The new Onslaught activity can be challenging, but there’s no doubt that it’s worth it, considering the potency of the rewarded arsenal. This hunter build revolves around using certain weapons and rolls in the Brave Arsenal — and void hunter abilities — to make casual and more advanced content a breeze. This build works especially well in Onslaught itself, and is a good tool for farming the activity for better Brave Arsenal weapons.
Void Hunter Super, Aspects, and Fragments
Super
Deadfall
Abilities
Gambler’s Dodge
Vortex Grenade
Aspects
Trapper’s Ambush
Vanishing Step
Fragments
Echo of Obscurity
Echo of Instability
Echo of Expulsion
Echo of Cessation
A classic super that is still powerful (and will remain that way into the next expansion) is Deadfall, a.k.a. tether. It’s effective in most raid encounters because it debuffs the boss, allowing for your fireteam to inflict more damage. More over, it’s great in activities with a lot of minor enemies (like Onslaught) due to its function of locking down an entire area, and pacifying enemies inside its radius.
The abilities are fairly standard; gambler’s dodge so that the smoke bomb (and invisiblity) is more accessible, and Vortex grenade for both boss damage and its prolonged area of effect damage. The Aspects we’re going to run are the usual suspects for PVE: Trapper’s Ambush and Vanishing Step. Both have a means of making you invisible, which is invaluable when your teammates are down and things are getting hairy.
The fragments were selected in a manner that supplements the power of void weapons, and grenades, while also improving survivability. The first is Echo of Obscurity, and it let’s you go invisible after finishing an enemy. Second, and most important, is Echo of Instability. This provides your void weapons with Volatile Rounds after getting a kill with a grenade. Thirdly, we selected Echo of Expulsion, which makes enemies explode when they’re killed with void abilities (like grenades), adding to the devastation. And Finally, Echo of Cessation rounds out the survivability by making nearby enemies volatile after a finisher.
Armor and Mods
Since we’re using the super Deadfall, there’s no better exotic to pair it with than Orpheus Rig. This leg armor makes your super bar replenish as you kill enemies that are tethered by the super. If you play this correctly and tether many enemies, it’s easy to get your super back immediately. This exotic can be found in exotic engrams, and can be focused by Master Rahool in the Tower.
For our armor stats, we want to try to get as much discipline, mobility, and intellect as possible. If you don’t use D2Armorpicker.com, then now is the time to start, because it will make picking your optimized armor a piece of cake. At least get to 100 discipline if you can; this will help you to get your grenade back every minute.
Other important armor mods are:
Void Siphons – Helmet mod that makes orbs of light on rapid void weapon kills
Void Weapon Surge – Leg mod that gives void weapons more damage after picking up orbs of light
Bomber – Cloak mod that gives grenade energy after using dodge
Reaper – Cloak mod that gives orb of light upon killing enemy after using dodge.
Weapons
Primary
Recluse (SMG)
Elsie’s Rifle (Pulse Rifle)
Special
Mountaintop (Grenade Launcher)
Succession (Sniper Rifle)
Heavy
Edge Transit (Grenade Launcher)
All the weapons that we will be using are Brave Arsenal weapons that can be acquired in the Onslaught playlist. There are multiple reasons for this: they’re some of the most powerful in the game, the intrinsic perk Indomitability replenishes grenade energy while getting kills on light subclasses (like void), and their main perks synergize well with the void subclass.
In activities where you are in closer quarters, the recommendation would be the Recluse for a primary weapon. It’s easy to handle and aim in engagements that are sub 20 meters. On the other hand, if enemies are more down range, then go with Elsie’s Rifle. After the Final Shape update (when pulse rifles receive their buff), you might want to just use Elsie’s Rifle the whole time. Regardless of whether you choose the SMG or pulse rifle, the roll you want to use is the same — Repulsor Brace / Destabilizing Rounds. Destabilizing Rounds make enemies close to a weapon kill Volatile, and Repulsor Brace gives you an overshield when killing enemies affected by void-debuffed targets (like volatile).
Whether you want to use Mountaintop or Succession will likely depend on your fireteam and the rolls you have available. Mountaintop is an excellent choice all around, as it does significant damage and has great perk combinations for this build, like:
Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie – Full grenade send, more damage with grenade kills, and more grenade energy on weapon kills.
Auto-Loading Holster and Recombination – Shot is reloaded while you use primary weapon, and when you’re getting kills with primary, the next shot becomes more powerful.
However, if you’re good with a sniper and your fireteam doesn’t have any good precision weapons for dealing with Tormentors or certain bosses, then the Succession Sniper might be a better bet. It also has some amazing perk combinations for this build:
Discord and Redirection – After getting a kill with primary, switching and getting headshots with sniper won’t use ammunition, and killing minor enemies will buff next shot against major enemy or boss.
Demolitionist and Recombination – Kills with sniper will give grenade energy, and primary weapon kills will buff sniper’s next shot.
For the heavy weapon, we’re choosing Edge Transit since it’s one of the best grenade launchers in the game. There are many amazing rolls for this weapon, but there are two that we’d like to highlight for different situations:
Add-clear
Chain Reaction and Destabilizing Rounds – Void volitile explosions, plain and simple.
Boss Damage
Envious Assassin and Any damage perk – Getting kills with other weapons will overfill Edge Transit with a comical amount of ammo. There are several good options for added damage; use the one that’s available / best for activity.
Strategy and Synergy
The crux of this build is the void grenade. A lot of different parts feed into replenishing it to provide as much uptime as possible: like the stats, various weapon perks (especially Indomitability present on all the weapons), and armor mods. Upon using the grenade and getting kills, all the void weapons (in this case, the primary and heavy weapons) receive volatile rounds that will shred through minor and major enemy groups easily.
If the weapons and grenades aren’t enough to lock down areas, then the Deadfall super is at your disposal. On account of the exotic, Orpheus Rig, you will likely have this super most of the time. It can also be used to debuff bosses for damage phases, which is also a prime time to pull out one of the best boss damage weapons in the game: Edge Transit.
Lastly is the build’s vital role of survivor. The three different ways of becoming invisible (dodging, smoke bomb, and finishers) allows for easy navigation of the battlefield and will often save a fireteam single-handedly if the other members need revived.
We hope that you enjoyed this build. Are there any ways that you can think of improving it? Let us know in a comment!
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Kelson H.
Kelson is a spud head from out west. He is most happy when holding a milky tea with too much honey and playing a sprawling role playing game or reading a fantasy novel. His video game tastes vary but his main genres are looter shooters, RPGs, and real time strategy games.
