The best Titan build in Destiny 2 is out there somewhere. You just have to look for it! More realistically, you need to try out a ton of different things and create very specific loadouts for different activities. That kind of theorycrafting can be fun, but it’s also a huge investment. Which is why we’ve gone ahead and made some suggestions for you! Take a look at our guide to the best Titan build in Destiny 2 during Season of Dawn.
For these builds, I highly recommend using a third-party app, like Destiny Item Manager. Destiny still doesn’t have custom loadout slots. Nor can you filter items in your Vault according to category, element, ammo type, etc. No one Titan build is ever best for every situation! So saving loadouts will save you a ton of hassle down the line. Anyway, with that said, let’s get to it!
Destiny 2 Titan Build
The core functionality of this Titan build is to generate a ton of Sunspots with bottom-tree Sunbreaker. With this, Solar abilities restore health, but that’s not the main functionality. The primary benefit of this build is leaving behind Sunspots with grenade kills, melee, kills, and Sun Warrior kills. What are Sun Warrior kills? This is a perk on the tree which you get when passing through one of your own Sunspots. It gives you faster regeneration of your grenades and melee abilities and will make your Super last longer. With it, you should be able to get nine to ten hammers out before the cast ends. The least appreciated part of the buff is that it lets you create Sunspots with regular weapon kills. Obviously that makes for even more Sunspots which can damage enemies and buff allies.
That last part is only possible because of the Phoenix Cradle exotic armor. It provides Beacons of Empowerment, causing Sun Warrior to last twice as long, meaning more chances to create Sunspots and deal damage. But it also gives Sun Warrior to any allies who pass through one of your Sunspots.
- Legs: Phoenix Cradle
- Armor Mods: Any
- Weapon: Any
- Class: Solar Titan, Code of the Siegebreaker (Lower Tree)
Now you can combine this basic build with just about anything you want. If you’re a fan of grenade launchers, equip a few and outfit your armor with lots of power or special weapon ammo finders, or increase your grenade regen time. It’s completely up to you!
Keep in mind that none of this even takes the Charged with Light seasonal mod system into account. You can also work with those to further strengthen this build.
Just like our Warlock build, the best part of this build is that it’s accessible to everyone since it’s such a simple, yet powerful, combo. Hopefully this helps!
Thanks for taking the time to check out our Destiny 2 Titan build for Season of Dawn! And if you have a Titan build you’d like to suggest, let everyone know in the comments below!
Note: We’ve left the Season of the Undying Titan builds below. They may no longer be applicable, but might give you new ideas.
The True One-Two Punch – Destiny Titan Build
Any Titan player will tell you that the class is all about punching good. This build, which unfortunately requires some very specific drops, will help you punch really good. You’ll punch so good that bosses die in two or three hits — even if they would normally have invincibility phases! It’s also super good at beating down Barrier and Unstoppable Champions in Nightfalls. Here’s what you need and how to get it.
NOTE: Bungie recently revealed (like 20 minutes after I wrote up this guide) that it will adjust Titan shoulder charge abilities in its next patch. That means this One-Two Punch combo may no longer be viable as of Oct. 29, 2019! We will investigate if it’s still possible to pull off with a Traction mod (for increased sprint control).
Otherwise, we’ll check back in again after the update after the next one changes shoulder charges… even more. In the meantime, enjoy this tactic while you can! And check out the full patch note from Bungie below:
Peregrine Greaves:
These are highly specialized Exotic leg armor that increase your shoulder charge attacks while airborne. This includes Seismic Strike (Arc), Shield Bash (Void), and Hammer Strike (Solar). But the one we really want to focus on is Hammer Strike. That’s because this shoulder charge also provides a defense down debuff against any enemy you hit! It’s great for burning bosses and Gambit Primevals already. Combined with Peregrine Greaves, it’s downright painful.
You can sub in plenty of other Exotics, too. Wormgod Caress, Synthoceps, and Mk. 44 Stands depending on your play style. Wormgod takes advantage of the windup on shoulder charge attacks by letting you take out adds with normal melee strikes, then sprinting into a powered-up melee ability. Synthoceps are good in the Crucible and for add clearing. Whereas Mk. 44 is a more defensive option that gives your next melee strike a head start (great for destroying Champions).
