Praxic Blade — Boomerang Barrier (Hunter)

Weapon: Praxic Blade (Sword · Special · Kinetic) · Subclass: Arcstrider · Role: Throwable anti-Barrier add-clear + punch-knight bruiser Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

A sword you don't have to be next to anything to swing. Praxic Blade throws itself, seeks a whole pack, and is intrinsically strong against Barrier Champions — a melee-archetype weapon that ranged-deletes the one champion melee normally can't reach. So pair it with the one Hunter that's already a melee engine: Arcstrider. Liar's Handshake turns the punch-and-recall loop into a self-healing brawl, the artifact's Riposte bolts Unstoppable onto the guard, and you cover two champion types off a single Heavy-attack throw. Throw it, recall it, counterpunch, repeat.

The weapon

Intrinsic — Ranged Weapon (verbatim, from the intrinsic-trait perk text):

Throw your Praxic Blade to hit multiple targets. Strong against [Shield-Piercing] Barrier Champions.

Intrinsic — Ranged Weapon (verbatim, exotics entry / Heavy-attack behaviour):

[Heavy Attack]: Throw your Praxic Blade, which will seek out multiple targets. Attacking recalls the Blade while it is in flight. [Heavy Attack]: Hold to perform a more powerful throw, sending the Blade on a straight path in the direction of your aim. Releasing the button recalls the Blade.

Catalyst: none present in the manifest snapshot — the weapon ships an Empty Catalyst Socket (confirmed in sockets), so a catalyst exists in-game but its perk text is not in `docs/encyclopedia/catalysts.md` (grep returned nothing). Do not build around a catalyst bonus; see Verify notes.

What it does: it's a Special-ammo Kinetic sword that fights as a thrown weapon. Tap-Heavy lobs a seeking blade that arcs through a group; hold-Heavy is a straight hard throw at a single priority target. Either way the blade is in the air and attacking recalls it — so the rhythm is throw → it seeks → recall → light/heavy on whatever closed the distance. The standout is the bespoke stun: the throw is strong against Barrier Champions, which is unheard of for a sword (swords are a melee archetype and normally don't touch Barrier). You get ranged anti-Barrier out of a Heavy weapon, and you can still guard-and-swing it like a normal sword up close.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Arcstrider (Arc Hunter)	Melee subclass to match a melee weapon; jolt + amplified feed the brawl.
Super	Gathering Storm	One-and-done staff throw: jolts the pack, sticks a priority target, big single-cast burst between throws. (Arc Staff/Storm's Edge both fine; Gathering Storm asks least of your APM.)
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Instant sword/weapon reload on dodge — tops the Blade's Special mag mid-fight — and repositions to recall it.
Melee	Combination Blow	Melee kills stack damage + fully refund dodge + heal; the punch half of the throw/punch loop, and what Liar's Handshake pays out on.
Grenade	Arcbolt Grenade	Chains + jolts the pack you just lobbed the blade into; jolted kills feed Ionic Traces / amplified.
Aspect 1	Lethal Current	After dodging, your next melee jolts + adds lunge + an aftershock — every Marksman's Dodge arms a jolting counterpunch.
Aspect 2	Flow State	Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified (faster everything + DR); Lethal Current and Arcbolt manufacture the jolted kills.
Fragments	Spark of Discharge (Arc weapon final blows → Ionic Trace), Spark of Ions (jolted kill → Ionic Trace), Spark of Resistance (+10 Melee, DR while surrounded — you fight inside the pack), Spark of Feedback (+10 Health, melee DR/damage when hit)	Trace economy + survivability for an in-the-melee playstyle.
Exotic armour	Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets) — Cross Counter	Arc melee (or getting punched) arms an extremely powerful healing counterpunch. The throw/recall loop keeps you in melee range; Cross Counter makes that the safe place to be.
Kinetic	(occupied) — Praxic Blade is the Kinetic/Special sword	The star; do not double up Kinetic.
Energy weapon	An Arc Primary (e.g. a 450 Arc auto / Arc SMG)	Procs Spark of Discharge → Ionic Traces, builds Bolt-Charge feed, primary-ammo add-clear between throws.
Heavy weapon	Free slot — the Blade is your Special. Run an Arc Machine Gun or a Heavy GL	Boss/champion damage the throw can't finish; Arc keeps surge/fragment synergy.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• The weapon solves the champion melee can't reach. A sword is a melee archetype, which normally means Unstoppable territory at best — but Praxic Blade's throw is bespoke strong against Barrier. That's ranged anti-Barrier from a Heavy weapon. You stun a Barrier champion by chucking a boomerang at it from cover, then recall the blade and keep moving.
• The artifact welds Unstoppable onto the same weapon. Riposte (verified, artifact): "Shortly after guarding with a Sword, your light and heavy attacks stun unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions." Guard the Blade once, then your light/heavy stuns Unstoppable. So one sword covers Barrier (intrinsic throw) + Unstoppable (Riposte guard) — Overload is the only gap, and Arc jolt/blind handles Overload behaviour.
• Throw/recall is the Arcstrider loop. "Attacking recalls the Blade." The intended rhythm — throw into the pack, close distance, light/heavy to recall — lands you exactly where Combination Blow and Liar's Handshake want you: in melee. The weapon's own mechanic pushes you into your subclass's strongest verb.
• Liar's Handshake makes melee range the safe range. Cross Counter: an Arc melee (Combination Blow) or being hit arms an extremely powerful healing counterpunch. Combination Blow already heals + refunds your dodge on a kill, so the loop is: dodge (reload Blade + arm Lethal Current) → throw → recall into a jolting counterpunch → Cross Counter heals → kill refunds dodge. Self-sustaining.
• Jolt is the connective tissue. Lethal Current jolts the counterpunch, Arcbolt jolts the pack, the Super jolts everything. Flow State turns any jolted kill into amplified (movement + DR + faster recharge), and Spark of Ions / Spark of Discharge convert all that jolt and Arc-weapon damage into Ionic Traces, which refill the abilities that keep the loop spinning.
• Marksman's Dodge is the ammo solution. A Special-ammo sword can run dry; dodge reloads it instantly, and you're dodging constantly anyway to arm Lethal Current and reposition for the recall. The build's core movement is its reload.
• The artifact also feeds the Blade's ammo. Kinetic Synthesis (verified): sustained Kinetic damage / rapid kills can drop a unique brick granting Kinetic ammo + Special and Heavy progress — Praxic Blade is a Kinetic weapon, so your own throws help refill it (note 9.7.0 halved Heavy/Praxic generation; see Verify).

