Well, I started playing a Titan in Destiny 2. What began as a way to get more Warmind Bits has blossomed into a full-on love affair with this most pugilistic of classes. And in playing around with Titan abilities while I’m working to get Actium War Rig, I’ve come up with a build that maximizes punching potential.
The Build
First up, we’re going to equip bottom tree Striker. Yes, this means we’re forgoing both slams and shoulder strikes, but trust me on this. Bottom tree Striker grants some interesting effects around punches — chiefly, they reload your weapons and increase damage and stability. Knockout also means that your melee attacks will count as Arc damage even if you don’t have full energy.
Now we’re going to add Warmind Cells into the mix. Unlike the Warlock and Hunter builds I’ve posted previously, we’re not going to be generating Warmind Cells to detonate them. Perverse for a Titan, I know. But time you spend shooting is time you’re not spending punching, and you can’t pop Warmind Cells with melee attacks.
Instead, we’re going to go with some of the Rasputin mods that grant benefits upon collecting Warmind Cells. First, equip Tyrant’s Surge — which is just such a wonderful artifact mod that I am going to miss deeply when it rotates out at the end of the season. This guarantees that we’ll generate Warmind Cells on Arc melee (and other ability) damage. Next, we’ll add Sheltering Energy, Warmind’s Light, and Striking Light — you’ll also have to pick an additional Arc mod to get the full benefit of that last one. Finally, add Thunder Coil, a seasonal artifact mod that doesn’t require a seasonal slot to equip. That’s all the seasonal mods we have room for, since we’re going to use the ACD/0 Feedback Fence Exotic.
Putting this all together, here’s how it looks in-game: meleeing an enemy reloads our weapon and increases weapon damage and stability. It also generates a Warmind Cell. When we collect that cell — which will be right next to us — we get an overshield and Charged With Light. On the next melee kill, we get an ACD/0 stack, create an Orb of Light, and regenerate our health. When we’re hit with an opposing melee attack, ACD/0 reduces the damage and blasts everyone around us. Proceed to solve all of your problems by punching them.
Loadout Options
The core idea of this build is to do non-stop melee attacks and be as survivable as possible, which you can play around with to suit your tastes. Want to do more damage? Try Synthoceps or Wormgod’s Caress. Want to nuke everything in the room? Swap out the Feedback Fence for Severance Enclosure. Want to get to grips ASAP? Dunemarchers. Prefer even more death insurance over Orbs of Light? Use Protective Light, and don’t even worry about the -10 Strength it saddles you with.
As far as weapons go, I mean, what do you need them for? Guns will never help you. Only trust your fists.
But seriously, anything with Swashbuckler is going to be your friend here. Maybe Monte Carlo? It’s really your call.
Limitations
Of course, this build isn’t going to be tremendously useful in high-level Nightfall activities, where getting close to any enemies is a recipe for certain death. It might be fun to play with in the Crucible, though there are certainly more effective builds there too. That said, for day-to-day PVE play, you don’t get much more Titan than punching everyone in the face while shrugging off everything they throw at you. Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes for you in the comments.
