The Monument of Triumph update for Destiny 2 has placed the Stormcaller Warlock subclass in a position to dominate content at any difficulty with this new Ionic Trace build. Thanks to powerful synergies with Ionic Traces, the Arc elemental pickup, Warlock players can spread damage around the battlefield while jolting and blinding enemies. This makes it easy to take advantage of the Ionic Sentry Aspect. This Warlock Monument of Triumph build guide aims to capitalize on using Ionic Traces to fuel powerful abilities in the short windows between Stormtrance Super activations.
Arc Warlock At A Glance:
- Exotic Weapon: Delicate Tomb
- Exotic Armor: Stormdancer’s Brace
- Key Aspect: Ionic Sentr
- Gameplay Loop: Charge Ionic Sentry and quickly activate Stormtrance Super to clear waves of enemy combatants.
Best Weapons
Delicate Tomb Exotic Fusion RIfle
Generating Ionic Traces as fast as possible is easy with the Delicate Tomb Exotic Fusion Rifle. Defeating enemies with Delicate Tomb has a chance to generate Ionic Traces, and is guaranteed to generate them from more powerful combatants. After collecting an Ionic Trace, the next shot from the weapon jolts, dealing chaining lighting damage to any nearby enemies. Delicate tomb deals with large groups of enemies with its jolting capabilities, but also holds up when dealing single-target damage to larger threats. Its ability to generate Ionic Traces quickly also refunds ability energy quickly and allows for a constant rotation of Arc buffs and debuffs.
Giver’s Blessing Legendary Auto RIfle
The other two weapon slots are pretty open. For the kinetic slot, kinetic damage weapons are best, as other important parts of the build benefit from final blows with kinetic weapons. The Kinetic Tremors perk is useful in this slot for dealing heavy damage to single targets while damaging enemies around them. Weapons like Auto Rifles and Submachine Guns are good at dealing the sustained damage required to activate the Kinetic Tremors. Weapons like Giver’s Blessing from Kepler or Gunburn from the Tenet of Bravery at the Tower work great.
This build runs a mod in the artifact that improves Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles, so putting a Linear Fusion Rifle in the heavy slot will yield good results for boss damage. The mod Particle Reconstruction refills ammo and increases the damage of both types of weapons, so any legendary Linear Fusion Rifle with powerful damage perks will help with longer damage phases. Good options include Mistral Lift from the Tenet of Bravery or the Laser Painter from Gambit Ops.
Best Armor
Stormdancer’s Brace Exotic Chest Armor
Stormdancer’s Brace allows players to take full advantage of the Stormtrance Super ability. When using this roaming Super, hitting and defeating enemies grants a stacking buff that increases the damage of the Super and refunds Super energy when it ends. Stormdancer’s Brace also provides Bolt Charge from ability damage when amplified, including Super damage. This build uses Ionic Traces generated from abilities and Delicate Tomb to become amplified, which grants maximum stacks of Bolt Charge quickly to call down lighting on enemies. Build Super energy quickly with Arc damage, use Stormtrance when there are a lot of enemies, and repeat.
Luminopotent Cover and Luminopotent Armor Bonus
The Luminopotent armor set increases the effectiveness of the build’s weapons, particularly Delicate Tomb. The set bonus for equipping two pieces grants increased reload speed to both types of Fusion Rifles. With four pieces, defeating enemies with jolt generates Ionic Traces. This helps to create a loop with Delicate Tomb where Ionic Traces allow it to jolt enemies, and defeating the jolted enemies generates more Ionic Traces. The four-piece bonus is recommended for higher-end PvE activities.
The most important stats to focus on are the Super stat, then the Grenade stat. A high Super stat will allow for Stormtrance to come back as fast as possible, and allows it to deal more damage when above 100. The Grenade stat gets the most out of the Ionic Sentry Aspect utilized to control space on the battlefield. It also increases grenade cooldown for when Ionic Sentry is not available, and increasing it above 100 allows grenade abilities to do increased damage.
