Best Destiny 2 Warlock Build For Season Of The Wish

This six-month long season was supposed to be the triumphant return of Stasis with a few reworks and some well managed balancing to aspects and fragments. Instead, Bungie has made Destiny 2 Season of the Wish the most Solar-focused the space game has ever seen, just take a look at the artifact mods.

Best Destiny 2 Warlock mods in Season of the Wish

First there’s Flint Striker that turns every Solar weapon into a Radiant trigger. Then, Kindling Trigger gives every Solar weapon Incandescent (when you are Radiant) and applies Scorch stacks to any enemy. With Rays of Precision, any Solar precision final blows will cause enemies to ignite. All these perks don’t need a particular subclass to work, they just require Solar weapons, but if you decide to build into them with the right aspects and fragments, then you’ll become unstoppable.
There are two more artifact mods that need to be mentioned: one is Argent Ordinance and it’s the reason why, in all of our builds, you’ll see at least one rocket launcher in the heavy slot. This perk grants increased damage and reload speed to any rocket launcher at the cost of armor charge which all the builds we have crafted will provide.
The other one is Hail The Storm, a Stasis-focused mod that will make the Shadebinder Warlock even more deadly and ideal for crowd control. Void is still as fun as ever, and we have in store a little surprise for Arc lovers. Without further ado, let’s dive into the best builds for Warlocks in Season of the Wish.
The best Destiny 2 Warlock build in Season of the Wish is:

The best Destiny 2 Solar Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 Solar Warlock build is:

Subclass: Well of Radiance Primary stat: Resilience Secondary stat: Discipline Grenade: Solar Grenade Melee ability: Celestial Fire Class ability: Healing Rift Aspects: Icarus Dash, Touch of Flame Fragments: Ember of Mercy, Ember of Searing, Ember of Resolve, Ember of Ashes Exotic armor: Rain of fire, Phoenix protocol Weapons: Vex Mythoclast, Catastrophe, Cartesian Coordinates, Merciless, Apex Predator, Gjallarhorn, Dragon’s Breath Artifact Mods: Flint Striker, Kindling Trigger, Heart of the Flame, Revitalizing Blast, Rays of Precision, Argent Ordinance Head Mods: Heavy and Special Ammo Finder Arms Mods: Impact Induction, Firepower, Fastball Chest Mods: Rainbow Resist Legs Mods: Better Already, Recuperation, Solar Weapon surge Class Item Mods: Reaper, Utility Kickstart

It’s unclear if the aim of Season of the Wish’s Artifact Mods was to give something fun to Warlocks since they are, willingly or unwillingly, running a Solar build, or if Bungie just wants its space mages to never leave the comforts of a Well of Radiance. Either way, o Warlock mine, the path to maximize damage output and crowd control is to go all in with Solar weapons and abilities to take advantage of the overpowered perks available. Warlocks will have the most fun with the buffed fusion rifle, Vex Mythoclast.

Armor and weapons

The Vault of Glass’ raid weapon is a Solar fusion rifle that behaves much like an auto rifle, with a linear fusion rifle alternative firing mode that has received a 100% damage buff this season. Pairing this gun with the Exotic leg armor Reign of Fire will let you reload it (along with the rest of your weapons) by simply air dodging to increase the damage output in any situation.
If the mysterious RNG gods still haven’t graced you with a Mythoclast, or you prefer other guns, there’s a plethora of alternatives. The Ammit AR2, for example, is a craftable Solar auto rifle that will fit the gap perfectly. The Merciless, which received a buff last season, also is a great fit for this build and will allow you to pump damage, scorch, and ignitions into any major enemy. To close it off simply choose the best Solar rocket launcher you’ve got and all the bonuses from the artifact mods will stack beautifully.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

Another reason you should equip a Solar subclass is the fact that there are two more artifact mods that grant big advantages at higher difficulties. The first one is Heart of the Flame which powers up super damage of both yourself and your allies when cast close together. Try using this mod and dropping a Well of Radiance simultaneously with a fireteam member to see what we mean.
The other one is Revitalizing Blast which weakens enemies when they are hit with a Solar ability. There’s an incredible synergy with all these mods: by not even deviating from your usual playstyle, there are a lot of perks to take advantage of and this, especially for newer players, makes gameplay more fun and engaging than ever.
When facing the more casual content, it’s good to prioritize fun over efficiency so spread your Solar wings, say goodbye to Well of Radiance and embrace Daybreak, your flaming sword that makes enemies go boom. In the Aspects department there’s no need to deviate from the tried and true Icarus Dash and Touch of Flame combo. For your Fragments you could substitute Ember of Resolve with Ember of Combustion to make even more enemies explode, and Ember of Mercy with Ember of Tampering to stay more on the aggressive side while still supporting your allies. Remember to adjust the regular mods in your build in case you prefer a more melee-focused approach as ours is quite grenade-centric, again, to maximize damage.

