Let's break down the best Strand Titan builds for both Destiny 2 PVE and PVP.

Page Updated December 28, 2023, 21:45 | First Published November 29, 2023, 17:01

The dust has settled a bit following the release of Lightfall, Destiny 2's latest expansion. Now that it's been out for some time, we can finally take a look at the revamped mod system and put together what we consider to be top-tier Meta builds. 

What makes a build good? It all depends on what you want to do. If you're a PVE fanatic, you might find more value in builds that are better for burst damage and survivability. PVP players might need faster recovery and snappier movement options. Things that don't necessarily hit hard, but certainly hit fast. Let's get down to brass tacks and take a look at the best PVE and PVP builds for Strand Titans in Destiny 2.

Table of Contents

Best Strand Titan PVE Build: Stranded Banner

Season of the Witch brought a new Aspect in Banner of War and this has completely changed the game when it comes to an already extremely versatile subclass. This build is going to be based around this new Aspect in tandem with Synthoceps in order to deal some crazy Strand damage, continuously melee targets, and to never die. Let's break it down. 

Required Gear

• Exotic Armor: Synthoceps (Gauntlets)

These Gauntlets will increase your melee lunge range. It also improves Melee and Super damage when you're surrounded. This works great, especially the more enemy-dense Bungie has been building out their encounters over the last two years. This will ensure you and your teammates continue to deal damage, keep Banner of War active, stay healed, and rise and repeat. 

Class Setup

• Super: Bladefury
• Grenade: Shackle Grenade
• Class Ability: Towering Barricade
• Melee: Frenzied Blade
• Jump: Catapult Lift

Aspects

• Banner of War raises a Banner of War when you defeat a target with a melee attack, finisher, or Sword. The Banner pulses with energy, periodically healing you and nearby allies and increasing melee and sword damage. Targets defeated by you and nearby allies charge the banner, increasing the speed of its pulses. 
• Into the Fray gives you and your teammates Woven Mail when you destroy a Tangle or cast your Super. It also makes it so that your melee regens faster when you have Woven Mail.

Into The Fray can be swapped out for something like Flechette Storm if you're feeling adventurous, but the added protection and melee regen given by Into The Fray makes it hard to swap out. I highly recommend running with it over the other available Aspects. Stra

Fragments

• Thread of Transmutation which creates Tangles when defeating enemies will wearing Woven Mail
• Thread of Warding grants Woven Mail upon Orb pickup. 
• Thread of  Generation grants grenade energy when dealing damage.
• Thread of Fury grants melee energy when damaging targets with a Tangle. 

Armor Mods

Outside of Stat Mods, you'll want to min/max for ability uptime to further lean into the grenade, melee, and rift spam that this build is all about. 

• Head Mods: I recommend Harmonic Syphon x2 and Heavy Ammo Finder for more orbs and heavy ammo
• Arm Mods: I recommend Grenade Kickstart x2 and Heavy Handed for more grenade energy and Orbs
• Chest Mods: I recommend damage reduction mods of your choice. 
• Leg Mods: I recommend Better Already x2 and a Surge mod of your choice for added survivability when picking up Orbs.  
• Mark Mods: I recommend Bomber, Outreach, and Time Dilation for ability uptime and to extend your Armor Charge duration  

Weapons

• Kinetic Slot: I recommend a StrandPrimary such as Rufus's Fury or Quicksilver Storm. While not required, we're leaning hard into Strand Damage types, so this is going to be an excellent option for quick DPS as far as primaries go. If you have a Strand special weapon that you feel that you can get more DPS out with, then roll with that, but Rufus's Fury is my go-to right now. Alternatively, you can also run with Monte Carlo now that it has its Catalyst and do some crazy Melee damage in tandem with your Synthos and Banner of War. Give it a shot! 
• Energy Slot: This is a freebie, but I think running Vexcalibur to gain an Overshield while you have Woven Mail is silly fun that will make you feel like a god on the battleground, but of course, I can't help but recommend Mindbender's Ambition for those close quarters fight, or another shotgun of your choice. 
• Heavy Slot: Again, this is completely up to you. Right now, there aren't a ton of Strand options in the heavy slot, but either Koraxis's Distress or Circular Logic will do wonders here. I lean more toward Circular Logic, but either is a good choice. 

Stat Distribution 

For these, you'll want to focus on as much Resilience and Recovery as possible for both survivability, but also Barricade uptime. Next, focus on Discipline if you want more Grenade energy or Strength for more Melee energy, but it's dealer's choice. The rest of the stats are completely up to you. Mobility isn't that important overall here and I constantly run 30, 20, or even fewer stat points in Mobility. 

