Solar

Crimson — Banned Bloodwork (Hunter)

Aggressive solo precision-burst self-healer / marked-target deleter

✓ Manifest Kinetic · Primary · 415 RPM · No intrinsic champion

Weapon: Crimson (Hand Cannon · Primary · Kinetic) · Subclass: Solar Gunslinger · Role: Aggressive solo precision-burst self-healer / marked-target deleter Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

One Hand Cannon that does the work of a Hand Cannon and a Healing Grenade. Crimson's three-round burst lands like a single fat crit, heals you on the kill, and refills its own mag on the precision kill — so the only "rotation" is: hit heads, stay alive, repeat. The build's job is to make every kill a precision kill, mark the target before you shoot it, and turn "got shot" into a stat buff.

The weapon

Intrinsic — Banned Weapon (verbatim): "This weapon fires a 3-round burst."

That's the entire encyclopedia line for the intrinsic, but it undersells the gun. The exotic's real engine is its on-board precision perk:

Cruel Remedy (verbatim): "Kills with this weapon heal the wielder. Precision kills also refill the magazine."

So any kill heals you, and a precision kill also tops the magazine — the burst is a heal-on-demand and a self-loader rolled into one. Land the burst on a head, the target dies, the mag is full, you're healed, you keep firing. That's the loop the whole build serves.

Catalyst — To the Pain (verbatim): "While this weapon is equipped, taking damage increases handling and aim assist until the weapon is stowed. / Taking more damage increases the effect."

The catalyst rewards an aggressive playstyle: the more you get shot, the better Crimson handles and tracks — and it only resets when you holster. Crimson is the rare exotic that wants you in the open trading fire, which is exactly survivable because Cruel Remedy heals you back on every kill. The catalyst and the heal are two halves of the same "stay on the gun, stay in the fight" design.

Element: Kinetic (confirmed in manifest — Damage: Kinetic). No surge element and it is not a Solar weapon — this matters for mod and artifact choices below (Solar-weapon perks will not proc off Crimson).
Ammo: Primary.
Archetype: 415 RPM, 3-round burst, 8-round mag (manifest). Precision-tier Hand Cannon stats; see champion note in Verify.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Super	Golden Gun: Marksman	On-theme precision Super; Hawkeye-style Super refund off precision kills (see Nighthawk note).
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Reloads Crimson on dodge and repositions you between bursts — a free top-off when a non-precision kill leaves the mag low.
Melee	Lightweight Knife	Precision-kill weapon throw → Radiant via Ember of Torches loop; keeps you in the precision-kill economy.
Grenade	Healing Grenade	Redundant sustain + cure for the moments Crimson's own heal isn't enough; pairs with Restoration uptime.
Aspect 1	On Your Mark	"landing precision hits grants you and nearby allies increased reload speed and Weapons stat" ×10 — every Crimson headshot stacks reload and PvE weapon damage.
Aspect 2	Gunpowder Gamble	"Defeat targets to charge up an improvised Solar explosive" — Crimson kills charge a free AoE detonation for the pack the single-target burst can't sweep.

Fragments

Ember of Torches powered-melee hits → Radiant for you and allies — your Lightweight Knife turns Crimson Radiant
Ember of Solace Radiant/Restoration last longer — stretches both buffs across the burst rotation
Ember of Empyrean Solar ability final blows extend Radiant/Resto — fed by the knife and Gunpowder Gamble, not by Crimson, since Crimson is Kinetic
Ember of Singeing class ability regen on scorch — Gunpowder Gamble/knife scorch refunds your dodge → more Marksman's-Dodge reloads

Why this works (the mechanics)

Crimson is its own sustain — the build just keeps the kills coming. Cruel Remedy heals on every kill and refills the mag on precision kills. The single biggest force-multiplier for a precision weapon is Radiant (+ weapon damage), and Gunslinger manufactures Radiant from the melee (Ember of Torches) without needing Crimson to be Solar. Radiant Crimson kills faster → heals sooner → precision-refills sooner. The gun's weakness (no element synergy) is sidestepped by buffing you, not the bullet's element.
On Your Mark double-pays every headshot. Each precision hit stacks reload and the 9.7.0 Weapons stat, which is a flat PvE damage bump vs minors and majors. So a Crimson headshot does four things at once: damage, heal (Cruel Remedy), mag refill (Cruel Remedy precision), and a reload+Weapons-stat stack (On Your Mark). One trigger pull, four payouts — the densest precision economy on any Hunter weapon.
The catalyst flips the survivability math. To the Pain makes taking damage a buff (handling + aim assist), and Cruel Remedy makes taking damage recoverable (kill → heal). Together they license the aggressive, mid-lane, in-your-face playstyle Crimson was built for — you can stand in the open, handle better the more you're shot, and heal it all back on the next head.
Knucklehead Radar is the perfect exotic — it multiplies Crimson's exact output. "Visually marks targets. Deals more damage to low-health marked targets" — Crimson's burst chunks a target to low health, the mark turns the finishing shots into bonus damage, and the precision kill refills the mag. Add "Provides radar while you're aiming" and Crimson becomes a true solo primary: you keep ADS map awareness while trading fire, which is exactly the playstyle the catalyst rewards. (Most exotics force a Solar element or an ability; this one just makes the gun you're already holding hit harder and keeps you alive by seeing the threat.)
Marksman's Dodge patches the one gap. Cruel Remedy only refills the mag on precision kills — body-shot kills heal but don't reload. Marksman's Dodge is a manual reload-on-demand for those moments, and it doubles as a reposition that refreshes the catalyst's damage-trading window.