The best Destiny 2 Void Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 Void Warlock build is:

Subclass: Nova Bomb Cataclysm Primary stat: Recovery Secondary stat: Resilience Grenade: Vortex Grenade Melee ability: Pocket Singularity Class ability: Healing Rift Aspects: Feed the Void, Child of the Old Gods Fragments: Echo of Expulsion, Echo of Remnants, Echo of Persistence, Echo of Leeching Exotic armor: Briarbinds Weapons: Cartesian Coordinates, Gjallarhorn, Code Duello, Roar of the Bear, Hezen Vengeance, Commemoration, Rufus’s Fury, Arbalest, Retraced Path Artifact Mods: Flint Striker, Kindling Trigger, Heart of the Flame, Revitalizing Blast, Rays of Precision, Argent Ordinance Head Mods: Heavy and Special Ammo Finder Arms Mods: Impact Induction, Grenade Kickstart, Fastball Chest Mods: Emergency Reinforcement, Charged Up Leg Mods: Better Already, Recuperation, Solar Surge Class Item Mods: Utility Kickstart, Time Dilation

Void Builds for Warlocks have not been under the spotlight for some time now and, unfortunately, the situation it’s likely to remain unchanged in Season of the Wish. However, if you’re desperate to send purple sparks flying across the battlefield, here’s the best Void Warlock build we could create in Season of the Wish.

Armor and weapons

The absence of meta-defining combos does not deprive this subclass of a single drop of fun thanks to the Briarbinds – a pair of Exotic gauntlets that centers around the Child of the Old Gods’ Void Souls or, as many like to call it, the Void Buddy. With this piece of armor your Void Soul will be stronger, longer lasting and become redeployable. With the right timing you’ll even be able to have two of them on the battlefield at the same time by casting your rift right after the one you’ve picked up has started moving to an enemy.
The Solar weapon buffs of this season are simply too strong to ignore so we’re recommending the Calus Mini-Tool, Ammit AR2, Vex Mythoclast, Mercyless, Apex Predator, Hazen Vengeance or classics like a Chill Clip Riptide and the Arbalest.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

For the Aspects, the protagonist of this build is the Child of the Old Gods that we’ve paired with Feed the Void to reap all the benefits of Devour. The best fragments for this build are Echo of Expulsion to make our enemies explode with our Void Soul, Echo of Remnants to have longer lasting grenades, Echo of Persistence to make Devour last longer and Echo of Leeching to start health regeneration on melee final blows.
As our Rift is essential to have a Void Soul online all the time, all of the armor charge that gets built is going to be spent on Utility Kickstart. Grenades are good but not essential so there are very few resources invested there.

The best Destiny 2 Arc Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 Arc Warlock build is:

Subclass: Chaos Reach Primary stat: Resilience Secondary stat: Strength Grenade: Flashbang Grenade Melee ability: Chain Lightning Class ability: Healing Rift Aspects: Lightning Surge, Electrostatic Mind Fragments: Spark of Ions, Spark of Discharge, Spark of Beacons, Spark of resistance Exotic armor: Fallen Sunstar Weapons: Delicate Tomb, Catastrophe, Hezen Vengeance, Code duello, Rufus’s Fury, Riptide, Artifact Mods: Flint Striker, Kindling Trigger, Heart of the Flame, Revitalizing Blast, Rays of Precision, Argent Ordinance Head Mods: Heavy and Special Ammo Finder Arms Mods: Melee Kickstart x2 Chest Mods: Emergency Reinforcement, Charged Up Leg Mods: Better Already, Recuperation, Solar Surge Class Item Mods: Reaper, Time Dilation

Do you remember the Season of Plunder? Well, it turns out that the best Arc Warlock build for Season of the Wish will see you donning your pirate clothes once again thanks to a very unique Exotic.

