Legend of Acrius — Counterpunch (Arc Hunter)
Acrius is a slug-cannon that overpenetrates a whole line of bodies for absurd Arc damage, and its catalyst pays you to punch first. So the build is a fist: Combination Blow to land the punch, Liar's Handshake to make that punch a healing counter, then drop two-to-three Trench-Barrel-juiced slugs through the entire pack before the window closes. Melee opens it, the gun closes it, and the counterpunch pays your health back every cycle.
The weapon
Shock Blast (intrinsic): "This weapon fires blasts of high-damage Arc energy that overpenetrates enemies."
Acrius Catalyst — Deeper Pockets / Trench Barrel: "Increased ammo reserves. / After a successful melee hit, this weapon gains increased damage, handling, and reload speed for a short duration—or until three shots are fired."
Each shell is a single high-damage Arc slug that punches through the first target into everything behind it — Acrius does line-AoE, not cone-spread, so it deletes aligned packs and shielded majors in one trigger pull. The catalyst is the whole point: melee → three enhanced shots. Combination Blow's stacking melee already wants you punching constantly; every punch re-arms Trench Barrel for free, and the Deeper Pockets reserve bump means you actually have shells to spend the window on. This is the canonical "punch-shotgun" loop, and Arcstrider is its native home — the subclass throws the melee that the catalyst rewards, then the overpenetrating slug cleans up the line the punch drew you into.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass |  Arcstrider (Arc Hunter) | Combination Blow + amplified + jolt is the melee engine Trench Barrel feeds on. |
| Super |  Gathering Storm | Burst pick — embed the staff, jolt the pack, then go back to punching. |
| Class ability |  Gambler's Dodge | Near an enemy → full melee energy back; restarts the punch → Trench Barrel cycle on demand. |
| Movement |  Triple Jump | Extra mid-air adjusts to close the last few metres onto a target before the punch. |
| Melee |  Combination Blow | Chained melee kills heal, refund dodge, and stack melee damage — the punch that arms the gun. |
| Grenade |  Flux Grenade | Cheap Arc grenade to seed jolt for Flow State and Spark of Shock fuel. |
| Aspect 1 |  Lethal Current | After dodging, next melee gains lunge, jolts, and drops an aftershock — closes distance and jolts the target you're about to shotgun. |
| Aspect 2 |  Flow State | Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified (DR + reload + handling + dodge regen); Lethal Current jolts → kills → amplified, on loop. |
| Fragments | Resistance · Shock · Discharge · Frequency | DR in the pack, jolt fuel, Ionic Traces off Arc kills, and reload stacked onto the arming punch. |
| Exotic armour |  Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets) | Cross Counter turns the melee that arms the gun into a healing counterpunch — survivability at Acrius's point-blank range. |
| Weapons | Arc Primary + add-clear Special | Acrius is your Heavy; a jolting Arc Primary doubles Flow State fuel and thins packs to punch range. |
Spark of Resistance 25% DR near 3+ enemies — you fight inside the pack; +10 Melee
Spark of Shock Arc grenades jolt → free Flow State fuel
Spark of Discharge Arc weapon kills → Ionic Traces; Acrius is Arc, so it feeds its own melee energy
Spark of Frequency melee hits → reload/stability — stacks with Trench Barrel's reload on the same punch
Why it works (the mechanics)
- One punch arms three systems. A single Combination Blow hit triggers Trench Barrel (next 3 shots: increased damage/handling/reload), Cross Counter (the Liar's Handshake healing counterpunch), and Spark of Frequency (reload + stability). The melee you were already throwing to stack Combination Blow is the same input that loads the shotgun — zero opportunity cost.
- Cross Counter makes the melee free of risk. Liar's Handshake heals you on your Arc melee (or when a melee hits you), so the in-your-face range Acrius forces you into is survivable — you heal on the same punch that arms the gun, closing the risk that a Heavy slug shotgun would otherwise expose.
- The jolt loop self-sustains amplified. Lethal Current jolts your melee target, Spark of Shock jolts grenade targets, and Flow State turns any jolted kill into amplified (DR + faster reload/handling + dodge regen). Amplified handling and Trench Barrel handling stack into a snappier, harder-hitting Acrius.
