Welcome to the Shards of Galanor Solar Hunter Build! Among all the builds available in Destiny 2, this one stands out as a formidable choice by blending the raw power of explosive Solar energy with the agility and precision that Hunters are known to have. Prepare to harness the power of the sun packed into a volley of knives! Maintain your Restoration to persevere through incoming damage.
The key to the Solar Hunter build is the exotic arm armor, Shards of Galanor. The armor perk on this exotic provides a small amount of Super ability energy for every Throwing Knife final blow. As if that wasn’t enough of a reason to throw these bad boys on, hits and final blows with Blade Barrage return Super energy after the Super ends!
This build assumes you have bought all necessary fragments and aspects from Ikora Rey in the Tower, as well as have the exotic arm armor, Shards of Galanor.
Pros
- Easy to learn.
- High ability uptime.
- High damage super.
- Regen health quickly.
- Highly recoverable gameplay rotation.
Cons
- Better with a solar weapon.
- Requires low tier ads for perks.
- Missed abilities disrupts gameplay loop.
Gameplay Loop
This build revolves around gaining Restoration, and keeping it active. Start the loop by throwing your Healing Grenade at the ground in front of you, this is how you start Restoration. Then, get kills on red bar ads with your Knife Trick. Each kill adds a few seconds to the Restoration timer. Keep doing this until your Super is full, if there are not enough low tier ads for your Knives, switch to your Solar weapon to get more kills and to keep Restoration going. Your super should fill quickly, and then you are able to cast it at a boss or a group of combatants. Aim true - every hit or final blow refunds your Super energy.
Your Healing Grenade will almost always be available to you when you are hitting your Knife Tricks. Getting those melee kills grants you Super energy; because of Heavy Handed, you also make orbs of power with those melee kills, so there is even MORE Super energy. Collecting those orbs reduces your Healing Grenade grenade cooldown because of Innervation. Use your Solar Hunter Super often, as it comes back quickly thanks to Shards of Galanor and is very handy against bosses and hordes.
Ability Breakdown
Super
- Blade Barrage
- This super unleashes a volley of solar-charged explosive knives. At tier 10 Intellect, you can get your super back in five and a half minutes!
Abilities
- Gambler's Dodge - this dodge immediately refunds your Knife Trick.
- Triple Jump - Triple jump is nice, but use whichever jump feels best to you.
- Knife Trick - you throw a fan of flaming knives that Scorches targets on impact.
- Healing Grenade - Cures you and allies on impact, as well as grants you Restoration.
Aspects
- On Your Mark - Dodging grants you a full 3 stacks of this aspect. Precision final blows gives you and your fireteam better weapon handling and reload speed for 12 seconds.
- Knock 'Em Down - Blade Barrage releases more knives. When you ’re Radiant, final blows with your Knife Trick FULLY refunds your Knife Trick in 0.2 seconds.
Fragments
- Ember of Empyrean - Solar weapon and ability final blows extend the duration of Restoration and Radiant.
- Ember of Singeing - Scorching targets makes your dodge recharge faster.
- Ember of Torches - powered Knife Trick attacks makes you and nearby allies Radiant.
- Ember of Ashes - apply moreScorch stacks to targets.
- Ember of Solace- Radiant and Restoration effects last longer.
Gearing
Required Gear and Weapons
Shards of Galanor - Shards of Galanor is an easy pick for any Solar Hunter looking to decrease the amount of time it takes to return Super energy. Getting knife trick final blows reduces your super cooldown; hit and final blows with Blade Barrage give you super energy after the super has ended.
How to acquire:
- Purchase from Xur (his loot rotates weekly).
- Decrypting exotic engrams at Rahool (you get a random exotic drop, but this prioritizes exotics you currently do not have, known as the knockout system).
- Farm the expert lost sector on {insert leg, arm, chest, or helmet} Armor days.
- Complete the Vex Strike Force Public Event on Neomuna.
- Note: this exotic is not locked behind a DLC.
Stat Priorities
- Resilience, then Discipline, and then Mobility.
- Resilience is the amount of damage you can take before dying, as well as your shield capacity.
- Discipline reduces your grenade cooldown.
