Lodestar — Shift & Beam (Hunter)
Weapon: Lodestar (Trace Rifle · Special · Arc) · Subclass: Arc — Arcstrider · Role: Amplified add-shredder + jolt/Bolt-Charge engine Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16
Lodestar is a continuous Arc beam that only becomes itself once you're amplified — the catalyst dumps a pile of reload, aim assist and ADS movement onto a weapon that already laces enemies for the price of holding the trigger. So build the whole Hunter around staying amplified: Arcstrider that makes amplified from jolt kills, Mask of Bakris to bolt a stacking Arc-damage buff on top, and a fragment shell that turns Lodestar's stream of Arc kills into Ionic Traces → Bolt Charge → more orbs → more amplified. Hold the beam, shift, repeat.
The weapon
Starlight Beam (intrinsic, verbatim): "This weapon fires a low-intensity Arc beam with enhanced stability and accuracy."
Catalyst — Supercharged Matrix (verbatim): "While amplified, this weapon gains greatly increased reload speed, aim assist, and movement while aiming down sights."
What it does: a Special-ammo Arc Trace Rifle — a held hitscan beam, not a burst gun. The intrinsic is a stat-line buff (stability/accuracy) rather than a kill-chain perk, so the catalyst is the real intrinsic: it converts the entire feel of the gun when you're amplified — near-instant reloads between targets, glued aim assist on the stream, and you keep moving at near-walk speed in ADS so you can beam-and-reposition. The build's only job is "be amplified all the time," and Arc Hunter makes that trivial. Trace Rifles eat Special ammo, so it pairs with a Primary that doesn't fight it for bricks.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass | Arc — Arcstrider | Amplified is an Arc keyword; the whole kit manufactures it. |
| Super | Gathering Storm | Roaming-free nuke that jolts a whole pack → amplified fuel via Flow State, and a champion answer. (Storm's Edge if you want roaming.) |
| Class ability | Gambler's Dodge | Marksman's also fine; Bakris converts Dodge into Light Shift, so any dodge works — Gambler's for melee uptime. |
| Melee | Combination Blow | Not the point of this build but keeps amplified/health rolling between beams. |
| Grenade | Flux Grenade / Pulse | Throwaway; the gun and Super carry damage. |
| Aspect 1 |  Flow State | "Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified." This is the engine — jolt anything, kill it with the beam, stay amplified. |
| Aspect 2 |  Lethal Current | After dodging (Bakris Light Shift counts as the dodge), next melee jolts + aftershock — a free jolt source to feed Flow State when adds aren't pre-jolted. |
Fragments (5):
Spark of Ions — "Defeating a jolted target or defeating a target with Bolt Charge creates an Ionic Trace." Lodestar kills jolted adds → Traces.
Spark of Discharge — "Arc weapon final blows have a chance to create an Ionic Trace." A second Trace source straight off beam kills.
Spark of Resistance — flat DR while surrounded (+10 Melee); you're standing still holding a beam, so take the survivability.
Spark of Amplitude — "Rapidly defeating targets while you are amplified creates an Orb of Power." You're permanently amplified and the beam rapidly defeats — free orb flood.
Spark of Shock — "Your Arc grenades jolt targets." Turns the throwaway grenade into a Flow State trigger for a fresh pack (−10 Grenade, fine — grenade isn't a damage slot here).
(Ionic Traces from Ions/Discharge feed the Bolt-Charge-on-Trace fragment effect if you swap one slot: "Collecting an Ionic Trace grants you a stack of Bolt Charge." Run it over Resistance in adds-heavy content for a passive Bolt Charge build-up.)
Exotic armour — Mask of Bakris (Helmet)
Light Shift (verbatim): "While you have a Stasis or Arc Super equipped, your Dodge becomes a longer range, faster moving shift that partially cloaks you during use. 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."
The canonical Lodestar pairing. With an Arc Super equipped (Gathering Storm), every Dodge becomes Light Shift, and Lodestar is an Arc weapon, so the stacking Arc-weapon damage bonus lands directly on the beam. Better: beam kills under the buff refund Dodge energy, so you shift → buffed Lodestar mows the pack → refund → shift again. Bakris turns the dodge into a damage cooldown the weapon pays back itself.
