Traveler's Chosen — Gathering Light (Arc Hunter)

Weapon: Traveler's Chosen (Sidearm · Primary · Arc*) · Subclass: Arcstrider · Role: Ability-spam battery — feed all three abilities off kills, punch with Liar's Sandbox: 9.7.0 · Created 2026-06-16

The only Primary in the game whose alt-fire is "press to refund melee, grenade, AND class energy." Traveler's Chosen turns trash kills into an ability bank, then lets you cash the whole bank at once. The build is built around the cash-out: Arc melee that heals on the punch (Liar's), a dodge that resets the melee, and an Arc verb economy (amplified / jolt / Bolt Charge / Ionic Traces) that every refunded ability tops up. Osmosis keeps the gun Arc so the whole loop stays one element. You are never out of an ability for more than a second.

The weapon

Final blows with this weapon grant stacks of Gathering Light. [Alternate Weapon Action] : Consume stacks, granting melee, grenade, and class ability energy based on the number of stacks. Intrinsic support perk — Gift of the Traveler: Each stack of Gathering Light improves this weapon's reload, handling, and target acquisition.

Catalyst — Osmosis: Using your grenade ability partially refills the magazine and changes this weapon's damage type to match your grenade until you stow it. / Surplus: Increases handling, reload speed, and stability for each fully charged ability.

What it does: kill minors with the sidearm → bank Gathering Light stacks (and the gun reloads/handles better per stack via Gift of the Traveler). When stacks are high, hit [AWA] to dump them into all three ability energies at once — not one ability, all of them. Osmosis then matches the gun's element to your grenade (Arc here), so every refilled grenade re-Arcs the weapon and the Spark loop keeps feeding. Surplus rewards the state this build lives in — abilities charged — with flat handling/reload/stability. It is the single best ability-economy Primary for a Hunter who wants to throw abilities constantly and never holster a champion answer.

Loadout

Slot	Pick	Why
Subclass	Arcstrider (Arc)	Amplified/jolt/Bolt Charge are all cast-driven; Traveler's Chosen is an ability-cast machine. Osmosis keeps the gun Arc.
Super	Gathering Storm (or Arc Staff)	Storm tick-damage clears the field and feeds Ionic Traces; Staff if you want roaming uptime.
Class ability	Gambler's Dodge	Near an enemy, fully refunds the melee — re-arms Cross Counter / Combination Blow instantly. Scales with the Melee stat (9.7.0).
Melee	Combination Blow	Melee kill → heal + stacking melee damage + dodge energy. Liar's follow-up counterpunch heals on top. The [AWA] dump keeps it always charged.
Grenade	Storm Grenade	Best Arc add-clear; with Touch of Thunder it chases targets. Throwing it re-procs Osmosis (re-Arcs the gun + reloads it).
Aspect 1	Lethal Current	After dodging, next melee jolts + adds an aftershock and lunge — turns the Gambler's-refunded punch into AoE jolt.
Aspect 2	Flow State	Jolted kill → amplified (DR + faster reload/handling/dodge regen) → the whole survivability + speed layer keys off Lethal Current's jolt.

Exotic armour — Liar's Handshake (Gauntlets)

Cross Counter: Using your Arc melee ability or being hit by a melee attack will allow you to follow up with an extremely powerful melee counterpunch that will heal you.

Why it is the pick: it doubles your melee output and your sustain on a subclass whose melee is already the engine. Use Combination Blow → Cross Counter grants a second, harder, healing punch. Both punches are Combination Blow hits, so both stack its damage buff and both spit out dodge energy. The problem with any melee-spam Hunter is melee uptime — and that is exactly the hole Traveler's Chosen plugs: the [AWA] dump refunds the melee, Gambler's Dodge refunds the melee, Ionic Traces refund the melee. Liar's is the only exotic that converts that absurd melee uptime into both a damage multiplier and a heal-per-swing.

