The Lament — Roaring Revs (Solar Hunter)

Centerpiece: The Lament (Sword · Heavy · Solar) · Subclass: Gunslinger (Solar) · Role: Sustained boss/melee DPS sword + scorch-ignite engine Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Updated 2026-07-03

Rev the blade, plant it in the boss, and never let go. The Lament's whole fantasy is sustained damage — the longer you hold the rev, the more stacks you build, the harder it hits and the less you take. The catalyst turns those revved hits into a scorch firehose, and on Solar Hunter every scorched target feeds the loop back: melee energy, Firesprites, ignitions, class-ability regen.

The weapon

Banshee's Wail (intrinsic): "[Block] : Hold to rev the blade. • Increases damage and adds [Shield-Piercing] shield piercing to all attacks. • Gain stacks when dealing damage with revved attacks. • Additional stacks increase the damage and damage resistance of heavy attacks."

Catalyst — Burning Ambition: "Dealing sustained damage scorches the target. Dealing damage to a scorched target inflicts scorch."

Holding Block to rev does three things at once: it ramps damage, adds intrinsic shield piercing to every attack, and stacks a buff that makes heavy attacks hit harder and grant damage resistance — so the optimal play is to plant the sword in a boss and hold rather than tap-swing. The catalyst layers Solar on top: sustained revved damage scorches the target, and because you keep hitting an already-scorched target you keep re-inflicting scorch until it ignites. Shield piercing lets the blade pass through combatant overshields (and Barrier-champion shields) rather than bouncing, though it does not by itself stun a Champion. Catalysed, the Lament stops being just a melee weapon and becomes a Solar ability igniter you happen to swing.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Gunslinger (Solar)	Scorch is a Solar verb — the catalyst plugs straight into the Solar sandbox (ignitions, Firesprites, scorch-fed regen).
Super	Blade Barrage	Burst add-clear / panic button so the sword can stay parked on the boss; enhanced by Knock 'Em Down for more projectiles.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Instant reposition off a boss swing that also resets sword stance; Acrobat's Dodge (Radiant) is the alt if you want the damage buff over the reset.
Movement	Triple Jump	Maximum air control to close on a boss and reposition mid-window without losing the rev's line.
Melee	Throwing Knife	Ranged scorch-starter to pre-light a target before you close, and the Gunpowder-Gamble charger.
Grenade	Healing Grenade	Sustain so you can hold the rev through boss melee; the sword is the damage, the grenade is the lifeline.
Aspect 1	On Your Mark	Class-ability activation or precision hits grant increased reload and Weapons stat, stacking ten times — buffs your other two guns between sword windows.
Aspect 2	Knock 'Em Down	Enhances Blade Barrage (more projectiles) for the burst-clear that keeps adds off you while you rev.
Fragments	See below	Four scorch-keyed Embers — exactly what Burning Ambition produces nonstop.
Exotic armour	Synthoceps (Gauntlets)	Biotic Enhancements — when surrounded (3+ within 15 m) you gain increased melee and Super damage; it also buffs Blade Barrage's Super damage while you're in the pack.
Weapons	Solar Primary (e.g. incandescent auto/pulse) + Solar Special (GL/fusion)	Primary keeps Solar verbs and On Your Mark precision stacks rolling between windows; Special thins packs so you reach "surrounded" on demand for Synthoceps.

Why it works (the mechanics)

• Banshee's Wail is a commitment perk, and the loadout pays the commitment. The rev's stacks scale heavy-attack damage and damage resistance, so the correct play is to plant the sword and hold. Every other choice — Healing Grenade, the rev's own DR, Marksman's Dodge for a stance-reset escape — exists to let you keep holding through the boss's melee.
• The catalyst turns a melee weapon into a Solar ability engine. Burning Ambition scorches on sustained damage and re-inflicts on already-scorched targets, so holding the rev on one target ramps scorch toward ignition. Ember of Ashes speeds it (more stacks per application); Ember of Char makes the resulting ignition spread scorch to the whole pack, and that secondary scorch ignites again — one revved boss becomes an AoE ignite chain.
• Scorch closes the ability economy. Ember of Searing: defeating scorched targets grants melee energy + a Firesprite (Firesprites feed grenade energy and Solar regen). Ember of Singeing: scorching targets recharges your class ability faster → more Marksman's Dodges → more sword-stance resets and repositions. The sword generates the abilities that keep it swinging safely.
• On Your Mark double-dips the 9.7.0 Weapons stat. Precision hits with your Solar primary stack On Your Mark up to ×10 → +Weapons stat, which now adds PvE weapon damage. That buffs the primary in the gaps and stacks onto the sword when you swing — a second damage source earned just by shooting between windows.
• Blade Barrage is the "get off me" button. Holding a rev means you can't shoot; when a wave of adds threatens the window, Knock-'Em-Down Blade Barrage clears it (and ignites, spreading scorch via Char) so you can immediately re-plant the sword. Synthoceps' +50% Super damage boosts the burst when you cast it surrounded.
• Shield piercing is bespoke reach against shielded targets. The rev adds intrinsic shield piercing to all attacks, letting the blade pass through combatant overshields and Barrier-champion shields instead of bouncing — a niche the sword covers without the gun-archetype stun table (though it is not itself a Champion stun; see Champion coverage).