- Overpenetration + line packs is Acrius's edge over normal shotguns. Shock Blast pierces, so each enhanced shell from one punch can kill multiple stacked enemies. Combination Blow refunds dodge off those kills, and Gambler's Dodge refunds the melee — restarting the whole cycle from the kills the gun just scored.
- Ammo economy is the hidden enabler. Deeper Pockets reserves plus Spark of Discharge (Arc kills → Ionic Traces → melee energy) mean you rarely run dry on either resource. The melee feeds the gun; the gun's Arc kills feed the melee back.
- The super is the reset button. Gathering Storm embeds a jolting staff into a stalled pack, buying the amplified window and the ability energy to re-enter the punch loop when a room gets ahead of you.
Stats & mods
Melee 200 → Class → Health. Melee is the engine (Combination Blow damage, faster melee regen, and you punch every cycle); Class high to keep Gambler's Dodge online for the melee refund; Health after, because you fight point-blank. Spark of Resistance (+10 Melee) leans the same way.
Mods (standard armour mods are not in our manifest encyclopedia — see Verify):
- Boots: Shotgun Scavenger + Shotgun Reserves — keep the Heavy Acrius fed for the enhanced windows.
- Arms: Shotgun Loader (faster reload to spend the Trench Barrel window) + Heavy Handed (orb on powered-melee kill).
- Chest: Arc Resistance + Concussive Dampener — you fight at shotgun range.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums Ionic Traces / Orbs) + Reaper.
- Surge: Arc Weapon Surge ×2 — Acrius is Arc, so it is straight damage onto every slug.
- Anti-Champion: none intrinsic (Acrius has no bespoke stun) — Overload via the subclass jolt loop and the artifact; Barrier/Unstoppable via the Primary/Special archetype you slot alongside.
Artifact — NPA Repulsion Regulator
The Arc-tuned artifact for an Arcstrider brawler: it lengthens the amplified window the Flow State loop lives in, pays off Arc final blows while amplified, and bolts Overload onto the kit so the punch-loop isn't champion-blind.
Picks (2/3/2):
- Tier 1: Amped Up · Thunderous Retort
- Tier 2: Counter Charge · Overload Grenades · Bricks From Beyond
- Tier 3: Shock and Awe · Lighting Strikes Twice
Amped Up stays amplified longer on an Arc subclass — stretches every Flow State proc into more DR/handling/reload over the gun.
Thunderous Retort grants bonus Arc Super damage while amplified or critically wounded — your Gathering Storm pops harder mid-loop.
Counter Charge gains a stack of Armor Charge when you stun a Champion — feeds the Armor Charge economy off your jolt-stuns.
Overload Grenades is the Overload lever on the artifact; note it is manifest-tagged as Void grenades, so with this Arc build the reliable Overload source is the subclass jolt, not the Flux grenade (see Verify).
Bricks From Beyond generates Heavy ammo from powerful-combatant kills — it keeps Acrius fed, but the manifest text gates it on Void weapon kills, so it triggers off a Void slot weapon, not off Acrius (see Verify).
Shock and Awe makes Arc final blows while amplified summon a jolting burst — Acrius slugs become free Flow State fuel.- Lighting Strikes Twice gives grenade recharge after an Arc grenade and extends it on Arc final blows — the Flux → shoot loop keeps your grenade online.
Where it shines
- Add-dense PvE (Onslaught, Nightfalls, Court of Blades): line packs + overpenetration + Combination Blow heal-on-kill make a self-healing blender.
- Majors / mini-bosses: the enhanced Trench Barrel slugs delete red-bar-escorted majors and chunk shielded champions once their bar is exposed.
- Weak fit: long-range lanes and sustained boss-DPS — Acrius is a brawler; park it for those.
- Champion coverage: Acrius carries no intrinsic champion stun (Shock Blast is overpenetration, not a bespoke stun). Cover Overload with the subclass jolt (Lethal Current / Gathering Storm) and the artifact's Overload lever; cover Barrier/Unstoppable with your Primary/Special archetype (Aggressive/High-Impact → Unstoppable, Precision/Adaptive → Barrier, Lightweight/Rapid-Fire → Overload) plus the seasonal anti-champion mods.