Graviton Spike — Cold Snap (Hunter)
Weapon: Graviton Spike (Hand Cannon · Primary/Kinetic-slot · Arc + Stasis dual-mode) · Subclass: Revenant (Stasis) · Role: Self-buffing dual-element primary that the whole kit amplifies on both modes
Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16
One hand cannon that is two hand cannons. Flick the alternate fire to a fast-firing Arc burst or a slow, hard-hitting Stasis mode, and every kill or precision hit overcharges the other mode so the swap is always worth making. Mask of Bakris is the one exotic in the game that buffs Arc and Stasis weapon damage at once — so it pays out no matter which mode is loaded — and a Stasis Hunter freezes the room so Graviton's Stasis mode lands its big hits for free. Build the loop around the toggle.
The weapon
Temporal Manipulation: "[Alternate Weapon Action] to swap between fast-firing Arc mode or slow-firing Stasis mode. Final blows and precision hits overcharge the opposing mode to enable additional effects." (verbatim, `docs/encyclopedia/exotics.md`).
What that means in play, with only the stated text to go on:
- It is a mode-toggle weapon. Arc mode = high rate of fire (add-clear); Stasis mode = low rate of fire, higher per-shot (priority/precision damage).
- The two modes feed each other: killing or landing precision hits in the mode you're holding "overcharges the opposing mode" — so the optimal habit is to build charge in one mode, then swap to cash an enhanced version of the other. The exact "additional effects" each overcharge enables are not spelled out in the manifest text (see Verify notes) — design here leans on the two things the text does guarantee: it deals Arc damage in one mode and Stasis damage in the other, and the swap is rewarded.
- Element is genuinely both — Arc in one mode, Stasis in the other. That is the hook: pick a subclass and exotic that don't care which side is live.
Catalyst: the manifest entry for this weapon's catalyst is a placeholder with no effect text — `docs/encyclopedia/catalysts.md` lists only "Fragment of Graviton Spike Catalyst acquired —" with nothing after it. Treat the catalyst as unknown / undocumented in this snapshot; do not build around a benefit it may not have.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Super |  Silence and Squall | On-element Stasis super; Squall's roaming storm slows/freezes packs so Graviton's Stasis mode lands precision hits and the Arc mode mops survivors. |
| Class ability |  Gambler's Dodge (Marksman's if you want reload-on-dodge) | Dodge is the engine for Winter's Shroud (slow) and Mask of Bakris's shift; Gambler's refunds melee near enemies. |
| Movement |  Triple Jump | Air control to line up Bakris shift / Shatterdive. |
| Melee |  Withering Blade | Ricocheting Stasis shuriken — slows/freezes for free Stasis-mode precision and Frost Armor feeds. |
| Grenade | Duskfield | Pulls a pack in and slows them; with Touch of Winter it's a larger sink that sets up frozen targets for the Stasis mode and Shatterdive. |
| Aspect 1 |  Winter's Shroud | Dodging slows nearby targets → on-demand slow without spending grenade; the slow softens targets for Graviton's slow Stasis shots. (2 Fragment slots.) |
| Aspect 2 |  Grim Harvest | Defeating slowed/frozen targets drops Stasis shards → picking them up grants Frost Armor (DR), and with Frost Armor your Stasis-mode kills can chain-shatter for extra AoE; the build manufactures slow constantly, so this is free survivability. (2 Fragment slots.) |
Fragments (Stasis "Whisper of…", sourced from `docs/knowledge/fragments.md` — see Verify notes; the manifest encyclopedia snapshot has no Stasis Whisper entries):
Whisper of Hedrons — dramatically increases weapon stability, aim assist and several stats after freezing a target. This is the keystone for the gun: freeze something (Withering Blade / Duskfield), and Graviton's slow Stasis mode gets a stability + accuracy + stat spike for the precision hits it wants to land.
Whisper of Rending — primary-ammo weapons do increased damage to Stasis crystals and frozen targets. Graviton is a primary HC, so both modes hit frozen targets harder.
Whisper of Chains — defeating targets while you have Frost Armor has a chance to create a Stasis shard (+10 Class). A shard-generation fragment: more shards → more Grim Harvest Frost Armor, so it self-sustains the DR layer you already have up.
Whisper of Conduction — nearby Stasis shards track to you (+10 Super, +10 Health) so Grim Harvest's shards are never wasted.
(Swap Conduction → 
Whisper of Durance if you want the slows to last longer for a slower, more controlled freeze-lock.)
Why this works (the mechanics)
- Mask of Bakris is the only exotic that buffs both of Graviton's elements. Its text (verbatim, `docs/encyclopedia/exotics.md`): "After shifting, your Stasis and Arc weapons gain a stacking damage bonus for a short time. Final blows with this bonus active refund class ability energy." Graviton's Arc mode and its Stasis mode both qualify — so the shift-damage buff is live no matter which way the toggle is flipped. No other weapon-damage exotic covers both of Graviton's modes; this is the build's reason to exist.
