Best Destiny 2 Arc Warlock build: PvP and PvE

I’m a Warlock main and Arc is my favorite subclass to run. It’s extremely fast and fun. If you want to know what the best PvP and PvE Arc Warlock builds are in Destiny 2, you’ve come to the right place.

You can find a ton of good Arc Warlock builds online, but none of them are as fun and successful as this one. For PvE and PvP, I suggest building your Arc Warlock around Getaway Artist and the Arc Soul. Trust me, these builds shred.

Related: Best Destiny 2 Void Warlock build: PvP and PvE

Best PvE Arc Warlock build in Destiny 2

Two of the best PvE Arc Warlock builds that people love to use are Geomag Stabilizers with Coldheart to get maximum Ionic Traces and use the Chaos Reach super often and Fallen Sunstar with Coldheart to spam Ionic Traces and abilities. I’ve tried both of these builds and have found them to be fine. The most fun and successful Arc Warlock build I’ve ever used centers on Getaway Artist and any Voltshot weapon you have. It’s the reason Arc Warlock is my favorite thing to play.

The play style of this build is to create an Arc Soul by consuming your grenade, which also makes you Amplified, and mow down enemies with your Arc weapon. Use your Rift when you need another Arc Soul or are near allies. If you have something with Voltshot or are using an Arc Exotic weapon, you’ll generate tons of Ionic Traces which refill your grenade and class ability. Rinse and repeat.

Best PvE Arc Warlock seasonal perks in Destiny 2 Season of the Wish

• From Whence You Came – Increases ability damage to Taken and Scorn combatants.
• Wished Into Being – While your Super is nearly fully charged, ability final blows spawn Orbs of Power. Wearing Season of the Wish armor decreases Super amount threshold.

The sad news about every Arc build in Destiny 2 Season of the Wish is the Seasonal Artifact’s perks focus on Solar, Strand, and Stasis. There isn’t a single perk that helps Arc builds specifically, so the best thing we can do for this build is utilize From Whence You Came to deal more ability damage to Taken and Scorn and Wished Into Being which spawns Orbs of Power when we get ability final blows when our Super is nearly fully charged.

Best PvE Arc Warlock Aspects and Fragments

• Aspects
  • Arc Soul – Cast your Rift to create an Arc Soul that fires at targets in front of you. Allies can pass through your Rift to get an Arc Soul. Your Rift charges faster when allies are near. While Amplified, your Arc Souls are supercharged and gain increased fire rate.
  • Electrostatic Mind – Defeating targets with Arc abilities or defeating jolted or blinded targets creates an Ionic Trace. Collecting an Ionic Trace makes you Amplified.
• Fragments
  • Spark of Discharge – Arc weapon final blows have a chance to create an Ionic Trace. -10 Strength.
  • Spark of Ions – Defeating a jolted target creates an Ionic Trace.
  • Spark of Amplitude – Rapidly defeating targets while Amplified creates an Orb of Power.
  • Spark of Resistance – While surrounded by combatants, you are more resistant to incoming damage. +10 Strength.

Arc Soul and Electrostatic Mind are the two best Aspects for Arc Warlock. While you’ll likely always have your grenade to get an Arc Soul, having the Arc Soul Aspect is a nice safety net that also helps allies and refreshes your current Arc Soul. Electrostatic Mind gives us even more Ionic Traces. We almost immediately get our grenade back because of all the Orbs of Power and Ionic Traces this build creates.

For Fragments, Spark of Discharge and Spark of Ions work together with your Arc Voltshot weapon to create tons of Ionic Traces. Spark of Amplitude grants you even more ability and super energy since you’ll almost always be Amplified. Spark of Resistance helps with survivability since Arc doesn’t have any armor keywords, though Amplified does give you added resistance.

