Destiny 2 · Subclass Guide · Monument of Triumph

Solar

The burn element. Solar stacks Scorch until things Ignite, then keeps you standing with Radiant and Restoration while the fire spreads. One element, all three classes — this page is the cross-class map; per-class full builds live in the class guides. Built on the Monument baseline, Destiny 2's final content sandbox; these are settled recommendations, not a rotating tier list.

Element

SolarLight · burn / sustain

Classes

3Dawnblade · Sunbreaker · Gunslinger

Verbs

Scorch → IgniteRadiant · Restoration · Cure

DPS supers

Golden Gun+ Well of Radiance buff

Patch

9.7.0.3Last gameplay patch

00 · Read This First

What Solar actually is

Solar is burn-stacking damage that ignites the room and keeps you alive — apply Scorch until a target detonates, and use Radiant and Restoration to never stop shooting.

What wins fights

Three jobs, run in a loop:

Apply Scorch — grenades, melees and Solar weapons stack it; 100 stacks triggers an Ignition.
Stay buffed — Radiant raises your weapon damage, Restoration heals you continuously, Cure patches you in a burst.
Feed the engine — Firesprite pickups refund grenade energy so the cycle restarts.

What old guides get wrong

Several pre-9.7.0 assumptions are dead. Treat anything older as suspect:

Titan's Towering Barricade behavior changed — the new Shieldburst Solar aspect upgrades both Towering and Rally Barricade.
Solar kits carry a 4th Aspect per class — Hunter's lineup includes the Crackshot Gunslinger Aspect.
Ability cooldown cap moved 190 → 125, and bosses now give -60% super energy from damage dealt.

Burn

Scorch is a stacking damage-over-time. You don't aim for kills directly — you aim to pile stacks until the room ignites. Grenades, melees and Solar (Incandescent) weapons all add stacks.

Sustain

Solar is the self-healing element. Restoration and Cure mean you rarely retreat to regenerate — you hold ground and keep applying burn while the fire patches you back up.

Buff

Radiant turns survival into offense. On-demand weapon-damage uptime is why Solar is strong even when the room is empty — the neutral game carries between detonations.

Monument baseline: last gameplay patch Update 9.7.0.3 (2026-07-07). Update 9.7.0.4 (2026-07-28) shipped without notes; Update 9.7.0.5 (2026-10-07) is an anti-cheat back-end fix only. Checked 2026-10-08. Only claims on Bungie's active Known Issues list are flagged inline. Full per-class builds live in the Warlock, Titan and Hunter class guides; the Light+Dark blend is in Prismatic; stats live in Armor 3.0; the build loop is wired up in Buildcrafting.

01 · Verb Glossary

The Solar keywords

Every Solar build is a sentence built from these words. Learn the verbs and the fragment/aspect text reads itself.

Scorch → IgnitionBurn DoT · detonate

Stacking burn. At 100 Scorch a target Ignites — a big AoE blast that also stuns Unstoppable Champions. The core Solar damage verb.

RadiantDamage buff

A timed weapon-damage boost. Against Champions it no longer stuns Barrier — it now adds +10% weapon damage instead, so treat it as a damage buff, not a counter. Usually applied by powered melees or specific fragments.

RestorationContinuous heal

Heals you over time — and unlike normal regeneration, the healing keeps ticking while you take damage. It out-heals moderate fire but can still be outpaced by heavy damage.

CureBurst heal

An instant chunk of health, not a heal-over-time. The fast top-up when Restoration isn't already running — often tied to Firesprite pickups or Phoenix Dive.

FirespritePickup → energy

A small flame pickup spawned by Solar kills/scorch. Grab it for grenade energy (and, with the right fragments, Cure or Restoration). The fuel that closes the loop.

Stun: UnstoppableIgnition utility

Not a buff but worth flagging: an Ignition stuns Unstoppable Champions, so a scorch loop doubles as anti-Champion tech in Nightfalls without an Unstoppable mod.

02 · The Three Classes

Solar, per class

Same element, three identities. Each leans on a different verb. The names below are the shape; your two Aspects decide how many fragment slots you get.

Solar · Warlock

DawnbladeClass ability · Rift

Supers: Well of Radiance · Daybreak
Leans on: Radiant / Restoration

The healer / Radiant engine. Well of Radiance plants a healing-and-empowering pool the whole team stands in; Daybreak is the roaming sword super. Signature aspects: Touch of Flame (supercharged Solar grenades) and Heat Rises (aerial play, feeds the loop while airborne).

Identity is the Rift — most Dawnblade builds spend and refund class-ability energy to keep Restoration and Radiant blanketing the fireteam. The reliable support pick.

