Destiny 2 best Titan build for PvE and PvP

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Looking for the Destiny 2 best Titan build for PvE and PvP? Titans are the heavyset heroes of the Destiny 2 world, often serving as the class Tank of the team thanks to their damage-soaking abilities. If you’re going to survive as much incoming fire as possible and dish out the damage in return, you’ll need to optimise your builds for both Player versus Enemy and Player versus Player combat.

Here are the best Titan builds for both PvP and PvE in Destiny 2, standing right alongside the Destiny 2 Best Hunter build and Destiny 2 Best Warlock build. Make the best use of these, and you’ll be able to tackle the challenges of Destiny 2 Season 23 and beyond with ease.

Best PvE Titan build in Destiny 2

The best Destiny 2 Titan build for PvE is a Strand build, combined with the Abeyant Leap leg exotic and strand weaponry.

Subclass and equipment setup

Here’s how you’ll want to set up your subclass and your weapons and armour to make the most of this build.

  • Subclass- Strand Berserker
  • Super Ability- Bladefury
  • Grenade – Shackle Grenade
  • Melee – Frenzied Blade
  • Class Ability – Rally Barricade
  • Aspects – Flechette Storm and Drengr’s Lash
  • Fragments – Thread of Mind, Thread of Fury, Thread of Generation, Thread of Continuity
  • Exotic Armor: Abeyant Leap
  • Weapons – we’d strongly recommend running at least one or two strand-based weapons to make the most out of this build. Quicksilver Storm and The Navigator are both excellent exotic choices for pushing this build further. Final choice comes down to personal preference, though.
Destiny 2 best Titan build: Strand super Titan charging towards the camera.

Seasonal Artifact mods

To make the most of this build, there are six mods in particular you should try to include. These are:

  • Authorized Mods: Strand – reduces the cost of armor mods affecting strand weapons.
  • Authorized Mods: Melee – reduces the cost of armor mods affecting melee abilities.
  • Improved Unravelling – increases the amount of damage dealt by Unravelling a target.
  • Strand Soldier – grants your strand weapons Unravelling rounds whenever you have the Woven Mail buff.
  • Conductive Cosmic Needle – strand debuffed targets take extra damage from Arc and Void sources.
  • Deeper Origins – greatly augments the benefits of the Unsated Hunger, Nanotech Tracer Rockets, Harmonic Resonance, and Noble Deeds origin traits.

Stats

We recommend a moderate focus on Strength and Discipline to aid your melee and grenade regen rates, since these abilities are each key to the two phases of the overall combat cycle. Resilience is a good third option to focus on, as the Woven Mail buff won’t be present forever, and mistakes in high level engagements require survivability.

How the build works

The aim of this build is to maximise the utility of Strand’s crowd control functions, whilst also making the most of the Titan’s destructive and defensive capabilities as an offensive bulwark.

The first step of this build is the Abeyant Leap armour exotic. Abeyant leap has two main benefits. First, it grants the Woven Mail buff whenever targets are Suspended. Woven Mail means a huge damage resistance bonus for you, and Suspend means your targets are unable to attack or move. Second, it buffs Drengr’s Lash, which is important, as this aspect sends out a shockwave that suspends targets whenever you deploy your barricade. Combined with better tracking and more projectiles, this makes it fairly easy to Suspend targets.

This then flows into activating the Strand Soldier mod, giving your weapons Unravelling rounds. Improved Unravelling makes these rounds even stronger, and if you’re using a strand weapon like Circular Logic or Volta Bracket, they’ll benefit from a boosted origin trait thanks to Deeper Origins. Quicksilver Storm remains our highest preference for strand weapons though, as the catalyst generates Tangles whenever you score kills with its grenade launcher mode, and getting that grenade mode setup will be easier with your enemies immobile. This short chain of mods combined should make crowd control extremely easy.

The Thread of Continuity fragment will extend the duration of Suspend and Unravel effects, as well as the Sever effect, making your life easier if you’re using The Navigator. Meanwhile, the Thread of Mind grants back class ability energy for defeating Suspended targets. Given how easy it should now be to land those kills, you’ll be able to make the most out of this fragment in your combat cycle.

Thread of Fury meanwhile will grant back melee energy whenever you damage targets with a Tangle, which is why utilising Quicksilver or a similar powerful strand weapon is such a good idea. Lastly, Thread of Generation will boost your grenade recharge for any damage dealt. These two fragments are important to keeping your alternative abilities charged up. Your Shackle grenade will be a second source of Suspending targets when your class ability isn’t ready. Meanwhile your Frenzied Blade melee sees a massive enhancement thanks to the Flechette Storm aspect, which allows you to knock back targets when sliding, and fire a wave of Unravelling projectiles out when airborne. All this Unravelling damage will create more tangles.

