‘Destiny 2’ Warlock Guide: Toxic Sunfire Build

Warlocks in “Destiny 2” already have effective area-of-effect damage with their abilities, but there is one exotic that takes their wave-clearing potential to the next level.

Among the many melee-oriented Warlock exotics, none are able to pump out as much free damage as the Necrotic Grip. These gloves add a poison effect to all melee attacks, including powered ones. Once a poisoned enemy dies, the effect spreads to all nearby targets, inflicting even more poison damage to everything caught in the blast.

This damage-over-time effect is great for finishing off weakened enemies, but its ability to spread makes it an excellent choice for clearing red-bars in most activities. To make things more interesting, Necrotic Grip’s poison stacks with Solar 3.0’s Scorch effect.

The Necrotic Grip exotic gloves in Destiny 2 Photo: Destiny 2

Both Celestial Fire and Incinerator Snap inflict Scorch, which means they’ll both synergize with Necrotic Grip. Alternatively, players can use a legendary weapon with the Incandescent perk like Drang, Strident Whistle or the Calus Mini Tool to consistently apply Scorch to every enemy.

However, thanks to the innate energy regeneration of Warlocks through Solar aspects and fragments, players will be able to spam their melee abilities relatively frequently. The Heat Rises aspect recharges melee abilities every time an enemy is defeated while the Warlock is in the air.

Simply float over enemies, use Incinerator Snap or Celestial Fire, and wait for the burn and poison to kill everything and recharge the melee abilities.

Warlocks don’t have to stay in the air for this effect to trigger. Players can simply jump and then use Snap or their weapons to regain lost melee energy.

As for mods, this build greatly benefits from Bountiful Wells and Melee Wellmaker. Picking up elemental wells regenerate energy for grenades and class abilities as well, so consider using these mods if necessary.

Alternatively, players can use Font of Might instead of Bountiful Wells for increased Solar weapon damage. This can be paired with Flame Harvesting and an exotic like Tarrabah, Tommy’s Matchbook, Skyburner’s Oath or Vex Mythoclast for free well generation on-kill.

Lastly, consider using either Thorn or Osteo Striga as those weapons can trigger Necrotic Grip even without using any melee abilities.