Related: Best Destiny 2 Strand Warlock build: PvP and PvE

Best PvE Arc Warlock Abilities

• Super – Chaos Reach
• Any jump you want
• Any Rift you want
• Melee – Chain Lightning
• Grenade – Flashbang Grenade

In my opinion, Chaos Reach is the best super you can have because it quickly clears adds and is great for dealing damage to bosses. I always recommend the Healing Rift and I love Burst Glide for this build to make me feel even faster, but you can select any Rift and jump you want.

I like Chain Lightning in PvE because it’s stronger than Ball Lightning and better for quicker play styles. Flashbang Grenade is the best pick for this build because it has the shortest cooldown time and is very useful for stunning Unstoppable Champions. Flashback Grenade isn’t great for add clear, but our weapons and Arc Soul do a good job at that anyway.

Best PvE Arc Warlock Exotic Armor, weapons, and mods

• Exotic Armor
  • Getaway Artist – Convert your Arc grenade into an Arc Soul and become amplified. The Arc Soul functions as an autonomous turret.
• Weapons
  • Any Arc weapon with Voltshot. IKELOS SMG, Brigand’s Law, Coldheart Exotic Trace Rifle, Delicate Tomb Exotic Fusion Rifle, Centrifuge Exotic Auto Rifle.
• Mods
  • Helmet – Two Harmonic Siphon, one Heavy Ammo Finder.
  • Arms – Three Harmonic Reloader.
  • Chest – Any subclass damage reduction mod.
  • Legs – One Innervation, one Recuperation, one Arc Weapon Surge.
  • Class Item – One Reaper, two Bomber.

Of course, the star of the show is Getaway Artist. I’m grateful this Exotic looks really cool and clean, but it’s also insanely good and simple to use.

For weapons, you need to use something that reloads quickly and has Voltshot, or an Exotic Arc weapon that can create Ionic Traces and Jolt enemies. I am a diehard fan of Brigand’s Law and I know everybody loves the IKELOS SMG. If you don’t have a quick reloading weapon with Voltshot, the good news is that there’s a new Season of the Wish weapon called Subjunctive that is an Arc SMG with Voltshot.

For the Helmet mods, you can’t go wrong with two Harmonic Siphon and one Heavy Ammo Finder. Heavy Ammo is always useful in PvE and Harmonic Siphon allows you to get a lot of Orbs of Power from your rapid Arc weapon final blows. For the Arms, we don’t need grenade or melee mods so I recommend three Harmonic Reloaders to make your Voltshot weapon reload insanely fast.

Use any Chest damage resistance mods you like — I recommend Melee Damage Resistance because this build plays up close and personal. One Innvervation helps get your grenade back sooner, one Recuperation helps with survivability, and one Arc Weapon Surge helps make your Arc weapon hit harder.

Finally, two Bomber mods allow you to quickly get your grenade after casting your Rift and one Reaper ensures you keep a steady flow of Orbs of Power.

Best PvP Arc Warlock build in Destiny 2

While you can stick to the tried and true general Warlock PvP build which includes Ophidian Aspect or Transversive Steps, I’m going to suggest using Getaway Artist again because it’s one of the only ways to guarantee getting Amplified, plus you get a hard-hitting automated turret.

The play style for the PvP Arc Warlock is to create an Arc Soul by consuming your grenade and, when the Arc Soul is about to disappear, use your Rift to refresh its timer back to 20 seconds. Stay close to your Rift or reenter it periodically to keep the Arc Soul’s timer high. By doing this, you keep your supercharged Arc Soul and can stay Amplified for a long time.

Best PvP Arc Warlock seasonal perks in Destiny 2 Season of the Wish

• Wished Into Being – While your Super is nearly fully charged, ability final blows spawn Orbs of Power. Wearing Season of the Wish armor decreases Super amount threshold.

The same problem with the PvE Arc Warlock build exists with the PvP Arc Warlock build when it comes to seasonal perks: there’s nothing that benefits Arc. We can’t even utilize From Whence You Came because it doesn’t apply in PvP. The only seasonal perk that slightly helps with this build is Wished Into Being.