Destiny 2 best Titan build: Strand Super Titan charging across the screen.

In total you’ll have two combat cycles with this build. You can begin with a grenade to suspend targets, defeating them with Quicksilver Storm, The Navigator, or a strand weapon for maximised AOE damage. Following this, deploying your class ability barricade will unleash a second wave of Suspend against enemies, and these kills will recharge your grenade. While in this first cycle, Woven Mail will improve your survivability.

In between or in tandem with this combat cycle, depending on how you want to play, you’ll be able to use your Flechette Storm melee to deal massive Unravelling damage over a wide area. Combined with Quicksilver, you’ll be able to unleash even more Unravelling, and generate large numbers of Tangles, which will explode on hit, damaging nearby foes and regenerating your melee. In between these two cycles, you can use your Bladefury super to maintain survivability and finish off any targets strong enough to survive the onslaught.

Armor mods

Here are the mods we recommend running on each piece of armour to make the most out of this build:

  • Helmet – Ashes to Assets, times two. These will give you bonus super energy on grenade kills. Two mods provide grenade energy equal to a 600% super regen rate. As there’s been little focus on accelerating your super throughout the rest of the build, this is a good way to compensate.
  • Arms – Firepower, Grenade Kickstart and Bolstering Detonation. Firepower will create orbs of power from grenade kills, allowing better utility of the leg mods. Grenade Kickstart will grant some grenade energy back after you initially throw it, speeding up the first combat cycle. Bolstering Detonation will generate class ability energy on grenade kills, doing the same thing.
  • Chest – You can run whatever mods you like on the chest, but we’d highly recommend a variety of damage resistance mods.
  • Legs – Absolution, and Insulation times two. Absolution will grant back some energy to all your abilities when you pick up an orb of power. Two Insulation mods will grant back a substantial amount of class ability energy when you pick up an orb, especially useful given we have Reaper on the mark.
  • Mark – Utility Kickstart, Reaper, and Bomber. Utility Kickstart will grant back some class ability energy on using that ability. Reaper will generate an orb of power on your first kill after using your class ability – extra useful since this will also provide an armor charge, which Utility Kickstart can consume to grant back even more class ability energy. Bomber meanwhile will grant a little extra grenade energy on using your class ability.

Best PvP Titan build in Destiny 2

The current best Destiny 2 Titan build for PvP is an arc Titan, making use of Antaeus Wards.

Subclass and equipment setup

Here’s how you’ll want to set up your subclass and your weapons and armour to make the most of this build.

  • Subclass – Arc Striker
  • Super Ability – Thundercrash
  • Grenade – Lightning Grenade
  • Melee – Seismic Strike
  • Class Ability – Towering Barricade
  • Aspects – Knockout and Touch of Thunder
  • Fragments – Spark of Instinct, Spark of Feedback, Spark of Resistance, Spark of Recharge
  • Exotic Armor – Antaeus Wards
  • Weapons – there are no specific weapons you need to run for this build, but an arc weapon could be a good choice if you want to synergise with your subclass. Prioritise your favoured PvP weapons though.

Seasonal Artifact mods

These mods aren’t critical to make the build work, but they’ll provide some fantastic perks, so it’s worth making sure you’ve unlocked the following ones:

  • Authorized Mods: Melee – reduces the cost of armor mods affecting your melee abilities.
  • Amped Up – you’ll stay Amplified for longer while your arc subclass is equipped.
  • Thunderous Retort – casting your super while Amplified or critically wounded gives the super bonus damage.
  • Electric Armor – being Amplified will make you more resistant to damage.
  • Shock And Awe – final blows while Amplified will summon lightning bolts that inflict Jolt onto targets.
  • Lightning Strikes Twice – gain temporary increased grenade energy regeneration after throwing a grenade. Arc final blows will extend the length of the boosted regen.
Destiny 2 best Titan build: Seasonal Artifact mod setup for Arc PvP Titan.

Stats

Resilience should be your top priority, as this combat cycle is long and complex. While effective, it’s vulnerable to interruption if you die, so making sure you’re survivable is important. For this reason, Recovery should be another stat to consider. Depending on your grenade recharge time though, it may also be prudent to run a high Discipline stat.

How the build works

This build is designed to make the most of the Titan classes’ natural toughness. It utilises Antaeus wards, as well as fragments and mods to improve survivability, while also focusing on maximising the potential of your melee offences, to dominate in close range engagements.

