Finality's Auger — The Forge (Strand Hunter)
A Heavy linear fusion you fire and a turret you deploy. Bolt the boss with the beam, then Alt-Weapon-Action a Ruinscribe Turret skyward and it keeps autofiring while you reload and swap. The catalyst is Bait and Switch — tag the boss with all three weapons in a short window and the Auger lights up, so the optimal rotation is swap, swap, swap, then dump. On Hunter, Star-Eater turns the phase-opening Super into one more multiplier stacked on top of all of it.
The weapon
Ruinscribe's Forge (intrinsic): "[Alternate Weapon Action] to fire a special projectile that deploys a Ruinscribe Turret. This projectile costs 3 ammo to fire. Aim the projectile skyward to provide the clearest sight lines for the turret which will automatically shoot at nearby targets."
Catalyst — Bait and Switch: "Deal damage with all equipped weapons within a short time to give this weapon a damage boost."
What it does: it is two damage sources sharing one slot. The linear itself is high-impact precision burst; the turret is set-and-forget add/boss damage that keeps ticking while you are off-weapon. That off-weapon tick is the point — the turret is dealing damage during the swap window, so it helps maintain the Bait and Switch requirement while your hands are busy tagging the boss with the other two weapons, then you come back to the buffed volley. It is a total-DPS weapon: you optimise the area under the curve (turret floor plus buffed linear spikes), not raw per-shot. Every turret projectile costs 3 reserve ammo, so heavy-ammo economy is the real constraint on how many times you can re-deploy across a phase.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass | Threadrunner (Strand) | Chosen for its ability economy (Grapple mobility, decoy, Star-Eater orb feeding), not an element match — the Auger is Solar, so subclass surges do not touch the gun (see Verify). |
| Super |  Silkstrike | Cheap roaming Super to bank Star-Eater overcharge between damage phases and clear adds around the DPS spot. |
| Class ability |  Gambler's Dodge | Reposition to keep turret sightlines, dodge back to the linear, and vacuum Orbs into Star-Eater with Powerful Attraction. |
| Movement |  Triple Jump | Air control to lob the turret projectile skyward — the perk explicitly wants it aimed up for clear sight lines. |
| Melee |  Threaded Spike | Returns melee energy on hit; a cheap ability feeder that keeps you in cover during the charge-up. |
| Grenade |  Grapple | Fast relocation between turret placement and the DPS spot; the grenade Thread of Ascent keys its reload off. |
| Aspect 1 |  Widow's Silk | "You have an additional grenade charge" → more Grapple uptime for repositioning; opens fragment slots. |
| Aspect 2 |  Threaded Specter | Class ability leaves a Strand decoy that draws combatant aggro off you during the long, exposed charge-and-fire rotation. |
| Fragments | Thread of Ascent · Thread of Generation · Thread of Warding · Thread of Wisdom | Reload-the-Auger loop + grenade refund + Woven Mail + orb generation for the Star-Eater economy (detail below). |
| Exotic armour | Star-Eater Scales (Legs) | Overcharged Super for the phase opener plus a heal/overshield that buys survival through the linear's slow charge. |
| Weapons | Fast "tag" special (rocket-sidearm / wave GL) + a champion-stunning primary | The two swap partners that light Bait and Switch instantly and cover Barrier/Overload between them while the Auger does the damage. |
Thread of Ascent grenade reloads your equipped weapon + bonus airborne handling — reloads the Auger mid-rotation, +10 Weapons
Thread of Generation dealing damage generates grenade energy → more Grapple → more Ascent reloads
Thread of Warding Orb pickup grants Woven Mail for the DPS window, -10 Health
Thread of Wisdom defeating suspended targets creates an Orb of Power, feeding the Star-Eater economy
Why it works (the mechanics)
- The catalyst pays you to swap, and the turret swaps for you. Bait and Switch needs damage from all equipped weapons in a short window. The Ruinscribe Turret is autonomously dealing damage the whole time, so it effectively keeps one of the three "weapon damage" requirements ticking while your hands are on the other two — tag with the special, tag with the primary, the turret covers the Auger's own tag, and the buff lights for the next volley.
- It is a total-DPS weapon, so output never drops to zero. Linear fires → reload window → during that reload the turret is still hitting the boss. The DPS math is the area under the curve, and the turret raises the floor between your buffed volleys.
- Aim the turret skyward — the perk literally says so. A high, clear sightline lets it autofire on the boss/adds for its whole duration instead of clipping geometry. Drop it up high, then play your gun game underneath it.
- Star-Eater makes the Super an opener, not a separate kit. Walk into the phase with an overcharged Super for one big front-loaded hit (70% increased Super damage at x6 per Clarity), plus a burst of healing and a 100 HP overshield that buys you survival through the linear's slow charge-up. Orbs you generate refill toward the next phase's overcharge.
- The orb economy is Solar-keyed, not Strand-keyed. Because the Auger is Solar, run Solar Siphon so the gun's own kills spawn Orbs, and Thread of Wisdom/Warding convert suspended-kill orbs into both Woven Mail and Star-Eater fuel. Powerful Attraction on the class item vacuums those orbs on every dodge.
