PvP Buildcrafting — Armor 3.0 for Crucible

00 · The PvP Build Loop

Survive, win range, time abilities

A PvE build farms a room: spread stats, spam abilities, stand in the open and out-sustain the AI. That loop loses duels. In Crucible a build does three jobs in order — survive the first exchange, own a range band, then time your abilities — and everything below is just how the Armor 3.0 stats serve that order.

Why the room-farm loop loses

The AI doesn't pre-aim you. A Guardian does. You usually get one exchange, not a damage phase — so the build has to win the first second, not the long fight.
Ability spam isn't the win condition. The cooldown cap means you can't grenade-spam your way through a person the way you clear adds, and Monument's Ammo System pass separately cut the point gains toward special and heavy ammo: special-ammo, heavy-ammo, and Super kills give 33% less (glaive melee 20% less) — a tighter special-ammo economy, not a cut to the ability energy those kills give you. Abilities are tempo and finishers, not your primary damage.
Standing in the open gets you mapped. A PvE-tanky build still dies to a teamshot. Survival in PvP is HP + cover + reset, not raw damage resist.

What the build is actually for

Survive first. Health for effective HP and flinch, Class for a fast duel-reset (dodge/barricade/rift). Live long enough to shoot.
Win range. Weapons shifts your TTK and handling so you win the band your guns are built for. The weapon page owns the actual ranges.
Time abilities. ~100 in your main ability stat for a reliable cooldown, used to open, peek-punish, or escape — not to facetank.

One sentence: a PvP build keeps you alive through the first exchange, makes your guns win their range, and gives you one well-timed ability to break a stalemate. If a stat doesn't serve one of those, it's a dump stat.

Destiny 2 has no further planned content updates — only health/stability hotfixes — so the sandbox is settled and the priorities below are Monument-era recommendations, not a rotating seasonal tier list. Only claims on Bungie's active Known Issues list are flagged inline. One mode rule sits over everything here: the Artifact is disabled in Competitive and Trials, so a Comp or Trials loop can't lean on artifact perks at all — the economy and damage-acceleration perks those playlists would otherwise borrow from the Artifact are simply off, so build those modes from intrinsic weapon frames and gear alone.

01 · Stat Priorities

The six stats, re-read for PvP

Same stats as the Armor 3.0 guide (Mobility→Weapons, Resilience→Health, Recovery→Class, Discipline→Grenade, Intellect→Super, Strength→Melee), reframed by what they do in a duel. Weapons and Health are co-equal PvP pillars — lead with whichever serves the breakpoint you're chasing.

Weapons

was Mobility

Pillar · TTK

Shifts TTK breakpoints, improves handling and reload, and past 100 grants a flat +6% damage vs Guardians. The armor guide calls it the "best all-round stat." This is half your PvP baseline.

Health

was Resilience

Pillar · survival

1–100: orb healing (up to ~70 HP) + ~10% flinch resist. 101–200: more effective HP / shield. The old ~30% Resilience DR is now baseline for everyone, so Health buys you HP, shield and flinch — not raw resist. The "PvP anchor."

Class

was Recovery

Duel-reset · movement

1–100: rift / dodge / barricade cooldown — your reset and reposition button. Past 100 grants an overshield on cast worth ~40 HP in PvE but only ~10 HP in PvP. PvP overshield values are tuned separately, so don't infer them from a simple half-value rule.

Grenade

was Discipline

Role tool

Grenade cooldown 1–100; damage bonus past 100 (PvE figures — PvP differs). A role tool: an opener, an area-denial, a finisher. Worth pushing only if grenades are central to your kit.

Super

was Intellect

Role tool

Super energy 1–100; bonus past 100 (PvE figures). A tempo swing, not a stat you live on. Value depends on whether your super wins fights or just trades — see the subclass hub.

Melee

was Strength

Role tool

Melee cooldown 1–100; damage past 100 (PvE figures). A role tool for shoulder-charge / knife / brawler kits. Most gunfight builds leave this near the dump floor.

Monument baseline

The Weapons-vs-Health lead is a deliberate call, not a coin flip. Both are baseline pillars; which one you prioritise depends on the TTK breakpoint you're chasing. PvP grenade/super/melee damage is tuned separately from PvE, the +6%-vs-Guardians value lands past 100 Weapons, and Class overshield past 100 is tuned to about 10 HP in Crucible — all settled values on the Monument sandbox.

