Solar

Merciless — The Long Charge (Hunter)

Sustained boss/miniboss DPS that heals the fireteam between bursts

✓ Manifest Solar · Special · No intrinsic champion

Weapon: Merciless (Fusion Rifle · Special · Solar) · Subclass: Gunslinger · Role: Sustained boss/miniboss DPS that heals the fireteam between bursts Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

Merciless punishes you for stopping. Every bolt that connects shaves the next charge time, so the gun ramps from sluggish to near-instant the longer you hold the trigger on a single target — exactly the behaviour you want against a boss that never moves. The 9.7.0 catalyst bolts Heal Clip onto it, so the same trigger discipline that maximises damage also sprays Cure on the whole team every time you reload after a kill. Star-Eater turns your Orb flood into an overcharged Solar Super, and Radiant keeps the DPS window lit. Charge, dump, reload-heal, Super, repeat.

The weapon

Conserve Momentum (exotic perk, verbatim): Hits with projectiles decrease this weapon's charge time for a short duration.

Heal Clip (catalyst, verbatim): Reloading shortly after dealing a final blow grants Cure to you and your nearby allies.

What it does: Merciless is a Special-ammo Solar Fusion Rifle. Conserve Momentum is a ramp — landing bolts stacks a temporary charge-time reduction, so sustained fire on a single high-health target speeds the weapon up toward a continuous stream. It is one of the highest sustained-DPS fusion rifles in the game because you stay locked on one target, which is the opposite of how most fusions are used (snap a single full-charge burst, then re-pre-charge). The catalyst (Heal Clip) makes the reload after any kill a fireteam-wide Cure, so the gun is also a soft support tool in a pinch. It does not carry a bespoke champion stun (see Verify).

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Gunslinger (Solar)	Solar weapon → Radiant/Restoration/Empyrean loops all key off Merciless's element; Cure from Heal Clip feeds Ember of Benevolence.
Super	Golden Gun: Marksman (or Blade Barrage)	Star-Eater overcharges it into a burst-damage opener; Marksman for precision-Super-energy refund, Blade Barrage if you want AoE add clear.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Instant reload — re-arms Merciless mid-fight without leaving the charge window, and re-triggers Heal Clip's reload-Cure on demand.
Melee	Knife Trick (or Lightweight Knife)	Solar precision melee → Ember of Torches Radiant; ranged so you stay on the boss.
Grenade	Healing Grenade	Cure + the throw is a Solar ability final-blow source for Empyrean; backup sustain when not reloading.
Aspect 1	On Your Mark	Class-ability/precision hits grant +Weapons stat ×10 and reload speed — Weapons stat adds PvE weapon damage on top of Merciless's ramp, and the reload speed shortens the Heal-Clip cycle.
Aspect 2	Knock 'em Down	Cure on Super cast + enhanced Golden Gun damage — pairs with the Star-Eater overcharge opener.
Fragments	Ember of Torches (Radiant from melee), Ember of Empyrean (Solar kills extend Radiant/Resto — Merciless kills keep both rolling), Ember of Solace (longer Radiant/Resto), Ember of Benevolence (applying Cure/Radiant/Resto to allies → big ability regen — Heal Clip triggers this every kill-reload)	Radiant = +damage during DPS; Empyrean+Solace keep it alive between bursts; Benevolence turns the team-Cure into ability uptime.
Exotic armour	Star-Eater Scales (Legs)	Orb flood → overcharged Super: a healing, +damage burst opener before you settle into Merciless. The DPS rotation is Super-then-fusion.
Energy weapon slot	(Merciless occupies Special) — Primary: a Solar auto/HC with a champion frame for stun + Radiant upkeep	Covers Overload/Barrier/Unstoppable the fusion can't, and Solar element extends Empyrean.
Heavy slot	Rocket / Sword / Heavy GL for burst phases	Merciless is the sustained DPS; heavy covers the short-burst damage check and total adds.

Why this works (the mechanics)

The gun rewards staying on target — so does the build. Conserve Momentum ramps only while you keep landing bolts on the same target. Marksman's Dodge refills the mag without breaking that window, and On Your Mark's reload speed shortens the gap, so the ramp barely resets between mags. This is a single- target sustained-DPS profile: the longer the boss lives, the faster Merciless shoots.
Heal Clip makes the reload do double duty. After any kill, the reload sprays Cure on the fireteam (catalyst) and — via Marksman's Dodge — happens instantly on demand. In add-dense DPS phases you're reloading constantly, so the team-heal is effectively free uptime, not a sacrifice of damage.
Radiant is the damage multiplier, and it's self-sustaining. Knife Trick → Ember of Torches → Radiant (+ Solar weapon damage during the DPS window). Ember of Empyrean then extends Radiant on every Merciless kill, and Ember of Solace lengthens the base duration — so once it's lit, normal play keeps it lit through the whole burst.
On Your Mark double-dips the 9.7.0 Weapons stat. Its ×10 stacks add Weapons stat, which adds PvE weapon damage against minors/majors on top of Radiant and the Conserve Momentum ramp — three independent damage sources stacked from just landing hits and dodging.
Star-Eater converts your Orb economy into a burst opener. Merciless and Golden Gun make Orbs; Star-Eater overcharges the Super off picked-up Orbs for a heal-on-cast + bonus Super damage + (at max) an overshield. The DPS rotation becomes: open with the overcharged Super for the front-loaded chunk, then sit on Merciless for the long sustained tail — two damage profiles, one build.
Benevolence closes the ability loop. Heal Clip applies Cure to allies, which procs Ember of Benevolence → big grenade/melee/class regen. The support heal you're already throwing out pays you back in ability energy, which feeds more dodges (more reloads, more Heal Clip) and more knives (more Radiant).

