Parasite — Envious Worm (Hunter)

Weapon: Parasite (Grenade Launcher · Heavy · Strand) · Subclass: Strandwalker (Threadrunner) · Role: Boss/Champion one-shot off a worm that grows with your kill count Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

Parasite is a damage bank. Every minor you delete just before firing makes the next worm bigger — and the catalyst, Envious Arsenal, means you never reload it at all: damage your other two guns, then ready Parasite and it's full from reserves. The whole build is one rhythm — clear the room on Strand, swap-tap-swap to keep it topped, and detonate a fully-stacked worm into the boss. Star-Eater turns the Orbs that clearing makes into a Super that opens the damage window the worm finishes.

The weapon

Worm's Hunger (intrinsic): "This weapon fires Hive worms which explode on impact. The size and damage of the explosion scales with the number of enemies you've defeated just before firing this weapon."

Catalyst — Envious Arsenal: "Dealing damage with both other weapons before readying this weapon refills it from reserves."

What it does: the worm's blast (radius and damage) ramps with how many combatants you killed in the few seconds before you fired — a kill-count stack that turns a single shell into a small-nuke. Envious Arsenal removes the only tax: instead of reloading a one-in-the-pipe Heavy GL, you tag both other weapons, swap to Parasite, and it's reloaded from reserves automatically. The build exists to keep that stack high and that reserve flowing.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Strand Hunter (Threadrunner)	The room-clear element that makes the stack, and the Orb factory that feeds Star-Eater.
Super	Silkstrike	Rope-dart room-clear → builds the kill-stack and the Orbs; Star-Eater over-charges it for the heal + damage window the worm closes.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge (Gambler's if you melee more)	Reloads your swap partners on dodge — keeps Envious Arsenal's two-gun tax paid for free.
Melee	Threaded Spike	Bouncing rope-dart melee returns energy; cheap kills feed the worm stack.
Grenade	Grapple (Threading grenade if no Grapple charge)	Repositions to the boss the instant the stack is built; Widow's Silk gives the extra charge.
Aspect 1	Whirling Maelstrom	Destroy a Tangle → a Strand mass that defeats trash for you → free kill-stack between shots, hands-off.
Aspect 2	Widow's Silk	Second grenade charge → Grapple uptime to chase the boss and more Thread-of-Ascent reloads.
Fragments	Thread of Ascent · Thread of Generation · Thread of Warding · Thread of Continuity	Ascent reloads on grenade (and +10 Weapons); Generation builds grenade off all damage; Warding = Woven Mail off Orbs (you flood them); Continuity stretches your Unravel/suspend control.
Exotic armour	Star-Eater Scales (Legs)	Clearing makes Orbs → overcharged Super → heal + Super damage bonus; cast Silkstrike into the boss, then the worm finishes what the Super softened.
Weapon 2 (swap partner)	Strand Primary (e.g. an Unraveling / Hatchling auto or pulse)	Does the room-clear that builds the worm stack and counts as one of Envious Arsenal's two guns.
Weapon 3 (swap partner)	Strand Special (Slice GL or wave-frame, or a fast Special)	The second Envious Arsenal tag — a quick burst tags it before you ready Parasite; on-element for Surge.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• The stack is the whole gun, and Strand builds it for free. Worm's Hunger scales with kills just before firing. Whirling Maelstrom's Strand mass kills trash on its own, Threaded Spike bounces between adds, and a Strand primary mows the pack — by the time you swap to Parasite the worm is already fat. You never have to try to build the stack; the clear half of the build does it.
• Envious Arsenal deletes the reload, so the swap rhythm is the build. A Heavy GL normally holds one shell and reloads slowly. Envious Arsenal turns "tag gun A → tag gun B → ready Parasite" into a full mag from reserves. The ideal habit — work with two guns, then draw Parasite for the priority — is the same motion that builds the kill-stack. One rhythm pays two debts.
• Marksman's Dodge keeps the two-gun tax free. Envious Arsenal needs both partners to have dealt damage; Marksman's Dodge reloads them, so a single shot from each between worms is enough and you're never fishing for ammo.
• Star-Eater makes the Super the damage opener, the worm the closer. Clearing on Strand floods Orbs (Whirling Maelstrom + Silkstrike + ability kills). Star-Eater converts those into an overcharged Super: cast Silkstrike into the boss for the heal + Super-damage bonus, then drop a max-stack worm into the softened target. Two of the biggest single hits Hunter has, back to back, off the same Orbs the clear already made.
• Thread of Ascent is a second reload lever. Throwing a grenade reloads your equipped weapon — so if you do want Parasite reloaded the manual way, Grapple/grenade tops it, and Widow's Silk's extra charge means you almost always have one. Plus its +10 Weapons adds PvE damage to the worm itself.
• Woven Mail is the survivability tax-write-off. Thread of Warding gives Woven Mail every Orb pickup, and you make a flood of them — so the standing you do during the swap-tap-swap rhythm and the Super cast is covered by ~base DR without spending a fragment slot on pure defence.

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Super 100+ → Health/Class to taste. Weapons stat is a flat PvE damage multiplier that rides straight on the worm; Super stat speeds the Star-Eater loop. Archetypes: pieces favouring Weapons/Super; Grenade is secondary (Generation + Ascent feed it cheaply).

Mods:

• Legs (Star-Eater): Strand Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% to a Strand Parasite and your swap partners) · Orbs of Restoration.
• Arms: Heavy / Grenade Launcher Loader (speeds the manual Parasite reload for the rare case Envious Arsenal hasn't refilled) · Fastball if you lean Grapple.
• Helmet: Heavy Ammo Finder + Heavy Ammo Scavenger — Envious Arsenal refills from reserves, so reserves are your true mag size; maximise them. Harmonic/Strand Siphon to convert the clear into Orbs for Star-Eater.
• Chest: Elemental resistances; a Heavy reserves mod if the slot allows.
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums Orbs into Star-Eater) · Reaper.
• Stat tuning: push Weapons; Health is the safest dump stat under Woven Mail.

Where it shines

• Boss DPS / damage phases: the headline. Stack the worm on the trash adds every boss room provides, cast an overcharged Silkstrike, detonate a full-size worm — repeat each time reserves refill via Envious Arsenal.
• Champions — Barrier: Parasite carries a bespoke Barrier stun under Anti-Champion 2.0 (it's one of the Exotics with an intrinsic stun, not its archetype). So the worm both stuns and bursts a Barrier champion in one shot — no Barrier weapon needed in the other slots. Cover Overload/Unstoppable with your two Strand swap partners' archetypes, and Whirling Maelstrom's Unravel/suspend behaviour pressures ability-spam elites.
• GM / −30/−40 content: the kill-stack is abundant exactly where adds are abundant; Woven Mail + Star-Eater's overcharge heal carry the survivability while you stand to swap and cast.
• Add-dense endgame (Onslaught, Nether, GM strikes): the build's clear is its DPS setup — there's no dead time between "kill room" and "delete boss".

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).