How the stats tier

The 200-cap and the 125% cooldown cap change how you spend points versus the old 100-cap, 10-point-tier era.

Band	What it does	PvP read
1 – 100	Scales the base effect (TTK shift, HP/flinch, cooldown, etc.). Every single point counts — there are no 10-point tiers anymore.	Your first 100 in a stat is where most of the value is. Get your two pillars and your main ability stat into this band before anything else.
101 – 200	Unlocks a second bonus (e.g. Weapons' +6% vs Guardians, more effective HP, ability damage). A smaller, secondary return.	Spend here only after your pillars are set — and beware the cooldown cap below.
Cap 200	Hard ceiling per stat. A full Tier 5 set caps around ~515 total points (~103 per piece) before exotics/mods, so you cannot max everything.	You're always trading. Pillars + one ability stat to ~100, then spread the remainder.
Cooldown cap	Update 9.7.0 capped stat-based ability cooldowns at 125% (down from 190%).	~100 in your main ability stat, then SPREAD. Dumping a stat to 200 for cooldown no longer pays — the cap eats it.

Monument baseline

The 125% cooldown cap, the ~515 set total, and the ~25 dump floor are settled Armor 3.0 facts from the systems guide. Don't push one stat to 200 chasing cooldown — the cap eats it. Spend pillars and your main ability stat to ~100 first, then spread the remainder.

02 · Archetype Routing

The 12 archetypes, by PvP job

Each armor piece rolls an archetype: a Primary / Secondary stat pair. Instead of memorising them abstractly, group them by the job they do in Crucible. The same twelve from the Armor 3.0 guide — nothing added or dropped — just sorted by duel role.

Lethality / TTK — win the exchange faster

Lead with damage and ability pressure. For players who want to end fights, not survive them.

Gunner Weapons / Grenade

TTK and handling first, a grenade to open or finish. The cleanest pure-gunfight roll.

Powerhouse Weapons / Super

TTK plus super uptime — gunfight neutral game with a tempo super on tap.

Survivability / duel-reset — live through it

Lead with Health and your class ability. For players who win by not dying and re-peeking with advantage.

Bulwark Health / Class

Effective HP plus a fast reset (rift/barricade/dodge). The textbook survive-and-re-peek roll.

Siegebreaker Health / Grenade

Tanky with a grenade for area denial — hold a lane and punish pushes.

Colossus Super / Health

Survivable with super uptime — a defensive anchor that can swing a held angle.

Neutral-game / mobility — control the tempo

Lead with Class or Melee for movement and reset speed. For duelists who win on positioning and pace.

Specialist Class / Weapons

Fast resets plus gunfight stats — the mobile lane duelist's roll.

Skirmisher Melee / Weapons

Melee tempo plus TTK — close-range pressure and quick re-engages.

Mixed-goal — the other five exist for a reason

Brawler (Melee/Health), Grenadier (Grenade/Super), Demolitionist (Grenade/Class), Paragon (Super/Melee), Reaver (Class/Melee) and Gunner/Powerhouse's neighbours all cover blended kits — a brawler that wants HP, an ability build that wants two ability stats, and so on.

Brawler Melee / Health

Tanky melee — shoulder-charge and knife kits that want to survive the trade.

Grenadier Grenade / Super

Two ability stats — for kits where abilities are the whole plan.

Demolitionist Grenade / Class

Grenade pressure plus reset uptime — area control with an escape.

Paragon Super / Melee

Super and melee — roaming-super and ability-finisher builds.

Reaver Class / Melee

Reset speed plus melee — mobile close-range tempo with frequent resets.

Two rules that change how you shop pieces: (1) Masterworking a piece adds +5 to each of the three stats the archetype does NOT cover — about ~25 per dump stat across a full masterworked set, which is why your dump stats sit near 25, not 0. (2) Mixing archetypes across slots is expected: you might run a Gunner chest and a Bulwark helmet to land your exact spread. You're building a set total, not five identical pieces.

