Since the release of The Final Shape — and with it the Prismatic subclass — we’ve been spoiled with a variety of ways to craft new builds. The hunter Prismatic class is exceptionally powerful, as we’ve seen from its usage in the raid contest mode. This ninja build is a mix of close quarters devastation, and survivability. It’s an excellent choice for players looking to have a fun time chaining abilities in solo content, or showing off in a fireteam.
It’s a ninja build because the whole kit is themed with abilities synonymous to the stealth warriors. We’ll go into detail on the choices below, but let’s quickly list out the abilities, armor, and weapons for the potent Prismatic Ninja build:
Super
Storm’s Edge
Abilities
Gambler’s Dodge
Grappling Hook (grenade)
Withering Blade
Aspects
Stylish Executioner
Winter’s Shroud
Fragments
Facet of Bravery
Facet of Hope
Facet of Protection
Facet of Protection
Facet of Dawn
Exotic Armor
Sixth Coyote
Armor Mods
Siphon Mods (Helmet)
Focusing Strike x2 (Arms)
Firepower (Arms)
Innervation (Legs)
Reaper (Cloak)
Bomber (Cloak)
Priority Stats
Mobility
Resilience
Discipline
Weapons
Either Rat King or Ergo Sum
Either Void or Strand primary weapon
Edge Transit
Hunter Super, Aspects, and Fragments
Super
Storm’s Edge – Throw arc dagger and teleport to area to do area damage.
Abilities
Gambler’s Dodge – Get powered melee back when dodging next to enemy.
Grappling Hook (grenade) – grapple and fly through the air then melee enemies.
Withering Blade – Throw a stasis shuriken that bounces between enemies, slowing or freezing them.
Aspects
Stylish Executioner – Killing enemies affected by elemental debuff makes you invisible and see enemies through walls.
Winter’s Shroud – Dodging next to enemies slows or freezes them.
Fragments
Facet of Bravery
Facet of Hope
Facet of Protection
Facet of Protection
Facet of Dawn
There really isn’t a more stylish super currently in the game. The new hunter arc super, Storm’s Edge, has the player fling an arc dagger to a location, teleport there, then do a sweeping area-of-effect attack. The best part, though, is you get to do it three times in one super, zipping around the battlefield and decimating the enemy!
The abilities are really what make the build. It’s similar to the classic Stasis technique of throwing a Withering Blade to slow enemies, then Gambler Dodging next to them with the Winter’s Shroud aspect to freeze and get back the Withering Blade. It’s a deadly rotation that is made even more powerful when paired with the mobility of the Grappling Hook. The stealth variable of this build becomes quickly apparent when you kill an enemy with a Withering Blade, because you will go invisible due to the Stylish Executioner aspect.
The fragments synergize perfectly with this build, providing buffs, cooldown improvements, and situational advantages:
Facet of Hope – Makes your dodge come back more quickly when you have an elemental buff, which happens very frequently with this build (radiant, amplified, and invisible).
Facet of Protection – Gives more damage resistance when surrounded by enemies. Will also happen a lot because of Gambler’s Dodge.
Facet of Purpose – Gives elemental buff when picking up Orb of Power. Due to armor mods and other variables, will constantly be amplified from picking up orbs.
Facet of Dawn – Powered melee hits make you radiant. Since we’re using Withering Blade a lot, this happens frequently.
Facet of Bravery – Gives Volatile and Unraveling Rounds after a grenade kill. After you grapple and melee, your primary weapon will be better at add-clear.
Armor and Mods
Exotic Armor
Sixth Coyote – Gain second dodge charge.
Armor Mods
Siphon Mods (Helmet) – Get Orbs of Power when killing with certain elements. Element depends on primary weapon or play style.
Focusing Strike x2 (Arms) – Reduce dodge cooldown when causing damage with Withering Blade.
Firepower (Arms) – Grappling Hook kills make an Orb of Power.
Innervation (Legs) – Reduce Grappling Hook cooldown when picking up Orbs of Power.
Reaper (Cloak) – After dodging, next weapon kill creates Orb of Power.
Bomber (Cloak) – Using dodge decreases cooldown for Grappling Hook.
Priority Stats
Mobility – Decreases cooldown for dodge.
Resilience – Increases damage resistance and survivability.