Best PvP Arc Warlock Aspects and Fragments

• Aspects
  • Arc Soul – Cast your Rift to create an Arc Soul that fires at targets in front of you. Allies can pass through your Rift to get an Arc Soul. Your Rift charges faster when allies are near. While Amplified, your Arc Souls are supercharged and gain increased fire rate.
  • Electrostatic Mind – Defeating targets with Arc abilities or defeating jolted or blinded targets creates an Ionic Trace. Collecting an Ionic Trace makes you Amplified.
• Fragments
  • Spark of Discharge – Arc weapon final blows have a chance to create an Ionic Trace. -10 Strength.
  • Spark of Haste – You have greatly increases resilience, recovery, and mobility while sprinting.
  • Spark of Feedback – Taking melee damage briefly increases your outgoing melee damage. +10 Resilience.
  • Spark of Resistance – While surrounded by combatants, you are more resistant to incoming damage. +10 Strength.

The two best Aspects for the PvP Arc Warlock are the same as the PvE build: Arc Soul and Electrostatic Mind. If you want to play more aggressively, you can use Lightning Surge which allows you to blink forward and jolt enemies with a lightning strike by using your melee while sliding. It’s cool, but I’ve never had success with it. Every time I try to pull that off, I end up dying before I can get the kill.

Spark of Discharge is still good in PvP because it gives you a chance to get an Ionic Trace. Spark of Haste is really good even if you are playing more reservedly because you’re almost always sprinting in PvP. Spark of Feedback is a good Fragment to have to help you win punching battles. Spark of Resistance helps keep you alive for longer when there are a lot of enemies around.

Related: How to get Wish-Keeper Strand Exotic Bow in Destiny 2

Best PvP Arc Warlock Abilities

• Super – Stormtrance
• Any jump you want
• Any Rift you want
• Melee – Ball Lightning
• Grenade – Flashbang Grenade

Stormtrance is the best Arc Warlock PvP super because it lasts a long time and allows you to find and quickly delete enemies. As always, use any Rift and jump you want.

If you want to play more reserved around your Rift, I suggest Ball Lightning for the ranged melee but otherwise choose Chain Lightning. Finally, as is the case for the PvE Arc Warlock build, Flashbang Grenade is the best because it has the lowest cooldown time and works surprisingly well in PvP for quick kills and disorientation.

Best PvP Arc Warlock Exotic Armor, weapons, and mods

• Exotic Armor
  • Getaway Artist – Convert your Arc grenade into an Arc Soul and become amplified. The Arc Soul functions as an autonomous turret.
• Weapons
  • Any Arc weapon with Voltshot. IKELOS SMG, Brigand’s Law, Centrifuse Exotic Auto Rifle, No Time to Explain Exotic Pulse Rifle.
• Mods
  • Helmet – Three Harmonic Targeting.
  • Arms – Three Harmonic Reloader.
  • Chest – One Melee Damage Resistance, one Sniper Damage Resistance.
  • Legs – Two Arc Holster, one Harmonic Scavenger.
  • Class Item – One Reaper, two Bomber.

Getaway Artist is fairly self-explanatory here. Convert your grenade to an Arc Soul and get kills. Use your Rift as a home base to extend the Arc Soul and keep yourself safe.

Again, any weapon you have with Voltshot is a must for this build. In the case of PvP, I think Exotic weapons might be better since it’s harder to proc Voltshot. Centrifuse is extremely fun and easy to use. A fun play style I found was to use No Time to Explain with the Catalyst and get two buddies to fight with you.

For the PvP Armor Mods, you’ll want to focus mainly on weapon-enhancing mods. For the Helmet, three Harmonic Targeting mods help you laser in on your opponent. The three Harmonic Reloader mods in Arms are great; you reload faster.

I recommend one Melee Damage Resistance and one Sniper Damage Resistance because those are the two primary sources of damage you’ll run into in PvP. Two Arc Holster mods will help you ready and stow your Arc weapon quicker and Harmonic Scavenger will help, especially if you have an Arc Special Weapon. Finally, Reaper and Bomber are great to have to get your grenade back faster and ensure an Orb of Power.

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