Monte Carlo — Liar's Combo (Arc Hunter)

Centerpiece: Monte Carlo (Auto Rifle · Primary · Kinetic) · Subclass: Arcstrider · Role: Infinite-melee Combination Blow blender Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Updated 2026-07-03

Monte Carlo's whole identity is "shoot the gun, get your melee back." Pair the one Auto Rifle that refunds melee energy on damage with the one Hunter melee that heals and ramps on kills (Combination Blow) and the one exotic gauntlet that turns a melee into a free healing counter-punch (Liar's Handshake), and you get a self-sustaining loop where the gun pays for the punch and the punch pays for the gun. It is a Kinetic primary, so it leans on the subclass for stuns — but you will never run out of either resource.

The weapon

Monte Carlo Method (intrinsic): "Dealing damage with this weapon reduces your melee cooldown and grants a chance to fully charge your melee ability with each kill."

Markov Chain (on-weapon perk): "This weapon gains increased damage from melee kills and kills with this weapon. Melee kills grant ammo for this weapon."

Catalyst — Stochastic Vengeance: "At 5 stacks of Markov Chain, [Alternate Weapon Action] - switches between your melee attack and Monte Carlo's bayonet. Landing a bayonet melee hit grants melee energy."

What it does: every bullet shaves your melee cooldown (Clarity: 2% melee energy per hit), and kills have a chance to hard-refill the charge outright (25% chance for a full 100% melee). Markov Chain then makes the gun and your melee hit harder the more you kill — up to +65% weapon damage in PvE at 5 stacks — and a melee kill instantly refills the magazine, so the gun and the fist are one closed loop. The catalyst's bayonet is a second, free melee source at 5 stacks that also refunds melee energy on hit (a glaive-like stab reaching ~7m, 50% melee energy per landed hit): stacked with Combination Blow's own refund, you effectively never watch a melee cooldown bar.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Arcstrider	Combination Blow is the only melee that heals and damage-ramps on kill — the perfect partner for a melee-refund gun.
Super	Gathering Storm (or Arc Staff)	Single-target/champion delete; Arc Staff for adds. Either keeps you in-element.
Class ability	Gambler's Dodge	Refunds melee energy on dodge, scaled by Melee stat — a third melee-refund source stacked on top of the gun.
Movement	Triple Jump	Extra mid-air correction to reposition into and out of the melee pile.
Melee	Combination Blow	Quick strike; stacking melee-damage buff, heals on kill, and returns class-ability energy scaled by Class stat.
Grenade	Flux Grenade	Attach-and-detonate burst for a priority target or champion; the grenade is a side dish here.
Aspect 1	Lethal Current	"After dodging, your next melee attack has increased lunge range, jolts the target, and creates a damaging aftershock." — closes gaps and chains Arc damage.
Aspect 2	Flow State	"Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified." Lethal Current jolts, you kill, Flow State keeps you amplified (faster everything + DR) permanently.
Fragments	Ions · Resistance · Feedback · Discharge	Traces from jolted kills, in-pile DR, melee-damage-after-melee, and Arc-kill traces.
Exotic armour	Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets)	Cross Counter fires a buffed, healing counter on each Arc melee — a second Combination Blow hit for free, doubling the heal and the damage ramp.
Weapons	Arc Special + Arc Heavy (e.g. an Arc shotgun/GL + Arc LMG)	Keeps you in-element for surges and Spark of Discharge, and covers the range Monte Carlo cannot.

