Eriana's Vow — Barrier-Breaker (Hunter)

Weapon: Eriana's Vow (Hand Cannon · Special · Solar) · Subclass: Gunslinger · Role: Anti-Barrier champion lance + ignition chain-clear Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

A scoped Special hand cannon that punches through a Barrier shield without you spending a single mod slot on it, and ignites the champion the moment its barrier pops. The build is built around that one verbatim line — every fragment, aspect and mod is here to turn one pierced barrier into a spreading Solar ignition and keep a six-round mag fed in GM-tier content. The other two weapons exist only to cover the champions Eriana's can't.

The weapon

Eriana's Vow (Hand Cannon) — Looks Can Kill: "This weapon fires shield-piercing ammunition and comes with a scope. Strong against [Shield-Piercing] Barrier Champions. Breaking a matched shield or piercing a Champion's barrier will cause the target to ignite." (verbatim, `docs/encyclopedia/exotics.md`).

Catalyst — More to Give: "Increases magazine size. Holstering this weapon automatically reloads it after a short period of time." (verbatim, `docs/encyclopedia/catalysts.md`).

Element + ammo confirmed: it's a Solar, Special-ammo hand cannon. The shield-pierce / ignite-on-pierce is a native weapon property (the same family as Revision Zero's "Hunter's Trace" and Leviathan's Breath), not an archetype effect — so it is anti-Barrier and gives you a guaranteed Solar ignition every time it pops a barrier or breaks a matched (Solar) shield. That ignition is the build's whole keystone.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Super	Golden Gun: Marksman	On-theme; precision Super that pairs with Knock 'em Down if you swap an aspect. Not the damage driver — the gun is.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Reload on demand — the cheapest way to refill a 6-round Special mag mid-fight; triggers Relativism's reserve-reload.
Melee	Lightweight Knife	Precision-kill loop; cheap Radiant via Ember of Torches isn't needed but the knife keeps the precision economy moving.
Grenade	Healing Grenade	Sustain; the gun and ignitions are the damage.
Aspect 1	On Your Mark	Class-ability/precision hits grant Weapons stat ×10 + cure at max — feeds PvE weapon damage on top of every Eriana's hit.
Aspect 2	Crackshot (new, 9.7.0)	Class ability fires up to 3 scorching shots at marked targets; landing all 3 cures you. Pre-scorches the champion so Eriana's pierce-ignite lands instantly, and scales with Class >100.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• The anti-Barrier answer costs zero build budget. Eriana's pierces Barrier natively — verbatim "Strong against Barrier Champions." Under Anti-Champion 2.0, champion stun is intrinsic to weapon archetypes and the old artifact champion mods are gone (`docs/knowledge/monument_of_triumph_9_7_0.md`), but Eriana's keeps a dedicated shield-pierce property on top of that table. So one of your three slots permanently and freely covers Barrier, leaving the other two slots to cover Unstoppable + Overload.
• Every pierced barrier is a free ignition, and Char makes it a chain. The intrinsic ignites the champion on pierce. Ember of Char then spreads scorch from that ignition to everything around it; in the add-dense rooms that protect a champion, popping the barrier clears the escort for free.
• Crackshot pre-loads the kill. The new Gunslinger aspect throws three scorching shots at marked targets. Tag the champion, fire Crackshot to stack scorch, then pierce with Eriana's — the ignition triggers immediately instead of waiting on weapon scorch to build, and you get cured for landing all three.
• On Your Mark double-dips the 9.7.0 Weapons stat. Precision hits stack Weapons stat ×10, which is now a universal PvE weapon-damage multiplier layered on top of the gun's own damage — and you keep it topped just by landing Eriana's precision shots. At max stacks, final blows cure you.
• Radiant is worth +10% against champions now, not a stun. Post-9.7.0 Radiant no longer stuns Barrier (Eriana's does that natively); instead Radiant grants +10% weapon damage vs Champions. Ember of Empyrean keeps it alive off Solar final blows, so the champion you're already stunning also takes more gun damage. Pure profit on a weapon that's a Barrier specialist anyway.
• The catalyst + Marksman's Dodge solve the only weakness — the mag. Eriana's is a 6-round Special HC; the catalyst raises mag size and auto-reloads on holster, and Marksman's Dodge / Relativism reload it from reserves on demand. You're never caught dry on the champion.

Stats & mods

Stat priority: Weapons → Class → Health. Weapons 200 maxes the universal weapon-damage bonus that On Your Mark feeds; Class 100+ powers Crackshot's scaling (it scales with Class >100 per the 9.7.0 notes) and speeds dodge for reloads; Health is the dump stat because Cure (Crackshot/On Your Mark) + Restoration (Empyrean-extended) cover survivability. Reachable on Tier 3–4 gear with font mods; Tier 5 pushes Weapons higher.

Exotic armour — Relativism (Hunter Cloak): Spirit of the Dragon — "Your weapons ready quicker and are more stable. Using your class ability temporarily increases this benefit and reloads your equipped weapon from reserves" (verbatim, `docs/encyclopedia/exotics.md`). It is chosen because Eriana's is the centerpiece: a scoped Special HC lives or dies on ready speed and a fed mag, and Relativism turns Marksman's Dodge into an instant reserve-reload of Eriana's plus faster, steadier scope-up — the gun stays the star, the cloak just removes its friction. (Lucky Pants is the other Eriana's Hunter build, `hunter_high_noon.md`; this one deliberately differs by leaning into ignition chains rather than the draw ramp.)

Armour mods (names per `docs/knowledge/`; the encyclopedia mods.md is mostly glimmer/seasonal mods, so standard combat-mod names are cited from the knowledge base — see Verify notes):

• Helmet: Solar Siphon (Solar/ignition kills → Orbs) · Hands-On / Heavy Handed flexible.
• Gauntlets: Hand Cannon Loader ×2 (faster Special reload) · Class Font.
• Chest: two elemental Resistances matching the activity.
• Boots: Solar Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% Solar weapon damage straight onto Eriana's) · Orbs of Restoration.
• Class item: Special Ammo Finisher (refills Special — Eriana's hungriest need) · Weapons Font (→ Weapons 200) · Powerful Attraction.

Where it shines

• GM / Master / −power endgame with Barrier champions. Native anti-Barrier with no mod cost, a guaranteed ignition on the pop, and Char spreading that ignition to the champion's add escort. This is the content the build is for.
• Champion-and-add rooms. Pierce → ignite → Char spread → Ember of Wonder orbs → Super. One barrier becomes a clear.
• Two-stat survivability built in (Cure from Crackshot/On Your Mark, Restoration extended by Empyrean) so you can dump Health and still hold a lane.

Cover the other two champions (Anti-Champion 2.0 archetype table, `docs/knowledge/monument_of_triumph_9_7_0.md`):

• Unstoppable: an Aggressive or High-Impact frame, or a Heavy Burst HC (overrides to Unstoppable), in the energy/primary slot.
• Overload: a Lightweight or Rapid-Fire frame, or a Spread Shot HC (overrides to Overload).
• Heavy: a Machine Gun (Lightweight/Rapid-Fire → Overload, doubling Overload cover) for everything Eriana's doesn't personally execute.