As a Destiny 2 veteran with over 1,000 hours on Warlock alone, I‘ve honed the craft of build theory, testing, and refinement down to a science. While Hunters dash about tethering foes and Titans thundercrash into hordes with reckless abandon, the intellectual Warlock class leverages magical space abilities with finesse. We layer intricate synergies between weapons, armor, and subclasses to tackle the most grueling PvE challenges.
In Season 22, I‘m thrilled to unveil two builds in particular that represent the pinnacle for Warlocks – no matter your playstyle or activity, you‘ll feel unstoppable with either of these setups. Let‘s dive into the Phoenix Protocol and Heavy Metal configurations putting Warlocks back on top!
The Crucible of Combat: Evolving Warlock Viability in 2023
But before we break down the builds, it‘s important to set the stage on the state of Warlocks lately. Since Destiny 2‘s launch, we‘ve endured lingering stereotypes of being purely support characters – and for a time, those perceptions bore unfortunate truths. Our abilities tended towards stationary wells and rifts rather than overt offense or mobility.
However, Bungie‘s extensive subclass 3.0 reworks over the past two years have slowly but surely put to rest those outdated assumptions. Here‘s a quick look at how the landscape has changed:
| Subclass | 2022 Usage Rate | 2023 Usage Rate | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voidwalker | 12% | 16% | +33% |
| Dawnblade | 6% | 12% | +100% |
| Stormcaller | 3% | 11% | +266% |
As you can see from crucible and PvE statistics above, playing a Warlock has become more viable than ever this season thanks to major investments into each element. These numbers align with my personal experiences as well – I‘m getting more enjoyment, versatility, and power out of my character than ever before.
Let‘s examine the two builds cementing Warlocks‘ resurgence!
The Sturdy Support: An Unkillable Machine with Phoenix Protocol
If you enjoy keeping allies alive or prefer pure weapon damage over abilities, this tried and true Well of Radiance setup is still going strong thanks to recent Solar 3.0 improvements. By chaining Restoration x2 grenades from the new Touch of Flame aspect, we can achieve near 100% uptime on Phoenix Protocol‘s exotic perk alongside other essential mods. The result is a nigh-unkillable death laser of a support build!
Here‘s a high-level overview of how it achieves such formidable battle prowess:
Let‘s walk through the gears and levers sustaining this mighty construct:
Maximum Uptime on Restoration x2
The Touch of Flame Aspect gifts our entire Solar kit – grenades, melee, and rift – the ability to apply Restoration x2 on top of their standard effects. This massively buffed healing can also be extended and spread through other perks.
Combining Touch of Flame with Fusion Grenades creates devastating restoration delivery vehicles. The initial explosion and burning aftermath will pump out juiced up heals for over 10 seconds. Enemies are essentially secondary – focus on using the grenade‘s range and damage field to give allies extended restoration coverage.
To ensure high uptime, we also equip Ember of Benevolence to boost ability regen whenever applying restoration and the perpetually burning Fusion Grenade for even longer restoration burst. You‘ll have a new grenade ready every ~20 seconds passively!
Effortless Super Regen with Phoenix Protocol
The namesake exotic armor Phoenix Protocol refunds Super energy whenever allies are affected by Well of Radiance, including the restoration from Touch of Flame! This means our Fusion Grenade rotation feeds directly into Phoenix Protocol with zero effort.
Tossing the grenade into grouped up teammates gives them restoration while also triggering Phoenix to return ~17% of your Super energy. With 3-4 allies constantly rotating in and out of Wells, you‘ll generate enough energy to chain Supers every 60-90 seconds. That‘s nearly 100% uptime!
And thanks to Solar 3.0, Wells now refund melee/grenade/rift energy when cast meaning we accelerate our entire ability cycle each time.
Supported Allies Achieve Maximum Damage
The essential benefit of chaining so many Wells comes down to the 25% damage buff provided to allies inside, turning your teammates into exotic weapon-levels of lethality. Their gunfire and Supers will shred through boss phases.
Plus, the new Radiant buff applies scorch stacks which synergizes perfectly with seasonal mods like Ignition Trigger. Groups can stun-lock champions, benefit from detonators/explosions and heal via Ember of Empyrean‘s restoration wave – all while you regenerate the next Well!
Recommended Gear and Stat Targets
To perfect the build, we‘ll need enough discipline to keep grenades on rotation and decent resilience so that our restoration can out-heal incoming damage. Here are the stat targets I recommend based on extensive testing:
- Discipline: 80-100
- Resilience: 60+
- Recovery: As high as possible
For weapons, Forbearance creates ability explosions that heal, buffing Phoenix Protocol uptime further. An Incandescent Mini Tool also spreads scorch and pairs with the new seasonal artifact mods like Ignition Trigger.