Why it works (the mechanics)

• The melee never goes on cooldown — four independent refund sources. Monte Carlo's intrinsic (2% per shot, 25% chance of a full charge on kill), Combination Blow's own loop, Gambler's Dodge (Melee-stat-scaled), and the catalyst bayonet (50% melee energy on hit) mean you are almost always holding a charged melee.
• The gun and the fist share a damage ramp. Markov Chain buffs weapon damage up to +65% (PvE) at 5 stacks and a melee kill instantly refills the mag. Combination Blow independently stacks its own melee-damage buff on kills. Both ramps climb together for as long as you keep killing — which the refund loop guarantees.
• Liar's Handshake doubles every punch. Cross Counter fires a buffed, healing counter on each Arc melee, banking a second Combination Blow hit and a second heal. The exotic's only ask — an Arc melee — is exactly what this build spams.
• Lethal Current → Flow State = permanent amplified. Dodge → Lethal Current melee jolts the target → kill the jolted target → Flow State makes you amplified (DR, faster reload/handling/movement). The dodge that arms Lethal Current is the same dodge that refunds your melee — one button, two payoffs.
• Sustain is automatic. Combination Blow heals on kill, Cross Counter heals on counter, amplified adds DR. You out-heal incoming damage by attacking, which is exactly what a melee-range build needs.
• The catalyst is the safety valve. When you cannot reach a target, the bayonet (at 5 stacks) is a free ~7m melee proc that still refunds energy — so the loop survives even when the pile thins out.

Stats & mods

Melee 200 → Class → Health. Melee maxes Combination Blow / Cross Counter damage and the Gambler's Dodge refund; Class scales Combination Blow's class-energy return (which feeds the dodge that arms Lethal Current); Health is the dump stat — you heal off kills, counters, and amplified, so it is the cheapest thing to trade.

Archetype lean: Brawler (Melee/Health) pieces, or any roll that maxes Melee.

Mods:

• Boots: Kinetic Weapon Surge ×2 (straight damage onto Monte Carlo) + Recuperation for orb-pickup sustain.
• Arms: Heavy Handed (melee kills → Orbs) + Melee loaders.
• Chest: Arc resist ×2 for the melee scrums.
• Class item: Momentum Transfer / Impact Induction (melee↔grenade energy) + Bomber.
• Surge: Kinetic Weapon Surge (matches the centerpiece).
• Anti-Champion: slot from the artifact (Riposte / Blinding Jolts) — Monte Carlo has no intrinsic stun.

Artifact — Encrypted Data Disk

This is the Arc artifact, and it plugs straight into the build's jolt → kill → Ionic Trace / amplified loop while patching the Kinetic Auto Rifle's two gaps: champion stuns and Arc orb generation.

Picks (2/3/2):

• Tier 1: Kinetic Synthesis · Riposte
• Tier 2: Dielectric · Blinding Jolts · Precision Equity
• Tier 3: Elemental Orbs: Arc · Tazer Tag

• Kinetic Synthesis rewards Monte Carlo's Kinetic auto damage with free ammo bricks — keeps the closed loop fed.
• Riposte stuns Unstoppables via the sword guard, covering the champion type the weapon cannot break on its own.
• Dielectric turns jolted/Arc-debuffed kills into Bolt Charge, Orbs, and healing — pure loop fuel.
• Blinding Jolts makes Lethal Current's jolted kills blind the pile, adding crowd control to the melee scrum.
• Precision Equity builds a big damage-buff Orb off precision kills — an extra sustain and burst window.
• Elemental Orbs: Arc spawns Arc Orbs from Lethal Current's aftershock kills to throw or shoot for AoE.
• Tazer Tag jolts on Arc melee hits — turning every Combination Blow into a Flow State / Spark of Ions trigger.

Where it shines

• Add-dense PvE — Onslaught, Nightfalls, seasonal activities, patrols. This is a horde blender: the refund loop only spins up when there are bodies to chain through. In a thick room you are an unkillable, infinitely-punching, full-mag machine.
• Lower-end and general content is where it is strongest; in GM-tier −power content the Kinetic primary's raw damage tapers, so lean on the melee ramp + Super for priority kills.
• Champion coverage: Monte Carlo breaks nothing intrinsically (Kinetic Adaptive Auto Rifle, no bespoke stun in its perks). Champions are handled by the subclass + artifact: Blinding Jolts blinds and jolt applies Overload-style stuns, Riposte covers Unstoppable, and Gathering Storm / Arc Staff stun on demand. Bring an Arc secondary or artifact stun for Barrier — do not rely on the gun.

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).