The Fourth Horseman — Cross-Counter Bruiser (Arc Hunter)

Centerpiece: The Fourth Horseman (Shotgun · Special · Arc) · Subclass: Arcstrider · Role: Point-blank close-range bruiser — melt the target the punch started Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Updated 2026-07-03

A full-auto Arc shotgun that turns into a firehose the longer you hold the trigger, wired to a melee engine that punches harder the more you punch. Combination Blow ramps the fist, Liar's Handshake adds a heal-on-counterpunch, and the Horseman is the trigger that deletes whatever the punch didn't — auto-reloading from reserves so you never stop firing. Get in their face, hold the trigger, throw the counter, repeat. Arc Hunter's oldest, dumbest, best loop.

The weapon

Thunderer (intrinsic): "This weapon's rate of fire is increased significantly, and fires full auto. Final blows auto load ammo from reserves. Powerful targets fully reload the weapon."

Catalyst — And Its Name Was Death: "Adds an additional round to the magazine and increases reload speed."

The Horseman is a Special-ammo Arc shotgun that fires full-auto at a heavily inflated 360 RPM — you empty the mag in a heartbeat and it reads more like a close-range minigun than a shotgun. The two intrinsic clauses carry the sustain: final blows auto-load ammo from reserves (so chaining kills never breaks fire), and powerful targets fully reload the weapon (point it at a champion or miniboss and the mag refills mid-fight). The catalyst is pure quality-of-life — +1 round and faster reload — and both directly extend the full-auto window. This is burst DPS on a trigger; it wants you inside melee range, which is exactly where the rest of this build already lives.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Arcstrider (Arc)	Same element as the Horseman; a melee subclass that wants to be in shotgun range.
Super	Gathering Storm	Throw-the-staff Arc Super: jolts on impact, no melee animation needed; the jolt feeds Flow State + Spark of Ions.
Class ability	Gambler's Dodge	Near an enemy → full melee energy back. Refunds Combination Blow on demand and arms Lethal Current.
Movement	Triple Jump	Extra mid-air corrections to close the gap onto a target or reposition off one at point-blank.
Melee	Combination Blow	Chained melee kills heal, refund dodge, and stack a damage bonus (×3). The build's ramp.
Grenade	Arcbolt Grenade	Chains + jolts; with Spark of Shock it jolts hard, feeding Flow State amplified + Ionic Traces.
Aspect 1	Lethal Current	After dodging, next melee jolts + aftershock + blinds any jolted target on melee — your CC and a jolt source.
Aspect 2	Flow State	Defeating a jolted target → Amplified (faster reload, DR while dodging, faster dodge regen). The whole loop is jolted kills.
Fragments	Ions · Shock · Beacons · Feedback · Discharge	Trace economy + grenade jolt + room-wide blind on Horseman kills + melee-range survival + Arc-kill traces.
Exotic armour	Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets)	Cross Counter turns one Arc melee into an extra healing counterpunch — the opener and the panic button.
Weapons	Add-clear primary + Sword/MG heavy	Primary thins the room and banks Combination Blow stacks; heavy handles anything fist + Horseman can't.

Why it works (the mechanics)

• One element, one range band. The Horseman, the melee, the Super and every fragment are Arc, and all of it wants point-blank range. There's no mode-switching — the gun you shoot is the element your abilities run on, and the distance you punch at is the distance the shotgun is best at. Arc surge mods buff the Horseman directly.
• Combination Blow is the ramp; Liar's is the opener and the panic button. Chained melee kills stack Combination Blow's damage (×3) and heal you; Cross Counter lets using your Arc melee trigger an extra healing counterpunch, so one melee input becomes two hits and a heal. The counter also lands kills that keep the Combination Blow chain — and the dodge — alive.
• The Horseman is the finisher the fist can't reach. Combination Blow falls off against anything tanky, so you punch to start the chain and hold the Horseman's trigger to delete the target the punch chunked. Its final-blows-auto-reload intrinsic means the kill that ends one fight loads the mag for the next, so the melee→shotgun→melee rhythm never stalls for a reload.
• Jolt is the keystone, and it makes the gun blind the room. Lethal Current (post-dodge melee), Arcbolt + Spark of Shock (grenade), and Gathering Storm all jolt. Killing a jolted target = Flow State → Amplified. While Amplified, Spark of Beacons makes Horseman (Arc Special) final blows detonate a blinding explosion — so your shotgun kills now stun-lock the pack. Lethal Current independently blinds any jolted target you melee. Two blind sources = strong room CC, and blind is the Arcstrider's built-in survival layer.
• Amplified closes the gun loop. Flow State's Amplified greatly increases reload speed and dodge regen — faster Horseman reloads and faster Gambler's Dodge → faster melee refund → faster next jolt → next Amplified. The shotgun and the fist are reloading each other.
• The economy self-funds. Spark of Ions + Spark of Discharge spit Ionic Traces off jolted and Arc-weapon kills; traces top your least-charged ability, usually the melee or dodge you just spent. Gambler's Dodge near an enemy refunds the whole melee. You almost never wait on a cooldown.

