If you are looking to boost your Arc Warlock subclass playstyle, then you have come to the right place as I have a comprehensive guide for the best Arc Warlock Builds & Exotics today. Before we start this guide, players who are looking to improve their Destiny 2 gameplay can buy our Destiny 2 boosting service as we have a team of professional players available for you 24/7.
The Arc Warlock subclass is one of the go-to choices for aggressive style players in Destiny 2 as the playstyle allows you to rush hordes of enemies and also utilize all the abilities in your arsenal.
Despite its aggressive playstyle, the subclass didn’t grow well with the Destiny 2 player base, and that’s probably because of multiple reasons such as the abilities being more attack-centered and not doing well in defense or healing.
Despite its weaker defensive abilities, the Arc warlock possesses enough firepower in its ability arsenal to level the playing field. You just need to know how to make use of these abilities and this is what we’re going to discuss in today’s article so read on to find out:
Arc Subclass General Info
There is quite a steep learning curve for learning the Arc Subclass as you have to learn a lot about weapons, fragments, aspects, and exotics in the game. Unless you are a Destiny prodigy, you, might not be able to fully utilize the potential of the subclass when starting Destiny 2.
The Arc 3.0 Warlock fully shines when you’re playing six-player modes, such as the raid mode.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t use the subclass in 3-player mode. Just that you will need to combo with your teammate who has to pick Solar Warlock, that can utilize the Well of Radiance as that will give you a lot of tactical advantage instead.
If you’re the only Warlock in your team then you should go for the Solar subclass.
Here are a few advantages of using the Arc Subclass
- Comes with abilities with large area of effects, with virtually no cooldowns, which can help clear large hordes of enemies in a very swift manner.
- The Healing Rift allows you to stay mobile, even though it may seem limiting at first
- The Healing Rift lets your team gain additional damage buff for 15 seconds when they pass through the Healing Rift, known as Arc Soul.
Still, the Arc Warlock abilities somewhat lag behind other sub-classes, in terms of the super abilities which makes it quite unpopular with the majority of the player base.
Best Legendary Weapons for Arc Warlock Builds
If you’re looking to make the best Warlock Arc 3.0 PvE build, then let’s discard the Ikelos SMG V1.0.3 or Dark Decider with the Voltshot perk as they require too much reloading. In a tight situation, you need a weapon that comes with a large magazine and doesn’t require reloading every 2 seconds. You’re at a severe disadvantage if your primary weapons need to be reloaded constantly during a gunfight.
Here is our recommended Arsenal that you can use in-game combat which will serve you well in most situations:
| Weapon Name | God Roll | Source |
| Forbearance | Ambitious Assassin + Chain Explosion | Vow of the Disciple Raid |
| Prodigal Return | Lead from Gold + Voltshot | Defiance Engrams |
| Iterative Loop | Compulsive Reloader + Voltshot | Neomuna Activities |
| Delicate Tomb | Exotic Catalyst | Exotic Kiosk |
The trade-off is just too great if you want to utilize all your ammo to activate a perk and not practical at all. Your ammo magazine should be used to finish off an enemy and not activate a perk.
Also Read: Destiny 2: How To Get The Navigator & Its Catalyst
Ability Spam Warlock PvE Build
Here’s what we recommend for the Ability Spam Warlock PvE Build:
- Melee: Chain Lightning;
- Grenade: Pulse Grenade;
- Aspect №1: Electrostatic Mind;
- Aspect №2: Arc Soul;
- Super Ability: Chaos Reach.
- Exotic Armor: Fallen Sunstar Helmet;
- Exotic Weapon: We highly recommend that you use Thunderlord if you have its catalyst.
Armor Mods
Equip the following armor to sustain the most damage in-game:
- Head: Arc Siphon, Hand-On, and Ashes to Assets;
- Arms: Bolstering Detonation, Heavy Handed, and Fire Power;
- Chest: Charged Up and Desired Reserve Mod;
- Legs: Arc Weapon Surge, Absolution, and Stacks to Stacks;
- Class Item: 2x Bombers and Reaper.
| Fragment №1 | Fragment №2 | Fragment №3 | Fragment №4 |
| Spark of Ions | Spark of Shock | Spark of Beacons | Spark of Discharge |
The above armor is one of the most resilient ones in the game.
The build suggested above is centered around farming Ionic Trace Procs. The more Ionic Trace you farm, the faster cooldown you can get on all your abilities, except your Super.
You can use Fallen Sunstar to increase your ability usage as you farm Ionic Trace for you and your team. It gives you quite the advantage in battle as your abilities can be used constantly as they have faster cooldowns.
Here’s how you can farm Ionic Trace:
- Kill an enemy with Arc weapons, this gives you 30% chance to get Ionic Trace;
- Or you kill blind enemies (you can blind enemies by killing any nearby enemies using your special weapon while it has the Amplified buff effect).
If you play it right, you will be able to get Ionic Trace from each and every kill under your belt.
The armor recommended above comes with mods that will help you get reduced cooldowns on your abilities and also recharge your super ability in a faster manner. Orbs of power will be generated from all kinds of kills you do whether it’s a melee kill, grenade kill, or a weapon kill. If you cast your rift, you will also gain Arc Soul as a bonus.
The amplified buff further increases the Damage per Second that you deal to foes and you get Ionic Trace as well, which further extends the Buff, thus resulting in a snowball effect and you becoming virtually unstoppable. This is why the build described above is one of the best Warlock 3.0 builds when playing the PvE mode.