Conclusion

Grabbing this setup and taking it into a Legend or Master Lost Sector, GM, or Master Raid is a ton of fun. There's just nothing that poses much of a threat unless you make a mistake and let Banner of War run out. Get in there and go crazy, Titan!

Best Strand Titan PVP Build: Shaxx's Bane

This build is going to be extremely similar to the PVE Strand Build above, but this is going to lean more into the Grapple and Aping your opponents. We're going for a close and personal type of run-and-gun PVP experience so grab your favorite shotgun and get ready, Titan! 

Required Gear

• Exotic Armor: Dunemarchers (Legs)

Sprint. Melee. Shotgun. Rinse and repeat. Dunemarchers increase your sprint speed and build up a charge when you sprint. Meleeing an enemy will chain that charged damage to nearby enemies. Perfect for teams stacked up on capture points! 

Class Setup

• Super: Bladefury
• Grenade: Grapple
• Class Ability: Towering Barricade
• Melee: Frenzied Blade
• Jump: Catapult Lift

Aspects

• Drengr's Lash makes you spawn a Suspending wave when casting Barricade.
• Into the Fray gives you and your teammates Woven Mail when you destroy a Tangle or cast your Super. It also makes it so that your melee regens faster when you have Woven Mail.

Again, there are only Two Strand Aspects right now, so we'll stick to these two.

Fragments

Unlike in PVE, your PVP fragments likely won't have a great effect on your build. That said, I do have some recommendations that should help you get the edge over your opponents.

• Thread of Isolation makes it so that your opponents emit a Severing burst when landing rapid precision shots.
• Thread of Ascent reloads your weapons and grants some airborne effectiveness after using your grenade (or in this case, your Grapple!)
• Thread of Warding grants Woven Mail when picking up Orbs
• Thread of Generation for more grenade energy while dealing damage.

Armor Mods

Outside of Stat Mods, you'll want to min/max for weapon steadiness and handling. These are all pretty straightforward and grant bonus weapon stats and ability recovery. 

• Head Mods: I recommend Kinetic OR Energy Targeting (and a siphon mod for fun!) 
• Arm Mods: I recommend Reloaders of your choice.
• Chest Mods: I recommend Unflinching mods of your choice.
• Leg Mods: I recommend Innervation and Invigoration x2 for grenade and melee regeneration.
• Mark Mods: I recommend Distribution, Bomber, and Outreach for more ability energy. 

Weapons

• Kinetic Slot: I recommend something with some range like the No Time To Explain, Dead Man's Tale, or a similarly ranged Primary of your choice. Pulse Rifles continue to absolutely dominate in PVP and DMT is just fun to use.
• Energy Slot: All Shotgun, all the time. I use a Mindbender's Ambition that I love. Auto-Loading Holster is going to make you very happy when you're sprinting and swinging over Special Ammo and you have to switch to a CQB weapon in a pinch.
• Heavy Slot: This is completely up tp you. Personally, Rockets are always a go-to in PVP due to their wide blast radius, making it tough to miss an opponent. 

Stat Distribution 

For these, you'll want to focus on high Resilience and Recovery for both survivability, but also Barricade uptime. Next would be Discipline for maintaining Grapple refresh time.  

Conclusion

This build is going to make you enemy number one. Getting suspended in PVP isn't as bad as getting frozen by Stasis, but it's still fairly frustrating. Good. Go and make the enemy team hate you. I might not run this in Trials, but the next time Iron Banner swings around, you can too! 

These are the best Strand Titan builds for PVE and PVP right now. Make sure you save them in your new Loadout slots before you start moving on to your next build!

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Written by Austin Ford

Austin is a freelance writer, theatre nerd, and lapsed stand-up comedian. His love for writing and dissection of video games brought him to the games journalism space where he’s written for outlets like The Outerhaven and XboxEra. When not working on Destiny 2 YouTube videos or streaming on Twitch, he helps to build out our Destiny 2 coverage with his deep knowledge of the game and its systems. With multiple Day One Raid completions, Austin likes to think of himself as an expert not only in Destiny but Bungie’s entire catalog of games. When not actively obsessing over The Traveler, Austin is also a fan of indie titles and JRPGs. If you ask him what his favorite game of all time is, he’d say Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and will not rest until a sequel or Reboot is in his hands.

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