Arc

Last Stand — Mechaneer's Tricksleeves (Arc Hunter)

Crisis sidearm — low-health damage spike held open indefinitely

Anchor: Mechaneer's Tricksleeves · Subclass: Arcstrider · Role: Crisis sidearm — low-health damage spike held open indefinitely Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

Most builds treat low health as the failure state. This one arms there. Dip into critically wounded, swap to a Sidearm — it reloads with a damage boost — then Sidearm final blows extend the buff past the point you heal back up. The whole design is staying alive in the danger window without healing out of it, which is exactly what Arc's Amplified does: ~15% DR and harder to hit, no health restored. You survive the spike instead of cancelling it.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Super	Gathering Storm	One-cast ranged jolt that primes Flow State → Amplified before the crisis even starts; cast-and-forget so it never pulls you off the Sidearm. (Arc Staff fine if you prefer a roam panic button.)
Class ability	Gambler's Dodge	Melee energy back near enemies (scaled by Melee stat) — refunds Combination Blow, your escape hatch when the crisis is over.
Movement	Triple Jump	Air control; the exotic boosts Sidearm airborne effectiveness, so you can fight from the air.
Melee	Combination Blow	Chained melee kills heal + refund dodge + stack damage. Used deliberately — see note 6; it's the bail-out, not the rotation.
Grenade	Arcbolt Grenade	Chains jolt to a clump → Flow State kills → Amplified. Low-commitment proc for the DR layer.
Aspect 1	Flow State	"Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified. While amplified, your dodge recharges more quickly, you are more resilient while dodging, and your reload speed is greatly increased." The Amplified engine.
Aspect 2	Lethal Current	"After dodging, your next melee attack has increased lunge range, jolts the target, and creates a damaging aftershock. Damaging any jolted target with melee attacks also blinds them." Manufactures jolt for Flow State and blinds attackers (a no-heal panic defence in the crisis window).

Fragments (5)

Spark of Instinct while critically wounded, taking damage emits a jolting Arc burst — defence that only exists in the crisis window, and its jolt feeds Flow State
Spark of Recharge while critically wounded, melee and grenade regen faster — the window pays you abilities back
Spark of Resistance DR while surrounded, +10 Melee
Spark of Ions jolted/Bolt-Charge kills → Ionic Trace → Amplified uptime + ability energy
Spark of Amplitude rapid kills while amplified → Orbs of Power — the orb economy under everything

Exotic — 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.

The clause that makes the build is the last sentence. The damage buff is gated on becoming critically wounded (the swap arms it), but it is sustained on Sidearm final blows, which have no health requirement. So the buff outlives the crisis: get low → swap → kill with the Sidearm → the kill reloads it and pushes the timer out → keep killing → the buff rides at full health indefinitely. Exotic armour is Tier 5 in 9.7.0, so the gauntlets roll top-tier stats with no grind.

Why this works (the mechanics)

The crux: Amplified is survivability without healing. The exotic's swap buff needs you critically wounded to arm. Anything that heals you out of that bracket cancels your access to the arming swap. Amplified is the one strong defensive buff that restores no health — it gives ~15% damage reduction, improved handling/reload, and reduced flinch, and makes you a harder target. So you can sit in the danger zone safely long enough to swap-arm the buff. This is why the subclass is Arc and not, say, Solar (Restoration/Cure would heal you straight out of the trigger). Survive the window; don't leave it.
Flow State is the Amplified faucet, and Arc gives you jolt for free. Flow State makes you Amplified on any jolted kill. Three independent jolt sources keep it flowing: Arcbolt Grenade, Lethal Current's post-dodge melee, and Spark of Instinct's crisis burst. You are essentially always one jolted kill from re-Amplifying, so the DR layer never lapses during the crisis.
The Sidearm buff is self-feeding once armed. Arm it once (swap while critically wounded) and Sidearm final blows reload the weapon and extend the effect. That's a closed loop with no cooldown: kill → free reload → longer timer → kill. The build's entire job after the first swap is "keep getting Sidearm final blows," which a damage-boosted, airborne-buffed Sidearm does trivially against the chaff that put you in the crisis to begin with.
The crisis-wounded fragments turn the danger window into an engine. Spark of Instinct (jolting burst when hit — which then feeds Flow State) and Spark of Recharge (faster melee/grenade regen) are dead weight on a normal build because their condition is "be nearly dead." Here the build lives in that condition, so both are always-on while it matters: incoming fire becomes jolt (→ Amplified → DR), and the window refunds your abilities so you exit it with a full kit.
Two non-healing defence layers stack under Amplified. Spark of Resistance (DR while surrounded — and you're surrounded, that's why you're low) and Lethal Current's blind (jolted melee targets are blinded → they can't shoot you) are both survivability that doesn't touch your health bar. Stacked with Amplified's ~15%, you tank the crisis without ever ticking out of the trigger bracket. Every defensive verb in the kit was chosen to not heal.
Combination Blow is the deliberate exit, not the loop. It heals on melee kills, which is anti-synergy with the trigger — so it is held as the panic button. Once the Sidearm buff is self-sustaining (note 3) and the room is thinning, a Combination Blow chain heals you to full while the buff keeps riding on Sidearm final blows. You leave the crisis on your terms with the damage spike still active. Gambler's Dodge refunds the melee so the exit is always available.
The economy closes on Orbs. Spark of Amplitude makes Orbs from rapid Amplified kills; Spark of Ions makes Ionic Traces from jolted kills. Orbs feed the Health stat (orb-pickup healing — your intended way back to full) and top abilities; Traces re-Amplify and hand back ability energy. Gathering Storm refills off the same kills for the next room's opening jolt.