Stats & mods

Weapons 200 → Melee → Class. Weapons because On Your Mark stacks it and it now adds PvE weapon damage to both the sword and your primary; Melee because sword light/heavy swings and Throwing Knife want it high and it feeds scorch-melee regen; Class for dodge uptime (stance reset + Singeing reinforce it). Health is the cheap dump — the rev self-DRs and Healing Grenade covers the rest.

Archetype lean: pieces favouring Weapons/Melee (Brawler/Gunner-type rolls), with one Super-leaning piece for Blade Barrage uptime.

Mods:

• Boots: Sword Scavenger ×2 (Heavy reserves are the resource) · Solar Weapon Surge if the primary is a damage piece.
• Arms: Melee Font + Heavy Handed (melee kills → melee energy) to push Melee.
• Chest: Solar Resistance ×2–3 for parked-on-boss survivability under the rev's DR.
• Class item: Bomber + Powerful Attraction (orb vacuum feeds On Your Mark + Super).
• Surge: Solar Weapon Surge (aligns the primary + Blade Barrage to the subclass).
• Anti-Champion: none intrinsic to the sword — source Unstoppable from the artifact (Energy Acceleration) and lean on the primary's archetype for the rest.

Artifact — Implement of Curiosity

The Solar half of this artifact is the exact loop the catalyst runs: Radiant feeds scorch, scorch ignites, and the artifact pays you back in Solar damage — while Iron Lord's Vigor makes parking the sword in a boss survivable, and Energy Acceleration / Elemental Daze cover the Unstoppable and debuff gaps the Lament can't stun alone.

Picks (2/3/2):

• Tier 1: Fever and Chill · Elemental Benevolence
• Tier 2: Cauterized Darkness · Energy Acceleration · Elemental Daze
• Tier 3: Radiant Shrapnel · Iron Lord's Vigor

• Fever and Chill turns rapid Solar hits into Radiant, the on-demand buff that arms Char/Searing payoffs and Radiant Shrapnel.
• Elemental Benevolence returns class-ability energy when you grant allies a Solar buff — more Marksman's Dodges to reset stance.
• Cauterized Darkness makes Stasis/Strand-debuffed non-bosses take more Solar damage, so the scorch-ignite chain hits harder.
• Energy Acceleration is the Unstoppable answer the sword lacks on its own.
• Elemental Daze plants a Solar debuff when you stun a Champion with a Solar weapon, looping back into Cauterized Darkness.
• Radiant Shrapnel sprays re-scorching Solar projectiles on sustained damage while Radiant — a direct payoff for the catalyst's scorch.
• Iron Lord's Vigor grants sword-only DR plus ammo on rapid final blows — built for plant-and-hold revving.

Where it shines

• Boss DPS / damage phases: a top-tier sustained-melee DPS sword — plant + rev + hold is the whole rotation. Best where you can stand in melee.
• Density / GM-tier: scorch + Char-spread ignitions turn a single revved target into pack-wide ignites; Synthoceps wants that density anyway, and Healing Grenade + rev DR keep you alive parked in the middle.
• Weak spots: ranged/airborne bosses or "stay back" mechanics where the sword can't reach and Synthoceps goes dark — lean on the Solar primary + Blade Barrage there.
• Champion coverage: The Lament has no intrinsic Champion stun (manifest champion = none). Its rev shield-piercing passes through Barrier-champion shields but does not stun them. Bring Unstoppable from Energy Acceleration (artifact) and match the Solar primary's archetype / mods to cover Overload and Barrier for the run.

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). Flex/loadout-dependent: lean on the primary's archetype for the rest.