Armor and weapons

Since the Arc Warlock is quite far from the meta in terms of survivability and damage, if you would like to give the lightning a try, you might as well have fun doing it.
This build revolves around the perfect synergy between the Fallen Sunstar Exotic helmet and the Delicate Tomb Exotic fusion rifle. The first empowers your Ionic Traces making them come to you faster and making them grant more ability energy. The latter generates even more Ionic Traces and Jolts targets to maximize the damage.
You can accompany this build with the kinetic primary of your choice (we suggest the Rufus’s Fury auto rifle from the Root of Nightmares raid) and a Solar rocket launcher to take advantage of the Artifact mods.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

Since we’re aiming for a lot of Ionic Traces, the best way to get them is with Electrostatic Mind, an aspect that makes these seekers when defeating targets with Arc abilities or after eliminating enemies that have been jolted or blinded. The natural companion of this aspect is Lightning Surge that turns your melee into a blink that jolts targets and inflicts massive damage.
For our fragments we went all in on Ionic Traces with Spark of Ions, which generates even more Traces when defeating a jolted target, Spark of Discharge which lets us create other Ionic Traces with Arc weapon final blows, Spark of Beacons, which adds a blinding effect and Spark of Resistance to increase our survivability while surrounded. The mods we use are heavily focused on getting our melee energy back fast to activate Lightning Surge again and again.

The best Destiny 2 PvP Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 PvP Warlock build is:

Subclass: Daybreak Primary stat: Resilience Secondary stat: Recovery Grenade: Firebolt Grenade Melee ability: Celestial Fire Class ability: Phoenix Dive Aspects: Icarus Dash, Heat Rises Fragments: Ember of Tempering, Ember of Beams, Ember of Combustion, Ember of Mercy Exotic armor: Reign of Fire Weapons: Vex Mythoclast, Imperial Decree, Fractethist, Unwavering Duty, Head Mods: Targeting x2 Arms Mods: Reloading x2 Chest Mods: Unflinching x2 Leg Mods: Elemental Surge x2 Class Item Mods: Time Dilation, Reaper

There are very few subclasses able to dominate PvP like the Daybreak Warlock thanks to its excellent mobility, versatility and raw damage.

Armor and weapons

For Season of the Wish’s Crucible, we highly recommend exiting your comfort zone and trying the Reign of Fire and Vex Mythoclast combo. You will not regret it, especially during the next Iron Banner.
Simply pair the Mytho with a good shotgun (a Fractethist or a craftable Imperial Decree) and enjoy dashing with auto reload around the map, with increased airborne effectiveness thanks to the Exotic legs. In case the RNG gods haven’t favored you with a Vex Mythoclast drop just yet, try the Ammit AR2 auto rifle – it’s a real beast at medium range.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

It’s only logical to pair the Daybreak super with the Heat Rises Aspect: this will allow you to consume your grenade to remain floating in the air and surprise enemies with unexpected peaks. Together with Icarus Dash, this combination gets you the most mobility and maneuverability for the Crucible.
The Fragments we picked all play into this strategy by supporting your entire fireteam’s damage. Ember of Tempering powers up your recovery and airborne effectiveness, Ember of Beams will make your super projectiles impossible to escape, Ember of Combustion will generate Firesprites to get your abilities back faster and Ember of Mercy will grant you restoration when picking up a Firesprite after a super elimination.
As far as regular mods go, we advise doubling down on Targeting, Reloading, Unflinching and Surge for your damage type of choice, and don’t forget to activate Reaper.

The best Destiny 2 Stasis Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 Stasis Warlock build is:

Subclass: Winter’s Wrath Primary stat: Discipline Secondary stat: Resilience Grenade: Coldsnap Grenade Melee ability: Penumbral Blast Class ability: Healing Rift Aspects: Iceflare Bolts, Bleak Watcher Fragments: Whisper of Rime, Whisper of Chains, Whisper of Torment, Whisper of Durance Exotic armor: Osmiomancy Gloves Weapons: Wicked Implement, Aeger’s Scepter, Appetence, Cartesian Coordinate, Gjallarhorn, Code Duello, Hezen Vengeance, Apex Predator Artifact Mods: Pillar of Ice, Hail The Storm, Flint Striker, Kindling Trigger, Heart of the Flame, Argent Ordinance Head Mods: Heavy and Special Ammo Finder Arms Mods: Impact Induction, Grenade Kickstart, Fastball Chest Mods: Emergency Reinforcement, Charged Up Leg Mods: Better Already, Recuperation, Solar Surge Class Item Mods: Reaper, Time Dilation

Very few Warlock builds give you the satisfaction of controlling absolutely everything on the battlefield like the double Bleak Watcher turrets, which freeze every enemy within range.