Weapons

The Sidearm is the payoff slot — it wants raw per-shot punch so the armed damage buff converts the crisis into a kill streak.

Sidearm (the crisis weapon): a Rocket-Assisted Frame Sidearm is the signature pick — high per-shot impact that the exotic's damage boost multiplies, and Rocket-Assisted Sidearms carry an assigned anti-Champion role under Anti-Champion 2.0. A high-impact / Adaptive Burst frame is the alternative if you want tighter ranged trading. Arc element preferred so kills feed jolt/Ionic Traces and any Arc weapon surges.
Arc primary to drive the subclass between crises — jolt application keeps Flow State live (→ Amplified up before you dip low) and stacks Bolt Charge for Spark of Ions. Voltshot / Jolting Feedback rolls turn ordinary add-clear into a jolt faucet.
Champions (Anti-Champion 2.0): stun is intrinsic to weapon archetypes now — pick a Sidearm/primary pair covering Barrier (Precision/Adaptive) and Unstoppable (Aggressive/High-Impact). Overload is covered by jolt — Lightweight/ Rapid-Fire frames lean Overload, and your constant jolt application stuns Overloads outright. Slot the heavy for whatever the encounter's chunk-damage gap is.

Stats & archetypes

This build wins by controlling its health, so Health is a real stat here, not a dump — but it's controlled upward via orbs, not passively. Targets: Weapons ~100+ (Sidearm/primary damage and reload — the payoff), Health ~100 (the orb-pickup heal that lets you exit the crisis cleanly; also flinch reduction), Melee ~100 (Gambler's refund + Combination Blow charge), then Class for dodge uptime.

Archetypes: Skirmisher (Melee/Weapons) and Gunner/Powerhouse (Weapons-primary) stack the payoff stats; Siegebreaker or a Bulwark piece tops Health to the orb-heal breakpoint. Mods: Sidearm Loader + Sidearm Scavenger, Arc Surge ×2 on boots (matching an Arc Sidearm), Orbs of Restoration (orb pickup → energy to least-charged ability), and a generous helping of Siphon mods so the kill streak makes the Orbs that Health stat wants. Special Ammo Finisher keeps the Sidearm fed.

Set bonus (optional)

House rule: set bonuses are garnish, never a driver — the build is complete without one. Everything above runs on the exotic + Arc subclass + fragments alone. If your rolls already carry the stats, a set whose 2pc/4pc rewards weapon final blows or Sidearm/Special handling reinforces the loop (a Suros-flavoured "reload/handling after dodge" set pairs with Gambler's Dodge). Confirm exact 2pc/4pc text against the manifest's ARMOR SET BONUSES section before committing — and only slot it if it costs you none of the stat targets above.

Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)

Piece	Mod · cost	What it does
Helmet (7/10)	Arc Siphon 3e	Rapid Arc weapon final blows create an Orb of Power.
	Ashes to Assets 3e fill	Gain bonus Super energy on grenade kills.
	Heavy Ammo Finder 1e fill	Increases the effect of all contributions towards the Heavy ammo meter.
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 (5/10)	Arc Resistance 1e fill	Reduces incoming Arc 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)	Arc Scavenger 1e	Arc weapons get bonus reserves when picking up ammo used by that weapon.
	Arc Weapon Surge 1e	Your Arc weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time.
	Arc Weapon Surge 1e	Your Arc weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time.
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).

The loop

Open from health. Jolt a pack (Arcbolt / Arc primary) → Flow State kill → Amplified (DR up before you're in danger). Clear with the Arc primary.
Take the dip. When a pack drops you into critically wounded, that's the trigger, not the emergency. Swap to the Sidearm → it reloads + arms the damage buff. Spark of Instinct/Recharge are now live.
Ride the buff. Sidearm final blows reload it and extend the timer — keep killing. Lethal Current's jolted-melee blinds anything still shooting you; Spark of Resistance + Amplified eat the rest. You're low and winning.
Exit on your terms. Room thinning → Combination Blow chain to heal back up (Gambler's already refunded the melee). The Sidearm buff keeps riding on its own final-blow extension even at full health. Pick up Orbs to top Health/abilities.
Re-jolt for the next room; cast Gathering Storm when a priority/boss wants the ranged jolt. Repeat.

Verify notes

"Critically wounded" exact threshold — the health % that arms the swap (and gates Spark of Instinct / Spark of Recharge). In-game-confirm; commonly the red-screen low-health bracket but the precise number isn't in the encyclopedia.
Sidearm damage % from the exotic and the buff/extension duration — the manifest text says "increases its damage" and "extend the effect's duration" without numbers. Confirm magnitude and timer in-game.
Amplified DR ≈15% — taken from the knowledge base; confirm the live value and that it (and Spark of Resistance / blind) genuinely restore no health, which is the load-bearing assumption of the whole build.
Combination Blow heal vs. the trigger — verify the heal doesn't fire fast enough to pull you out of "critically wounded" before you intend to exit; if it does, treat it strictly as the closing move (note 6) or swap to Disorienting Blow (blind, no heal) for a purer no-heal kit.
Anti-Champion archetype mapping — Rocket-Assisted Sidearm's assigned champion role and the Barrier/Unstoppable/Overload lean of your exact frames: confirm per-weapon tooltip (mapping is general, per `weapon_perks.md`).
Gathering Storm vs Arc Staff — either Arc super works; Gathering Storm chosen for cast-and-forget jolt that doesn't pull you off the Sidearm. Swap freely.