Heart of Inmost Light can also help, a bit, but won’t be as consistent. And none of these options are quite as “cheesy” as the Peregrine Greaves.
One-Two Punch Shotgun:
This is the big one. It’s also going to be the most annoying to farm — assuming you don’t raid very often. One-Two Punch is a perk exclusive to certain shotguns in Destiny 2. Luckily, it’s easier to get now in Season of the Undying than ever before. It’s all thanks to Eris and her Lectern of Enchantment.
You’re looking to get One Small Step: one of the best Legendary shotguns in Destiny at the moment. You can acquire it at random by completing activities on the Moon. However, you can also infinitely farm for it at the Lectern by spending Phantasmal Cores on Essence of Rage. That’s… a lot of fancy words to say you want to buy one particular quest at the Lectern. The only downside is that you cannot buy Essence of Rage until it first drops randomly in the world.
More Destiny 2 Shadowkeep:
- Destiny 2 Players Are Unrepentant Sinners Who Know Only Pain
- Destiny 2 Best Warlock Build for Season of the Undying
- Shadowkeep Lore Hints at Possible Darkness Subclasses in Destiny 2
Nightmare Hunts are your best bet. They drop Essence quests like candy. And reports indicate the Dominus Ghaul Nightmare has the best odds of dropping Essence of Rage. This is on a rotation, however, so you might not be able to try for it until the weekly reset. Once you get the Essence of Rage, it’s time to start farming for One Small Step.
One-Two Punch is obviously the most important perk for this build. But Full Choke is a nice bonus. It tightens the spread of pellets on shotgun shots, making it easier for One-Two Punch to proc. Grave Robber is also great, since it synergizes with melee strikes. Last but not least, Accurized Rounds will give you greater range — always fantastic on shotguns.
Strength Mods for Days:
The return of Strength, Discipline, and Intellect mods in Destiny really lets you min-max. In this case, you want to maximize your Strength. That reduces the cooldown of your melee attacks for every 10 points you can shove into your Titan build. Traction is also handy for all that sprinting you’re going to do.
Monte Carlo (Optional):
If Titans were made to melee, the Monte Carlo was made for Titans. It reduces your melee cooldown with every kill, and occasionally resets the cooldown completely. the problem is that Monte Carlo is a Kinetic Auto Rifle. That means it takes up the same slot as One Small Step…
This isn’t a complete disaster, though! One Small Step is just one shotgun that can drop with the One-Two Punch perk. Others include Last Man Standing (Gambit Prime and Reckoning), Prophet of Doom (Garden of Salvation), and Emperor’s Courtesy (Crown of Sorrows). They’re all Legendary Energy weapons and work just fine with Monte Carlo. Emperor’s Courtesy even comes with a guaranteed One-Two Punch roll! But they’re also harder to farm… Raids take a lot longer than Essence of Rage and Gambit Prime is a bit limiting.
Tried and True Ballistic Slam – Destiny Titan Build
This here is an oldie, but a goodie. Forsaken introduced the Code of the Missile to Destiny with its absurdly powerful Ballistic Slam. This build grants you (nearly) infinite uses of Ballistic Slam — plus the bonus Super energy you get from melee ability kills under Code of the Missile.
An Insurmountable Skullfort:
This is the heart and soul of the build. The idea is to run, jump, slam into the ground, and one-shot enemies with Ballistic Slam. Transfusion Matrix (the Exotic perk on An Insurmountable Skullfort) then instantly recharges your melee ability (and heals you to boot). That way you can do it all over again right away. As a nice bonus. Ballistic Slam also grants extra Super energy with every kill.
Thunder Coil (Seasonal Mod):
Skullfort only recharges your Ballistic Slam on melee kills. As such, you want to ensure you’re doing lethal damage every time you cast the ability. Thunder Coil, a level five mod on the Season of the Undying artifact, increases the odds you will do lethal damage. Not to mention it gives you Super energy back for finishers. Assuming you don’t manage to kill an enemy with your slam, you might be able to finish them, and get more Super back anyway. That way you can be ready to pummel bosses with your Thundercrash.
