Microcosm — Paracausal Battery (Hunter)

Weapon: Microcosm (Trace Rifle · Heavy · Kinetic) · Subclass: Prismatic · Role: Boss/Champion DPS battery on a self-charging Transcendence loop Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

A Heavy trace rifle that fires a continuous Kinetic beam and "deals massive bonus damage to shields." On Prismatic Hunter it stops being a damage stick and becomes a battery: it's Kinetic, so every kill feeds Facet of Grace → Transcendence; the catalyst's Thresh feeds your Super off the same trigger; Star-Eater overcharges that Super. You charge two damage windows by holding the trigger, then dump both on the boss. Hold beam, fill the bars, delete the phase.

The weapon

Paracausal Beam (verbatim): "Fires a beam of Kinetic light, dealing massive bonus damage to shields."

Catalyst — two perks (verbatim): "Thresh: Killing combatants with this weapon generates a small amount of Super energy." / "Stopping Power: This weapon's Kinetic ordinance can more easily stagger combatants, and grant increased target acquisition and damage against low-health targets."

What it does: a sustained-beam Heavy trace that ticks Kinetic damage with huge bonus damage versus elemental shields (so shielded majors/Champions evaporate), and on a single ammo pool that lasts. Thresh turns add-clear into raw Super energy; Stopping Power adds stagger and an execute bonus on low-health targets. The element matters as much as the damage: Kinetic is the one element that pays into Facet of Grace for Transcendence. Microcosm is also the weapon the catalyst arms for Champions via Stopping Power's "easier to stagger" line (see Verify — its champion behaviour is bespoke catalyst text, not an archetype stun).

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Prismatic Hunter	Transcendence is the engine; Microcosm is the Kinetic spark that lights it.
Super	Golden Gun: Marksman (Solar)	Star-Eater overcharges it into a boss-nuke that alternates with the beam; precision shots + Thresh keep it spun.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Instant full reload — refills the beam between bursts without breaking the DPS window.
Melee	Threaded Spike (Strand)	Ranged, returns on bounce; safe Transcendence/orb feed without leaving cover during a phase.
Grenade	Magnetic Grenade (Void)	Sticky single-target detonation for the priority; any grenade works — it's the Transcendence-grenade payoff that matters.
Aspect 1	Gunpowder Gamble	Kills charge a Solar explosive — free add-clear that doesn't cost beam ammo, and the kills feed Grace + Thresh.
Aspect 2	Stylish Executioner	Debuffed kill → invis + Truesight: free survivability and repositioning during a damage phase.

Exotic armour: Star-Eater Scales (Legs). Other two weapons: a Special weapon for Champions/shields (Barrier or Overload archetype frame, e.g. a Barrier-stunning sniper/fusion to cover what the beam doesn't) + a Primary that makes Orbs (matching-element surge optional) to keep Star-Eater fed.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• Microcosm is Kinetic, and only Kinetic kills pay Facet of Grace. Every combatant the beam (or Gunpowder Gamble, or Golden Gun) drops dumps Transcendence energy into both bars. The weapon literally charges your subclass's damage state.
• Thresh and Grace share one trigger. A single Microcosm kill feeds Super energy (Thresh catalyst) and Transcendence (Grace) at once — two meters from one beam. You arrive at a boss with both windows ready.
• Star-Eater turns the orb economy into a second damage phase. Microcosm makes orbs through mods; with Super full, picking one up overcharges Golden Gun for a burst-heal-on-cast, a Super-damage bonus, and an overshield at max. The boss rotation is beam to refill → overcharged Golden Gun → beam again — Star-Eater is the only Super exotic that makes a one-shot Super worth weaving between trace-rifle windows.
• Transcendence is free DPS on top. Grace + Honor keep you transcendent during phases; the Transcendence grenade is a hard-hitting detonation, and Facet of Justice makes its (and any) ability final blow explode for chip across the pack.
• Marksman's Dodge is the no-downtime reload. Trace rifles drain fast; dodging reloads the whole beam instantly so the DPS window never pauses, and Facet of Hope speeds the dodge back via the elemental buff you're always holding.
• Stopping Power covers the shielded/Champion problem the beam already counters. Paracausal Beam's "massive bonus damage to shields" shreds shielded majors; Stopping Power adds stagger and a low-health execute, so the same trigger that builds your meters also handles the orange-bar wall in front of the boss.

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Super 100+ → Class. Weapons is the PvE weapon-damage stat and your damage is a weapon; Super 100+ accelerates the Star-Eater rotation; Class feeds Marksman's Dodge reloads. Grenade/Melee are secondary (abilities here exist to feed Transcendence, not to carry).

Archetypes: Powerhouse (Weapons/Super) or any piece favouring Weapons. Stat tuning: +Weapons / −Health where the build lets you (Grace already costs Health).

Mods, by piece:

• Helmet: Heavy Ammo Finder · Harmonic/Kinetic Siphon (kills → Orbs to feed Star-Eater).
• Gauntlets: Heavy Loader · Trace Rifle / Heavy targeting as available.
• Chest: Elemental resist ×3 (you stand still and hold a beam — flat DR matters).
• Legs: Weapon Surge ×2 matching your damage element · Heavy Ammo Scavenger · Orbs of Restoration.
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums orbs → Star-Eater) · Reaper (dodge → next kill spawns an Orb).

Set bonuses are garnish, never a driver — slot one only if your rolls already hit the stats above (a Weapons/Super archetype set is the only "fit").

Where it shines

• Raid/dungeon boss DPS — the headline use. Two-phase rotation (overcharged Golden Gun + sustained beam) puts up burst and sustained on one ammo pool, with Transcendence padding the total.
• Shielded majors / Champion lanes — Paracausal Beam's anti-shield bonus melts Barrier-shielded and elemental-shielded orange bars; Stopping Power adds the stagger and low-health execute.
• Champion coverage: treat Microcosm's stun as bespoke (Stopping Power's "more easily stagger" line), not a clean archetype stun — bring a Special with a real Barrier/Overload archetype intrinsic for guaranteed GM stuns (see Verify).
• GM / −30 to −40 content — Stylish invis + Truesight and the elemental-resist chest keep a stationary beam-holder alive; the loop self-sustains Super and Transcendence so you're never out of a damage button.