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Health (catalyst + Cruel Remedy already carry survivability, so Health is a safe secondary) → Class. Crimson is a damage gun whose own perk is the sustain layer, so dump points into the Weapons stat (stacks with On Your Mark's Weapons-stat bumps) and lean on the gun + Radiant + Restoration for staying power. Class third to keep Marksman's Dodge (your manual reload) up often.

Archetypes: Gunner-primary pieces (Weapons-favoured); a Powerhouse piece (Weapons/Super) to feed Golden Gun off precision kills.
Mods: Hand Cannon Loader + Hand Cannon Reserves (Crimson's primary ammo isn't infinite under burst fire); no surge mod helps Crimson — it's Kinetic with no element, so skip weapon-surge and spend those boot slots on Reserves/Recuperation instead. Recuperation (orb pickup → heal) and Better Already stack with Cruel Remedy for overkill sustain. Heavy/Special Finisher for ammo economy on your other slots.
Champion coverage comes from your other two weapons' archetypes (below), not Crimson — see Verify.

Weapons (the other two slots)

Crimson is the centerpiece; the other slots cover what a Kinetic primary can't — champions and burst DPS.

Special: a Solar weapon (Fusion/Sniper/Glaive) so Ember of Empyrean/Torches and the Radiant theme have a Solar weapon to lean on for the non-Crimson kills, plus a champion archetype Crimson doesn't cover.
Heavy: a Machine Gun or Rocket for the bosses/anything Crimson can't burst — pick a frame covering whichever champion type your Special doesn't.
Champion math (Anti-Champion 2.0): stun is intrinsic to weapon archetypes now. Crimson reads as a Precision-tier Hand Cannon (→ lean Anti-Barrier), but it's an exotic 3-round-burst frame and exotics sometimes carry assigned roles — verify Crimson's in-game champion tag and let your Special + Heavy cover the remaining two champion types.

Artifact — Queensfoil Censer (Season of the Wish)

The precision-kill artifact for a precision-kill gun. The pick that matters:

Solo Operative (9.7.0 rework): "precision final blows grant scaling weapon damage until you die." It is element-agnostic — so unlike Flint Striker / Rays of Precision (which require Solar weapons and will not proc off Kinetic Crimson), Solo Operative ramps Crimson directly. Every Crimson headshot kill stacks more damage onto Crimson. This is the single biggest reason to run this artifact with this gun.
Flint Striker / Rays of Precision / Kindling Trigger — Radiant + ignitions, but driven by your Solar Special weapon and abilities, not Crimson. They keep the Radiant theme alive on the non-Crimson kills.
Heart of the Flame — Golden Gun cast makes allies Radiant; on-theme Super payoff.

Where it shines

Solo / low-fireteam content — Crimson is a self-contained "primary + pocket heal," and the catalyst + Knucklehead let you play aggressively without a support to back you. This is the build's home.
Sustained add/elite clear — Cruel Remedy's heal-on-kill + precision-refill means you almost never have to leave the gun to reload or recover; you melt a lane and stay topped off.
Marked-target execution — Knucklehead's bonus damage to low-health marked targets + Solo Operative's ramp turns Crimson into a surprisingly hard-hitting finisher on majors the burst has already chunked.
Weak spots: no element surge, no built-in champion stun guarantee, and the burst spread is less forgiving at long range than a single-fire HC. It is an aggressive mid-range gun — play it that way.

Verify notes

Crimson's champion intrinsic — 415-RPM Precision-tier reads as Anti-Barrier under the general Anti-Champion 2.0 mapping (Precision/Adaptive → Barrier), but Crimson is an exotic 3-round-burst frame ("Banned Weapon") and exotics can carry assigned champion roles distinct from their base RPM tier (e.g. Izanagi's = Barrier, Xenophage = Unstoppable). Confirm Crimson's actual champion tag in-game before relying on it for coverage. Build assumes the Special/Heavy carry champions regardless.
Element = Kinetic (manifest, hash 3437746471). All "Solar weapon" perks (Flint Striker, Rays of Precision, Kindling Trigger, Ember of Empyrean) are routed through your abilities and Solar Special, not Crimson — verified against the encyclopedia text, but worth re-checking if Bungie ever reworks Crimson's damage type.
Cruel Remedy / To the Pain text — quoted verbatim from `docs/encyclopedia/perks.md` and `docs/encyclopedia/catalysts.md`. Exact heal amount, the precision-refill amount, and the catalyst's handling/aim-assist scaling per damage instance are not in the encyclopedia — confirm magnitudes in-game.
Solo Operative is recorded (`docs/knowledge/artifacts.md`) as the 9.7.0 "precision final blows grant scaling weapon damage until you die" rework — a ramp, not the old flat solo bonus. Confirm the per-stack value and cap in-game.
Celestial Nighthawk is a strong alternative helmet if you want the one-shot Golden Gun as a boss-DPS button instead of Knucklehead's marked-target damage; it trades Crimson's per-kill amplification for Super burst. Knucklehead is the weapon-centerpiece pick.

Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)

Piece	Mod · cost	What it does
Helmet (7/10)	Solar Siphon 3e fill	Rapid Solar 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 (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 Weapon Surge 1e	Your Solar weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time.
	Solar Weapon Surge 1e	Your Solar weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time.
	Recuperation 1e	Replenishes health each time you pick up an Orb of Power.
Class Item (3/10)	Special Finisher 1e	Finishers generate Special ammo for the whole fireteam.
	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.

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: not Crimson — see Verify.