Don’t Mod for Strength:
Since this build is all about chaining infinite melee hits, you don’t need to worry about Strength. That’s the theory, anyway! Things don’t always work out the way you like. You’re going to miss Ballistic Slam here and there — that’s just reality. Even so, you’ve mostly freed yourself up to mod for Discipline and Intellect.
Discipline is easier to increase. However, Intellect will further synergize with your Thunder Coil and Impact Conversion (from Code of the Missile). Having so many Supers all the time will create more Orbs for your allies. More ally Supers will generate more Orbs for you. In that case you might want to put an Absolution mod onto your butt towel Titan Mark. Distribution isn’t bad, either, since your Barricade recharges pretty dang fast. Or maybe go for something like Special Finisher! That way you can more consistently use your Super energy, without necessarily needing to waste your entire bar.
Monte Carlo (Optional):
This is another melee ability build. Monte Carlo will almost always be a good choice for those! In this case, you can use the Auto Rifle to compensate for whiffed Ballistic Slams. Don’t kill your target completely? Did you just happen to miss? Monte Carlo has you covered as an alternative to Strength mods!
“I’m a Titan” – Destiny Titan Build
This is a selfish, open-ended concept. It basically boils down to sprinting around, super-charged with electricity, and chaining together lots of kills very quickly. It uses Code of the Juggernaut to increase your health regeneration and Super up time. It also looks very, very silly.
Riskrunner Self-Punishment:
Since you’re going to use an Arc class anyway, and repeatedly heal yourself, why not roll with the Riskrunner? It’s easier than ever to get in Season of the Undying. You can acquire both the SMG and its Catalyst from an Exotic quest doled out by Banshee-44 in the Tower. If you don’t have either item already, make sure you get them!
Riskrunner is a somewhat undervalued weapon. Sure, it only procs off Arc damage, but that comes from more sources than you might think. This includes most Fallen foot soldiers, Wizards, boomer Knights, exploding Vex, shotgun Cabal, and Vex milk. The real trick, though, is to just hit yourself with an Arc grenade!
As a Titan, you can throw a Pulse Grenade at your own feet to trigger Arc Conductor on Riskrunner. Bear in mind that you must get hit with the initial blast! The follow-up pulses don’t count. Once that starts, you’re free to run wild. Meanwhile, Code of the Juggernaut regeneration can heal up the slight damage you did to yourself every time you melee something to death.
Exotic Armor Choices:
Because this is such an open-ended Titan build, you can really play around with what Exotic armor works for you. But Mask of the Quiet One really leans into the “survive through damaging yourself” concept. Not only does it recharge your grenades (to charge Riskrunner) and melee (to heal yourself), it will also let you come back from the brink of death with a well-timed knockdown.
Alternatively, Wormgod Caress, An Insurmountable Skullfort, and Synthoceps can all juice your melee hits to proc regeneration, weapon damage, and weapon stability. Dunemarchers also make your Super much nastier. The increased sprint speed lets you chain kills (and staunch energy bleed) faster. The chain lightning is a nice bonus, too, and fits thematically with the Riskrunner if nothing else.
Discipline is Key:
Sadly, because Riskrunner is an Exotic SMG, and Exotic weapons can’t use mods in Season of the Undying, you can’t combine Breach Refractor and an Anti-Armor mod. Instead, you might want to mod for Discipline — to continue throwing grenades to feed your Arc Conductor.
If you’re using Mask of the Quiet One, you can perhaps swap out Discipline for Strength. That way you can more frequently kill enemies with melee abilities. This will increase the benefits you receive from Frontal Assault, Reversal, and Knockout.
Make More Grenades – Destiny Titan Build
Some people don’t like punching things. At least I assume such people exist. I’ve never actually met them… For those theoretical folks, though, Titan builds can also do some serious damage with grenades. Season of the Undying in particular sets up some silly combinations.
A Certain Sentinel Code:
Resupply is a fantastic passive ability that comes under the Code of the Commander Sentinel subclass. Basically, melee and grenade damage grants more melee and grenade energy. And your enemies explode. It’s very nice.
Alternatively, you can use Code of the Aggressor. This grants you a more useful melee ability, Shield Bash, while still causing your grenades to recharge more quickly. This is especially true when using the Magnetic Grenade in PVP, plus a certain seasonal mod we’ll get to down the line.