Solar · Titan

SunbreakerClass ability · Barricade

Supers: Hammer of Sol · Burning Maul
Leans on: Scorch → Ignition

The slam-and-burn bruiser. Hammer of Sol throws tracking hammers; Burning Maul is a heavy ground-slam super. Signature aspects: Consecration (slide → slam that scorches and ignites) and Roaring Flames (Solar ability kills stack escalating damage).

The Shieldburst aspect (Titan) upgrades Towering and Rally Barricade and lets you detonate them. The bread-and-butter playstyle is the Consecration slam loop: melee, slide, slam, ignite, repeat.

Solar · Hunter

GunslingerClass ability · Dodge

Supers: Golden Gun · Blade Barrage
Leans on: Radiant (precision)

The precision DPS class. Golden Gun is the iconic single-target nuke; Blade Barrage throws a fan of explosive knives. Signature aspects: Knock 'Em Down (empowered finisher/super synergy) and the Crackshot 4th Aspect.

The DPS hook is Celestial Nighthawk (Golden Gun becomes one massive shot) and the Still Hunt exotic Sniper that grants a Golden-Gun-style burst — together a premier boss-damage package. Leans hard on Radiant.

03 · Fragments

The "Ember of …" pool

Solar fragments are all Embers. Your two equipped Aspects set how many fragment slots you get, and many Embers carry a stat bonus or penalty — so picking fragments is also picking stats. Below are the staples.

Ember of Ashes

Apply more Scorch stacks per hit — the single best "reach Ignition faster" fragment.

Ember of Searing

Solar / scorched kills grant melee energy and spawn a Firesprite.

Ember of Torches

Powered melee hits make you Radiant — the easy on-demand damage buff.

Ember of Singeing

Scorching targets recharges your class ability faster — feeds Rift / Dodge / Barricade.

Ember of Benevolence

Buffing or healing an ally massively boosts ability regen — the team-support engine.

Ember of Empyrean

Solar kills extend Restoration and Radiant timers — keeps both buffs rolling.

Ember of Char

Ignitions spread Scorch to nearby targets — chains detonations through a pack.

Ember of Mercy

Reviving an ally — or taking a Firesprite — grants Restoration; a survivability staple.

Ember of Wonder

Rapidly defeating multiple targets with Ignitions spawns an Orb of Power — bridges Solar into the mod economy.

Ember of Solace

Radiant and Restoration applied to you last longer — stretches both buff timers further.

Ember of Combustion

Final blows with your Super cause Ignitions — turns super damage into chain detonations.

Ember of Beams

Gives your Solar Super projectiles stronger target acquisition (they bend toward enemies) and +10 Super — an accuracy aid for projectile Supers like Daybreak and Blade Barrage, not a damage buff. (No benefit to hitscan Golden Gun.)

How to read slots: Solar gives a fixed fragment pool, but how many you can slot is decided by your two Aspects — some Aspects grant more fragment sockets than others. Stack the stat riders deliberately (e.g. an Ember that adds Health if you want survivability). Prismatic does not use Embers — it has its own Facet pool, covered in the Prismatic guide.

03b · Wiring It Up

Stats, mods & the loop

A Solar build is never carried by the exotic alone — the loop only closes when stats, mods and fragments push the same way. The full stat math lives in Armor 3.0 and the wiring walkthrough in Buildcrafting; here's the Solar-specific shape.

The mod layer

Set armor mods before tuning stats — a lot of the loop lives here:

Siphon (helmet) — Solar weapon kills make Orbs of Power; pairs with Ember of Wonder.
Firepower / Heavy Handed (arms) — Orbs on grenade / melee kills, which your scorch loop produces constantly.
Bomber / Outreach / Distribution (class item) — ability energy on class-ability use, for Rift / Dodge / Barricade cadence.
Solar Surge (legs) — bonus weapon damage on the weeks Solar is the featured surge.

Stats by build shape

Translate the loop into the 9.7.0 stat system:

Grenade / scorch builds (Sunbracers, Consecration) → grenade-leaning archetype for faster nade uptime.
Sustain / solo (Loreley, Well) → Health so Restoration survival stays topped.
Boss DPS (Nighthawk, Still Hunt) → push Weapons toward 200 before the damage phase, swap back after.
Don't dump Class — every Solar class spends class-ability energy to keep buffs alive.

Cooldown reality check: with the cap moved 190 → 125 and bosses giving -60% super energy from damage, you can no longer brute-force a single mega-stat — layered ability regen (Singeing, Benevolence, Bomber mods) beats one tall spike.

04 · Builds

One build per class

A starter Solar build for each class — super → aspects → fragments → exotic → armor archetype → weapons. Full versions live in each class guide.