Monument baseline

The archetype list and the +5 masterwork rule are settled Armor 3.0 facts from the systems guide. Pick the archetype that serves your subclass's job — survive-and-re-peek, win-the-exchange, or control-tempo — rather than chasing a "best roll" claim from an old article; on the Monument sandbox those role reads hold.

03 · Mods, Exotics & Legality

Mods, exotics & legality

Mods are jobs, not numbers — learn what each family does and the specific values can patch underneath you. These are the families that actually matter in Crucible.

Targeting aim

Improves aim assist / target acquisition; comes per element, so take the one matching your weapon. Helps you land the first crit — the shot that wins the TTK race. A staple for your primary type.

Dexterity swap

Faster ready / stow; comes per element, so take the one matching your weapon. Wins primary-to-special swaps in a duel — the difference between a clean shotgun follow-up and eating a melee.

Unflinching steady

Reduces flinch when shot; comes per element as Unflinching Aim, so take the one matching your weapon. Lets you hold your crit through return fire — huge for scouts, pulses and snipers that lose duels to flinch.

Loaders reload

Faster reload; comes per element, so take the one matching your weapon. Shortens your vulnerable window behind cover so you re-peek sooner. Quietly one of the best PvP mod jobs.

Ability refund tempo

Class-item mods that return ability energy on certain actions. Keeps your reset / opener online more often — under the 125% cooldown cap, refund procs matter more than raw stat-cooldown.

Orb generation economy

Mods that make or gather Orbs of Power to charge supers / trigger armor effects. Feeds your tempo economy across a match rather than a single fight.

Class-item utility slot

The class item's mod slots host much of the ability-refund and economy layer. Treat it as a build slot, not an afterthought — it often decides your tempo.

Exotics — fill a gap, not a win-button

Your exotic armor slot and exotic weapon slot can each solve a real gap your stats can't: an escape you lack, a duel you keep losing, a movement option, a way to survive a specific matchup. Pick the exotic that fixes your recurring death, not the one a tier list calls strongest.

A win-button exotic that does your aiming for you is a crutch and a balance-patch risk. A gap-filler exotic (mobility, sustain, a reload/handling fix) raises your floor without papering over fundamentals.

Exotic class items

These don't roll random archetypes. They're a fixed 63 stats (30 / 20 / 13), and the left-column perk sets the archetype — so the spread is predictable and plannable rather than rolled.

They still occupy your one exotic armor slot, so a class item can't be worn alongside another exotic helmet, arms, chest or legs. Choose: exotic class item or another exotic armor piece. Either can still pair with an exotic weapon.

Monument baseline

Artifact & mode legality: the Artifact 2.0 system is plural and loadout-aware, but it is disabled outright in Competitive and Trials (also noted on the weapon-system guide). So a Comp or Trials loop cannot lean on artifact perks at all — the economy, cooldown, and damage-acceleration perks those playlists normally borrow from the Artifact are simply gone, so you build from intrinsic weapon frames and gear and plan your tempo around having less of that layer. (Anti-Champion coverage doesn't enter into it — Champions are a PvE-only concern and never appear in Crucible.)

04 · Class Starter Templates

Per-class starter kits

Three starting points, one per class. Each gives an identity, three PvP stat priorities to anchor on, and a hand-off to the weapon page for the range pair and back to the hub for fundamentals. Tune the spread to your subclass once you've picked a role.

Warlock

Identity: rift-anchored lane support — hold a sightline, heal/empower the duel, control space with movement and grenades.

Health — survive the lane you're holding.
Class — rift uptime is your reset and your team's heal/buff.
Weapons — win the mid-range band a rift wants you to anchor.

weapon pair → · fundamentals →

Titan

Identity: barricade-and-overshield space-taker — claim ground, force peeks, brawl the close band and deny pushes.

Health — the frontline class wants the most effective HP.
Class — barricade is your cover-on-demand and reset.
Weapons (or Melee for brawler kits) — win the band you push into.

weapon pair → · fundamentals →

Hunter

Identity: dodge / invis tempo duelist — fast resets, verticality, and pick-your-fight aggression off the radar.

Class — dodge is your reset, escape and reposition; the tempo engine.
Weapons — TTK to convert the picks your movement creates.
Health — enough effective HP to survive the trade you start.

weapon pair → · fundamentals →

These are starting points, not gospel. The priorities above are role-true, and on the settled Monument sandbox the spread, subclass and exotic that serve each role hold. The subclass hub decides what your abilities do; this page only decides how often and how hard.

