Lord of Wolves — Release the Char (Hunter)

Weapon: Lord of Wolves (Shotgun · Special · Solar) · Subclass: Gunslinger · Role: Close-range Solar scorch/ignition shredder Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

Flip Release the Wolves and the catalyst turns every pellet of the burst into a scorch applicator; aim down sights and a kill sprays that scorch onto the whole pack. Solar Gunslinger then converts scorch into ignitions, ignitions into more scorch, melee energy, Firesprites and orbs — a self-feeding burn loop where the shotgun is the lighter and Caliban's keeps the flame lit. Hold the trigger, the pack ignites, you reload off the corpses.

The weapon

Exotic perk — Shrapnel Launcher: "Fires a powerful short-range burst of Solar damage." The intrinsic alternate weapon action, Release the Wolves, trades the wide burst for a faster-firing, higher-DPS spread (this alt-fire behaviour is game knowledge — the manifest line for the exotic is only the one-sentence summary above; see Verify notes).

Catalyst — Fang and Claw: "Increases reload speed and stability. While Release the Wolves is active, damaging targets with this weapon applies Scorch. When aiming down sights, defeating a target spreads Scorch to those nearby."

What it does: with the catalyst installed and Release the Wolves toggled on, the gun stops being a raw-damage shotgun and becomes a scorch machine gun. Every burst stacks scorch on whatever you hit; ADS kills detonate that scorch outward to the pack. On a Solar subclass, enough stacked scorch ignites — and the whole Gunslinger kit is built to feed off scorch and ignition. The weapon isn't chasing a damage number; it's the application engine that lights the subclass's whole reactor.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Gunslinger (Solar)	Only subclass that turns the catalyst's scorch into ignitions and pays you for both.
Super	Golden Gun: Marksman	On-theme priority delete; Knock 'Em Down extends its duration. Blade Barrage is the alt if you want add-clear over single-target.
Class ability	Acrobat's Dodge (Marksman's Dodge)	Reloads the gun and grants radiant on dodge near enemies — radiant keeps the burn build's damage floor up between bursts.
Melee	Proximity Knife	Caliban's turns it into a second scorch/ignition source; refunds on ignition kills.
Grenade	Healing Grenade	Sustain at shotgun range; the gun and knives are the damage.
Aspect 1	Knock 'Em Down	While radiant, Throwing-Knife (here Proximity-Knife) kills fully refund melee → near-infinite knives; enhances the Super.
Aspect 2	On Your Mark	Class ability / precision hits → stacking reload + Weapons stat (×10) — reload is the shotgun's lifeblood and Weapons stat is free PvE damage.
Fragments	Ember of Char (ignitions spread scorch), Ember of Searing (scorched kills → melee + Firesprite), Ember of Ashes (more scorch stacks → faster ignitions), Ember of Wonder (rapid ignition kills → Orbs)	Char closes the scorch loop, Searing/Ashes accelerate it, Wonder makes orbs for the Super.
Exotic armour	Caliban's Hand (Gauntlets)	Second scorch/ignition engine off the melee; ignition kills overflow into extra knife charges — stacks with the gun's scorch to reach ignition threshold instantly.
Special	Lord of Wolves	The build.
Primary	Solar primary with Incandescent or Heal Clip/Incandescent	Incandescent spreads scorch on kills — a third applicator that pre-burns packs before the shotgun closes; matches your Solar surge.
Heavy	Solar Machine Gun / GL with Incandescent or Bait and Switch	Sustained Solar DPS for bosses the burn loop can't melt, and a fourth scorch source.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• The catalyst makes the gun a scorch applicator, not a DPS shotgun. Release the Wolves + Fang and Claw applies scorch on every hit; ADS kills spread it to the pack. You aren't relying on the shotgun's damage number — you're using its high rate of fire to stack scorch fast and wide.
• Solar's scorch→ignition threshold is the payoff. Stacked scorch auto-ignites at ~100 stacks; Ember of Ashes raises stacks-per-hit so the gun crosses the threshold in one or two bursts. The ignition is the actual kill, and it's AoE.
• Ember of Char turns one ignition into the next. Each ignition spreads scorch to everything nearby — which then ignites — which spreads again. The catalyst lights the first target; Char chains it through the room with no extra input.
• The ability economy is paid for by burning. Ember of Searing: scorched kills refund melee + drop a Firesprite (→ grenade/super energy). Knock 'Em Down + radiant (from Acrobat's Dodge): Proximity-Knife kills fully refund melee. So knives are nearly free, and Caliban's makes each knife also a scorch/ignition source that overflows into extra charges on ignition kills. Knives and gun feed the same fire.
• Caliban's doubles the applicators. The build has two independent scorch/ ignition engines — the catalyst gun and the Proximity Knife — so even when the shotgun is reloading you're still applying scorch and keeping Char's chain alive. Ignition final blows fully refund melee and can overflow a knife charge.
• On Your Mark double-dips the 9.7.0 Weapons stat. Precision hits/class-ability use stack Weapons stat ×10, which is flat PvE weapon damage on top of the burn — and the reload-speed half keeps the low-reserve shotgun topped up between bursts.
• Ember of Wonder feeds the Super. Rapid ignition kills (this build's bread and butter) generate Orbs of Power → Golden Gun online for the priority target that doesn't burn fast enough.

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Health 100+ → Melee/Class split. Weapons maxes the gun's damage and On Your Mark's payout; Health for shotgun range survivability; Melee/Class to keep knives and dodge (radiant + reload) cycling.

Archetypes: Gunner/Powerhouse pieces (Weapons + Melee/Super favoured). Mods:

• Boots: Solar Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% Solar weapon damage — straight onto Lord of Wolves) · Orbs of Restoration.
• Gauntlets (Caliban's): Melee Font · Heavy Handed (melee kills → melee energy).
• Helmet: Solar/Harmonic Siphon (kills → orbs to feed Wonder + Super) · Ashes to Assets (Super on ability kills).
• Chest: elemental resistances for shotgun-range trades.
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums the orbs you flood) · Bomber.
• Stat tuning: trade Health for Weapons if your DR layers (radiant, Healing Grenade) feel sufficient. Slot a Special Ammo Finder / Finisher — Lord of Wolves eats Special reserves and you fire it constantly.

Where it shines

• Add-dense PvE — strikes, Nightfalls, GM clear phases, dungeon/raid trash. The scorch→Char ignition chain is room-clearing AoE; the denser the pack, the harder it snowballs. This is the build's home.
• Close-quarters lanes where a shotgun's range isn't a liability and you can ADS for the catalyst's scorch-spread.
• Champions — flag this. Lord of Wolves is an exotic Shotgun with no bespoke champion stun and no Aggressive/Precision/Lightweight archetype tag that Anti- Champion 2.0 keys off. It does not stun champions on its own. Cover champions with your other two slots (a Solar primary/heavy of a stunning archetype) and with abilities — scorch/ignition damage thins champion health, and Golden Gun deletes one outright, but the stun must come from elsewhere. Build for this in a GM: bring a Barrier/Unstoppable/Overload weapon in primary or heavy.

Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)

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: you fire it constantly.