With each day deeper into Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion, its become abundantly clear to the majority of the playerbase that the new Strand subclass is giving Titans something of a resurgence within the PvE sandbox. After the lackluster launch of Stasis during Beyond Light, Titans needed a win and the potential of the class’s Strand builds provides exactly that through deadly utility and powerful support options across the board.
The strength of Strand-wielding Titans comes from a few key areas: class Exotics, Aspects and the roaming Super. Despite the efforts of recent nerfs, Heart of Inmost Light remains an incredible Exotic armor piece for any build and the Abeyant Leap Exotic legs that also released with Lightfall are nothing to scoff at either when it comes to enhancing Strand. The trick is finding the right synergy between your Aspects, Fragments and Exotic to leave the most impact in any PvE encounter.
There are two major Strand builds that have emerged as outliers worth investing into with the Strand customization options we currently have as of Lightfall’s launch. Respectively, these builds allow you to either fully invest into the tanking capabilities provided to Titans via abundant sources of Woven Mail or turn your Barricade into an infinite Suspend device for maximum crowd control. Either way, these Strand builds are effective in both regular and endgame activities—a flexibility not always afforded to every subclass.
Here’s the two best Strand builds for Titans in Destiny 2, built from the ground up around two key Exotic armor pieces.
Best Berserker Titan Strand builds in Destiny 2
Strand Titan – Suspend build
Exotic
- Abeyant Leap (Leg armor)
Abilities
- Shackle Grenade
- Towering Barricade
Aspects
- Drengr’s Lash
- Into The Fray
Fragments
- Thread of Mind
- Thread of Continuity
- Thread of Generation
- Thread of Fury
Since this build is all about the Suspend keyword, there’s no harm in putting the Grapple away for a proper Shackle Grenade to further increase the opportunities to lock down a room of enemies. Similarly, almost all of your Fragment choices here should build around the idea of enhancing your Suspend or making it easier to Suspend targets.
Thread of Mind and Thread of Continuity are the two must-haves on this list, with a bit more flexibility available for the other two slots. However, you can’t go wrong with free melee and grenade energy, which is why we’ve gone with Thread of Generation and Thread of Fury. The more that you’re affecting enemies with Strand, the more you’re feeding into your abilities and your future opportunities.
Mods
With very little on offer in the way of mods when it comes to class ability energy—especially when your Fragments are doing most of the heavy lifting—armor mods can be more flexible. Orb of Power creation on the helmet is always a must, so pick the Siphons that match your current loadout. Similarly, putting on a matching Surge mod can massively help the build since it makes finishing your suspended targets easier.
Strand Titan – Woven Mail build
Exotic
- Heart of Inmost Light (Chest armor)
Abilities
- Grapple
- Towering Barricade
Aspects
- Drengr’s Lash
- Into The Fray
Fragments
- Thread of Generation
- Thread of Fury
- Thread of Transmutation
- Thread of Warding
Heart of Inmost Light is inherently an enabler when it comes to this build—it enhances the rest of your abilities whenever one is used, feeding into a rapid cooldown loop that is already pretty quick thanks to the Fragments being utilized here. With both Thread of Warding and Into The Fray, you’ll be able to have a pretty consistent uptime on Woven Mail via Orbs of Power and Tangle destruction. Considering that Woven Mail offers some of the best damage reduction in all of Destiny 2, constant uptime is something that can make difficult content a breeze.
Fragments focused on ability cooldowns like Thread of Generation aren’t a requirement, but certainly help in making this build feel more powerful. As you want to have regular Tangles to throw or shoot, you want to be using fully charged Strand abilities for kills as regularly as possible. Heart of Inmost Light will do a lot of work on its own, but these Fragments give the build that extra nudge into truly powerful territory.
Mods
A lot of familiar faces will be present in your armor mod loadout for a build like this. Time Dilation and Charged Up allow your Armor Charges to maintain an extended presence, allowing you to benefit from an equipped weapon Surge mod or Emergency Reinforcement without scrambling for an Orb of Power at the last second.
The arm mods are the busiest section here, with Momentum Transfer and Impact Induction feeding even further into the ability regeneration loop. Dealing damage with one ability will generate energy for another, making sure you’re never short on Strand in any encounter. Heavy Handed or Firepower is just a nice bonus to add on for additional Orb of Power generation beyond the Siphons equipped to your helmet.
