Adrenaline — Mechaneer's Tricksleeves + Forerunner (Solar Hunter)
Anchor: Mechaneer's Tricksleeves · Subclass: Gunslinger (Solar) · Role: Comeback sidearm spike — drop into the danger zone, swap to Forerunner for a self-sustaining damage burst, and let Radiant + Restoration carry the rally Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-24
Mechaneer's Tricksleeves rewards living dangerously: get low, swap to a sidearm, and it reloads instantly and hits much harder — and as long as the sidearm keeps killing, the buff keeps renewing. Forerunner is the biggest sidearm in the game. Stack Radiant on top and Restoration to climb back out of the red, and a near-death moment becomes a one-magazine rampage. The lower you are, the harder you hit.
The pairing — why two exotics, not one
Mechaneer's Tricksleeves is the 
gauntlets, Forerunner the Special — Mechaneer's is a sidearm amplifier that spikes at low health, Forerunner is the sidearm that turns that spike into real damage:
Mechaneer's Tricksleeves always improves sidearm ready/reload/airborne, and — the engine — while critically wounded, swapping to a sidearm reloads it and boosts its damage; sidearm kills then reload it and extend the buff. The catch is it asks you to be low, and it needs a sidearm worth the risk.
Forerunner is that sidearm: an oversized, heavy-caliber Kinetic Special sidearm with extended range, full-auto, and bonus precision damage to unshielded targets. It hits like a hand cannon — so the Mechaneer's damage boost lands on a weapon that's already punching well above sidearm weight.- They meet on the crisis spike: dip into critical health → swap to Forerunner → instant reload + damage boost → its kills renew the buff and (via the kit) heal you back up → you rally instead of dying. The danger is the build.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Super |  Golden Gun: Deadshot | A precision panic-delete that also marks targets more vulnerable — the "get me out of this" button when the rally is losing. |
| Class ability |  Acrobat's Dodge | Dodge →  Radiant (element-agnostic +25%, and Forerunner is Kinetic so Radiant is its main damage buff) + a reposition out of danger. |
| Melee | Lightweight Throwing Knife | Precision-kill Radiant (Ember of Torches) + Scorch — a second Radiant tap and a Solar kill for the Embers. |
| Grenade |  Healing Grenade | Instant Cure + Restoration — the climb out of the red while the Mechaneer's buff keeps renewing off kills. |
| Aspect 1 |  On Your Mark | Precision hits stack reload + Weapons stat ×10 → Restoration at max. Forerunner is a precision gun, so this is a third damage layer and sustain. 3 fragment slots. |
| Aspect 2 |  Gunpowder Gamble | Kills charge a throwable Solar Ignition — a free AoE clear/panic button while you reposition. 1 fragment slot. |
Ember of Torches powered-melee hit → Radiant for you and allies — the on-tap +25% for the Kinetic gun
Ember of Solace Radiant + Restoration last longer — stretch the buff window
Ember of Searing scorched kills → melee energy + Firesprite — refunds the knife that makes Radiant
Ember of Empyrean Solar final blows extend Radiant/Restoration — knife/Ignition kills keep the rally alive
Exotic armour — Mechaneer's Tricksleeves (Gauntlets)
Spring-Loaded Mounting: Increases Sidearm airborne effectiveness, ready speed, and reload speed. While you're critically wounded, swapping to a Sidearm reloads it and increases its damage. While this effect is active, Sidearm final blows reload the weapon and extend the effect's duration.
A risk-reward engine: the passive sidearm handling is always on, but the damage spike triggers from a crisis and then sustains itself off sidearm kills — so a single near-death swap to Forerunner can snowball into a long, hard-hitting window if you keep landing kills.
Exotic weapon — Forerunner (Sidearm · Kinetic · Special)
Full Stop: "Oversized Sidearm with extended-range, heavy-caliber rounds. Fires full auto with increased rate of fire. Deals increased precision damage to unshielded targets."
A 200-RPM Kinetic Special sidearm that behaves like a mini hand cannon — long range, heavy hits, full-auto, and a precision-damage bonus on unshielded targets (most minors/majors). It's the rare sidearm worth building a damage spike around, and it's the trigger weapon Mechaneer's keeps reloading for free.
Why this works (the mechanics)
- The crisis is the on-switch, kills are the fuel. Dip critical → swap to Forerunner → instant reload + damage boost → its kills renew the buff and reload it, so one dangerous moment becomes a sustained high-damage window.
- You climb out while spiked. Healing Grenade (Cure + Restoration), On Your Mark at max (Restoration), and Ember of Empyrean (Solar kills extend it) heal you back to safety — and the Mechaneer's buff persists off kills even after you're topped up.
- Radiant makes the Kinetic gun a heavy hitter. Forerunner can't take an elemental surge, so Radiant (+25%, Acrobat's Dodge + Ember of Torches) is its main multiplier, stacking with Mechaneer's boost and On Your Mark's Weapons stat. Three layers, all element-agnostic.
- On Your Mark double-dips precision. Forerunner is a precision weapon; every crit stacks Weapons-stat PvE damage and drives Restoration — offence and sustain from the same hits.
