Rat King — Plague Rats (Void Hunter)
Rat King is the invisibility weapon: reload right after a kill and you vanish, and the catalyst heals you every time you do. Most builds treat that invis as a party trick because it's a Kinetic primary with no obvious subclass home. This one makes it the engine — a Void Hunter where the gun is a third invis source stacked on Vanishing Step and Stylish, every vanish refreshes health, and Graviton Forfeit turns constant invis into constant ability regen and a free Void Overshield. You play the whole activity translucent.
The weapon
Rat Pack (intrinsic): "This fully automatic weapon becomes stronger when nearby allies also have it equipped. Stacks up to 6 times."
Vermin (trait): "Reloading immediately after a kill grants a brief period of invisibility."
Catalyst — Infestation: "Improved aim assist and recoil direction. Refreshes health on Vermin invisibility trigger."
Mechanically it's a full-auto 300-RPM Kinetic sidearm with a forgiving Range/AA profile the catalyst smooths further. Rat Pack's damage scaler only matters in a fireteam where allies also run Rat King, so this build does not lean on the stack count — it leans on 
Vermin. The kill → tap-reload → invis cadence is the whole point, and Infestation bolts a heal onto every invis trigger, turning add-clear into self-sustain. The loop is: kill, reload, vanish and heal, repeat — indefinitely against any add density. Because the invis is generated by shooting, not by a cooldown, uptime scales with how many things you are killing, which in add-dense content is effectively permanent.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass | Nightstalker (Void) | The invisibility subclass — stacks two more invis sources on top of Vermin and makes invis do things. |
| Super | Shadowshot: Deadfall | Tether groups and weakens them; the panic button and an elemental-debuff igniter for Stylish. |
| Class ability | Gambler's Dodge | Reloads on dodge (re-arms Vermin) and refunds melee near enemies. |
| Movement | Triple Jump | Air control to reposition while invisible. |
| Melee | Snare Bomb | On-demand smoke → invis + weaken (debuff for Stylish); the Void status the build wants. |
| Grenade | Vortex Grenade | Lingering AoE for kills that feed the Vermin reload; weakens with Undermining. |
| Aspect 1 | Vanishing Step | Dodging makes you invisible — a second invis source that reloads the mag at the same time (re-arms Vermin). |
| Aspect 2 | Stylish Executioner | Any elemental-debuffed kill → invis + Truesight; next melee while invis weakens. A third invis source off your weaken kills. |
| Fragments | Echo of Persistence · Echo of Obscurity · Echo of Starvation · Echo of Harvest | See below. |
| Exotic armour | Graviton Forfeit (Helmet) | Extends every invis, regens grenade/melee/class faster while invisible, Void Overshield at max stacks. |
| Weapons | Centerpiece: Rat King (Kinetic sidearm). Energy: a Void Special (shotgun/fusion) to stay on-element for surges and add a weaken/volatile source. Heavy: Machine Gun or a Void rocket for bosses/champions the primary can't execute. |
Echo of Persistence invisibility/overshield/Devour last longer — directly extends every Vermin/Vanishing/Stylish vanish and the Graviton overshield
Echo of Obscurity finisher → invis, a free re-trigger and another catalyst heal
Echo of Starvation pick up an Orb or Void Breach → Devour, a second heal layer under the catalyst
Echo of Harvest (weakened kills → Orb + Void Breach, which feeds Starvation). Snare Bomb and Vortex+Undermining supply the weaken; Harvest converts it to the orbs and breaches Starvation eats**
Why it works (the mechanics)
- Three invisibility sources on one subclass, and Rat King is one of them. Vermin (kill → reload), Vanishing Step (dodge), and Stylish Executioner (debuffed kill) overlap so you're invisible nearly continuously — and every Vermin trigger is a catalyst heal, so uptime is also your health bar.
- Vanishing Step double-dips the reload. Dodging reloads the weapon and grants invisibility, so a single dodge re-arms Vermin with a full mag and vanishes you without needing a kill. Gambler's Dodge near enemies also refunds melee for another Snare Bomb.
- Graviton Forfeit converts uptime into an ability economy. While invisible, grenade/melee/class regen is faster and invis duration is extended (stacking with Echo of Persistence). Since you're invisible most of the fight, abilities are on a permanent discount, and at max invis stacks you get a free Void Overshield on top of the catalyst's per-vanish heal.
