Solar Hunters are a challenging build to put together due to how versatile they can be. But once all the pieces come together, their combo of throwing knives and Tripmine Grenades make for a deadly mix. Here is a solid PvE and PvP build for a Solar Hunter inDestiny 2right now.
Best PvE Solar Hunter build in Destiny 2
The PvE build for a Solar Hunter in Destiny 2 centers on the Throwing Knife ability and the Assassin’s Cowl Exotic Helm. Basically,you’ll be using your knives to sustain your invisibilityand keep the adds from shooting you too much. This allows you to set yourself up with the perfect vantage point to take out enemies from afar, or to get in close with your favorite shotgun.
This build requires a lot of practice and skill; there’s no doubt about that. Missing a Throwing Knife means the entire loop will be ruined and you’ll have to manage on your own for a bit. But once you get used to how everything chains together you’ll see that this build can wreak some precise havoc.
Related:Best Destiny 2 Void Hunter build: PvP and PvE
Best PvE Solar Hunter Aspects and Fragments
Fragments:
The first thing you’ll likely notice here is that five fragments are listed. That’s becauseOn Your Mark grants an extra slotand that’s a pretty big deal. But the important Aspect to focus on isKnock ’em Down. This makes your Throwing Knives operate similarly to the Titan’s Solar hammer throw attack since they’re able to pick the hammer back up and instantly refill their melee energy. With Knock ’em Down, Hunters just need to defeat their target with the knife to refill this bar immediately.
As for Fragments, I’ve gone for a spread that increases your survivability. Ultimately, you won’t have invisibility all the time, so we need to make the most of Solar’s other supportive mechanics.Ember of Torches works with your Throwing Knife to make you and your allies radiant. Then Ember of Solace will increase the duration of radiant for yourself. And if you’ve got a Solar weapon, you can further increase the duration by defeating enemies. These Fragments end up working together very well and can keep you alive and boost your damage output.
Best PvE Solar Hunter abilities
Blade Barrageis a better choice over the other supers since it’s an excellent clearer of adds. Plus it’s very quick to pop and can get you out of a really bad situation.Acrobat’s Dodgeinstantly gives you radiant, which feeds into the loop with the Fragments. Alternatively, you can pickGambler’s Dodgeif you’d rather instantly have your Throwing Knife back. And that’s useful if you use the other Throwing Knives. But withKnife Trick, you shouldn’t miss your targets often. Finally, theFirebolt Grenadeis a solid choice since it deals plenty of damage against enemies, applies scorch, and has a low cooldown.
Best PvE Solar Hunter weapons and armor
Exotic Armor:
As mentioned earlier, the Assassin’s Cowl is a must for this build due to the invisibility perk. Plus the extra healing means you should have a much easier time surviving encounters.
For weapons, it’s mostly down to your personal preference but you need to bring a solar weapon with you. Ember of Empyrean won’t be as effective if you don’t have a Solar weapon in your loadout. There are a ton of great Solar weapons to choose from in Destiny 2 for this build though so it shouldn’t stifle your options too much.
The mods chosen here are going to boost the recovery rate of your melee and class ability cooldowns. They’re also going to buff your Solar weapons in small but meaningful ways.Solar Siphonis a must since it lets you generate more Orbs of Power on Solar weapon kills.Impact InductionandMomentum Transferwork together to reduce your grenade and melee cooldowns. And then I like to haveProximity Wardto give me a little breathing room with finishers. And since finishers work with Assassin’s Cowl, it’s a good one to have.
Best PvP Solar Hunter build in Destiny 2
The game plan for this Solar Hunter build in Destiny 2 PvP is completely different to its approach in PvE content. Like other PvP builds for Hunters, the goal is to use the class’ trickier abilities to throw off other players and score some easy kills.
Some major focuses in this build are going to be theTripmine Grenadeand a higher emphasis on stats likeMobilityandRecovery. We’re still also going to be making full use of theProximity Explosive Knifeto deal some heavy damage. Plus there’s a much higher emphasis on using this class’ ability to scorch and ignite targets.
Best PvP Solar Hunter Aspects and Fragments
The Aspects remain mostly unchanged since Gunpowder Gamble just isn’t that useful unfortunately. And since On Your Mark gives us another Fragment slot it’s easily the best one to choose.
Fragments on the other hand are almost entirely different in comparison to the PvE build. The focus now is on buffing your ability to scorch targets. And by causing enemies to ignite, you’ll be rewarded with grenade energy. And since Tripmine Grenades are so good at controlling areas in the Crucible, this is the best setup to go with.
The big differences here are with the melee and grenade abilities. I’ve gone with Proximity and Explosive Knife to give you two ways of surprising enemy Guardians. Alternatively, you may choose Knife Trick if you prefer the versatility that it offers. And since this whole build revolves around using the Tripmine Grenade it’s no surprise that you should pick that too.
Best PvP Solar Hunter weapons and armor
So the biggest deviation here is the choice of Exotic. But since Tripmine Grenades are so vital to this Solar Hunter buildYoung Ahamkara’s Spineis the only real choice. This Exotic makes these grenades so much deadlier. And if you’re lucky you’ll routinely get one or two guardians killed in the blast. An honorable mention can go toFrost-EE5since it reduces all of your cooldowns while sprinting. And while I don’t recommend it wholly, if you want to have an exotic with a more general buff it’s a good one to go for.
Your choice of weapons is still mostly down to personal preference. I highly recommend packing a shotgun since this is still the Crucible we’re talking about and they’ll never not be useful. But remember to pack a Solar gun to make the most of the Ember of Empyrean Fragment. My personal recommendation is the Epochal Integration since I’ve been having a lot of fun with it recently. Check outhow to get the Epochal Integrationfor yourself if you haven’t done so yet.
Most of the mods are also unchanged from the PvE build except for a few exceptions. Power Preservation is a must-have since it lets you create extra Orbs of Power. And being able to help out your teammates like that is key to winning Crucible matches. Proximity Ward gets swapped out for Distribution to further buff your cooldown speed.
The stats we’re focusing on for this Solar Hunter Build are a little different. I value mobility since a Hunter should be fast and able to escape a bad situation with ease. But Resilience is also extremely important to keep you alive. And if you want even better grenade cooldowns, invest in Discipline.
Each Solar Hunter build can decimate foes in Destiny 2. But they’re equally challenging to use effectively. Put in plenty of practice with them to understand what they’re capable of.
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Sam Robins
Sam is a Contributing Writer at PC Invasion. For just over 5 years, he has been writing about all areas of gaming from news and guides, to reviews of the latest titles. When he’s not writing, he’s usually sinking time into an RPG or trying to convince his friends to play The Legends of Heroes series. He can usually be found lurking on Twitter (@GhoolyTV) most days.