Raid DPS Warlock Build
- Melee: Chain Lightning;
- Grenade: Flashbang Grenade;
- Aspect №1: Electrostatic Mind;
- Aspect №2: Arc Soul;
- Super Ability: Stormtrance.
- Exotic Armor: Getaway Artist Arms;
- Weapons: Izanagi’s Burden with Catalyst + The Hothead (or any other rocket launcher) with Auto-Loading Holster, Two-Tailed Fox with Catalyst, or Thunderlord with Catalyst.
| Fragment №1 | Fragment №2 | Fragment №3 | Fragment №4 |
| Spark of Focus | Spark of Resistance | Spark of Beacons | Spark of Recharge |
Also Read: Destiny 2 Fishing Guide
Armor Mods:
- Head: Syphon, corresponding to your Primary weapon’s damage, Heavy Ammo Finder and Special Ammo Finder;
- Arms: x2 Focusing Strike;
- Chest: Kinetic or Heavy Reserves and Charged Up;
- Legs: Absolution, Kinetic Weapon Surge, and Surge, corresponding to your Heavy weapon’s damage;
- Class Item: Outreach, Reaper, Bomber.
The recommended build mentioned above will allow you to sustain a large amount of damage and we advise building up your resilience stat in the armor attributes.
This build will allow you to play the team support role and increase your team’s damage overall as it stacks auxiliary buffs which you can combo with the Radiant buff provided by the Well of Radiance.
To share the buff with your team all you need to do is hold your cast your Grenade button as it will transform into an Arc soul. Then you need to cast your rift which will transform one Arc Soul into Six, and the rest of your team members will receive it.
Transforming your Arc Soul in this manner will not only allow you to share it with your teammates but also grant you the Amplified buff, which will further give you an advantage.
If you don’t have the twin-tailed Fox, then you need to focus on the boss and hit him to increase the reload speed as well as apply the jolt effect. Then you need to get to work and start combatting the boss with your weapons and deal the maximum damage that you can to the boss.
This build allows you to gain the 15-second Damage buff, and save you from farming Ionic Trace. You can simply hold down the Cast Grenade button and it will do the rest.
This is the Best Raid DPS Warlock Build available in the game and gives you the best chance of inflicting the maximum DPS on bosses, so make sure you utilize it properly. Once you get the hang of it it’s quite easy to use and it doesn’t limit you to specific weapon choices.
PvP Arc Warlock Build
The last part of our guide will cover the best PvP Arc Warlock Build that you can build in-game and here’s what you need to do to build the armor that will give you the most advantage when playing PVP mode:
- Melee: Chain Lightning;
- Grenade: Storm / Arcbolt Grenade;
- Aspect №1: Electrostatic Mind;
- Aspect №2: Lightning Surge;
- Super Ability: Chaos Reach.
- Exotic Armor: Ophidian Aspect or Transversive Steps;
- Weapons: No limitations on weapons as you can choose whichever weapons you want, won’t affect the build.
| Fragment №1 | Fragment №2 | Fragment №3 | Fragment №4 |
| Spark of Haster | Spark of Feedback | Spark of Recharge | Spark of Resistance |
Armor Mods:
Head: x2 Targeting Mods, corresponding to your Primary weapon damage;
Arms: Loader Mod, corresponding to your Primary weapon and x2 Momentum Transfer;
Chest: x2 Unflinched Mods for your Primary weapon;
Legs: Weapon Surge Mode for your Primary weapon and Absolution;
Class Item: Outreach, Reaper and Bomber.
In the PVP mode, to finish off an enemy all you need to do is rush and close the distance between you and the enemy. Unleash a melee attack and the enemy will either die or suffer a large amount of damage, giving you an easy kill.
All the above armor mods that you have equipped will allow you to refresh your melee abilities and inflict maximum damage. This is one of the most effective, as well as simple Warlock Arc 3.0 PvP, builds that you can equip in the PVP mode.
You also get invulnerable during your melee ability cast allowing you to counter other players rushing you so make sure you use it to full effect.
Conclusion
The Arc Warlock is a highly suitable subclass with an aggressive playstyle. The abilities at your disposal allow for fast area clearance and with some team support in PvE mode truly shines. However, the best-suited mode for using this Subclass is the PVP mode where you can easily defeat a group of enemies using your abilities and skills.
While the PvE mode puts you into a position where you have to constantly use abilities, you can quickly grow into the playstyle and it can grow on you making it one of the most effective subclasses to use. While, the learning curve is steep at first, and the builds are quite demanding, nonetheless, they are quite effective in most situations and you can be a force to reckon with if you master this Subclass.
F.A.Qs
What is the best Arc 3.0 build for Warlocks?
The best Arc 3.0 build for Warlocks is the one that allows you to constantly use your abilities with reduced cooldowns. Make sure you have equipped the Fallen Sunstar exotic and it will give you the maximum advantage.
What are the best fragments for Solar Warlock build?
The Best fragments for the Arc Warlock that you can use in your build are Spark of Ions, Spark of Shock, Spark of Beacons, and Spark of Discharge. These fragments shine when you combine and use them with the special and Heavy Arc weapons.
What is the best Arc grenade for Warlock?
The Pulse Grenade is the best Arc grenade as it has quite a long duration and combining it with the Spark of Shock fragment makes it particularly deadly in tight situations.
What is the strongest Warlock build?
It depends on the mode you’re playing, for the Raid mode the Arc Soul and the Getaway Artist Exotic arm will give you a pretty buffed-up build that you can use to decimate your enemies. When playing the PVP mode, all you need is the Lighting Surge aspect and you can unlock the potential of any build that you can use.