The initial part of the combat cycle is the setup for Antaeus Wards and a defensive posture. This cycle starts with Touch of Thunder, which enhances your grenades. Lightning Grenades gain the ability to Jolt targets, which will debuff them and make them more vulnerable to damage. These grenades allow you a perfect mid-range opening attack, and should push your target back, or at least create an opening for you to close the distance. Lightning Strikes Twice should also bring your grenades back faster.

Once you’ve done this, Antaeus Wards become the key to step two. After a brief sprint, sliding will momentarily reflect incoming damage by placing a shield in front of you. Combined with the Spark of Resistance fragment which reduces incoming damage when surrounded, you’ll gain a brief window of near-invulnerability. There’s a secondary line of defence here too.

The Spark of Recharge will boost your grenade and melee recharge while critically wounded, bringing your abilities back faster if you begin this combat cycle without them ready. The Spark of Instinct meanwhile will send out a burst of energy when critically wounded, which will Jolt nearby targets, likely leaving them in a similar state. These two fragments offer last-line-of-defence bonuses should you find yourself near-death during the engagement. The final step here is the counteroffensive.

Destiny 2 best Titan build: Titan surrounded by lightning.

While a shotgun or similar close range weapon is a good way to improve the reliability of this third step, the main power rests on utilising your melee. The brief sprint prior should have charged your Seismic Strike melee. The Knockout aspect boosts your melee range and power when you critically wound a target, which either the grenade or a close range weapon attack should have accomplished. It’s likely that your opponent will try to counter as well, likely with their own melee. The Spark of Feedback fragment exploits this, increasing your melee damage even further if you take any melee damage yourself. The combined power of the aspect and fragment, alongside the vulnerable state of your opponent, guarantee that your melee will be enough to score the kill. With Knockout equipped, that kill will also then Amplify you and start health regeneration.

The seasonal mods will make your Amplified status incredibly useful. Electric Armor will make you damage resistant while it’s Amplified. Thunderous Retort will mean your Thundercrash does extra damage. Shock and Awe will summon lightning bolts that Jolt targets, leaving them vulnerable. Amped up will make the buff last longer. You’ll also move faster, making repeated use of the Wards that much easier. Essentially, you’ll be massively empowered while Amplified, and you can utilise this buff to keep yourself alive until your melee and grenade recharge, then begin the cycle over again.

Destiny 2 best Titan build: Titan fires lightning up into the air in the Vault of Glass.

Armor mods

Here are the mods we recommend running on each piece of armour to make the most out of this build:

  • Helmet -wWhile there are no specific mods to run in your helmet, we recommend running Targeting Mods that match the energy damage type of your weapons, to improve their target acquisition.
  • Arms – Grenade Kickstart, Momentum Transfer times two. Grenade Kickstart will grant some grenade energy back after your initial throw. Two Momentum transfers will grant a substantial amount of Melee energy back on grenade damage dealt.
  • Chest – we recommend running Unflinching mods that match your weapon energy damage types, to reduce flinching while aiming down sights for more accurate fire during engagements.
  • Legs – Absolution, two times Innervation. When picking up an orb of power, Absolution will reduce all ability cooldowns, and Innervation will give grenade energy. Both of these will help to maintain a fast recharge of your combat cycle.
  • Mark – Reaper, two times Bomber. Reaper will cause an orb of power to drop from the first enemy killed after using your class ability. Bomber will generate grenade energy on picking up an orb.

What are Titans good at in Destiny 2?

Titans are the stalwarts of Destiny 2, providing a bulwark for their fireteams. They are excellent at absorbing damage and handling powerful enemies. They aren’t as fast or as versatile as the other classes, and they can’t provide some of the same healing and damage support bonuses. What Titans can do is provide protection for their fireteam, as well as deal short, powerful damage through their offense-oriented supers.

That covers everything we’ve got for the best Titan build in Destiny 2, for both PvE and PvP. We’ll be sure to keep this updated as the meta continues to change throughout the game. Be sure to check back in with us before the Destiny Season 22 release date so you can go into the next step of the journey as ready as possible.

What character stats are best for Titan in Destiny 2?

We recommend prioritizing Resilience, Recovery, and Discipline as these can help you become more durable in fights.

What is the best subclass for Titan in Destiny 2?

The Arc Striker is arguably the best subclass because of its crowd-clearing capabilities and powerful Fragment & Aspect options.

What’s the best exotic for Titans in Destiny 2?

It’s impossible to choose a single exotic that stands above the rest, but our picks for some of the best would be One-Eyed Mask, Dunemarchers, Wormgod Caress, and Lorely Splendor Helm.

About the Author

Finlay Cattanach

Fin is a Guides and Reviews writer for Videogamer.com. He's worked previously with Startmenu, The Loadout, and more. He plays everything from strategy and sandbox titles to FPS and souls-likes.

Destiny 2

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