Warlock · Dawnblade

Radiant Well Engine · Speaker's Sight

Best supportPvE

SuperWell of Radiance

ExoticSpeaker's Sight (helmet)

AspectsTouch of Flame · Heat Rises

ClassHealing / Empowering Rift

FragmentsBenevolence · Empyrean · Torches · Singeing

WeaponsSolar primary w/ Incandescent

How it plays: Throw the Healing-Grenade turret (Speaker's Sight) at the team, which feeds Benevolence regen; powered melees keep you Radiant via Torches; Well of Radiance covers the damage phase. You are the heal-and-buff anchor. Armor: Restoration/Health-leaning archetype · push Class for Rift cadence.

Titan · Sunbreaker

Consecration Loop · Pyrogale Gauntlets

Add clearPvE

SuperBurning Maul (or Hammer of Sol)

ExoticPyrogale Gauntlets

AspectsConsecration · Roaring Flames

ClassTowering Barricade (Shieldburst is an aspect: swap it in for Roaring Flames to detonate)

FragmentsAshes · Searing · Char · Empyrean

WeaponsSolar weapon w/ Incandescent for scorch

How it plays: Slide into a Consecration slam to scorch and ignite a pack; Roaring Flames stacks make each slam hit harder; Searing refunds melee on scorched kills (its Firesprites feed the grenade) so you slam again. Char spreads Scorch so Ignitions chain. Pyrogale turns Burning Maul into a single huge slam. Armor: melee/Super-leaning archetype · build for ability uptime.

Hunter · Gunslinger

Nighthawk DPS · Celestial Nighthawk

Best boss DPSPvE

SuperGolden Gun: Marksman

ExoticCelestial Nighthawk (helmet)

AspectsKnock 'Em Down · Crackshot (new 4th)

ClassGambler's / Marksman's Dodge

FragmentsAshes · Torches · Singeing · Empyrean

WeaponsStill Hunt + Solar special

How it plays: Be Radiant (Torches/On Your Mark), then dump a Celestial Nighthawk Golden Gun for a single huge crit; Still Hunt gives a second Golden-Gun-style shot between supers. Knock 'Em Down extends super damage. Premier single-target burst. Armor: Weapon/Super-leaning archetype · ~200 Weapons before a boss phase.

PvE vs PvP: In PvE the verdicts above hold — Solar is a top sustain/DPS element and the Nighthawk and Well builds are reference-tier. In PvP Solar's job is sustain and peek pressure: Restoration and Cure let you out-last a peek war, on-demand Radiant is a duel-winning damage buff, Golden Gun and Hammer of Sol are clutch revenge supers, and scorch grenades are area pressure, not an ignition combo. The "best" tags above are PvE-first; with the sandbox settled on the Monument baseline, those values are stable. → PvP: Crucible hub · PvP builds

Other Solar exotics worth knowing

The builds above are starters, not the only answers. A few class exotics define their own Solar loops — pick by what the activity needs.

Warlock options

Sunbracers — a Solar melee kill grants several seconds of free, rapid grenades; the classic nade-spam engine. Phoenix Protocol for Well uptime; Rain of Fire for fusion-rifle Radiant play. Pick Speaker's Sight when the team needs healing, Sunbracers when you want to be the damage.

Titan options

Loreley Splendor — Shieldburst/Barricade or low-health triggers a Sunspot that pumps Restoration; a near-unkillable solo helmet. Synthoceps for melee-slam damage; Hazardous Propulsion for rocket burst. Pyrogale leans Super, Loreley leans survival.

Hunter options

Star-Eater Scales — feed orbs to overcharge your Super for a bigger Golden Gun / Blade Barrage. Gunpowder Gamble synergy via aspects. Nighthawk for one-shot burst, Star-Eaters for raw super ceiling.

Take it to a full build → these are starters; the complete Monument-era builds live on the class pages — Warlock Solar (Speaker's Sight support · Sunbracers nade-spam) · Titan Solar (Consecration / Pyrogale) · Hunter Solar (Nighthawk + Still Hunt DPS · Crackshot).

05 · The Loop

How the engine cycles

Every Solar build, stripped to its skeleton, is the same four-beat cycle. Apply burn, detonate, harvest the fuel, stay buffed, repeat. The diagram is the whole element on one page.

Solar ability loopScorch → Ignition → Firesprite → Buff

Damage step Fuel step Detonation

Where it breaks: if the loop stalls, you're usually missing fuel (no Firesprite source) or burn rate (not enough Scorch-per-hit — slot Ember of Ashes). Wire the full version in the Buildcrafting guide.

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