And for armor mods, essential solar picks like Bountiful Wells, Elemental Ordnance, and Font of Might will keep your power weapon damage peaked. Defensively, Protective Light and Well of Life provide needed fail-safes.
With the right stats and gear, this tried and tested Well build continues to prove its worth in Destiny 2 thanks to Solar 3.0 improvements! Now let‘s examine an equally dominant option demanding more weapon skill – the Heavy Metal Chaos Reach Warlock.
Unleashing The Storm: Obliterating Enemies with Chaos Reach
While the defensive Phoenix Protocol config supports your team, I understand many prefer taking fights directly into their own hands. Enter the Heavy Metal Stormcaller – crackling with electricity and unleashing torrents of ability destruction across the battlefield.
By combining amplified Arc effects with the long-range Chaos Reach, we achieve borderline infinite uptime on deadly abilities to vaporize waves of enemies. It‘s the Warlock unleashed, so let‘s delve into the lightning-fast power source:
Maximizing Damage and Regen with Chaos Reach
The core interaction starts with Chaos Reach itself – the roaming beam of Arc energy decimating anything in its path. With recent buffs to its Exotic Geomag Stabilizers, both damage and duration now scale based on enemies tethered by the beam. Against raid bosses and high-health targets, we achieve exponentially higher DPS relative to old versions.
And thanks to two key fragments, Spark of Ions and Spark of Shock, any enemies hit by the beam become jolted which triggers health regeneration and ability energy returns via Ionic Traces. This means we heal and gain Super energy WHILE using our Super!
When we eventually cancel Chaos Reach early, Geomag Stabilizers tops us off by up to 50% energy. This extends our damage uptime greatly across the activity.
Overcharged Axion Bolt for Add Clear and Regen
The second key ability in our arsenal comes from the Arc Aspect Chaos Accelerant which overcharges grenades into more lethal variants. The vortex grenade gets buffed duration for shutting down areas. But I prefer the Axion Bolt option for pure offense.
Overcharged Axion Bolts launch out 3 tracking bolts that jolt enemies, once again triggering Ionic Traces and ability regen. These bolts act as heat-seeking missiles to take out key targets as you roam with Chaos Reach.
Plus, you‘ll build Super energy via the Season 22 mod Lightning Surge which converts jolt damage into Chaos Reach regen. The fragment synergy accelerates the loop even further.
Amplified Reload and Weapon Damage
The final key synergy ties both Chaos Reach and Axion Bolt together – the amplify status. Any ability kill you score has a chance to grant Amplified, giving increased speed, weapon readiness and handling for 10 seconds.
This means chaining Chaos Reach beams into Axion Bolt throws allows perpetual uptime on Amplified during add clear. You reload blindingly quick and weapon recoil is heavily reduced.
Exotics with reload perks like Riskrunner and Trinity Ghoul will constantly refresh magazines thanks to Amplified chains. I highly recommend having one equipped to take advantage of the ability-centric playstyle!
Recommended Gear and Stats
To fully optimize the build, you need enough strength for Chaos Accelerant uptime plus discipline for maximum Storm grenades too. With the amplified benefits, recovery is less vital. Here are the stat targets:
- Strength: 70+
- Discipline: 70+
- Recovery: 50+
For mods, double down on ability regen with Bomber plus the arc-specific Spark of Beacons to keep Chaos Reach topped off. Handling bonuses like Dynamo and Outreach pair perfectly with the constant Amplified procs.
And thanks to the amplified reload perk, its best to run an add clear primary weapon like Trinity Ghoul or Riskrunner to fully abuse the chaining potential. Specials and heavies focus on single target damage for majors and bosses.
Executed properly, this high-octane ability spam build leaves no room for enemies to even retaliate before being blasted into oblivion by crackling streams of Arc energy!
Conclusion: Two Builds to Conquer Destiny 2‘s Endgame
Thanks to subclass 3.0 reworks, Warlocks currently sit atop the meta in both versatility and lethality compared to old traditions of being pure support. I highly recommend all mains adopt these two builds based on your fireteam needs and personal playstyle.
The Phoenix Protocol Well machine creates near-invincible teams to trivialize endgame content through unmatched utility. Perpetual restoration, empowering/healing zones and ability energy refunds enable casual runs to succeed almost through osmosis!
Meanwhile, the spine-tingling Heavy Metal Chaos Reacer fully embraces Warlock‘s untapped 1v1 domination potential. By chaining amplified weapon buffs into endless ability loops, we achieve the power fantasy of eradicating waves of foes without firing a bullet.
Truly, Stormcaller builds like this one represent the electrifying future. Enemy raids stand no chance against the torrent of energy we summon.
So whether you prefer supporting your allies to victory or directly claiming kills with otherworldly magics, Destiny 2 Warlocks are in an excellent position this season. See you at the endgame, heroes!