- Panic buttons everywhere. Gunpowder Gamble (thrown Ignition), Golden Gun (delete), Acrobat's Dodge (reposition + Radiant) — the build is designed to turn a losing fight around rather than avoid it.
Weapons
- Forerunner (Kinetic Special sidearm) — the spike weapon + your damage.
- Primary + Heavy: a
Solar primary keeps surges/Siphon live, benefits from Radiant, and feeds the Embers (Searing/Empyrean) Forerunner can't; a boss-DPS Heavy for the targets a sidearm can't chew. - Champions (Anti-Champion 2.0): Forerunner has no intrinsic stun —
Kinetic Rupture (artifact) staggers Unstoppable, ignitions (Gunpowder Gamble) stagger, Radiant pierces Barrier; bring archetype frames on Primary/Heavy.
Stats & archetypes
Priority: Weapons 150 → Health 100 → Class 60 → Super/Grenade/Melee dump.
- Weapons 150 — Forerunner throughput; the first 100's PvE damage bonus stacks under Mechaneer's spike + Radiant + On Your Mark.
- Health 100 — counter-intuitive for a "go low" build, but it's the buffer that lets you survive the crisis dip and the climb back; you still dip into the Mechaneer's trigger when it matters.
- Class 60 — Acrobat's Dodge for Radiant + the reposition.
Archetypes: 
Gunner / Powerhouse (Weapons), 
Bulwark (Health), 
Specialist (Class). Mods: Sidearm Loader + Scavenger, 
Sidearm Targeting, Special Ammo Finder/Scavenger (Forerunner eats Special), Recuperation + Better Already for the climb-out, 
Harmonic Siphon.
Artifact — Encrypted Data Disk (Renegades)
Picks (2/3/2): 
Kinetic Synthesis + 
Press the Advantage — 
Precision Equity + 
Counter Energy + 
Armorsmith — Kinetic Rupture + 
Sticker Shock The Kinetic artifact — it sustains and arms the Forerunner gunplay:
- Kinetic Synthesis — sustained Kinetic damage / rapid kills make an ammo brick that refills Kinetic weapons + grants Special/Heavy. Forerunner is Kinetic and Special-hungry — this keeps it fed.
- Precision Equity — precision final blows build a large Orb that also grants weapon damage on pickup. Forerunner is all precision kills — free Orbs + a damage ramp.
- Kinetic Rupture — Kinetic damage on powerful combatants makes a Rupture you detonate for a staggering Unstoppable explosion — the anti-champion Forerunner lacks, on the right element.
- Counter Energy / Armorsmith — champion stun → ability energy / shield break → DR + melee damage: sustain + survivability for the brawl.
- Press the Advantage — shield break → handling/reload/stability, smoothing the Forerunner swap.
- Sticker Shock — filler (Arc grenade synergy); swap for a better fit via `--recommend` if you change the grenade (see Verify).
Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)
| Piece | Mod · cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet (7/10) | Special Ammo Finder 3e | Increases the effect of all contributions towards the Special ammo meter. |
| Harmonic Siphon 1e | Rapid Arc weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Solar weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Stasis weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Void weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Strand weapon final blows create Orbs of Power. | |
| Solar Siphon 3e fill | Rapid Solar weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. | |
| Arms (6/10) | Utility Kickstart 3e fill | When your class ability energy is fully expended, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain class ability energy for each Armor Charge used. |
| Momentum Transfer 2e fill | Causing damage with a grenade reduces your melee cooldown. | |
| Fastball 1e fill | Increases grenade throw distance. | |
| Chest (6/10) | Solar Resistance 2e fill | Reduces incoming Solar damage from combatants. |
| Concussive Dampener 3e fill | Reduces incoming area-of-effect damage from combatants. | |
| Sniper Damage Resistance 1e fill | Reduces incoming damage from combatants that are at long range. | |
| Legs (3/10) | Solar Scavenger 1e | Solar weapons get bonus reserves when picking up ammo used by that weapon. |
| Better Already 1e | Your health begins to regenerate immediately after picking up an Orb of Power. | |
| Recuperation 1e | Replenishes health each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | |
| Class Item (4/10) | Reaper 1e fill | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. |
| Bomber 1e fill | Reduces grenade cooldown when using your class ability. | |
| Powerful Attraction 2e fill | Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate your class ability. |
All 15 sockets used, 10 energy per masterworked piece; costs from the manifest. Core mods are the build's engine; fill mods are strong defaults — swap freely (chest resists should match the activity's damage types). Flex/loadout-dependent: **Sidearm Targeting**.
The loop
- Fight with the Solar primary + knife (Radiant) until a pack gets dangerous and you dip toward critical health.
- Swap to Forerunner → Mechaneer's instant-reloads + boosts it → empty heavy precision hits into the pack → kills renew the buff, reload it, and (On Your Mark / Healing Grenade / Empyrean) heal you back up.
- Acrobat's Dodge for Radiant + a reposition; Gunpowder Gamble / Golden Gun to clear or delete a priority target. Kinetic Synthesis bricks keep Forerunner topped.
- Rally complete — back to neutral until the next crisis. The spike is repeatable every time you're willing to dip.