The Manticore — Jump Jets (Hunter)

Weapon: The Manticore (Submachine Gun · Primary · Void) · Subclass: Nightstalker · Role: Airborne Void add-clear / self-sustain skirmisher Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

The only Void SMG that wants you off the ground. Soaring Fang turns ground kills into antigrav fuel and airborne kills into hang-time; the catalyst then pays airborne damage with a Void overshield, a blind on the target, and ammo straight back to the mag. Lion Rampant unlocks the loop — airborne firing during Lift plus +AE so a 30-AE primary actually hits while you're floating — and Trapper's Ambush cashes the overshield into a healing, Devour-granting ground slam. Stay airborne, stay alive, never reload.

The weapon

Soaring Fang (intrinsic): Dealing damage while grounded charges antigrav repulsors. Dealing damage while airborne extends antigrav repulsors. [Alternate Weapon Action] to disengage antigrav repulsors.

Catalyst — Flying Monster: While you are airborne, sustained damage and final blows with this weapon to difficult combatants grant a Void overshield, reduce combatant accuracy, and return ammo to the magazine.

900 RPM, 44-round mag, Void Primary. The intrinsic is a flight system: kill on the ground to charge repulsors, then go airborne and damage to extend the hover — the gun keeps you up as long as you keep shooting, and Alt-fire drops you back down on demand. The catalyst is the reward for committing to the air: against majors/ champions ("difficult combatants") airborne fire grants a Void overshield (survival), blinds the target (reduced accuracy = more survival), and refunds ammo to the mag (no reloads mid-fight). Grounded it's a fast, stable 900 SMG; airborne it's a self-healing, never-reload, debuffing hover platform.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Nightstalker (Void)	Void overshield/Devour ecosystem the catalyst plugs straight into; Trapper's Ambush is an aerial aspect.
Super	Shadowshot: Deadfall	Tether weakens + suppresses + groups the pack — turns a room into stationary "difficult combatants" for catalyst procs, and weaken thins champs.
Class ability	Marksman's Dodge	Reloads the Manticore on dodge (insurance if you ever land), feeds Trapper's Ambush charge.
Movement	Triple Jump	Maximum hang time + mid-air redirects to stay in the catalyst's airborne window.
Melee	Snare Bomb	Throw → invis + smoke; the smoke weakens, and a debuffed kill arms Stylish.
Grenade	Magnetic Grenade	Attaches and double-detonates; with Echo of Undermining it weakens a priority target for guaranteed catalyst eligibility.
Aspect 1	Trapper's Ambush	Air move → dive slam; damage greatly increased while you have any Void status (the catalyst overshield qualifies), heals on hit, Devour on kill, scales with Class stat ≥100. The aerial payoff aspect.
Aspect 2	Stylish Executioner	Any elemental-debuffed kill → invisibility + Truesight; next melee while invis weakens. Free disengage between hover passes.

Exotic armour — Lion Rampant (Leg Armor)

Jump Jets: Increases hip-fire range and accuracy for Primary ammo weapons. Grants additional aerial maneuverability and enables airborne firing during Lift. Increases the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons.

