The Wardcliff Coil — Volley Battery (Hunter)
Pull it, dump a fan of mini-rockets into the densest thing in the room, and swap off before the smoke clears. 9.7.0 turned Wardcliff from a meme into an engine: max reserves jumped to 8, it autoloads while stowed, and the long-broken Bolt Charge perk finally works — every other rocket bolt-charges the whole fireteam. The build is built around the swap: a stowed Wardcliff is always reloading itself, so the exotic cloak and the Arc subclass exist to make the draw free and to convert the volley's Bolt Charge into a self-feeding Arc economy.
The weapon
Mad Scientist (intrinsic, verbatim):
This weapon fires a volley of rockets and grants Bolt Charge to all nearby allies for every other rocket that it fires.
Catalyst — Pinpoint Guidance Module (verbatim):
Improved tracking on projectiles.
It fires a wildly imprecise volley of 8 mini-rockets in one trigger pull — burst add-clear and major/miniboss deletion in a single shot, Arc element on Heavy ammo. Two 9.7.0 facts define the build: it autoloads from reserves while stowed, and its Bolt Charge perk is fixed and live, so swapping to it always finds a full tube and firing it floods you and nearby allies with Bolt Charge (one stack per two rockets, granted only while within 5 metres of the ground). The catalyst's tracking is what makes that random fan actually land on the target you aimed at instead of the wall beside it — run it. The one thing it is not is a boss gun: the manifest applies an 80% damage penalty to Minibosses, Bosses and Vehicles, so this is an adds-and-majors tool that you swap off for a damage phase.
Loadout
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass | Arc Hunter | Wardcliff is Arc and Bolt Charge is an Arc verb, so the gun is a subclass engine. |
| Super | Gathering Storm | One-cast burst nuke that mirrors the gun's role; an Arc Super keeps surge and fragment maths Arc-pure. |
| Class ability | Marksman's Dodge | Auto-reloads the equipped weapon on dodge and feeds Spirit of the Dragon's reload-from-reserves swap window. |
| Movement | Triple Jump | Air control to reposition between volleys; Wardcliff is stand-and-deliver, the dodge is for the swap. |
| Melee | Combination Blow | Cheap Arc kills keep Amplified topped up — not the damage, just the Arc keyword feed. |
| Grenade | Storm Grenade | Roaming thundercloud add-clear that holds ground while Wardcliff reloads stowed; an Arc grenade for Spark of Shock to jolt. |
| Aspect 1 | Flow State | Defeating a jolted target makes you amplified; Amplified greatly increases reload speed and dodge recharge — faster swaps, faster Storm-nade. |
| Aspect 2 | Touch of Thunder | Upgrades Storm Grenade into the roaming thundercloud that covers Wardcliff's reload downtime. |
| Fragments | Shock · Ions · Discharge · Beacons · Resistance | Jolt source, two Ionic Trace faucets, a Heavy-ammo blind, and point-blank damage resistance — the full Arc loop. |
| Exotic armour | Relativism (Spirit of the Dragon) | Weapons ready quicker and the class ability reloads from reserves — makes both halves of the Wardcliff swap near-instant. |
| Weapons | Champion-stunning Kinetic primary + an Arc Special | The primary does the trash work and carries the intrinsic champion stun; an Arc Special keeps the surge/fragment maths Arc-pure. |
Spark of Shock Arc grenades jolt — turns Storm nade into the jolt source that feeds Flow State
Spark of Ions jolted or Bolt-Charge kills create an Ionic Trace
Spark of Discharge Arc weapon kills have a chance to create an Ionic Trace — Wardcliff mints these by the handful
Spark of Beacons while Amplified, Arc Special or Heavy final blows create a blinding explosion — directly on Wardcliff
Spark of Resistance damage resistance while surrounded, +10 Melee — you fight at point blank
Why it works (the mechanics)
- The stowed autoload is the whole thesis. Post-9.7.0 Wardcliff reloads from reserves while holstered, and reserves jumped to 8. So the optimal pattern is the swap loop: fight with a primary, swap to Wardcliff for the priority target or pack, dump the volley, swap back — and the tube refills itself in your pocket. The build's whole job is to make that swap cost nothing.
- Spirit of the Dragon makes both halves of the swap instant. Relativism's intrinsic — "Your weapons ready quicker and are more stable. Using your class ability temporarily increases this benefit and reloads your equipped weapon from reserves" — means Wardcliff snaps up fast on the draw, and your other two weapons snap up fast when you stow it. A Marksman's Dodge then tops the tube from reserves on demand, on top of the stowed autoload. It carries no element requirement, so it never fights the Arc economy the way a damage-window exotic would.
- Bolt Charge is now a real fireteam payload. Mad Scientist grants Bolt Charge to all nearby allies for every other rocket, and a Wardcliff volley is many rockets, so one shot bolt-charges the whole team toward their max stacks (the perk only fires while you are within 5 metres of the ground — fire it grounded, not mid-air). That is a free, fixed-in-9.7.0 support layer no other Heavy provides.
- The Arc verb chain closes on itself. Storm Grenade plus Spark of Shock jolts the pack; killing a jolted target procs Flow State → Amplified; Amplified gives greatly increased reload speed (faster Wardcliff and everything else) and turns on Spark of Beacons, so your next Wardcliff volley creates a blinding explosion on the final blow. Crowd control and damage off one gun.
- Two independent Ionic Trace faucets keep abilities full. Spark of Discharge (Arc weapon final blows) and Spark of Ions (jolted or Bolt-Charge kills) both mint traces, and a Wardcliff volley that wipes a jolted pack triggers both at once — several traces homing back for grenade, melee and dodge energy, which re-arms Storm Grenade and the next dodge-reload.
