Destiny 2 – Ophidia Spathe Hunter PVE build

Today I am looking at an Ophidia Spathe Hunter PVE build and I’m not going be using any guns. That might sound strange in a looter-shooter, but our combination of subclass, armour and weapons is going to allow us to be lethal with knives, bows and swords. This is definitely mixing things up a little bit and going against the grain, but if you’ve ever wanted to ditch the guns and try out something new – then this could be the build for you. The following is an Ophidia Spathe Hunter PVE build in Destiny 2.

At first, no guns sounds mad. I mean, how are you supposed to do any damage to anything if you don’t have a gun. By using our focus of Ophidia Spathe, which gives us two knives instead of one, and using swords and bows we’re still going to be super effective in PVE, without firing a single bullet.

Let’s have a look at the build in a little more detail.

Exotic Armour – Ophidia Spathe

First up we’re going to be using Ophidia Spathe and this is an Exotic Hunter Chest Armor. This one is a random world drop exotic, or you can pick it up from Xur and it pairs nicely with our Solar subclass for Hunters.

Let’s check out the perks.

• Scissor Fingers – Grants two knives per charge.
• Plasteel Reinforcement Mod – Increased Resilience.

What we want here is that Scissor Fingers perk, so we’re armed with knives more often than not. This used in conjunction with our subclass and mods, it’s going to make us deadly in PVE.

Let’s check out the subclass.

Subclass – Way of a Thousand Cuts

I am going to be using The Way of a Thousand Cuts and this is the middle ability tree for the Gunslinger.

Abilities

• Knife Trick – Throw a fan of flaming knives that burn targets on hit. Melee ability.
• The Burning Edge – While enemies burn, your dodge ability recharges faster.
• Playing With Fire – Destroying burning enemies recharges Knife Trick more quickly.
• Blade Barrage – Vault into the air and unleash a volley of Solar-charged explosive knives. Replaces the Golden Gun as subclass Super.

With Knife Trick here we’re going to be dishing out a fan of knives for our charged melee ability and by dodging near enemies this is going to help us get that knife trick back faster. However, if we kill enemies while they are burning, then again we’re going to get that Knife Trick back quicker. That combined with our perks from Ophidia Spathe, this is going to lead to knives being available pretty much all the time, allowing you to run around and dish out the damage with your flaming blades.

Let’s check out the weapons.

Weapons

To work with the no guns theme, I’m using a combination of Swords and Bows. You can of course swap these out for any weapons you like, I just thought it’d be fun to have a no guns build for once. One thing I would recommend if you are going to swap things out, try and add in there some swashbuckler or one-two punch weapons, as they are going pair up nicely with the melee theme of the build. I would try the no guns build a go though and see how you get on with it.

Black Talon – Exotic / Power / Sword

• Crow’s Wings: Fire a heavy projectile attack. Heavy attacks are stronger with full energy. Attacks partially bypass elemental shields.
• Tireless Blade – Sword ammo granted for every other powered sword kill.

Whispering Slab – Legendary / Kinetic / Combat Bow

• Lightweight Frame – Recurve Bow. Draw quickly and move faster while this weapon is equipped. Use while drawn to cancel the shot.
• Swashbuckler – This weapon gains increased damage from melee kills and kills with this weapon.

Point of the Stag – Legendary / Energy / Combat Bow

• Precision Frame – Compound Bow. Longer draw time optimized for damage. Use while drawn to cancel the shot.
• Vorpal Weapon – Increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active.

With our weapons, we have that ranged attack with the arrows and also Black Talon too. If we want to get in close and do boss damage then our sword, combined with the Lucent Blade mod which is coming up next, then that’s going to allow us to do big damage. If you can get a swashbuckler roll-on Whispering Slab then that’s going to do well, and also Whispering Slab is a lightweight frame weapon, allowing you to run around quicker than if you were carrying another weapon. Point of the Stag has Vorpal Weapon, which is a nice perk against bosses and also Guardians in their super if you want to try this out in PVP.

Finally, lets have a look at the mods.

Mods

With the mods I am building into the solar theme.

• Solar Plexus – Increases the damage of all Solar melee abilities. Gain Super energy from performing finishers with a Solar subclass equipped.
• Inferno Whip – Solar melee abilities stagger unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions.
• Lucent Blade – Increase sword damage when charged with light. I am using this with Taking Charge, where I get charged with Light by picking up Orbs.

Solar Plexus is available on the seasonal artefact and this is going to work well with our charged melee knives, increasing the damage. Also, this is going to allow us to build up our super through finishers, meaning we’re going to have that blade barrage much faster and more often. Inferno Whip will come in handy if we’re coming up against Unstoppable Champions, for example in the Contact Public Event, Nightfalls or any future activities like these. Lucent Blade is a must-have if you have a sword, as this gives you approx 35% damage increase with a sword.

Gameplay

Now we have our build in place let’s have a look at some gameplay.

1. Runs around getting kills with your bow and charge up your melee
2. Get a knife kill, or two
3. Dodge to recharge the melee for more knife kills
4. Soften up some enemies with your arrows and then hit some finishers to build up your super
5. Unleash Blade barrage for big damage
6. Whip out the sword if needed to clear the area
7. Dodge, knife, knife, dodge and keep on going

This one is a little different. It may not be super effective in raids or end game content, but it’s mixing up the regular formula of Destiny and trying out something new. If you have Ophidia Spathe, then it’s definitely worth a go. Of course, you can use your regular weapons with this build, as they don’t really matter – it’s mainly about the subclass and the armour. However, if you find a good combo or you have any improvements – let me know down in the comments. Also, if you have any exotic armour requests and you want to see a build on any class – let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

That’s it for this guide for an Ophidia Spathe Hunter PVE build for Destiny 2. For more Destiny 2 content like this check out the Shadowkeep Guide or check out the YouTube Channel.