This is the build, not garnish. The Manticore's catalyst only works airborne, and a 30-AE SMG normally sprays wildly in the air — Lion Rampant fixes both: +AE makes airborne shots land, hip-fire range/accuracy patches the SMG's air-spread (Soaring Fang and the catalyst's blind both reward hip-fire flight), and "airborne firing during Lift" plus extra aerial maneuverability let you fly the gun — Lift, hover, strafe, and keep the repulsors extended. It is the one Hunter exotic that turns Soaring Fang from a gimmick into a sustained playstyle.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• Soaring Fang + Lion Rampant is the engine. Kill grounded → repulsors charge → Lift (airborne firing enabled) → damage extends the hover → catalyst kicks in airborne for overshield + blind + ammo. Lion Rampant's +AE/hip-fire fixes are what make airborne damage consistent enough to keep the loop spinning. Alt-fire drops you to re-charge on the ground when you need to reposition.
• The catalyst stacks three survival layers at once. Void overshield (raw HP), reduced combatant accuracy on the target you're shooting (incoming-damage cut at the source), and Devour from kills (Trapper's Ambush / Starvation) — three reasons the squishiest airborne position in the game becomes the safest.
• Ammo return removes the reload. "Difficult combatant" airborne damage refunds the mag, so you don't have to land to reload — the single biggest thing that would break the hover loop. Marksman's Dodge is the backup reload only if you touch down.
• Trapper's Ambush is built for this. It does greatly increased damage while you hold any Void status — the catalyst's overshield is a Void status — so the dive you'd take to reposition is itself a heal-on-hit, Devour-on-kill AoE nuke. Class ≥100 boosts its damage further, which is why Class is a stat target.
• Weaken manufactures catalyst targets. The catalyst wants "difficult combatants." Magnetic Grenade (Echo of Undermining) and Deadfall's tether weaken the priority/pack, and weaken is a debuff-bucket multiplier that stacks on the Manticore's own damage — so the target you're proccing the catalyst against also takes more from every round.
• The Void economy is self-feeding. Weakened kills (Harvest) → Orb + Void Breach → pick up → Devour (Starvation) → Persistence stretches every Void buff. Stylish turns any debuffed kill into invis + Truesight for a clean reset between passes. You make your own orbs, your own Devour, and your own disengage.

Stats & mods

Class 100+ (Trapper's Ambush scaling + dodge) → Weapons → Health. Aim Class to at least 100 to unlock the Ambush damage bonus; push Weapons for PvE add-clear damage on the Manticore; Health as the dump since the catalyst overshield + Devour + blind do the survival work. Grenade secondary for Magnetic uptime.

• Helmet: Harmonic/Void Siphon (Void kills → Orbs — you make floods) · Ashes to Assets (Super on grenade kills).
• Gauntlets: Void Loader (Manticore reloads if you do land) · Class Font (→ Class 100) · Grenade Font.
• Chest: Arc/Solar/Void Resistance ×1 each — flat DR under the overshield.
• Legs (Lion Rampant): Void Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% Void damage onto the Manticore) · Orbs of Restoration (orb pickup → ability energy).
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums orbs into Devour/energy) · Reaper · Class Font.
• Stat tuning: +Class/−Health and +Weapons/−Health — dump Health on purpose; the catalyst overshield, Devour, and the target-blind are the real health bar.

Champion note (Anti-Champion 2.0): a 900-RPM SMG is a Rapid-Fire frame → intrinsic Overload stun. The Manticore covers Overload champions itself.

Where it shines

• Add-dense PvE — Vanguard Ops, Battlegrounds, patrol, lower-tier Nightfalls: the airborne loop is fastest where there's a constant supply of grounded kills to charge repulsors and majors to proc the catalyst. Endlessly sustaining, never reloading, always moving.
• Champion coverage: Overload intrinsically (Rapid-Fire archetype). Pair the other two slots for Barrier/Unstoppable; Deadfall's suppress + tether handle Overload-style ability-spam elites and weaken champ health for the team.
• PvP / Crucible skirmishing: Lion Rampant + Soaring Fang is a genuine air-duel package — hip-fire accuracy in the air, the catalyst's blind on whoever you're shooting, and overshield to win the trade. A real niche, not just PvE flavour.

### The other two weapon slots

• Special — a Barrier-frame option: a Precision/Adaptive Pulse or Scout (intrinsic Barrier), or a Void Special to keep your surges/Volatile theme. Covers the champion the Manticore can't.
• Heavy — Unstoppable + boss DPS: an Aggressive/High-Impact frame (intrinsic Unstoppable) — a Machine Gun or GL for the orange bars the SMG won't delete and the third champion type. Between the three, all of Overload/Barrier/Unstoppable are covered.