05 · Sniper Build Templates

Sniper shells worth trying

These are not rigid DIM loadouts. They are three sniper shells: a class identity, a stat spread, an exotic job, and the range pair that makes the sniper work. Pick the one that matches how you want to take the first angle.

Hunter · radar pick

Shell: Nightstalker or Prismatic Hunter with Knucklehead Radar; swap to Graviton Forfeit if you want longer invis chains instead of ADS information.

Stats: Class → Weapons → Health. Dodge uptime creates the reposition; Weapons and Health make the actual duel stick.
Armor: Specialist / Gunner plus a Bulwark piece if you are losing flinch trades.
Weapons: Adaptive sniper + hand cannon, sidearm, or SMG. Cloudstrike works here if you want the exotic sniper lane.

How it plays: hold radar while ADS, take the first clean head, then dodge/invis out before the counter-peek arrives. This is the "I want information while scoped" build.

Warlock · handling lane

Shell: Solar Dawnblade with Icarus Dash and Ophidian Aspect; go Voidwalker with Astrocyte Verse if you want Blink entry/exit instead.

Stats: Weapons → Health → Class. Handling, swap speed, and the rift reset matter more than grenade spam.
Armor: Gunner / Specialist for the gun feel, then Bulwark if you need more lane survival.
Weapons: Sniper + hand cannon or pulse for mid-band cleanup. New Land Beyond is the weird, high-ceiling experiment here.

How it plays: pre-aim the lane, take a fast scoped shot, then dash/blink or rift-reset instead of floating in the open. This is the "my sniper should feel instant" build.

Titan · SMG collapse

Shell: Arc or Void Titan with Peacekeepers. The sniper creates the opening; the SMG and barricade convert it into space.

Stats: Health → Class → Weapons, or Weapons first if your aim is already carrying. Barricade protects the angle and the revive body.
Armor: Bulwark / Specialist / Gunner. Add Skirmisher only if the melee plan is truly part of your close-band pressure.
Weapons: Sniper + SMG. The SMG owns the close collapse that a sniper cannot cover once the enemy rushes.

How it plays: open a lane with the sniper, barricade the counter-angle or revive, then swap to the SMG and take ground. This is the "pick, push, and hold the body" build.

Shared sniper mod package

Helmet: Kinetic Targeting (swap the element to match your sniper) plus a primary targeting mod if you can afford it.
Chest: Unflinching Kinetic Aim (swap the element to match the weapon). Health investment and the 9.5.0 flinch reduction stack into a more stable lane.
Arms: Kinetic Dexterity if you swap often; primary Dexterity if your primary cleanup is slow.
Class item: ability refund for the reset button your shell actually uses: dodge, rift, barricade, or movement tool.

What to practice first

One lane per life. Pick an angle, take the clean shot, rotate. Re-peeking the same lane is how good teams pre-fire you.
Primary out on rotation. The sniper is for the long pick; your primary is for every door, revive body, and collapse after it.
Spend ammo on advantage. A body shot that forces cover can be fine; an ego flick into a strafing full-health target usually is not.
Never judge a sniper only by stats. Sight picture and timing decide whether you hit the first shot.

Weapon hand-off: the specific sniper shortlist, roll targets, Cloudstrike/New Land Beyond notes, and special-ammo discipline live on PvP Weapons — Sniper Lanes. Build the shell here, pick the rifle there. For the SMG, pulse, fusion, or heavy these shells pair with, see the full band-by-band shortlist — legendary and exotic picks for every slot.

06 · Hand Cannon Build Templates

Hand cannon shells worth trying

These shells are built around the same truth: a hand cannon wins by opening first, touching cover, and resetting before the opponent gets sustained damage. The class choice decides how you get that first angle and how you leave it.

Hunter · peek-shot tempo

Shell: Gunslinger, Nightstalker, or Prismatic Hunter with Knucklehead Radar while learning hand-cannon lanes; swap to your favorite dodge or movement exotic once map reads are automatic.