- The Bakris loop is self-sustaining on this gun. Shift (Dodge becomes Bakris's blink) → both modes buffed → get a final blow with the buff active → class ability energy refunded → shift again. Because Graviton is two damage profiles in one primary, you almost always have a kill available in some mode to refund the dodge.
- Stasis subclass turns Graviton's weakness into a setup. The Stasis mode is "slow-firing" — punishing against moving adds. Freeze them first (Withering Blade, Duskfield, Squall) and slow targets don't move, so the slow precision shots land, and Whisper of Rending makes those shots hit frozen targets harder. The subclass exists to make the slow side of the gun good.
- Whisper of Hedrons is a free weapon-stat buff keyed to the thing you already do. Freezing is constant here; Hedrons converts every freeze into stability/aim-assist for the next Stasis-mode volley — exactly the stat the slow, high-impact mode wants.
- The toggle is rewarded twice. Graviton itself "overcharges the opposing mode" on kills/precision hits, and Bakris keeps both modes buffed after a shift — so the optimal habit (build charge in one mode → swap → cash the enhanced other mode) is paid by the gun and the exotic simultaneously. The swap is the gameplay.
- Mask of Bakris's Dodge requires a Stasis or Arc Super equipped — Graviton's two elements are exactly Stasis and Arc, so a Stasis super (Silence and Squall) keeps Bakris's shift unlocked and stays on-element with the gun's Stasis half.
- Ability economy runs on slow. Winter's Shroud (dodge → slow) and Grim Harvest (slow/frozen kills → shards → Frost Armor) form a closed loop: dodge to slow (and refund melee via Gambler's Dodge near enemies), kill the slowed target with Graviton, pick up shards (Conduction tracks them) to stack Frost Armor, throw Withering Blade to slow again. Frost Armor stacks from both Grim Harvest and Whisper of Chains' shard feed keep the DR layer topped up.
Stats & mods
Weapons 200 → Health 100 → Class. Weapons stat first because this is a primary-weapon build and the 9.7.0 Weapons stat scales PvE weapon damage vs minors/ majors — it stacks on top of the Bakris shift buff and Hedrons. Class next for dodge uptime (the whole loop runs on dodging). Health to a survivable floor; the build already carries the Frost Armor DR layer (Grim Harvest, kept fed by Whisper of Chains' shards).
- Archetypes: prioritise pieces favouring
Weapons + Class (and Super for Silence and Squall uptime). - Helmet: Stasis/Arc Siphon matching whichever mode you main → Orbs on kills.
- Gauntlets: Hand Cannon Loader + Hand Cannon Dexterity (snappy mode-swaps).
- Chest: Arc + Stasis (Whisper) Resistance pair under the Frost Armor layer.
- Boots: Stasis Weapon Surge ×2 or Arc Weapon Surge ×2 — pick the mode you spend the most time in (Surge is element-specific, so it only buffs one of Graviton's two modes; choose deliberately). Orbs of Restoration for ability uptime.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums Stasis shards + orbs) + Bomber (grenade energy on dodge — refills Duskfield).
- Stat tuning: +Weapons / −Health if you want to push the primary harder; the DR layers make Health the cheapest dump.
Other two weapon slots:
- Energy: a Strand or Solar special (e.g. a fusion or glaive) for the burst the primary lacks — pick a frame covering a Champion type Graviton can't (see below).
- Heavy: a Machine Gun or Rocket for bosses — Graviton is a primary, so it carries add-clear and majors, not boss DPS.
Anti-Champion 2.0 note: champion stun is intrinsic to weapon archetypes now, not mods. Graviton's HC archetype is not specified in the manifest text we have (it's an exotic with a custom firing model), so do not assume it stuns a champion. Cover Barrier / Unstoppable / Overload with your special + heavy frame choices, and lean on freeze + slow (Withering Blade, Duskfield, Squall) to lock down Overload-style elites and ability-spammers behaviourally.
Where it shines
- Mid-range add-clear into priority deletion in one weapon: Arc mode shreds the trash, swap to Stasis mode for the orange-bar standing in a Duskfield. The freeze- first habit makes the slow mode feel like a mini-sniper.
- Sustained patrol / strike / lower-end GM clear where a self-buffing, self-healing primary that refunds its own dodge lets you stay aggressive and reposition with the Bakris blink.
- Anywhere a single exotic primary needs to stay relevant across two elements — the build never "picks wrong," because Bakris and the subclass cover both modes.
- Weaker as a boss-DPS pick: it's a primary with no documented damage perk or working catalyst, so heavy carries the boss bar.