With Destiny 2: Into the Light now released, players can try to survive the new Onslaught horde mode. Like Warlocks, Onslaught offers an opportunity for Titans to obliterate foes while keeping friends safe. In particular, Titans have always stood as the sturdy bastion of a Fireteam, wielding barriers and oppressive melee abilities. Here are a few pointers for builds that can help Titans conquer Onslaught.
Onslaught differs from other activities in that it asks Guardians to protect a point against waves of increasingly powerful foes. To that end, excelling in Onslaught, especially on Legendary difficulty, requires concentrated build planning. Titans want to decimate large groups of enemies, while also providing some support to allies.
Banner of War Berserker
Banner of War has been a popular Strand Aspect since its release during Season 22. It increases melee and sword damage while creating an aura of healing around the Titan. This is a perfect baseline for the frantic fights in Onslaught, and players can tailor a Banner of War build to lean into more crowd-control effects or wave-clearing power.
Abilities:
- Class ability: Towering Barricade
- Jump ability: Any
- Melee ability: Frenzied Blade
- Grenade ability: Grapple or Shackle Grenade
- Super ability: Berserker
Aspects:
- Banner of War
- Into the Fray or Drendr’s Lash
Fragments:
- Thread of Isolation or Thread of Wisdom (for Shackle Grenade)
- Thread of Generation
- Thread of Continuity
- Thread of Fury or Thread of Mind (for Shackle Grenade)
To get this build rolling, Titans must get a melee, sword, or glaive kill to proc Banner of War. The Into the Fray Aspect ensures Guardians get Woven Mail and increased melee ability regen while the protective buff is active. If players choose Grapple, they can break through enemy ranks and wreak havoc. If Titans picked Shackle Grenades, Thread of Wisdom and Thread of Mind rewards regularly suspending targets.
Gear
Whether Strand Titans want to focus on tying up foes or becoming a living wrecking ball, a few Exotic weapons can work interchangeably between these setups. Regardless of build choice, the Monte Carlo Exotic auto rifle is the safest option, granting free melee ability energy to keep the Frenzied Blades rolling. Similarly, the Traveler’s Chosen Exotic sidearm can fulfill a similar function, albeit with potential downtime, in exchange for refunding energy to all abilities.
Thankfully, the initial Strand setup for this build is flexible, supporting many Exotic options. If players want more survivability for their Grapple build, something like Vexcalibur could be considered. The Exotic glaive not only procs Banner of War, but also gives Void Overshields to the user and allies. For a Shackle Grenade build, something like the Witherhoard or Anarchy Exotic weapons can create halting death zones for Suspended enemies.
The Exotic armor choices can also differ depending on which variation of this Strand build players choose. For the Grapple melee-assaulter option, both Synthoceps and Severance Enclosure perform admirably. Synthoceps buffs melee and Super damage when surrounded, which is… all the time in Onslaught. Severance Enclosure, on the other hand, creates chaining explosions on melee kills. This works for both Grapple and Frenzied Blade, potentially clearing a whole wave with just a melee or two.
For Titans who want to make the most out of the Suspend debuff and choose Drengr’s Lash Aspect, Abeyant Leap improves Drengr’s Lash. The Exotic adds two more Suspending waves, makes them track targets better, and applies Woven Mail when a target is Suspended.
Mods and stat priority
Players can fiddle with Mods until they find something that suits their playstyle, but some help Strand Titans take things to the next level. Of particular note, Heavy Handed and Firepower work together and provide two Orbs of Power when using a Grapple punch, as the grenade turns into a melee ability.
Head:
- Hands-On
- Siphon
Arms:
- Heavy Handed
- Firepower (for Grapple)
Chest:
- Damage Resistance
Feet:
- Recuperation
- Innervation
- Orbs of Restoration
Class Item:
- Outreach
- Reaper
- Powerful Attraction
For stats, every Guardian, regardless of Class or build, must prioritize hitting 100 Resilience before anything else. Capped Resilience grants a permanent 30% damage reduction, and it’s necessary when heading into harder content. After Resilience, Discipline comes next, decreasing the time between Grapples or Shackle Grenades. If Guardians still have some wiggle room, Strength or Recovery comes third. The choice is up to players based on whether they’re using an Exotic weapon that refunds melee energy and how often they want Frenzied Blade available.
Radiant Sunbreaker
Solar Titans are infinitely flexible and bring a lot of tools to the Fireteam. While they have some capacity to heal others or throw powerful hammers at range, this build instead turns the Sunbreaker into an explosive vanguard, laying fiery waste to the battlefield.
Abilities:
- Class ability: Rally Barricade
- Jump ability: Any
- Melee ability: Throwing Hammer
- Grenade ability: Thermite Grenade or Healing Grenade
- Super ability: Berserker
Aspects:
- Roaring Flames
- Consecration
Fragments:
- Ember of Benevolence
- Ember of Torches
- Ember of Searing
- Ember of Mercy
This build functions around the Consecration Aspect, allowing Titans to slide into a powered leap that unleashes a wave for fire when first cast and then slams down with another activation for a bigger, second wave that Ignites any Scorched foes. Consecration is supported by the Roaring Flames Aspect, a stackable buff that increases Solar ability damage after Solar or Ignition final blows. Fragments ensure Firesprites are plentiful, provide Restoration from Firesprites, provide the Radiant buff to nearby allies when using a powered melee ability, and grant an ability regen bonus when you buff an ally with one of your Solar buffs.
Gear
The nice thing about this Solar build is that it works pretty well with a wide variety of Exotics. On the weapon side, the Monte Carlo Exotic auto rifle offers the same melee ability regen that the Strand build took advantage of, ensuring constant uptime for Consecration. Alternatively, something like Prometheus Lens or Sunshot offers some powerful enemy-clearing alternatives when Consecration is on cooldown. On the Heavy side, the Dragon’s Breath Exotic rocket launcher is always a good choice, as it’s a horde-breaking beast that’ll Scorch and Ignite any foes out of Consecration’s reach.
Exotic armor is similar to weapons, as several options make for a good choice. If Titans aren’t using Monte Carlo, they’ll probably want to equip Heart of Inmost Light to ensure quick ability regen and snag a nice damage bonus, too. Of course, other Exotics work great with this build, like Synthoceps or Pyrogale Gauntlets, for increased damage or fiery tornado Supers, respectively. The sky is really the limit here, with even more defensive and safe options like Precious Scars working great.
Mods and stat priority
Like the Strand build, Titans have some options when it comes to the Mods they want to take into Onslaught. That said, a few Mods are too good to pass up.
Head:
- Hands-On
- Solar Siphon
Arms:
- Heavy Handed
- Impact Induction
Chest:
- Damage Resistance
Feet:
- Recuperation
- Invigoration
Class Item:
- Outreach
- Time Dilation
Sunbreakers, like all Guardians, must first worry about getting their Resilience stat to 100 for the 30% damage reduction. Once there, the next priorities are Discipline and Strength. Discipline becomes slightly more important than Strength if Titans run a Healing Grenade, as that’ll serve as a reliable AOE heal for the whole team. If healing is covered, more Strength is better, reducing the time between Consecrations, and may even mean that Titans can forgo an assistive Exotic like Monte Carlo or Heart of Inmost Light in favor of something with a little more punch.