Why this works (the mechanics)

• The [AWA] dump refunds all three abilities at once. Most ability builds refund one verb per kill. Traveler's Chosen banks kills as Gathering Light, then pays melee + grenade + class in a single button. You choose when to cash — stack it high before a room, then walk in topped off on everything.
• Liar's + Combination Blow + Gambler's is a closed melee loop. Punch (Combo Blow) → Cross Counter heals + second punch → both stack Combo Blow damage → kills refund dodge → dodge (near enemy) refunds the whole melee → punch again. The gun only has to start the loop; the [AWA] dump keeps the melee charged through dry spells.
• Lethal Current → Flow State is the survivability spine. Dodge then punch = jolt (Lethal Current). Jolted kill = amplified (Flow State) = damage resistance + faster reload/handling + faster everything. You generate your own DR off the exact melee loop you're already running.
• Osmosis makes the whole thing mono-Arc. Throw the Arc grenade → gun becomes Arc + reloads. Now the sidearm's kills proc Spark of Discharge (Ionic Traces), its damage benefits from Arc surges, and the element never desyncs from the subclass. One element, one verb economy, zero wasted procs.
• Ionic Traces are the redundant refund layer. Discharge (weapon kills) and Ions (jolted kills) both spawn traces; traces snap to you and refill melee/grenade. So even without the [AWA] dump the abilities are recharging from gunfire and jolt kills — the dump is the burst, traces are the trickle.
• Gift of the Traveler + Surplus make the gun feel exotic to hold. Every banked stack improves reload/handling/target acquisition (Gift), and the charged-ability state this build never leaves grants flat handling/reload/ stability (Surplus). The sidearm is snappiest exactly when you're playing it right.

Stats & mods

Melee 200 → Health 100+ → Class. Melee is the whole build — it drives Combo Blow damage, Cross Counter, Gambler's refund scaling, and Lethal Current. Class next for dodge uptime (the melee reset); Health as the floor since amplified + Combo Blow heals + Liar's heals already cover sustain.

• Helmet: Harmonic Siphon (Arc kills → Orbs) · Hands-On (Super on melee kills — you melee constantly) · Heavy Ammo Finder.
• Gauntlets: Melee Font ×2 (→ 200 Melee) · Heavy-Handed (melee kills restore melee energy — another loop feed).
• Chest: Arc Resistance ×2 + one elemental resist (flat DR under amplified).
• Boots: Arc Weapon Surge ×2 (≈+17% onto the now-Arc Traveler's Chosen) · Orbs of Restoration (orb pickup → least-charged ability).
• Class item: Powerful Attraction (dodge vacuums Orbs/traces) · Bomber (grenade on dodge — re-arms Osmosis) · Class Font.

Archetypes: Brawler / Gunner pieces (Melee + Weapons or Class). Champion mods go on the secondary weapons (see below), not here.

Where it shines

• Add-dense PvE (Onslaught, Nightfalls, GMs, patrols): trash feeds Gathering Light → the [AWA] dump funds the next pull → Combo Blow/Liar's deletes the elites in melee while amplified soaks the chip. Endless self-sustaining loop.
• Champion coverage — flag it: Traveler's Chosen is a Primary sidearm with no bespoke champion stun in its perk text, and sidearm archetypes don't carry an anti-Champion intrinsic. Bring your champion answer in the other two slots. Jolt (Lethal Current / Spark of Shock-style verbs) staggers Overload behaviourally, but for reliable stuns slot Anti-Champion 2.0 archetypes: an Aggressive/High- Impact Special (Unstoppable) and a Lightweight/Rapid-Fire Heavy (Overload), or a Barrier Precision/Adaptive frame as needed.

The other two slots:

• Special — an Arc Special (e.g. an Arc shotgun/fusion) so Arc surges and Spark of Beacons-tier effects stay on-element, picking a champion-stunning archetype.
• Heavy — Arc Machine Gun or Sword. MG for sustained Overload-frame stun + Ionic Trace generation; a Sword leans the melee fantasy. Match Arc to keep one surge.