Hunters have done very well out of the Solar 3.0 rework, making them viable in end-game activities, plus dishing out huge DPS with their super. Today I am going to check out a Hunter Solar 3.0 build, one that’s going to take advantage of scorch, restoration and radiant effects, plus you’ll be squashing end-game bosses in seconds with the massive DPS output. I’ll run through the solar 3.0 setup, exotic armour, mods and also the weapons too.

While the Solar 3.0 rework didn’t go great for everyone (looking at you Warlocks), Hunters appear to have a great deal when it comes to boss DPS and crowd control. This season we also have Classy Restoration, which is a bonus. Yes, it’s most likely going away at the end of the season, but it could be replaced with something even better… you never know.

This build I am focusing on today for Hunters has a few objectives. First, we want to apply as many scorch stacks to targets as possible, second, we’ll be using radiant and restoration effects, plus we want to create as many elemental wells as we can, to increase our overall damage output. Talking about DPS, I’ll be using Shards of Galanor, which allows us to refund a bunch of super energy, and combine that with the aspect Knock ‘Em Down, so we can maximise our DPS output.

We’re going to be scorching with our throwing knife, grenades and also our weapons through the perk Incandescent. Build up enough scorch stacks and our enemies are going to explode. Through our fragments, we’re going to be applying radiant effects to ourselves and our fireteam too, so there are plenty of ways we can damage our opponents here. We’ll be using our dodge to get out of harm’s way, as well as instantly recharging our melee and getting the benefits of Classy Restoration. This is one of the strongest builds for Hunters in the game right now.

There are a lot of new solar keywords going on, but here are the important ones we care about for the build. Being Radiant means we’re boosting our damage output by about 20% – 25%. Restoration allows us to generate health and shields over time, so if we’re being overwhelmed by enemies we can simply dodge to get that health back.

Solar 3.0 Setup

Super – Blade Barrage
Class ability – Gambler’s Dodge, dodging near enemies recharges the melee ability.
Melee – Knife Trick, throw a fan of flaming knives that scorch targets on hit.
Grenade – Fusion Grenade

Aspects

Knock ‘Em Down – Blade Barrage launches more projectiles. While radiant, final blows with any equipped throwing knife fully refund melee energy.

On Your Mark – Precision final blows grant players and nearby allies increased weapon handling and reload speed for a short duration. Stacks three times. Activating the class ability immediately grants stacks of On Your Mark.

Fragments

Ember of Solace – Radiant and restoration effects applied to players have increased duration.
Ember of Empyrean – Solar weapons or ability final blows extend the duration of restoration and radiant effects. -10 Resilience.
Ember of Singeing – Class ability recharges faster when targets are scorched.
Ember of Searing – Defeating scorched targets grants melee energy. Adds +10 Recovery.
Ember of Torches – Powered melee attacks against combatants make players and nearby allies radiant.

Exotic Armour

Shards of Galanor are Hunter Exotic Gauntlets. This comes with the perk

Sharp Edges – Hits and kills with Blade Barrage will return Super energy after the Super ends.

Weapons

Unlike the weapons, armor mods, Aspects, Fragments, and abilities, Hunters have a bit more flexibility when it comes to the weapon choices they can use. However, it’s best to keep at least one Solar energy weapon that uses primary ammo on hand simply because these weapons never run out of ammo. Hunters can pick up the elemental wells they create to bolster the damage output of these weapons thanks to the Font of Might armour mod.

Additionally, Kinetic or Stasis weapons in Destiny 2 like the Riptide Fusion Rifle or Lingering Dread Grenade Launcher are perfect to pair alongside the likes of Solar SMGs, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms for the majority of activities. Lastly, in PvE activities where a boss is present and surrounded by multiple enemies, Hunters may want to consider using a Solar weapon that takes special ammo like the Cartesian Coordinate to take advantage of the same damage mod.

Kinetic – Burden of Guilt

Burden of Guilt is a Legendary Kinetic Fusion Rifle with an Adaptive Frame meaning it has a well-rounded grip, reliable and sturdy. This is great because it’s a Stasis weapon and if you can get one with Chill Clip, that’s going to increase your effectiveness in PVE combat, as you’ll be freezing enemies while killing them.

Energy – Calus Mini-tool

Calus Mini-Tool is a Legendary Energy Submachine Gun meaning it has superb handling. Move faster with this lightweight weapon equipped. I have one with Incandescent which means Defeating a target spreads scorch to those nearby. More powerful combatants and opposing Guardians cause scorch in a larger radius. This is going to help spread scorch even more.

Power – Gjallarhorn

Gjallarhorn is an Exotic Power Rocket Launcher that fires solar damage and it comes with some pretty special perks

Wolfpack Rounds – Rounds fired split into tracking cluster missiles upon detonation.
Pack Hunter – Gain increased handling and reload speed when standing near allies. Firing this weapon also grants Wolfpack Rounds to nearby allies wielding non-Exotic Rocket Launchers.

You can get this one by owning the 30th-anniversary pack and visiting Shaw Han on the Cosmodrome.

Mods

While players should prioritize high Mobility and Resilience stats for their Hunter, armour mods that create elemental wells, increase damage after picking up an elemental well, regenerate class and melee ability energy, and increase damage resistance is considered to be just as important.

I’m using some basic Elemental Well mods

• Elemental Ordnance (2) – Defeating a combatant with a grenade spawns an elemental well that matches your subclass energy type.
• Bountiful Wells – Elemental Well mods that cause you to spawn elemental wells can now stack, spawning additional wells for each additional copy of the mod you have equipped.
• Seeking Wells
• Font of Might – Picking up an elemental well that matches your subclass energy type grants a temporary bonus to weapon damage of that same elemental type.
• Classy Restoration – Activating your Solar class abilities grants your restoration.

We’re creating elemental wells through our grenade kills and explosions. Bountiful Wells is going to give us more elemental wells for each instance of elemental ordnance we have, so every time we get a grande kill we’re getting two wells. Then we’re using Font of Might to boost our weapon damage, given we’re picking up Solar elemental wells.

Let me know what you think of the build in the comments, and let me know if you have any improvements.

That’s it for this Huge DPS and Crowd Control Hunter Solar 3.0 build with Shards of Galanor in Destiny 2. For more Destiny 2 content like this check out This Week In Video Games on YouTube and subscribe today