- Champion coverage is delegated, not invented — and the Super covers the overflow. Wardcliff carries no bespoke anti-champion stun (its weapon_facts champion field is null), so the build answers Overload/Unstoppable through the subclass's jolt and blind plus the two other weapon slots. When the volley isn't enough, Gathering Storm is the same fantasy at Super scale: one thrown staff that nukes the pack and keeps the loadout Arc-pure.
Stats & mods
Weapons 200 → Health → Class. Weapons is the lever on Wardcliff's PvE damage against majors and minors; Class around 100 keeps Marksman's Dodge (the reload-on-demand) on a short leash; Health is the survivability floor for a gun you fire at point-blank range. This is a Weapons-archetype lean with a Class secondary — ability-uptime over Grenade because the Ionic Trace faucets already refill Storm Grenade for you.
Mods:
- Boots: Rocket Launcher Scavenger + Rocket Launcher Reserves — more Wardcliff ammo on the floor and in the tube, the only thing that gates the swap loop.
- Arms: Heavy Hand / Momentum Transfer for Combination Blow uptime; Grenade Font for Storm Grenade regen — Bolt Charge has no loader mod, so spend the slot on grenade energy.
- Chest: Arc Resistance + Concussive Dampener — you fire Wardcliff inside the splash radius of your own rockets.
- Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums the Orbs and Ionic Traces your Arc kills flood the floor with) + Reaper.
- Surge: Arc Weapon Surge ×1–2 on the legs for Wardcliff damage; Harmonic Siphon + Ashes to Assets on the helmet feed Orbs and Super off Arc and grenade kills.
- Anti-Champion: none intrinsic to Wardcliff (flag) — bring the season's anti-champion mods on your other two weapons; the subclass's jolt and blind cover Overload/Unstoppable behaviour as a band-aid only.
Artifact — Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel
Picks (2/3/2): Trace Evidence, The Thick Of It · Curative Orbs, Debilitating Wave, Retinal Burn · Arc Compounding, Conductive Cosmic Crystal
Trace Evidence (T1) generates Ionic Traces on rapid precision hits or final blows against jolted or blinded targets — a third trace faucet on top of Discharge and Ions, and picking the trace up grants Armor Charge.
The Thick Of It (T1) hands you Armor Charge for rapid final blows while surrounded, which Retinal Burn then spends — you are always surrounded fighting at point-blank.
Curative Orbs (T2) creates Orbs of Power on shield breaks and heals you off Orb/elemental pickups, feeding the Orb economy and Powerful Attraction.
Debilitating Wave (T2) makes finishers emit an Arc wave that blinds the pack — more blind for Arc Compounding — and 
Retinal Burn (T2) spends an Armor Charge on rapid Arc precision hits for a blinding burst.
Arc Compounding (T3) raises Arc damage against Blind targets: Spark of Beacons blinds the pack on a Wardcliff final blow, then the next volley hits harder. 
Conductive Cosmic Crystal (T3) rounds out the all-Arc loadout fit.
Where it shines
- Add-dense PvE — strikes, Nightfalls, Onslaught, GM clear phases: a stowed Wardcliff is free burst you draw on every fresh wave, and Bolt Charge tops the fireteam between draws.
- Fireteam support: the only Heavy that hands your whole team Bolt Charge on a trigger pull — pair it with a Bolt-Charge-hungry teammate (a Storm's Keep Titan, any jolt build) and you are their battery.
- Champion coverage: none intrinsic on Wardcliff (flag). The subclass supplies jolt and blind as crowd-control band-aids; your two other weapon slots carry the actual Anti-Champion 2.0 stuns — bring a Barrier/Unstoppable primary and an Overload special to cover the trio.
- Weak spot — single-target boss DPS: the random spread wastes pellets on a lone boss and the manifest applies an 80% damage penalty to bosses, minibosses and vehicles. This is an add/major gun; swap to a different Heavy for damage phases.
Mod selection (masterworked — full allocation)
| Piece | Mod · cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet (7/10) | Harmonic Siphon 1e | Rapid Arc weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Solar weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Stasis weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Void weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. Rapid Strand weapon final blows create Orbs of Power. |
| Ashes to Assets 3e | Gain bonus Super energy on grenade kills. | |
| Arc Siphon 3e fill | Rapid Arc weapon final blows create an Orb of Power. | |
| Arms (6/10) | Momentum Transfer 2e | Causing damage with a grenade reduces your melee cooldown. |
| Grenade Font 1e | You gain a bonus to your grenade stat while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge decays over time. | |
| 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. | |
| Chest (5/10) | Arc Resistance 1e | Reduces incoming Arc damage from combatants. |
| Concussive Dampener 3e | Reduces incoming area-of-effect damage from combatants. | |
| Sniper Damage Resistance 1e fill | Reduces incoming damage from combatants that are at long range. | |
| Legs (3/10) | Arc Scavenger 1e | Arc weapons get bonus reserves when picking up ammo used by that weapon. |
| Arc Weapon Surge 1e | Your Arc weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. | |
| Arc Weapon Surge 1e fill | Your Arc weapons gain a small bonus to damage while you have any Armor Charge. Your Armor Charge now decays over time. | |
| Class Item (4/10) | Powerful Attraction 2e | Automatically collects nearby Orbs of Power when you activate your class ability. |
| Reaper 1e | Shortly after using your class ability, your next weapon final blow spawns an Orb of Power. | |
| Bomber 1e fill | Reduces grenade cooldown when using 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: in the tube; Super off Arc; grenade kills. - **Anti-Champion:** none intrinsic to Wardcliff (flag) — bring the season's anti-champion mods on your other two weapons; the subclass's jolt; blind cover Overload/Unstoppable behaviour as a band-aid only.