play around with. Do not underestimate the grapple on Titan. The free melee you get on a follow-up has some incredible potential, with great AOE damage. The other fragments are pretty open to play with. I’ve found the most success with Thread of Transmutation and Thread of Warding, allowing us to create even more tangles and activate Woven Mail even more often.
Titan Seasonal/Armor Mods
These are, unfortunately, going to be rotated out at the end of Season 20. So if you’re reading this in the future, apologies. However, for some Artifact mods in Season 20, I used Authorized Mods: Strand to reduce mod costs that affect Strand weapons/abilities, which was nice. I would also recommend Untangler, Threaded Blast and Allied Unraveling, and then scoop up whatever appropriate mods you would like from the other elements available.
For non-seasonal mods, I would recommend going all in on Strength or Resilience, depending on what you prefer. Strength from my experience gets you a little more ability uptime due to the increased charges, but Resilience is so hard to go wrong with and is tied to you class ability, so its hard not to recommend if you want to be as tanky as possible. For non-stat mods, ability energy is the name of the game. Focus on mods such as Impact Induction, Focusing Strike, and similar mods to get the most out of this build
If you’re having trouble mixing and matching your mods, check out D2ArmorPicker. Its a great resource if you’re having trouble managing mods and stats.
Titan Weapons/Exotics
This can be played around with, as the aim of this build is ability usage, but as stated before, Heart of Inmost Light is the cornerstone of this build. For weapons, however, I have found the most success with Quicksilver Storm, especially with the catalyst active. For the other 2, you can really pick your favorite, but don’t sleep on some of the new Strand weapons. The Neomuna Machine Gun has proved very good, especially with the Golden Tricorn perk. The SMG I’ve heard is also great, but I’ve struggled to get ahold of a good roll on one, so the GameDrudge jury is out for now on that one.
Warlock Strand Build: The Army of Green Goons
Warlocks, do you like Threadlings? Maybe you think they’re great damage, maybe you like them for their crowd control purposes, maybe you just like them because you think they’re cute for some reason. Well, if you like Threadlings, this is your place; This build for the Warlock Broodweaver will help you have a constant supply of Threadling goons to sic on your enemies at any given point.
Warlock Strand Abilities
We’ll start off by selecting the new Threadling Grenade from the Warlock’s box of fun in Strand, a thrown projectile that disperses itself into Threadlings when thrown. To enhance this, we’ll be choosing the aspect Mindspun Invocation, making so when we consume our Threadling grenade, we get a total of five perched Threadlings, ready to attack any enemy as soon as they get in range. Throwing the Threadling Grenade only generates a total of three Threadlings, so consuming it will be your main use of it here. The other aspect we’ll use is Weaver’s Call, which allows us to spawn three Threadlings while casting a rift, and releasing any Threadlings that are already perched, so use your healing rift to get out of any sticky situations and get any enemies already close by to back off and give you some breathing room.
For fragments, we’ll be using the Threads of Finality, Warding, Mind and Fury. Finality allows us to create Threadlings when killing enemies with a finisher, while Mind allows us to get some rift energy while defeating suspended targets AND creates Tangles out of them. Thread of Fury gives us some melee energy while damaging targets with Tangles. Thread of Warding gives us some extra breathing room with Woven Mail on Orb of Power pickup. Never a bad choice.
Warlock Seasonal/Armor Mods
The big perks to get with this build from the seasonal artifact are Authorized Mods: Strand, and anything that buffs Tangles, Threadlings, e.t.c. The Armor Charge system will also come into play here. We’ll be triple stacking Grenade-Kickstart to get more grenade energy when we have Armor Charges. We’ll get said Armor Charges by using the Stacks on Stacks mod on our chosen exotic armor piece, The Swarmers, and spawn some Orbs of Power using Siphon mods.
Warlock Weapons/Exotics
This part is the most open to experimentation. Your lynchpin, however is going to be the new Warlock exotic boots, The Swarmers. This is where all of our Tangle creation is going to come into play. Destroying a Tangle creates Threadlings, and with all of your buffs, mods and creation ability, you’re going to be pumping out a Tangle about as often as you can in heavy combat. For weapons, anything strand is great given your buffs; Quicksilver Storm’s catalyst giving a guaranteed Tangle with a grenade launcher kill makes it hard to go wrong with. The new SMG is also good, and the new machine gun again earns its place in your heavy slot with its great damage output and precision ability.
Hunter Strand Build: Spiderman
The new Strand Grapple may be fun and effective with every class, but its at its best when paired with the unmatched mobility and hit-and-run combat of the Hunter. If you love the Grapple, you’re going to love putting it to even more use with this hyper-mobile, web-slinging Hunter build based around high-flying antics and suspending your enemies.
Hunter Strand Abilities
For this build, we’ll be using the Widow’s Silk and Ensnaring Slam aspects as a baseline, allowing us to convert our dodge to a vicious ground pound when used in midair. This suspends any enemies that are unlucky enough to be caught in its area of effect. The Widow’s Silk aspect is going to give us a bonus Grenade/grapple charge; very important to this build, vital even. Allowing you to use your grapple, slam into the ground, get off a few hits than grapple away to do it all over again makes this Hunter build incredibly mobile and devastating to isolated groups of enemies.
For fragments, we’ll be using the following: Thread of Mind, Thread of Generation, Thread of Warding, and to finish it off, Thread of Binding OR Thread of Wisdom. Experiment, use whatever you prefer with this one. Thread of Mind gives us some class ability regeneration when defeating Suspended enemies, which you’ll be doing quite often. Thread of Generation is going to help us get some extra grapple regeneration by doing any damage. Definitely a must have for a combo build. Warding is going to land us some Woven Mail when we collect an Orb of Power. Again, you can never go wrong with some Woven Mail. The fourth Fragment slot is a bit flexible. I personally prefer Thread of Wisdom in case you’re somehow struggling with Orb generation.
Hunter Seasonal/Armor Mods
For this build, no Seasonal mod is really essential. However, I’d recommend using Bricks From Beyond and Volatile Flow if you plan on using a Void weapon. You’ll want to focus on armor mods that increase your mobility and discipline with this build. For specialized mods, you’ll want to use mods that give increased cooldown to both your class ability and your grapple. Mods such as Impact Induction, Focusing Strike, Innervation, Recuperation, and others will prove invaluable when pulling off multiple grapple/pound combos in a row.
Hunter Exotics/Weapons
This section is a bit up to your personal preference, but the name of the game is close range. Break out your favorite SMGs, Shotguns and others for hit-and-run tactics with this build. I’ve liked using a Funnelweb with Volatile Flow especially, though any shotgun can also work if used properly. Just remember to spec into burst DPS to get the most out of your loadout.
For your exotic armor piece, I’d recommend either The Sixth Coyote or Radiant Dance Machines. These wil give you some more potent long-combo abilities with your ground slam. However, if you’re finding yourself having some trouble getting out of combat without dying, pop on Assassins Cowl. Finish off your attack with a finisher and vanish into thin air to do it all over again.
And that’s that! Strand has already proven to be an incredibly powerful option for Destiny players in all activities. Hopefully these builds will help you unlock the full potential. Let us know if you have any other great Strand builds that you’re enjoying. Enjoy playing with the fabric of reality out there, Guardian!