Stats: Class → Weapons → Health. Dodge uptime creates the re-peek; Weapons makes the three-tap lane real.
Armor: Gunner / Specialist, then Bulwark if you are losing flinch trades.
Weapons: 140 hand cannon + shotgun for close collapse, or 140 hand cannon + sniper if you want mid into long.

How it plays: take the first shot, dodge the counter-angle, and reappear from a different slice. This is the "make them chase a moving mid-band duel" build.

Warlock · instant ready duel

Shell: Solar Dawnblade or Voidwalker with Ophidian Aspect. The exotic smooths hand-cannon ready, reload, and swap feel so your primary and special stop fighting each other.

Stats: Weapons → Health → Class. Your gun wins the duel; rift is the reset when the trade gets messy.
Armor: Gunner / Bulwark for direct duels, with Specialist if the paired sniper or fusion needs help.
Weapons: Hand cannon + shotgun, fusion, or sniper. Ace and Thorn both fit if your exotic weapon slot is open.

How it plays: pre-aim, land the first shot, swap cleanly when rushed, and rift only after you have cover. This is the "my hand cannon should always be ready" build.

Titan · barricade mid-band

Shell: Void or Arc Titan with a neutral exotic you trust. The barricade is the build: it turns a hand-cannon lane into a repeatable angle, revive shield, or forced rotation.

Stats: Health → Weapons → Class. You need to survive the trade, hit the shot, and get barricade back often enough to own space.
Armor: Bulwark / Gunner first; Skirmisher only if shoulder pressure is a real part of the plan.
Weapons: 120 hand cannon + shotgun/fusion for teamshot pressure, or 140 hand cannon + sniper when the map has longer opening lanes.

How it plays: barricade the angle, chunk with a 120 or clean up with a 140, then hold the body or objective. This is the "mid-band anchor" build.

Shared hand-cannon mod package

Helmet: Kinetic Targeting (swap the element to match your hand cannon); add special targeting only if the energy budget allows it.
Chest: Unflinching Kinetic Aim. If the paired sniper/fusion is the win condition, split the chest mods.
Arms: Kinetic Dexterity for aggressive swap play; Loader only if the roll is painfully slow between fights.
Class item: refund the button that creates your re-peek: dodge, rift, barricade, or movement reset.

What to practice first

First-shot rule. If you lose the opening shot, leave or force cover. Do not stand still trying to repair the duel.
One body-width peeks. Slice the lane from cover; never show your whole Guardian to a sustained primary.
Two-shot pressure. Two crits should force panic, cover, or a teammate's cleanup. Do not tunnel on perfect solo three-taps.
Range honesty. Hand cannons are not SMGs and not scouts. Fight the mid-band, then rotate when the map stops giving it to you.

Weapon hand-off: the specific hand-cannon shortlist, exotic notes, and roll targets live on PvP Weapons — Hand Cannon Lanes. Build the shell here, pick the gun there. The shotgun, fusion, or sniper special these shells pair with is in the full band-by-band shortlist — legendary and exotic picks for every slot.

07 · Subclasses In The Crucible

The six elements, read for duels

The subclass hub is the PvE-first rulebook for what each element does. This is the Crucible translation: the one job each element is best at when another Guardian shoots back, the verbs that do it, and the super's PvP value. Pick the element whose job matches your class role and range band — abilities are tempo and control here, not your primary damage.

Void

job · go dark, control space

Invisibility & Devour. The strongest information tool in PvP — vanish off radar, reposition, and re-peek with the first shot. Volatile punishes anyone hugging cover.

Verbs: invis (Stylish Executioner, Vanishing Step), Devour heal-on-kill, weaken.

super: Spectral Blades roam · Tether zone

Solar

job · heal the lane, hold ground

Restoration & Radiant. The sustain element — cure through chip damage and buff your gun. Anchors a sightline a rift can't leave; scorch/ignite is weaker vs Guardians.

Verbs: restoration, radiant, cure (Heat Rises, Ember fragments).

super: Well anchor · Daybreak & Golden Gun pick

Arc

job · close the gap, brawl

Amplified & speed. The aggression element — Amplified boosts movement and handling; jolt and blind swing close fights. Built to rush and finish.

Verbs: amplified, jolt, blind (Knockout, Flashbang, Seismic Strike).

super: Fists of Havoc · Gathering Storm · Chaos Reach

Stasis

job · freeze, slow, deny

Slow & freeze. The control element — slow a rusher to a crawl or freeze them for a free kill, and wall off a lane with crystals. Hard-counters shotgun apes and super pushes.

