Best Destiny 2 Strand Titan build: PvP and PvE

Titans are known for solving problems with brute force and are masters of the “punch it until it dies” playstyle. Strand allows Titans to embrace that mantra fully. With this in mind, let me show you the best Destiny 2 Titan Strand build for PvP and PvE.

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Best PvE Strand Titan build in Destiny 2

The Titan doesn’t just have a great go-to Strand build for PvE; it’s one of the strongest in the entire game. This build did get smacked by the Nerf Hammer in Season of the Wish, but it’s still capable of clearing the toughest content in Destiny 2. We’ve already covered the Banner of War Titan build, but as I’ve mained the class for over a season, I’ll recommend a few significant changes here.

Best PvE Strand Titan seasonal perks in Destiny 2 Season of the Wish

Seasonal choices won’t make or break the build, but since you have the option, here are a few I recommend:

• Torch – While Radiant, deal increased weapon damage to combatants affected by Strand or Stasis debuffs
• Unravelling Orbs – Picking up an Orb gives Strand weapons Unravelling Rounds
• Horde Shuttle – Damaging Unravelled Targets occasionally spawns a Threadling

Feel free to play fast and loose with seasonal perks, as this build is solid even without these buffs.

Best PvE Strand Titan Aspects and Fragments

Aspects

• Banner of War – Defeat an enemy with a melee attack, finisher, or Sword to raise a Banner of War that pulses with healing energy and increases Sword and melee damage.
• Into the Fray – Destroying a Tangle or casting your Super grants Woven Mail for you and nearby allies.

Fragments

• Thread of Warding – Picking up a power orb grants Woven Mail.
• Thread of Fury – Damaging enemies with a Tangle grants melee energy.
• Thread of Transmutation – When you have Woven Mail, weapon final blows create a Tangle.
• Thread of Finality – Finisher final blows make Threadlings.

The Banner of War Aspect is the cornerstone of the entire build. Upon Melee kill, the Aspect activates, making the Titan pulse with healing energy. The big difference between Season of the Witch and Season of the Wish is these pulses are now less frequent.

These healing pulses benefit the entire Fireteam. Additional kills also make Banner of War stack, so the buff occurs more frequently. Uptime is extended with kills from any weapon, and your nearby allies add to this amount. 

Woven Mail grants buffs to our survivability and makes us much tankier than usual. 

Our Fragment choices synergize with Woven Mail and Tangles, which we should see a lot of regardless of activity. There’s usually a ton of power orbs in group activities, and Thread of Warding ensures you’ll have Woven Mail live more often than not.

Best PvE Strand Titan Abilities

• Super – Bladefury
• Class Ability – Towering Barricade
• Jump – Strafe Lift
• Melee – Frenzied Blade
• Grenade – Shackle Grenade

Feel free to use your preference for Strand Abilities, but I recommend using the Shackle Grenade. I adore the Grapple Grenades for movement, but there’s no denying the utility of Shackle Grenades. The ability to tangle enemies in place is too good to pass up. That said, I can’t resist zipping around the map and frequently switch between them.

Best PvE Strand Titan Exotic Armor, weapons, and mods

Exotic Armor 

• Synthoceps – When surrounded, gain increased melee and Super damage, as well as improved weapon handling and reload speed.

Weapons

• Quicksilver Storm (With Catalyst)
• Scatter Signal
• Sunshot
• Any Glaive/Sword

Armor Mods 

• Helmet – Resilience Mod, Heavy Ammo Finder x2
• Arms – Resilience Mod, Firepower, Strand Loader
• Chest – Resilience Mod, Lucent Blades, Resistance Mods
• Legs – Resilience Mod, Innervation, Absolution, Insulation
• Mark – Resilience Mod, Reaper, Powerful Attraction, Outreach

The Synthoceps are a no-brainer, as we use the Sword a lot in this build. That said, if you prefer to rely on melee or finishers to trigger Banner of War, something more general like the Heart of Inmost Light is a superb choice. 

The Quicksilver Storm is a devastating Primary and works well because it’s a Strand weapon with its Catalyst. This exotic is versatile, but as with every weapon in this build, it’s not essential. I recommend going with a gun appropriate for the content you’re playing. If you want to lean into supporting your Fireteam, the Lumina Exotic Hand Cannon is another solid choice. 

If you want to play with new guns, the Scatter Signal is a Strand Fusion Rifle and frees up an exotic slot if you use it instead of the Quicksilver Storm. The Torch ability on our Seasonal Artifact requires a Solar Weapon. I recommend the Sunshot Exotic Handcannon, but any Solar weapon will do.