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Health 100+ → Class → Super. Weapons is the ceiling — it scales Merciless's per-bolt PvE damage and double-dips with On Your Mark. Class feeds Marksman's Dodge frequency (the reload/Heal-Clip engine). Super matters because Star-Eater wants the Super up often; Orbs cover the rest.

Mods:

Fusion Rifle Loader / Fusion Rifle Scavenger / Fusion Rifle Reserves — Special fusions are ammo-hungry; reserves + scavenger keep the DPS phase fed.
Solar Weapon Surge ×2–3 (boots) — straight +Solar weapon damage onto Merciless during the burst.
Special Ammo Finisher — converts a finisher into Special bricks to refill Merciless between phases.
Orbs of Restoration / Powerful Attraction (class item) — dodge vacuums Orbs to feed Star-Eater and top abilities.
Font of Weapons / Heavy Handed / Bomber as filler toward the stat targets.

Archetypes: a Weapons/Super piece (Star-Eater wants Super; Weapons is the build) plus Gunner/Class-leaning pieces. Set bonus is garnish — slot one only if the rolls already carry Weapons 200.

Where it shines

Boss & miniboss DPS (raids, dungeons, GMs): stationary high-health targets are exactly what Conserve Momentum's ramp wants. Open with the Star-Eater Super, then ride the sped-up fusion for the sustained tail.
Team content: Heal Clip turns your reloads into fireteam Cure — a real perk in a 3-stack or a flawless dungeon run, where the rest of your kit stays full damage.
Champion coverage — flag: Merciless is a Rapid-Fire Frame fusion, which under Anti-Champion 2.0 maps to Overload, but fusion-rifle champion stun is not something this exotic states a bespoke version of. Treat champion stun as the primary weapon's job (bring a Barrier/Unstoppable frame to cover what the fusion doesn't) and use Merciless purely as the damage dealer. Radiant + the Star-Eater Super handle health bars; the primary handles the stun.

Verify notes

Exotic perk + catalyst text are verbatim from `docs/encyclopedia/exotics.md` (Conserve Momentum) and `docs/encyclopedia/catalysts.md` (Heal Clip). The knowledge doc (`docs/knowledge/exotics_and_catalysts.md`) adds "Impetus bonuses now refresh while active" for the catalyst — that extra clause is not in the manifest catalyst text, so it's noted but not relied on; confirm in-game.
Element/ammo: Merciless is a Solar Special Fusion Rifle (standard for the weapon; the manifest exotic entry lists type as Fusion Rifle, element/ammo not re-printed in the grepped line — element confirmed Solar from the Heal-Clip/ Empyrean synergy and the weapon's long-standing definition). If a manifest re-check shows otherwise, swap the Solar surge mods/fragments accordingly.
Archetype → champion: Merciless's Rapid-Fire frame maps to Overload under the 9.7.0 archetype table (`monument_of_triumph_9_7_0.md` §1), but no bespoke fusion-champion stun is documented for this exotic — champion stun is delegated to the primary. Confirm Merciless's exact frame label in the manifest.
All armour/aspects/fragments verified against `docs/encyclopedia/`: Star-Eater Scales (exotics.md), On Your Mark + Knock 'em Down + Gunpowder Gamble (aspects.md), Embers of Torches/Empyrean/Solace/Benevolence (fragments.md), Heal Clip + Flint Striker + Ember-of-Solace perk text (perks.md). No fallback to `docs/knowledge/` was needed except the catalyst clause flagged above.
Per-hit charge-time reduction %, the Conserve Momentum window length, Radiant's exact damage % and Star-Eater's overcharge damage bonus — confirm in-game; the encyclopedia records behaviour, not every number.

Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)

Piece	Mod · cost	What it does
Helmet (7/10)	Solar Siphon 3e fill	Rapid Solar weapon final blows create an Orb 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 (8/10)	Heavy Handed 3e	Your powered melee final blows create Orbs of Power.
	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.
Chest (6/10)	Solar Resistance 2e fill	Reduces incoming Solar damage from combatants.
	Concussive Dampener 3e fill	Reduces incoming area-of-effect damage from combatants.
	Sniper Damage Resistance 1e fill	Reduces incoming damage from combatants that are at long range.
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 (5/10)	Powerful Attraction 2e	Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate your class ability.
	Powerful Attraction 2e	Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate your class ability.
	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).