Sleight of Hand — Assassin's Cowl + Monte Carlo (Arc Hunter)
Assassin's Cowl pays you invisibility and a heal for every powered-melee kill, and Combination Blow is that kill. The only thing that ever stalls the loop is the fist being on cooldown — so Monte Carlo becomes the battery: every bit of damage refunds melee energy, and gun kills can fully recharge the fist outright. Spray to close the gap, punch to vanish. The fist never stops, so the invis never drops.
The exotic
Vanishing Execution: Powered melee final blows grant invisibility and restore a portion of health and shields. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the duration of the invisibility and the amount of health and shields restored.
Assassin's Cowl converts the killing punch of Combination Blow into two rewards at once: you go invisible and you heal a chunk of health and shields. Every link in the melee chain is a powered-melee final blow, so every link re-cloaks and re-heals you for free — no fragment tax, no cooldown of its own. The trait scales up with difficulty: finishers and final blows on more powerful targets (majors, minibosses, champions) stretch the invisibility duration and grow the heal, so the build gets safer exactly as the content gets harder. Its only structural weakness is melee uptime — if a punch whiffs or the fist is empty, nothing procs. That single gap is what the weapon exists to close.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass | Arcstrider (Arc) | Arc gives Combination Blow, Jolt, and Amplified — the melee chain, the CC verb, and the speed buff the whole loop runs on. |
| Super |  Gathering Storm | Throw-and-embed staff jolts a wide area, so jolted kills feed Flow State and Spark of Ions and seed the next melee chain. |
| Class ability |  Gambler's Dodge | Dodging near enemies refunds the melee — a second charge source under Monte Carlo, and it arms Lethal Current. |
| Movement |  Triple Jump | Extra aerial reset to reposition between punches while cloaked. |
| Melee |  Combination Blow | The build: chained final blows heal, refund the dodge, and stack up to x3 damage, and each kill is the powered final blow that procs Cowl. |
| Grenade | Arcbolt | Cheap Arc grenade that chains lightning between clustered targets; mostly a stat dump and chip damage while the fist recharges. |
| Aspect 1 |  Lethal Current | After a dodge the next melee jolts, drops an aftershock, and blinds jolted targets — CC and Jolt baked into the dodge you already throw. |
| Aspect 2 |  Flow State | Jolted kills make you Amplified; while Amplified your dodge regens faster and reload is greatly increased, reinforcing the dodge-melee rhythm. |
| Fragments | Resistance · Ions · Amplitude · Frequency | Damage resist, trace economy, Orb generation, and reload/stability — all keyed off the Jolt/Amplified verbs the loop already produces. |
| Exotic armour | Assassin's Cowl (Helmet) | Turns every Combination Blow kill into invisibility + heal, and pays more the tougher the target. |
| Weapons | Monte Carlo (Kinetic AR) + Special/Heavy | Monte Carlo is the melee battery and ranged option; the Special/Heavy cover ranges the fist can't and bring the champion frames the kit lacks. |
Spark of Resistance damage resist while surrounded, +10 Melee
Spark of Ions jolted kill → Ionic Trace → ability energy
Spark of Amplitude rapid kills while Amplified → Orb of Power
Spark of Frequency melee hits boost reload and stability
Why it works (the mechanics)
- Monte Carlo removes the only stall. Cowl's loop breaks only when the fist is empty. "Dealing damage with this weapon reduces your melee cooldown and grants a chance to fully charge your melee ability with each kill" — so sustained fire shaves the Combination Blow cooldown, and a gun kill can hand back a full charge. The chain now survives bad luck, ranged targets, and champions you can't punch to death.
- One kill, three payouts. A Combination Blow final blow cloaks and heals you (Cowl), heals again and adds a damage stack (Combination Blow, up to x3), and refunds the Gambler's Dodge. Cowl and the melee's own heal fire off the same trigger — double heal plus free invisibility on a single punch.
- Invisibility closes the gap safely. You vanish on the kill and move to the next target off-radar, so the dangerous part of melee — closing the distance — happens untargetable. Against majors and champions the invis runs longer, buying more repositioning time exactly when you need it.
- Lethal Current weaponises the dodge. The dodge you throw to refund the fist and stay Amplified also makes the next melee jolt, blind, and drop an aftershock. One armed punch applies Jolt and blind across a cluster — free crowd control and chaining damage folded into a button you were already pressing.
- Jolt → Amplified → faster everything. Flow State: "Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified" and while Amplified your dodge recharges faster and reload is greatly increased. Lethal Current and Gathering Storm supply the Jolt, jolted kills flip you Amplified, and Amplified feeds the dodge back into Lethal Current — a closed rhythm.
