Destiny 2's space wizards were in a good state in the Edge of Fate sandbox, and some Warlock builds will remain on top now that Renegades landed. A series of gradual tuning passes gave this class powerful options for every element.
Not all Warlock builds are created equal, however, and some of them easily rise to the top of the meta (yes, I am talking about Getaway Artist on Prismatic, how did you guess?). Here are the builds we're running in Destiny 2's Renegades expansion.
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Why are these our best builds in Renegades?
The builds in this list don't account for any artifact mods and rarely rely on specific weapons. A lot of it is up to personal preference as well, so the entries on our list can certainly be more optimized, but should be enough to get you through the campaign, either on Legend or Normal.
Contraverse Hold + Grenades (Void)
Warlocks got a much-needed, high-powered buff to their Void grenades with Contraverse Hold. This Exotic was already good, but a new built-in Weaken effect and an extra grenade charge made it even deadlier, and that's why it's easily among the top builds in Destiny 2 going into Renegades.
Contraverse works with a slew of different grenade options, depending on your playstyle, but Axion Bolt is our favorite. This grenade unleashes a series of tracking projectiles with a somewhat long range, giving you a relatively safe way to take down foes.
You can also go for Scatter Grenades, Vortex Grenades, or Handheld Supernova to spice it up. Handheld Supernova in particular deals a devastating short-range blast when using a Magnetic Grenade (and others). That said, Axion Bolt is usually good enough as long as your projectiles don't go rogue and blow you up. It happens.
Getaway Artist + Storm Grenade (Prismatic)
Getaway Artist with Prismatic continues to be a force of nature, especially given the buffs to Arc Soul (and buddies in general). The Final Shape's most effortless Warlock build now works with Facet of Dominance to jolt enemies and interacts better with grenades, with Hellion's damage increasing with that stat.
As far as your Aspects go, Feed the Void is almost a must-have to keep your grenade energy topped up. The second fragment slot is usually Bleak Watcher, though Hellion makes for a good substitute to spice up the formula. Plunderthabooty runs a version of a buddy build with Hellion, Weaver's Call, and Facet of Mending, which grants you surprisingly great sustain without resorting to Feed the Void.
Consume your grenade, get ability kills to get Devour, then continue mowing down enemies until your grenade is full. Rinse, repeat, and try not to trip on all the orbs of power you make with Firepower.
Mataiodoxía + Needlestorm (Strand or Prismatic)
Mataiodoxía is also in the running for the most juiced-up Warlock Exotic in Renegades, and its odds are looking pretty good. In addition to its base effect of giving you Suspend with Arcane Needle, as of the new expansion, it also improves the power of your Needlestorm—like Cuirass of the Falling Star does for Thundercrash.
You can run this build with Strand or Prismatic. Strand gets more firepower on Needlestorm through Thread of Evolution (increased damage from Threadlings), but Prismatic has a more versatile kit with better survivability, grenade spam due to Devour, and Transcendence.
Lightning Surge + Winter's Guile or Solipsism (Prismatic)
Winter's Guile may make for a devastating new take on the old Lightning Surge Prismatic builds. This Exotic got some new life, working close to a Warlock version of Wormgod's Caress with a Transcendence-like effect built in. With the Exotic's new effect, melee and finisher kills grant a stacking damage bonus to that ability. When at max stacks, you can enter a "berserk" mode with even more melee damage and regen.
Your second aspect is up to your preference, but the sustain from Feed the Void makes this a given for us. To fall back on a classic, though, this build also works marvelously with Solipsism, especially if you have an Inmost Light/Synthoceps roll. You can even run Mataiodoxía if you're looking for a little oomph in your Needlestorm.
Starfire Protocol + Fusion Grenades (Solar)
Gone are the days when Starfire was an unending missile barrage, but the stat rework made this already-strong build even better, and the fact that it finally works with Radiant is just icing on the cake. Hellion is a natural pairing for this since you get your Rift back on grenade kills, and you can use it to trigger your Solar synergies through Scorch. Bring Ember of Torches and Ember of Empyrean for Radiant uptime, giving you extra grenade regen from Starfire. Ember of Resolve works if you need more sustain.
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