Verbs: slow, freeze, shatter (Duskfield, Coldsnap, Withering Blade).

super: Winter's Wrath · Glacial Quake · Silence & Squall

Strand

job · suspend, out-move

Suspend & grapple. Mobility plus control — grapple takes an angle a jump can't, suspend lifts a target helpless out of a fight, and Woven Mail buys survivability.

Verbs: suspend, sever, grapple, Woven Mail (Shackle, Drengr's Lash).

super: Bladefury · Silkstrike · Needlestorm

Prismatic

job · mix survival + reset

Two elements, one kit. Pair a Light reset with a Darkness control verb — invis + slow, or Devour + Amplified — and bank Transcendence for a mid-fight power spike. The flexible duelist's canvas.

Verbs: any two sides' picks + Transcendence, Facet fragments.

super: your best roam or pick from either side

Monument baseline

These jobs are the durable layer. Exact aspect and fragment tuning is settled on the Monument sandbox, but the role each element plays in a duel is structural. Mind the economy tax: the Ammo System pass cut the point gains toward special and heavy ammo — from special-ammo, heavy-ammo, and Super kills — by 33% (glaive melee 20%), so special ammo comes slower; your super is still a saved tempo swing, not a rotation. Exact grenade / melee / super damage vs Guardians is tuned separately and lives on the subclass pages.

08 · The Artifact & Mod Layer

The artifact & mod layer

Two layers sit on top of your subclass and gear: the Artifact layer (a swappable, loadout-saved perk board) and your armor mods. The single most important PvP fact about the Artifact is where it isn't — so build a core that stands without it.

Mode legality · bank this

The Artifact is disabled in Competitive and Trials. Its perks are live in Quickplay, Control, Iron Banner and Rumble, but the ranked and weekend lanes run on intrinsic weapon frames and gear alone — no artifact economy, cooldown, or damage-acceleration perks. So a large share of your serious PvP time has no Artifact at all: build the subclass-and-gear core to win the duel by itself, and treat the Artifact as a bonus in the modes that allow it, never as a load-bearing part of the plan.

Artifact perk families that matter in PvP

Anti-flinch & weapon feel. Perks that cut incoming flinch or add handling / reload / target-acquisition to a weapon type are pure duel value — they help you land the first crit through return fire.
Ability energy on orbs / pickups. Under the 125% cooldown cap, energy-refund perks matter more than raw stat-cooldown for keeping your reset or opener online.
Subclass-verb amplifiers. Perks that strengthen the verb your build lives on — stronger volatile, jolt, slow or sever, or easier Amplified / Woven Mail / Devour — raise your kit's floor in the modes they're legal.
Weapon-type economy. Scavenger / reserves / finder perks change your special-ammo math — read them against the leaner Crucible economy on the weapon page.

The current slate lives on the Artifact 2.0 hub (seven returning artifacts; the tier data there is community-reconstructed). Pick the perks that serve your build's verb and weapon type — and remember none of it carries into Comp or Trials.

The evergreen armor-mod layer

Unlike the Artifact, your armor mods are legal in every mode. These are the always-on duel mods from §03 — worth repeating because they're what carries you in Comp and Trials:

Targeting (helmet, per element) — land the first crit.
Unflinching Aim (chest, per element) — hold that crit through fire.
Dexterity (arms, per element) — win the primary→special swap.
Loaders / reserves — shorten the vulnerable window; stretch a leaner special economy.
Class-item ability refund — keep the reset button (dodge / rift / barricade) online under the cooldown cap.

Match the weapon-type mods to the gun you actually duel with, not the one you occasionally swap to.

09 · The Build Gallery

Six Crucible builds worth running

The shells above are weapon-first; these are subclass-first full builds — two per class, spanning all six elements. Each is a mode-agnostic core: subclass, aspects, fragments, exotic, and a weapon range pair that's legal everywhere, Comp and Trials included. Layer the Artifact on top only in the modes that allow it. Treat them as role-true starting points on the Monument sandbox; tune the fragments and stat spread to your hand.