When I started using this build, I put far too much importance on Swords. The Sword is great because it activates Banner of War, but you can experiment here. 

I frequently swap out my Sword for a Rocket Launcher, and Machine Guns like the Eleatic Principal and even the exotic Thunderlord are fantastic options.

My Mod choices are focused on achieving 100 points in Resilience as we often play up close and personal. Heavy Ammo Finder works well for Sword plays, as does Lucent Blades.

Best PvP Strand Titan build in Destiny 2

While the Strand Titan isn’t the most popular choice for PvP, it’s still useable and is a ton of fun. As I mentioned in the PvE section, I’m a sucker for Grapple Grenades and the movement options they grant. They may not be the best PvE option, but you can definitely make them work against your fellow Guardians.

Best PvP Strand Titan seasonal perks in Destiny 2 Season of the Wish

Seasonal perks have little to no bearing on our efficiency in Crucible. Here’s what I use, although you can go with PvE-centric picks if you wish.

• Unravelling Orbs – Picking up an Orb gives Strand weapons Unravelling Rounds
• Horde Shuttle – Damaging Unravelled Targets occasionally spawns a Threadling

Best PvP Strand Titan Aspects and Fragments

Aspects

• Into the Fray – Destroying a Tangle or casting your Super grants Woven Mail for you and nearby allies.
• Drengr’s Lash – Activate your Class Ability to create a ripple in reality that travels across the ground, suspending and damaging anything it hits.

Fragments

• Thread of Propagation – Powered Melee final blows grant Strand weapons Unravelling Rounds.
• Thread of Generation – Dealing damage generates grenade energy
• Thread of Isolation – Rapid precision hits emit a severing burst from the target
• Thread of Fury – Damaging enemies with a Tangle grants melee energy.

Banner of War isn’t as useful in PvP as elsewhere, so we’ve swapped it out for Drengr’s Lash. Although it won’t come up often, Suspending an opponent is a death sentence and can be the decider in team fights.

The Thread of Propagation Fragment works well with the Quicksilver Storm, as does the Thread of Isolation. Both Fragments take advantage of the Quicksilver’s rapid rate of fire, but I’ll go through the weapon specifics later.

Best PvP Strand Titan Abilities

• Super – Bladefury
• Class Ability – Towering Barricade
• Jump – Strafe Lift
• Melee – Frenzied Blade
• Grenade – Grapple Grenade

Grapple Grenades are the stars of the show here. Movement tech is incredibly strong in shooting games, and throwing off your opponents with aerobatics is one of the most satisfying feelings in Destiny 2.

Besides the Grenade type, all other abilities are a personal preference, although Towering Barricade can be used to stop enemies in their tracks.

Best PvP Void Hunter Exotic Armor, weapons, and mods

Exotic Armor

• Dunemarchers – Increases sprint speed. Sprinting builds up a static charge. After melee-attacking an enemy, that charge will chain damage to nearby enemies.

Weapons

• Quicksilver Storm (with Catalyst)
• Any Shotgun
• Any Rocket Launcher/Machine Gun

Mods

• Helmet – Resilience Mod, Strand Targeting x2
• Arms – Resilience Mod, Strand Loader, Strand Dexterity
• Chest – Resilience Mod, Unflinching Strand Aim x2
• Legs – Resilience Mod, Innervation, Absolution, Insulation
• Mark – Resilience Mod, Reaper, Bomber x2

The Dunemarchers are a classic Titan PvP Exotic, boosting our sprint speed and improving the lethality of our melee attack.

The Weapon recommendations are vague as we heavily rely on the Quicksilver Storm to deal damage. Any Strand Auto Rifle will do the trick, but the Quicksilver Storm has a generous magazine size and virtually no recoil.

Shotguns pair nicely with Grapple Grenades as you can close the distance with your opponent and barrel-stuff them. The Strand Titan has great melee attacks, so the Shotgun is a suitable weapon when battles are up close and personal.

Finally, use any Heavy weapon you like. I enjoy the ‘fire and forget’ nature of Rocket Launchers, but Machine Guns are fantastic if you conserve your ammo.

Most of the Mods I’ve recommended are geared toward buffing the Quicksilver Storm. Strand Loader, Strand Dexterity, Strand Targeting, and Unflinching Strand Aim make our Exotic Auto Rifle even easier to use. Just like the PvE build, we are aiming for 100 points in Resilience for the essential damage reduction, hence the Resilience Mods in every slot.

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