Armor and weapons

When choosing which Exotic to opt for as the Shadebinder Warlock, there’s only one answer: the Osmiomancy Gloves. These cool-looking pieces of armor grant you two Coldsnap Grenades which are very rarely thrown as they are, but instead are turned into Bleakwatcher Turrets.
These automatic ice-bolt firing allies freeze many enemies in place for you to shatter. In Grandmaster content they come in clutch in crowded boss arenas and are great for dealing with fast-moving champions. The gun we paired them with is the Wicked Implement, Season of the Deep’s Exotic quest reward, because of its synergies while shooting at frozen targets and its ability to freeze from a distance.
To complete the loadout we suggest the usual array of Solar weapons like the Cartesian Coordinate, Hezen Vengeance or the Lubrae’s Ruin glaive which just received a buff.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

The natural companion to the Bleakwatcher Turret is the Iceflare Bolt, an aspect that generates seekers that freeze the first enemy they come into contact with. This generates a chain of freezing and shattering that can wipe clean an entire room of redbars even in Grandmaster difficulty content.
Our Aspects are Whisper of Rime for some overshield protection as we’ll be making some Stasis Shards, Whisper of Chains to get even more protection when near frozen enemies, Whisper of Torment to get grenade energy back and Whisper of Durance to apply more stacks of slow.
In the mods department we are all in on grenades to have them back as quickly as possible and keep freezing enemies so all of the armor charge that you’ll generate will be devoted to Grenade Kickstart. Lastly, the Stasis-focused artifact mod Hail The Storm will empower, albeit slightly, the freezing and shattering process.

The best Destiny 2 Strand Warlock build

The best Destiny 2 Strand Warlock build is:

Subclass: Needlestorm Primary stat: Discipline Secondary stat: Resilience Grenade: Threadling Grenade Melee ability: Arcane Needle Class ability: Healing Rift Aspects: Waver’s call, Mindspun Invocation/Wavewalk Fragments: Thread of Rebirth, Thread of Generation, Thread of Evolution, Thread of Warding Exotic armor: Swarmers Weapons: Rufus’s Fury, Quicksilver Storm, Truthteller, Cartesian Coordinates, Gjallarhorn, Code Duello, Hezen Vengeance, Apex Predator Artifact Mods: Unravelling Orbs, Horde Shuttle, Flint Striker, Kindling Trigger, Heart of the Flame, Argent Ordinance Head Mods: Heavy and Special Ammo Finder Arms Mods: Impact Induction, Grenade Kickstart, Fastball Chest Mods: Emergency Reinforcement, Charged Up Leg Mods: Better Already, Recuperation, Solar Surge Class Item Mods: Reaper, Time Dilation

The Strand Warlock has been the weakest of the bunch when it comes to the green stuff but its focus on Threadlings makes it a lot of fun to play.

Armor and weapons

To play into the master of the Threadling hive fantasy, we recommend the Swarmers Exotic boots which will generate more green evil spawn from Tangles which we’ll be making plenty of.
The rest of the build is made to empower your Threadlings making them travel further between enemies and inflict more damage. You’ll never go wrong with Quicksilver Storm in a Strand build but Rufus’s Fury is a viable option if you’d like to use another Exotic.
For the energy and heavy slots the same principles of the other builds apply, just going for Solar special weapons and heavy weapons will grant you the most damage output and the most crowd control.

Aspects, Fragments, and mods

Our Aspects of choice for this build are the Weaver’s Call and the Mindspun Invocation to generate a lot of Threadlings when casting rift and by consuming any grenade.
If you struggle with survivability, though, there’s always the Wavewalk aspect to enter a trance that consumes your melee charges in exchange for a period of invulnerability. This ability is perfect for resurrecting a teammate or escaping a stressful situation.
The best fragments to use for this build are the Thread of Rebirth to generate more Threadlings, the Thread of Generation to get our grenades back faster and generate even more Threadlings, the Thread of Evolution to make our Threadlings go further and the Thread of Warding to get some extra protection thanks to Woven Mails.
The regular mods are very grenade focused and the Strand focused Artifact mods will give unraveling rounds to your Quicksilver Storm that, thanks to another mod called Horde’s Shuttle, will now generate even more Threadlings.
There you have it, a Warlock build for any scenario you could possibly be faced with in Destiny 2. If you’re looking for more, we’ve also got the best Titan build and the best Hunter build in Bungie’s epic.