Why this works (the mechanics)
- The catalyst gates on amplified, and the subclass never lets amplified drop. Flow State makes you amplified off any jolted-target kill; Lodestar is the thing killing jolted targets. Once you've jolted one pack (Lethal Current melee, Spark of Shock grenade, or Gathering Storm), the loop is self-sustaining: amplified → catalyst reload/AA/ADS-move → easier kills → more amplified.
- Bakris stacks a real damage multiplier onto a beam that lacks one. Lodestar's intrinsic is just stability/accuracy — it has no built-in damage ramp. Mask of Bakris supplies the missing multiplier (stacking Arc-weapon bonus after each Light Shift), and refunds the dodge off kills so the multiplier stays lit. This is the single biggest damage lever on the gun.
- Two independent Ionic Trace sources off beam kills (Ions + Discharge). Traces are roving energy pickups — they refund ability energy and (with the Bolt-Charge fragment) build Bolt Charge. A Trace Rifle's high kill-rate spams them, so abilities recharge fast even though you're not throwing them.
- Spark of Amplitude turns permanent-amplified + rapid kills into an orb fountain. Orbs feed armour mods (below) and any fireteam Super economy. The beam's tick-rate makes "rapidly defeating targets" the default, not an edge case.
- Champion coverage comes from the Super, not the gun. Trace Rifles have no intrinsic champion stun under Anti-Champion 2.0, and Lodestar carries no bespoke stun — so this build leans on jolt (Gathering Storm, Lethal Current, jolting grenade) for Overload-style disruption and on the artifact for the rest. State this plainly: Lodestar does not stun champions by itself (see Where it shines).
Stats & mods
Weapons 200 → Health 100+ → Class. Weapons is the highest-value stat (scales Lodestar's PvE damage on top of Bakris); Health for standing-still beam survivability; Class to keep Light Shift/Dodge cycling for the Bakris buff and refunds.
- Helmet: Harmonic Siphon (Arc kills → Orbs — stacks with Spark of Amplitude) · Heavy/Special Ammo Finder.
- Gauntlets: Special-ammo loaders for Trace Rifle handling; Fastball if running the jolt grenade.
- Chest: Arc Resistance ×2 + one off-element — you're stationary on the beam, so flat DR matters.
- Boots: Arc Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% Arc weapon damage straight onto Lodestar) · Orbs of Restoration (orb pickup → ability energy; you make orbs constantly).
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (Dodge vacuums your orbs) · Bomber/Reaper.
Archetypes: prioritise pieces favouring 
Weapons (Powerhouse / Gunner) so the 200 Weapons target is reachable, then Health.
Where it shines
- Add-dense PvE — Vanguard Ops, Battlegrounds, Nightfall trash waves, GM clear phases. A held Arc beam with permanent-amplified reload and a Bakris damage stack is a continuous-fire mob eraser, and the orb/Trace economy keeps abilities and the team's Supers topped.
- Sustained-fire majors — the catalyst's aim-assist and the Bakris stack let Lodestar beam down Champions' health bars and orange-bar majors quickly once they're stunned by something else.
- Champion coverage (be honest): Lodestar stuns nothing intrinsically. Disruption/Overload behaviour comes from jolt (Gathering Storm, Lethal Current, Spark of Shock grenade). Barrier and Unstoppable must be covered by your other two weapons' archetypes (Anti-Champion 2.0) or the seasonal artifact. Bring a Barrier/Unstoppable Primary; let jolt and the Super handle Overload-style elites.
The other two weapon slots:
- Kinetic Primary (Barrier or Unstoppable archetype) — e.g. a Heavy Burst hand cannon (Unstoppable) or a Barrier scout. It does not compete with Lodestar for Special ammo and supplies the champion stun the beam can't.
- Heavy: Machine Gun or Rocket for bosses and anything the beam shouldn't waste Special on. (Lodestar is your Special, so the Primary stays Kinetic to avoid Special-ammo contention.)