Armor Mods
Masterworking armor is important for the extra point of mod energy it provides on each armor piece. Four of the armor pieces equip a three-cost stat mod to bring up important stats as high as possible, while the Chest Armor uses a one-cost stat mod to provide more energy for defensive mods. The other armor mods to use are as follows:
- Head: Special Ammo Finder, Ashes to Assets, Kinetic Siphon
These mods help to generate Super energy from grenade final blows and Orbs of Power rapid kinetic weapon final blows, while also providing more Special ammo. - Arms: Grenade Font, Firepower, Momentum Transfer
Grenade Font increases the Grenade stat when Armor Charge is active, while the other mods generate Orbs of Power and melee energy from grenade final blows. - Chest: Concussive Dampener, Melee Damage Resistance, Charged Up
These mods will grant an extra available stack of Armor Charge while also protecting from explosive and melee damage. - Legs: Better Already, Arc Weapons Surge, Stacks on Stacks
Picking up an orb of power will begin healing, increase Arc weapon damage, and provide an extra stack of Armor Charge. - Class: Time Dilation, Special Finisher, Proximity Ward
Decaying Armor Charge will last longer, while performing a finisher will consume Armor Charge and provide a small overshield.
Best Subclass Loadout
Stormcaller Aspects, Fragments, and Abilities
This build is all about making the most out of the Stormcaller Warlock subclass. Stormdancer’s Brace requires the Stormtrance Super, so it is what players need to use. Healing Rift is the better of the two class abilities, as it provides extra survivability. Both melee abilities are viable depending on player preference. Ball Lightning allows for more range and is improved when amplified, while Chain Lightning jolts enemies and feeds into the synergies the build has with jolt. For grenades, use Pulse Grenade for more damage or Flashbang Grenade for an extra source of blinding enemies.
Damage with kinetic and Arc weapons, as well as Ionic Traces, activate the build’s first Aspect: the Ionic Sentry. When charged up, activating the Grenade ability launches an Arc turret that chains lightning between nearby enemies and builds up stacks of Bolt Charge. It also blinds enemies that are near where it lands, preventing them from fighting until they can see again. Ionic Sentry damage is increased by increasing the Grenade Stat past 100. The other Aspect, Electrostatic Mind, generates Ionic Traces from enemies defeated by Arc abilities or while jolted or blinded, and causes Ionic Traces to grant amplified. Using weapons and abilities, charge up Ionic Sentry quickly with Ionic Traces from Electrostatic Mind, and throw out the turret as often as possible to continue blinding enemies and generating Ionic Traces to prepare more turrets.
These are the best Fragments for spreading debuffs and creating Ionic Traces:
- Spark of Shock: Arc grenades jolt targets.
- Spark of Ions: Defeating targets with jolt or Bolt Charge generates an Ionic Trace.
- Spark of Brilliance: Defeating a blinded target causes a blinding explosion.
- Spark of Beacons: Arc Special and Heavy ammo weapon final blows create a blinding explosion.
Shock, Brilliance, and Beacons are useful to the build as additional ways to spread Arc debuffs to enemies and fuel Ionic Trace generation from Electrostatic Mind, while Ions helps with additional Ionic Trace creation through final blows with Bolt Charge.
Best Artifact and Mods
Tablet of Ruin Artifact
The Tablet of Ruin artifact provides benefits in three key areas: Arc synergies, Super ability, and Fusion Rifles.
Arc Synergies:
- Dielectric: Defeating Arc debuffed targets grants Bolt Charge, and rapidly defeating arc debuffed targets creates an Orb of Power and heals a small portion of health.
- Photonic Flare: Defeating exhausted or severed enemies with Arc damage releases a blinding explosion.
- Flashover: Gaining maximum Bolt Charge grants amplified, and lightning bolts deal more damage.
Super Ability:
- Elemental Siphon: Rapid final blows with Kinetic and Arc weapons will generate Ionic Traces, and Ionic Traces will generate Super energy.
- Limit Break: Casting a Super while critically wounded or with an Arc buff grants a period of increased Super damage.
Fusion Rifles:
- Gold from Lead: Picking up Special ammo has a chance to grant Heavy ammo.
- Particle Reconstruction: Sustained damage with Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles partially refills the magazine from reserves and grants them bonus damage against the target.
This Destiny 2: Moment of Triumph Arc Warlock Build Guide utilizes high buff and ability uptime, rapid debuff application, and increased damage output with Bolt Charge and Fusion Rifles to conquer all levels of content. Use this build in new content to chase powerful new and returning weapons by checking out the Cull’s Shadow Exotic quest guide or the guide for how to get Eyasluna god rolls. To check out the full Destiny 2 guide collection, click here.