- Mobility is what reduces your dodge cooldown.
Learn more about the Stats available to you in Destiny 2 with our dedicated guide.
Armor Mods
- Helmet
- Solar Siphon - rapid final blows with solar weapons create orbs of power.
- Hands-On - grants super energy on melee kills with Knife Trick.
- Gauntlets
- Heavy Handed - powered melee final blows from Knife Trick create orbs of power.
- Impact Induction - causing damage with your powered melee decreases your grenade cooldown.
- Chest
- Resist mods, your choice - choose for the activity you are going into!
- Leg
- Solar Weapon Surge - collect an orb of power for an Armor Charge. While you have that Armor Charge, Solar weapons gain a small bonus to damage. This mod can be stacked to increase the effectiveness.
- Innervation - collect orbs for grenade cooldown.
- Cloak
- Bomber x2 - use your class ability to reduce your grenade cooldown.
- Powerful Attraction - dodge to collect orbs around you automatically.
Armor Mods are unlocked by progressing your Guardian Rank. Check out the Guardian Ranks Guide for more information.
Artifact Mods
This build does not require any artifact mods from Episode 1. IF you would like to add mods, these would pair well with this build:
- Any Champion mods from Column 1.
- Authorized Mod: Elemental Charge - Energy cost of Elemental Mods is decreased significantly.
- Elemental Siphon - Rapid final blows with a kinetic weapon or a weapon matching your Super will create an elemental pickup that also matches your Super.
- Counter Energy - When a member of your fireteam stuns a Champion, you gain energy for your least charged ability.
- Radiant Orbs - While you have a Solar or Prismatic subclass equipped, picking up an orb of power makes you Radiant.
- Prismatic Transfer - When you activate your Super, each member of your fireteam with a different Super element type gains a bonus to weapon damage.
Recommended Weapons
- Kinetic Slot:
- Scatter Signal with Controlled Burst and Overflow - perfect for high DPS.
- Energy Slot:
- Sunshot - this weapon fires explosive rounds and highlights targets that take damage.
- Power Slot:
- Apex Predator - craft with Reconstruction and Bait and Switch for an excellent DPS rotation.
Variants
- Swap all cloak mods for Empowered Finish, Reaper and Proximity Ward.
- If you find that creating orbs of power is not an issue, but survivability is, combine these mods to gain an overshield and an Armor Charge from performing a Finisher, as well as an easy way to spawn orbs - dodge, then kill an enemy with your weapon and boom, orb of power!
- Swap the ammo finder for Dynamo on the helmet.
- This reduces your Super cooldown when using your class ability near targets.
- Swap the Kinetic Slot:
- Fatebringer with Explosive Payload - for ad clear and general damage.
- Earned through the Vault of Glass Raid.
- Fatebringer with Explosive Payload - for ad clear and general damage.
- Swap the Energy Slot:
- Zaouli's Bane - craft with Pugilist and Incandescent for Solar synergy and more melee energy.
- Craftable weapon earned through the King's Fall Raid.
- Acasia's Dejection - craft with Rewind Rounds and Incandescent for Solar synergy and the possibility of never having to reload.
- Requires access to the Lightfall DLC: Craftable weapon earned through the Root of Nightmares Raid.
- Zaouli's Bane - craft with Pugilist and Incandescent for Solar synergy and more melee energy.
- Swap the Heavy Slot:
- Dragon's Breath - rockets embed themselves in the combatants and periodically ejects fire fuel that Scorches them.
- Purchase from the Monument to the Lost Lights at the Tower.
- Dragon's Breath - rockets embed themselves in the combatants and periodically ejects fire fuel that Scorches them.
- Feel free to utilize any weapons, as they do not make or break this build. However, a Solar weapon would certainly enhance the build, and be much more synergistic.
Summary
By mastering the Shards of Galanor Solar Hunter build, you become a powerhouse on the battlefield, combining rapid Super regeneration with devastating Solar attacks. Whether you're clearing out waves of enemies or dealing high damage to a boss, this build offers a balanced and potent approach to Hunter gameplay.
Credits
Written by: ShieldMaiden
Reviewed by: SquirrelyDan, Tenkiei