Armamentarium:
This is an extremely simple, but all-too-deadly Titan Exotic. Armamentarium grants you a second grenade charge. On its own, that’s not too impressive. But combined with constantly recharging grenades, you’re basically buying yourself even more headway.
Oppressive Darkness:
This is your bread and butter during Season of the Undying. It’s a level five seasonal mod that makes enemies take increased damage after being hit with Void grenades. Now combine that with Magnetic Grenades! You’ve got a grenade that explodes, reduces that enemy’s defense, and then explodes again — after they’re more susceptible to increased damage. We’re talking one-hit-kills with Void grenades in the Iron Banner, even against enemies at a higher level than you.
Oppressive Darkness is also great against bosses. It’s a defense down debuff (functionally an attack up buff for you and your entire team) against any target struck with your grenade. Instead of Magnetic Grenades, you can combine that with Suppressor Grenades to blind enemies, as well as Code of the Commander to constantly heal allies.
Fastball Mod (Optional):
Personally, I find the grenade throw distance in Destiny just fine already. But some folks like to use Fastball to further enhance how far they can toss. It makes some amount of sense in the Crucible, where you can one-shot enemies from halfway across the map. It’s also not very expensive. Fastball only has an energy cost of two.
Breach Refractor (Optional):
If you like Hand Cannons, Auto Rifles, or SMGs, you’re in luck. Breach Refractor is a seasonal mod that increases grenade energy every time you score a kill with Anti-Barrier weapons. Now, Anti-Barrier mods don’t directly help in PVP, despite enemy players having shields. But the kills will still interact with Breach Refractor. This makes it a useful addition to Discipline mods — assuming you use the right weapons.
Sweet Christmas, Sweet Business – Destiny Titan Build
Auto Rifles (and one Exotic in particular) got buffed in Season of the Undying. That means it’s time to reevaluate this up-and-down weapon type! Why don’t we start with the signature Titan Auto Rifle: Sweet Business?
Sweet Business:
Sweet Business comes with two Exotic perks. Payday gives the gun a huge magazine, surprising accuracy during hip-fire, and reloads the weapon whenever you pick up primary ammo. Whereas Business Time gives you increased range and rate of fire the longer you shoot. All in all, it’s a weapon designed to be shot for long periods of time.
Sweet Business itself also got some solid damage and flinching buffs in this update. It now hits harder on the body and keeps enemies from accurately hitting back. It’s slow time to spin up, however, means you usually want to “pre-fire” — particularly in the Crucible. That’s the act of starting to shoot before you actually see an enemy on-screen. It’s typically used to counteract network lag by shooting where your opponent is going to be. Sweet Business both benefits from this skill and enhances it, with its huge 150 round magazine.
Actium War Rig:
Even as Auto Rifles got buffed, the Titan Rally Barricade got nerfed. Severely. The itty bitty shield no longer steadily reloads your weapons. Instead, it just increases your reload speed. Actium War Rig is your workaround — and allows you to move while shooting. Combine this with the Sweet Business Exotic perks and you’ve got yourself a nearly unending stream of sustained fire. It doesn’t hurt that Actium also got buffed! It now automatically reloads Machine Guns, as well.
Actium also has fairly high Resilience. Bear in mind that you’re going to walk and shoot at the same time. That makes you an easy target for enemies. Higher Resilience will protect you — allowing you to keep your recharging minigun spooled up for longer. Further modding for defense will also help.
Unflinching Rifle Aim:
This chest mod helps compensate for Sweet Business’s lack of accuracy while it spins up. Even if you have the Catalyst, which makes you immune to flinching while firing at full speed, this will further increase your consistency while spooling.
Pick a Code, Any Code:
One nice thing about this Titan build is that it doesn’t really rely on one subclass. You can find something good about nearly all abilities — under all elemental types — while using Sweet Business and Actium War Rig.
Code of the Protector makes you even tankier and grants Weapons of Light with its new and improved Ward of Dawn (a.k.a. Bubble Shield). Code of the Siegebreaker creates Sunspots that further buff the damage of Sweet Business — without needing to use a Super. Code of the Juggernaut only increases your damage when you melee, but also raises stability for a short time. Depending on what you pick, you can mod accordingly!