- The economy tops up for free. Spark of Ions turns every jolted kill into an Ionic Trace (ability energy), Spark of Amplitude turns Amplified streaks into Orbs, and Spark of Frequency keeps Monte Carlo's reload and stability high off melee hits. Running the loop pays for Gathering Storm and the abilities without any extra input.
Stats & mods
Melee 200 → Health → Class. Brawler archetype (Melee primary), with a Health/Class secondary lean for melee-range survivability and dodge uptime. Melee 200 is the cooldown of the ability the build is and scales the Gambler's refund and Combination Blow's bonus damage; Monte Carlo, Gambler's, and Melee Kickstart do the rest of the refilling.
Mods:
- Boots: Recuperation + Better Already — heal on Orb pickup and while critically wounded, doubling down on the melee-range survivability.
- Arms: Melee Kickstart x2 — refund melee energy on hit, a third battery alongside Monte Carlo and Gambler's.
- Chest: Arc/melee resist mods — you fight at punch range even with the Cowl heals.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction — auto-vacuums the Orbs Spark of Amplitude and Recuperation feed off.
- Surge: Arc Surge — matches the subclass and Gathering Storm damage.
- Anti-Champion: Jolt covers Overload intrinsically; bring weapon-frame Barrier/Unstoppable on the Special/Heavy.
Artifact — Tablet of Ruin
Picks (2/3/2):
- Tier 1: Dielectric · Photonic Flare
- Tier 2: Flashover · Harsh Refraction · Gold From Lead
- Tier 3: Defibrillating Blast · Elemental Supercharger
Dielectric grants Bolt Charge on Arc-debuffed kills and, on rapid Arc-debuffed kills, spawns an Orb of Power and heals — turning the jolted-kill loop into Bolt Charge and extra sustain.
Photonic Flare releases a blinding burst when you defeat an exhausted or severed target with Arc damage, layering another blind on top of Lethal Current's.
Flashover makes you Amplified when you reach maximum Bolt Charge, paying Bolt Charge straight into Flow State's Amplified window.
Defibrillating Blast grants max Bolt Charge on stunning a Champion, and its bolts jolt and heal — the build's Barrier/Unstoppable-adjacent answer plus a heal and Jolt feed.
Gold From Lead gives Special pickups a chance to grant Heavy, sustaining the slot that covers what the fist can't reach.
Harsh Refraction and 
Elemental Supercharger are Arc/theme fill — Trace Rifle debuff damage and Super energy on exhausted/severed kills; see Verify notes on their fit.
Where it shines
- Endless-add and survival content (GMs, Legend/Master lost sectors, Onslaught): the invis-and-heal-per-kill loop scales up against majors and champions, so tougher rooms pay out longer cloaks and bigger heals.
- Solo and flawless play: off-radar repositioning plus a heal on every punch makes the build self-sufficient with no team dependency.
- Melee-friendly maps where you can chain Combination Blow through clusters — Lethal Current's blind and aftershock clear the pack while you stay invisible.
- Champion coverage: Jolt breaks Overload intrinsically (Lethal Current, Gathering Storm). Barrier and Unstoppable are not covered by the kit — bring the matching weapon-frame mods on the Special/Heavy; Defibrillating Blast adds a heal/Bolt-Charge payout once a champion is stunned.
Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)
| Piece | Mod · cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet (7/10) | Arc Siphon 3e fill | Rapid Arc weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. |
| Hands-On 3e fill | Gain bonus Super energy on melee kills. | |
| Heavy Ammo Finder 1e fill | Increases the effect of all contributions towards the Heavy ammo meter. | |
| Arms (4/10) | Melee Kickstart 1e | When your melee energy is fully expended, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain melee energy for each Armor Charge used. |
| Melee Kickstart 1e | When your melee energy is fully expended, your Armor Charge is consumed and you gain melee energy for each Armor Charge used. | |
| Momentum Transfer 2e fill | Causing damage with a grenade reduces your melee cooldown. | |
| 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) | 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. | |
| Recuperation 1e | Replenishes health each time you pick up an Orb of Power. | |
| Class Item (4/10) | Powerful Attraction 2e | Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate your class ability. |
| Reaper 1e fill | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. | |
| Outreach 1e fill | Reduces melee cooldown when using 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: while critically wounded; a third battery alongside Monte Carlo; Gathering Storm damage. - **Anti-Champion:** Jolt covers Overload intrinsically; bring weapon-frame Barrier/Unstoppable on the Special/Heavy.