Bastion — Saint's Fists (Arc Hunter)

Centerpiece: Bastion (Fusion Rifle · Special · Kinetic) · Subclass: Arcstrider (Arc) · Role: Point-blank brawler — melee ↔ fusion loop that deletes majors, heals on the punch, and stuns Unstoppables intrinsically Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Updated 2026-07-03

Bastion is a fusion rifle that wants you to throw hands. Land a melee and it charges faster, hits harder, reloads quicker; land the burst and your next melee hits harder. That two-way feedback is a melee build wearing a fusion rifle, so we build the most relentless melee Hunter there is: Arcstrider with Liar's Handshake. Punch → heal + Cross Counter → fire a buffed three-spread point-blank → punch again. The fists feed the gun; the gun feeds the fists — and every charged burst breaks an Unstoppable.

The weapon

Saint's Fists (intrinsic): "Rapidly fires 3 spreads of pure force."

Catalyst — Cast No Shadows: "Dealing melee damage increases this weapon's handling and loads a small amount of ammo from reserves."

What it does: Bastion is the only fusion rifle that fires three discrete bursts per charge — a triple-tap that lands like a shotgun pellet wall at close range. The intrinsic is a closed loop with your melee: a melee hit grants the gun faster charge + more damage + faster reload (the offensive window), and pellets on target grant bonus melee damage back. It also carries an intrinsic Unstoppable breaker — a fully charged burst staggers Unstoppable Champions with no mod slot spent. The catalyst closes the loop further: every melee reloads Bastion from reserves (no manual reload between punches) and buffs handling. Run a melee subclass and Bastion never leaves its buffed state.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Arcstrider (Arc)	Best melee-uptime subclass; Amplified + jolt + Combination Blow keep the fists firing nonstop.
Super	Gathering Storm	Throw-and-jolt for a priority/boss; jolt feeds Flow State's Amplified. (Arc Staff if you want the roaming melee Super.)
Class ability	Gambler's Dodge	Refunds melee energy near a target (scaled by Melee stat) — the core of the punch economy and Combination Blow uptime.
Movement	Triple Jump	Air control to close to fusion range.
Melee	Combination Blow	Chained melee kills heal, refund dodge, and stack melee damage — the dodge→punch→dodge engine.
Grenade	Flux Grenade	Sticks for a guaranteed jolt/kill to start a Combination Blow chain (swap Arcbolt for add-chaining).
Aspect 1	Lethal Current	After dodging, next melee jolts + extends range + drops a damaging aftershock; melee hits on jolted targets blind. Turns every Gambler's Dodge into a stronger, safer punch.
Aspect 2	Flow State	Defeating a jolted target → Amplified → faster reload/melee regen + dodge regen + resilience. Lethal Current jolts, Flow State converts the kill to Amplified.
Fragments	Spark of Frequency · Spark of Feedback · Spark of Resistance	Double the post-melee reload buff, turn incoming hits into bigger swings, and add flat DR for the in-the-pack fusion range.
Exotic armour	Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets)	Cross Counter fires a healing counterpunch off your Arc melee or off being meleed — free heal + another melee hit to re-trigger Bastion's buff.
Weapons	Arc primary (auto/SMG) + Machine Gun or Sword	Primary tags adds and keeps you Amplified-eligible when you can't close; heavy covers what the fists can't reach (Sword doubles the melee fantasy).

Why it works (the mechanics)

• Bastion is a melee weapon disguised as a fusion. Its whole intrinsic is a two-way melee loop, so the build's job is "melee constantly." Arcstrider + Combination Blow + Gambler's Dodge is the highest melee-uptime kit in the game — every dodge near an enemy refunds melee, every melee kill refunds dodge.
• The buff is permanent in practice. Melee hit → Bastion gets faster charge, more damage, faster reload, and the catalyst auto-loads it from reserves + buffs handling. Spark of Frequency adds another reload/stability buff on the same punch. As long as you keep punching, Bastion never charges slow and never needs a manual reload — and pellets on target loop bonus melee damage back into Combination Blow.
• Liar's Handshake is the iconic pairing — and a heal engine. Cross Counter fires off your Arc melee (or off being meleed, which happens at fusion range), landing an extremely powerful healing counterpunch. That counterpunch is a melee hit, so it re-triggers Bastion's buff window and the catalyst's reload. Survivability and weapon-buff uptime come from the same button.
• Lethal Current + Flow State is the Amplified spiral. Dodge → Lethal Current melee jolts + blinds → Flow State turns the jolted kill into Amplified → Amplified speeds melee regen, reload, and dodge regen → faster back to the next punch. Blind on jolted targets is free CC while you stand in their faces.
• Combination Blow pays for the whole loop. Stacked melee kills heal (on top of Liar's heal), refund the dodge (Gambler's refunds the melee), and ramp melee damage — which Bastion reads via its pellet-hit melee buff. Multiple melee-up sources (Combination Blow stacks, Bastion's pellet buff, Spark of Feedback, surrounded play) overlap.
• The gun handles Unstoppable for free. Bastion's intrinsic breaker means a charged burst point-blank staggers an Unstoppable with no mod tax — so the whole loadout's mod economy stays free for Melee-fonts and DR while the champion answer comes baked into the centrepiece.