- Cauterized Darkness quietly buffs the Solar volley. The artifact's Cauterized Darkness makes Strand-debuffed non-boss combatants take increased Solar damage from all sources — which, on a Solar Auger, is a real damage bump into add-dense DPS rooms (see Artifact). Thread of Ascent then closes the reload loop: Grapple → reload the Auger + handling; Thread of Generation refunds the grenade from damage you are already dealing.
Stats & mods
Weapons 200 → Super → Health. Weapons raises PvE weapon damage and the linear's output; Super speeds the next Star-Eater opener; Health survives the exposed charge-up. Archetype lean: a Weapons-primary set with a Super secondary (Threadrunner leans on ability uptime, but this is a gun-first DPS build).
Mods:
- Boots: Orbs of Restoration + Recuperation — heal on Orb pickup through the exposed charge window (the Star-Eater legs also carry the surges below).
- Arms: Loader for the LFR archetype · Heavy Ammo Scavenger (turret re-deploys eat reserves).
- Chest: Concussive Dampener (15/25/30% AoE resist with 1/2/3) / elemental resists for the DPS window.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums Orbs → Star-Eater overcharge) · Reaper · Bomber.
- Surge: Solar Weapon Surge ×2 — surge damage onto the Solar Auger. NOT Strand: the gun is Solar, so a Strand surge does nothing for it (manifest correction, see Verify).
- Anti-Champion: none intrinsic to the Auger. Pack Tactics (artifact) stuns Unstoppable via Threadlings; cover Barrier/Overload on the two off-slot weapons.
Artifact — Implement of Curiosity
The Strand-and-Threadling artifact for a Threadrunner DPS gun: it feeds the Tangle/Suspend/Threadling loop the subclass already runs, covers Unstoppable through Threadlings, and — via Cauterized Darkness — funnels a Solar damage bonus onto the Solar Auger in add-dense rooms.
Picks (2/3/2):
- Tier 1: Refresh Threads · Pack Tactics
- Tier 2: Threaded Blast · Cauterized Darkness · Elemental Daze
- Tier 3: Tangled Web · Elemental Overdrive
Refresh Threads refunds your least-charged ability when you grab a matching Elemental pickup or a Tangle with a Strand Super equipped → more Grapple/Specter uptime through the phase.
Pack Tactics ramps Threadling damage and, at max stacks, lets Threadlings stun Unstoppable Champions — the build's only intrinsic champion answer, so lean on it plus the off-slots.
Threaded Blast makes destroying a Tangle with Strand damage a larger, harder-hitting explosion — add-clear payoff for the Tangles the loop spawns.
Cauterized Darkness makes Stasis/Strand-debuffed non-boss combatants take increased Solar damage from all sources — a direct, on-element bump to the Solar Auger's volley against adds and non-boss targets.
Elemental Daze turns a champion stun with an elemental weapon into an elementally aligned explosion and matching debuff — on a Solar Auger it seeds a Solar debuff to feed Cauterized Darkness once a stun lands.
Tangled Web suspends nearby combatants off a Tangle from a Strand-debuffed kill, and 
Elemental Overdrive grants bonus damage to same-element weapons off matching pickups/Tangles (Strand-keyed here — it feeds your Strand off-slot or subclass, not the Solar Auger).
Where it shines
- Boss DPS (raids, GMs, Lost Sector bosses): the headline use — turret floor + buffed linear spikes + Bait-and-switch swaps + a Star-Eater Super opener stack into a high total-damage window. The raid-DPS linear lane it was built for.
- Add-dense damage rooms: Cauterized Darkness (+Solar to debuffed non-bosses) and the turret's autofire make the Auger better than a pure single-target linear when adds share the room.
- Champion coverage: the Auger carries no intrinsic champion stun (manifest lists no intrinsic breaker). Pack Tactics stuns Unstoppable via Threadlings; bring a Barrier/Overload primary and a fast special so all three weapons together cover the rest — the off-slots also proc Bait and Switch.
Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)
| Piece | Mod · cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet (5/10) | Strand Siphon 1e fill | Rapid Strand weapon final blows create Orbs 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 (8/10) | Concussive Dampener 3e | Reduces incoming area-of-effect damage from combatants. |
| Concussive Dampener 3e | Reduces incoming area-of-effect damage from combatants. | |
| Strand Resistance 2e fill | Reduces incoming Strand damage from combatants. | |
| 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. | |
| Orbs of Restoration 1e | Picking up an Orb of Power grants a small amount of energy to your ability with the least energy. | |
| Class Item (3/10) | Reaper 1e | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. |
| Reaper 1e | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. | |
| Bomber 1e | 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: see Verify). - **Anti-Champion:** none intrinsic to the Auger. Pack Tactics (artifact) stuns Unstoppable via Threadlings; cover Barrier/Overload on the two off-slot weapons.