Stats & mods

Melee 200 → Health 100+ → Class. Melee is the primary dial: it scales Combination Blow, the counterpunch, and ability uptime for a build that lives on punches. Health 100+ keeps you alive inside the pack (you're not a stand-off weapon); Class third for dodge uptime (reload + Lethal Current arming).

Stat tuning: lean +Melee / −Super if you take Gathering Storm (one-cast Super asks little) and want maximum punch frequency. Spark of Resistance (+10 Melee) and Spark of Feedback (+10 Health) help hit the targets for free.

Archetypes: Brawler / Gunner-melee favouring Melee, with Health or Class secondary. Mods (standard armour-charge mods — see Verify, the encyclopedia mod dump is thin): Heavy-ammo finder/scavenger and Special-ammo finder to keep the Blade fed; Arc Weapon Surge ×2 on boots for your Arc Primary/Heavy; Melee Font + Heavy Handed for melee uptime/orbs; Bomber/Outreach on the class item for dodge regen. Match your siphon mod to Arc (Arc weapon kills → Orbs) to fuel the charge economy.

Where it shines

• GMs / Master content (−30/−40): the headline use. One weapon stuns Barrier (throw) and Unstoppable (Riposte guard); Arc jolt/blind covers Overload behaviour and ability-spam elites. Liar's Handshake + Combination Blow + Flow State (amplified DR) is enough sustain to brawl in melee at GM power.
• Champion coverage (Anti-Champion 2.0): Barrier = intrinsic to the Blade's throw (bespoke stun, not archetype). Unstoppable = artifact Riposte after a sword guard. Overload = covered behaviourally by Arc jolt/blind + the Super, not by an intrinsic — bring an Overload-archetype Primary if a strike's modifier demands a hard Overload stun.
• Add-dense rooms / endless-add modes: the seeking throw clears packs from range, recalls into a healing counterpunch, and the Super resets a bad spawn.
• Boss/miniboss DPS: not its job — the Blade is add-clear + champion control. Lean on the Arc Heavy (MG / Heavy GL) and Gathering Storm for orange/yellow bars.