Stats & mods

Melee 200 → Health → Weapons. Melee is the entire build — it scales Gambler's Dodge melee refund, Combination Blow damage, and Liar's counterpunch. Health keeps you alive at point-blank; Weapons buffs Bastion's per-pellet output against minors/majors.

Archetype lean: Brawler/Gunner pieces favouring Melee + Health; push Weapons on the cloak.

Mods:

• Boots: Fusion Rifle Loader (snappier Bastion if the catalyst window lapses) · Recuperation (orb pickups → health).
• Arms: Melee Font ×1–2 (drive toward 200 Melee) · Impact Induction (melee damage → grenade energy).
• Chest: Arc + Solar + Void Resistance (one of each) — flat DR for the in-your-face range.
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums orbs) · Bomber (dodge → grenade energy).
• Surge: match your primary's element for the ranged filler — Bastion is Kinetic and takes no elemental weapon surge.
• Anti-Champion: none needed for Unstoppable (Bastion breaks it intrinsically, and Kinetic Impacts adds a redundant Unstoppable stun). Cover Overload with Jolt (Lethal Current / Gathering Storm) and Barrier via your primary's frame or an anti-Barrier weapon mod.

Artifact — Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel

The Arc-leaning Episode pool that directly pays off this build's Jolt + Blind + Ionic Trace loop and turns point-blank surrounded play into Armor Charge — while Bastion's own intrinsic Unstoppable frees the artifact from having to source that champion.

Picks (2/3/2):

• Tier 1: Trace Evidence · The Thick Of It
• Tier 2: Retinal Burn · Curative Orbs · Debilitating Wave
• Tier 3: Arc Compounding · Kinetic Impacts

• Trace Evidence — precision/final blows on Jolted or Blind targets spawn Ionic Traces; Lethal Current jolts and blinds every loop, so this prints traces constantly.
• The Thick Of It — surrounded final blows grant Armor Charge; you live inside the pack at fusion range, so it stacks charge for free.
• Retinal Burn — Arc precision hits spend an Armor Charge for a blinding burst, consuming the charge Thick Of It builds and adding free CC.
• Curative Orbs — shield breaks create an Orb of Power, feeding the orb economy for Recuperation / Powerful Attraction.
• Debilitating Wave — Arc finisher wave that applies your Super's element; on-element AoE when you finish at melee range.
• Arc Compounding — Arc sources deal bonus damage to Blind targets, so your primary and abilities all benefit from Lethal Current's blind.
• Kinetic Impacts — a Grenade Launcher shockwave that stuns Unstoppable Champions; a redundant second Unstoppable lever behind Bastion's own intrinsic stun.

Where it shines

• Add-dense melee playgrounds — Onslaught, sub-GM Nightfalls, Lost Sectors, patrol/seasonal. The dodge→punch→fire loop chews through majors and the heals make it sustainable solo.
• Close-quarters major/boss deletion — at fusion range Bastion is a self-reloading shotgun; the melee loop keeps it permanently buffed for burst damage windows.
• Champion coverage: Bastion breaks Unstoppable intrinsically — a charged burst point-blank staggers it with no mod slot (Kinetic Impacts in the artifact is a redundant Unstoppable stun). For the rest: Jolt (Lethal Current / Flow State / Gathering Storm) is your practical Overload answer, and Barrier is covered by a Barrier frame or anti-Barrier mod on the primary.
• Weakness: GM-tier rooms where standing at melee range is lethal; range-check every push and lean on the primary when the room is too hot to close.

Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)

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: Kinetic Impacts adds a redundant Unstoppable stun). Cover **Overload** with Jolt (Lethal Current / Gathering Storm); **Barrier** via your primary's frame or an anti-Barrier weapon mod.