◈

Void · Nightstalker · Hunter

Invis Tempo · Gyrfalcon's Hauberk

Off-radar duelistVoid

ExoticGyrfalcon's Hauberk (chest) — Volatile Rounds on leaving invis. Swap: Wormhusk Crown for pure dodge-duel healing.

SuperSpectral Blades (roam) or Shadowshot: Deadfall (zone)

AspectsStylish Executioner · Vanishing Step

FragmentsEcho of Persistence · Instability · Dilation · Harvest

ClassMarksman's Dodge (clean reload) or Gambler's (melee reset)

MeleeSnare Bomb — a weaken-and-disorient smoke trap that pings the target on radar

WeaponsVoid primary (Repulsor Brace) + shotgun or sniper

How it plays: dodge to vanish, reposition off-radar, and re-peek with the first shot — leaving invis hands you Volatile Rounds that punish anyone hugging cover. Stylish Executioner drops you back into invis off a weakened or volatile kill, so you're a ghost that keeps stealing first-shots. Stats: Class → Weapons → Health. Armor: Specialist / Gunner.

⚡

Arc · Striker · Titan

Amplified Brawler · An Insurmountable Skullfort

Close-band rushArc

ExoticAn Insurmountable Skullfort — Arc melee kills heal + refund melee. Swap: Dunemarchers for chain-lightning pressure.

SuperFists of Havoc (roam)

AspectsKnockout · Juggernaut

FragmentsSpark of Resistance · Shock · Frequency · Momentum

GrenadeFlashbang — blind the peek

MeleeSeismic Strike — shoulder-charge blind

ClassThruster — fast Arc reposition

WeaponsSMG or auto + shotgun for the close collapse

How it plays: Thruster and Amplified close the gap; Knockout turns a broken shield or crit into a healing one-punch, and Skullfort refunds the melee so the brawl chains. Blind with Flashbang or Seismic Strike, then finish. A pure close-band rush that punishes anyone caught in the open. Stats: Health → Melee → Weapons. Armor: Brawler / Bulwark.

❄

Stasis · Shadebinder · Warlock

Freeze Shutdown · Osmiomancy Gloves

Anti-rush controlStasis

ExoticOsmiomancy Gloves — two tracking Coldsnaps, faster recharge on freeze

SuperWinter's Wrath (freeze + shatter)

AspectsIceflare Bolts · Frostpulse

FragmentsWhisper of Rime · Chains · Torment · Shards

GrenadeColdsnap — tracking freeze (your main tool)

MeleePenumbral Blast — ranged Stasis bolt that freezes on hit

ClassHealing Rift — Frostpulse freezes on cast

WeaponsMid-range primary + shotgun to punish frozen targets

How it plays: a Coldsnap tags the rusher and freezes them for a free kill; Frostpulse freezes anyone who pushes your rift and layers on Frost Armor, and the Stasis shards you shatter stack that armor deeper and longer via Whisper of Rime. This is the hardest counter in the game to shotgun apes and super pushes — you simply freeze the aggression and punish it. Stats: Grenade → Health → Class. Armor: Siegebreaker / Bulwark.

✺

Strand · Berserker · Titan

Suspend Anchor · Abeyant Leap

Lane controlStrand

ExoticAbeyant Leap — Drengr's Lash fires three suspending waves + Woven Mail on suspend

SuperBladefury (Strand blades)

AspectsDrengr's Lash · Into the Fray

FragmentsThread of Warding · Continuity · Generation · Fury

GrenadeShackle — suspend on demand

MeleeFrenzied Blade

ClassTowering Barricade → Drengr's Lash suspend wave

WeaponsPulse or auto + the special of your band

How it plays: cast a barricade and Drengr's Lash throws suspending waves down the lane — a suspended target is a free kill and a stopped push. Into the Fray and Thread of Warding keep Woven Mail up for the trades. Control the choke, suspend the aggressor, hold the ground. Stats: Health → Class → Weapons. Armor: Bulwark / Siegebreaker.

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Solar · Dawnblade · Warlock

Heal-Lane Support · Ophidian Aspect

Team anchorSolar

ExoticOphidian Aspect — handling / reload / melee range on every gun. Swap: Rain of Fire — air-dodge reloads everything; Fusion / Linear final blows go Radiant.