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Melee → Health. Weapons is the headline — it scales the Horseman's PvE damage and is the slot your kills lean on. Melee keeps Combination Blow and Cross Counter charged for the ramp; Health backs the in-your-face range. This is a Weapons/Melee bruiser archetype; Class is the cheapest trade because you refund the dodge with Gambler's-near-enemy and Ionic Traces.

Mods:

• Boots: Arc Weapon Surge ×2 (Arc weapon damage straight onto the Horseman) · Innervation (orb pickup → grenade) · Recuperation (orb pickup → heal).
• Arms: Melee Font (→ Melee stat) · Heavy Handed (melee kills → melee energy + Special ammo, refills the Horseman) · Impact Induction (melee damage → grenade energy).
• Chest: Arc + Kinetic + Heavy Resistance (flat DR under blind/amplified) — you take damage at point-blank, so stack incoming DR here.
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums orbs) · Bomber (dodge → grenade) · Outreach (melee kill → class energy).
• Surge: Arc Weapon Surge — matches the Horseman's element.
• Anti-Champion: none intrinsic to the gun — jolt + blind cover Overload behaviour; bring Barrier/Unstoppable on the primary or heavy archetype (or the seasonal artifact).

Artifact — Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel

This Arc jolt/blind/Ionic-Trace/orb loop is exactly what the Satchel rewards — its mods convert the build's blinds and jolts into ability energy, stack a second blind onto the Horseman, and amplify every Arc hit against the room you're already blinding.

Picks (2/3/2):

• Tier 1: Trace Evidence · The Thick Of It
• Tier 2: Curative Orbs · Retinal Burn · Debilitating Wave
• Tier 3: Arc Compounding · Conductive Cosmic Crystal

• Trace Evidence spawns Ionic Traces off your jolt/blind hits — the build's exact verbs — refunding melee and dodge energy.
• The Thick Of It grants Armor Charge and handling while surrounded, which is where a point-blank shotgun bruiser always is.
• Curative Orbs creates an Orb on shield break, feeding the Harmonic Siphon / Powerful Attraction orb economy.
• Retinal Burn triggers a blind on rapid Arc precision hits — a second on-demand Overload-stun source alongside Beacons.
• Debilitating Wave adds an Arc finisher wave that matches your Arc Super for on-element AoE.
• Arc Compounding makes Arc sources hit blinded targets harder — near-permanent uptime given two blind sources, straight onto the Horseman.
• Conductive Cosmic Crystal gives Arc abilities bonus damage, an on-element boost to the jolting kit.

Where it shines

• Close-quarters add-dense PvE — Onslaught, Nightfalls, dungeon trash rooms, Lost Sectors. Full-auto Arc shotgun + Combination Blow ramp + blind = you walk into a pack and it stops existing.
• Minibosses / Champions — point the Horseman at a powerful target and it fully reloads mid-fight (intrinsic) for sustained close burst; jolt + blind do the stun work shotguns can't.
• Champion coverage: breaks Overload intrinsically via blind (Lethal Current melee + Spark of Beacons explosion + Retinal Burn). The gun has no bespoke champion stun, so Barrier/Unstoppable must come from your primary/heavy archetype or the seasonal artifact.
• Weak spot: anything that out-ranges a shotgun — the primary covers mid-range; don't try to bridge a long lane with the Horseman.

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).