Discipline – Decreases Grappling Hook cooldown.
As a result of this build centering around Gambler’s Dodge and Withering Blade, the best exotic armor to use is Sixth Coyote, which gives another dodge charge. If you have an exotic class item with this perk, that will work also. Since you have two dodge charges, you can inflict more Slow or Freeze on targets because of Winter’s Shroud, and also get more free charges of Withering Blade, because of Gambler’s Dodge.
The stat distribution you want to aim for is as much Mobility, Resilience, and Discipline as possible. You might think that Strength is important because Withering Blade is crucial to this build, but you will be automatically recharging it because of Gambler’s Dodge, which you’ll be getting as fast as possible with high Mobility. You can use D2Armorpicker.com to optimize these stats with the armor you have available on your character. The weakest part of this build is its low Recovery, which you will need to play around by leveraging Invisibility to stay safe and get your shields back.
Weapons
PrimaryWeapons
Rat King – Go invisible and gain health when reloading after a kill.
OR
Strongest Strand primary weapon.
Special Weapons
Ergo Sum – Lots of different rolls for this.
OR
Strongest Void special weapon.
Heavy Weapon
Edge Transit (Grenade Launcher)
Your weapon setup will really depend on the exotic you choose. Two that are fitting for this build are Rat King and Ergo Sum (see our guide on how to get the Ergo Sum sword). Rat King is perfect for alleviating the weak Recovery stat, since it rejuvenates HP, and it’s also another way of going invisible. Ergo Sum on the other hand is exceptional at dealing massive amounts of damage. My roll for Ergo Sum is the wave frame with the Riskrunner perk; I am doing big area of effect damage, and gaining arc resistance. In my opinion, the sword is more “Ninja” anyway.
The main reason that you’ll want a strong Strand or Void weapon to pair with your exotic of choice is the Facet of Bravery. This fragment gives your Void and Strand weapons Volatile or Unraveling Rounds after killing enemies with your Grappling Hook. If you’re out of dodges and Withering Blades, this is a great fallback plan for add-clear. Here are some examples of good primary weapons:
Belisarius-D (Strand / Pulse Rifle) – Can roll with Hatchling and Slice, which works great with Unraveling Rounds. Also, longer distance weapon that goes nicely with Ergo Sum.
Retraced Path or Chronophage (Void / Trace Rifles) – Trace rifles are great with Volatile Rounds because they can easily be spammed across many enemies. They have good range to go with Rat King, too.
Lastly, Edge Transit is an apt and effective fit for the heavy slot. It can be used with Volatile Rounds to clear adds, or used to do great boss damage. Here are some rolls for different situations:
Add-clear
Chain Reaction and Destabilizing Rounds – Void volatile 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 main synergy of this build comes from the two aspects: Winter’s Shroud and Stylish Executioner — along with the three abilities: Gambler’s Dodge, Withering Blade, and Grappling Hook. The main rotation will be starting off an attack with Withering Blade, then dodging next to the slowed enemies. This will make them freeze and give you back immediately your Withering Blade. From here, you can use your special weapon to kill the slowed enemies or, if you’re injured, throw another Withering Blade to kill minor enemies and go invisible (because of Winter’s Shroud).
This basic rotation is doubly effective because you will not only have a damage bonus against frozen enemies, but you will also have a damage bonus from being Radiant. Of course, you get this from hitting enemies with Withering Blade because of Facet of Dawn.
I like to use the Grappling Hook as a way to exit a situation where I am fully out of dodges and Withering Blades. However, it can just as easily be used to kick off an attack. For example, you can swing into a group and melee, thus giving your non-exotic weapon Volatile or Unraveling Rounds. Use this weapon to buff to clear adds, then when your health is low, use a Withering Blade to go invisible. Once invisible and safe, you can start the original rotation over again.
The rest of the build helps this process organically, but you will need to keep in mind that you want to pick up Orbs of Power as they drop from either Grappling Hook kills, and Reaper / Siphon mods. These will make you Amplified from the Facet of Purpose so you can move faster, and they will decrease your Grappling Hook cooldown from the Innervation mod. Just a reminder, the more you are Amplified, Invisible, or Radiant, the faster your dodge will come back due to Facet of Hope.
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.