SuperWell of Radiance (anchor) or Daybreak (roam)

AspectsHeat Rises · Icarus Dash

FragmentsEmber of Torches · Empyrean · Solace · Benevolence

GrenadeHealing grenade — restoration on demand

MeleeIncinerator Snap or Celestial Fire

ClassHealing Rift — the lane anchor

WeaponsHand cannon or pulse + special; Ophidian keeps them snappy

How it plays: hold a sightline on a healing rift with Ophidian smoothing every ready and reload, cure through chip damage, and refresh restoration / radiant off kills with Empyrean. You out-sustain the lane and buff the teamshot — the classic "hold the angle and don't die" support that a rift can't walk away from. Stats: Weapons → Health → Class. Armor: Gunner / Bulwark.

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Prismatic · Hunter
Reset Duelist · Relativism
Flexible tempoPrismatic
Class itemRelativism: Spirit of the Assassin + Spirit of the Wormhusk. Swap: Assassin's Cowl for a fixed exotic.
SuperStorm's Edge (Arc pick) or Golden Gun
AspectsAscension (Arc reposition) · Stylish Executioner (Void invis)
FacetsFacet of Courage · Dawn · Protection · Bravery
GrenadeGrapple (mobility) or Duskfield (slow)
MeleeCombination Blow (heal + ramp) or Threaded Spike
ClassGambler's Dodge; Ascension is the aerial reset
WeaponsHand cannon + the special of your band
How it plays: mix a Light reset with a Darkness control verb — Ascension repositions and jolts, Stylish Executioner vanishes you off a weakened or volatile kill, and Wormhusk tops you up on every dodge. Transcendence is a mid-fight power spike once the meters fill. The most flexible duel canvas in the game — bend it to the fight in front of you. Stats: Class → Weapons → Health. Armor: Specialist / Gunner.

How to read a card: the loadout rows are the core; the How it plays line is the game plan and the stat lead. Weapons are a range pair, not a mandate — swap in your equivalent from the band-by-band shortlist. Every build here still wins the same way §00 described: survive the first exchange, own a band, and time one ability — the subclass just decides how you reset and control.

10 · The Picture

The stat-priority triangle

Every PvP build is a point inside this triangle. The three corners pull against each other; where you sit is your identity. Schematic only — no in-game numbers.

Survival (Health · Class) ↔ Range control (Weapons) ↔ Ability tempo (Grenade · Super · Melee) — pick where you sit.

11 · Go Deeper

The PvP spine

Three pages, navigable in any order. The hub owns the fundamentals, this page owns stats and survival, and the weapon page owns range and farms. Hand cannons and snipers now have both halves: build shells here, weapon discipline there.

Hub

Crucible

Vs PvE, fundamentals, modes, fight loop, and the loadout decision flow.

Stats

PvP Builds

Stat priorities, archetypes, mods, subclass roles, the artifact layer, and a six-build gallery. You're here.

Guns

Duel Lanes

Hand-cannon roll targets, exotic experiments, sniper lanes, and special-ammo discipline.

Coming from the systems pages? The Armor 3.0 and buildcrafting guides are the PvE-first rulebooks for these exact stats and archetypes. This page is the Crucible translation — same system, re-weighted for duels.

Survive, win range, time abilities

Why the room-farm loop loses

What the build is actually for

The six stats, re-read for PvP

How the stats tier

The 12 archetypes, by PvP job

Mods, exotics & legality

Targeting aim

Dexterity swap

Unflinching steady

Loaders reload

Ability refund tempo

Orb generation economy

Class-item utility slot

Exotics — fill a gap, not a win-button

Exotic class items

Per-class starter kits

Warlock

Titan

Hunter

Sniper shells worth trying

Hunter · radar pick

Warlock · handling lane

Titan · SMG collapse

Shared sniper mod package

What to practice first

Hand cannon shells worth trying

Hunter · peek-shot tempo

Warlock · instant ready duel

Titan · barricade mid-band

Shared hand-cannon mod package

What to practice first

The six elements, read for duels

Void

Solar

Arc

Stasis

Strand

Prismatic

The artifact & mod layer

Artifact perk families that matter in PvP

The evergreen armor-mod layer

Six Crucible builds worth running

The stat-priority triangle

The PvP spine

These guides stay free.