- The catalyst is the survivability — no Devour required, but you get it anyway. Infestation heals on every Vermin trigger. Layer Echo of Starvation's Devour (fed by Harvest's orbs/breaches off weakened kills) and you have two independent heal engines plus the Graviton overshield — which is why it solos add-dense rooms a fragile Kinetic primary has no business surviving.
- Weaken is the connective tissue. Snare Bomb and Vortex+Undermining apply it; Stylish converts a weakened kill into invis; Harvest converts it into orbs and breaches; Starvation converts those into Devour. One debuff feeds the invis loop, the heal loop, and the ability loop at once.
Stats & mods
Class 200 → Health → Weapons. Class regen re-arms Gambler's Dodge (the dodge that reloads Vermin and re-grants invis); Health puts a floor under the two heal layers; Weapons pushes primary damage since Rat King is your add-clear. Grenade and Melee can sit moderate — Graviton's invis regen and Gambler's refund cover ability uptime cheaply. This leans a class-ability archetype with a survivability tilt.
Mods:
- Boots: Void Weapon Surge ×2 (for the Void Special) · Heavy Ammo Scavenger.
- Arms: Sidearm Loader (keep Vermin fed — fast reloads are the loop).
- Chest: damage-resist mods to taste; the catalyst heal covers uptime.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums orbs → instant Devour/ability top-up) · Reaper.
- Surge: Void Weapon Surge (matches the Void Special, not the Kinetic sidearm).
- Anti-Champion: none intrinsic to Rat King — bring stuns on the Void Special / Heavy (see Champion coverage).
Artifact — Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel
The Void-Breach / Weaken artifact for a Void Nightstalker: it turns weakened kills into Devour and breaches, then spends those breaches back into more weaken — closing the build's whole invis-heal-weaken loop. Champions still route through Deadfall's suppress and your Void Special, so these mods are pure loop fuel and survivability.
Picks (2/3/2):
- Tier 1: Power From Pain · Total Carnage
- Tier 2: Void Renewal · Curative Orbs · Debilitating Wave
- Tier 3: Supernova · Served Cold
Power From Pain grants Devour and a Void Breach on rapid finals against weakened targets — the loop's ignition off Snare Bomb / Vortex weaken.
Total Carnage gives damage resist and health on finishing a powerful combatant, reinforcing the Echo of Obscurity finisher cadence.
Void Renewal spawns Void Breaches from your Void weapon finals while Devour is up — your Void Special engines the breach economy that feeds Starvation.
Curative Orbs turns shield breaks into Orbs of Power and heals on pickups, feeding Harvest/Starvation and Powerful Attraction.
Debilitating Wave makes your finishers emit a Void weaken wave (Void Super equipped), a third weaken source for Stylish and Harvest.
Supernova converts a Void Breach pickup into a weakening pulse on your next Void damage — breaches straight back into weaken.
Served Cold gives melee energy on Void Breach pickups, re-arming Snare Bomb for more weaken and invis.
Where it shines
- Solo and master/legend add-clear: continuous invis plus a per-vanish heal makes Rat King a survivability primary, not a glass cannon. You clear rooms translucent and never stop healing.
- Fireteam Rat King squads: if 2–6 allies also equip it, Rat Pack ramps the damage hard — niche but devastating in coordinated groups, and the build takes it as pure upside, not a dependency.
- Champion coverage: Rat King breaks nothing intrinsically (manifest lists no champion match — see Verify notes). Deadfall's tether suppresses to lock down elites and cover Overload behaviour, Snare Bomb's weaken thins champion health, and your Void Special / Heavy must carry Barrier and Unstoppable stuns. Do not bring this expecting the sidearm to break champions.
Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)
| Piece | Mod · cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet (7/10) | Void Siphon 3e fill | Rapid Void 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 (6/10) | 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. | |
| Fastball 1e fill | Increases grenade throw distance. | |
| Chest (5/10) | Void Resistance 1e fill | Reduces incoming Void 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 (9/10) | Void Weapon Surge 3e | Your Void weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. |
| Void Weapon Surge 3e | Your Void weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. | |
| Void Weapon Surge 3e fill | Your Void weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. | |
| Class Item (4/10) | Reaper 1e | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. |
| Reaper 1e | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. | |
| Powerful Attraction 2e | Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate 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). Flex/loadout-dependent: not the Kinetic sidearm). - **Anti-Champion:** none intrinsic to Rat King — bring stuns on the Void Special / Heavy (see Champion coverage).