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Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a rumbling in Destiny 2, a spread of Strand Titans marching to the beat of their own drum. In PvE, these Titans are almost unkillable on their own, roving war machines who can shrug off a planetary bombardment before they lunge toward an unlucky victim and sever them from reality. It hasn’t been nerfed yet, and with Festival of the Lost now live (meaning it’s time to hunt Spectral Pages), the Banner of War Titan build could be your best option for farming the more challenging Legend Haunted Sectors of this event.
Season 22 introduced some terrific new Strand Aspects, with Titans receiving the melee-centric Banner of War. To get Banner of War, you can pay a visit to Nimbus, get the new Veil Containment seasonal mission, and head over to the paracausal MacGuffin to quickly earn your new Aspect. Visit the Pouka Pond afterward, unlock the Aspect, and you’re ready to roll.
As the Aspect text puts it, defeating a target with a melee attack, finisher, or sword will raise a banner on your Titan that pulses with energy, periodically healing nearby allies and increasing melee and Sword damage. The banner can then be further charged–for a maximum of four stacks–by you or nearby allies defeating enemies. Once you’ve got the banner fully charged, you’ll be healing from damage at a near-instantaneous rate and for a substantial amount per pulse.
Sounds pretty good, right? Well it gets even better, as building around this Aspect allows for some flexible tinkering. Combined with high resilience and a Woven Mail buff that’s activated by collecting orbs of power when you have the right Fragment equipped, and you’ll end up with a Titan that can ignore damage and leap into the fray. Once you have several Banner of War Titans running around a map, all charged up and ready to throw down, they can easily tear through high-level endgame activities.
The key to this build is that with the right Exotics equipped, Banner of War’s power really shines. For an easy combination, equip Synthoceps and Monte Carlo to get a quick handle on this build. With Monte Carlo, you have a superb auto rifle that can quickly recharge your melee energy–remember, Strand Titans can have up to three melee charges–and Synthoceps amplifies your melee attack when you’re surrounded with its Biotic Enhancements perk.
This is a build that is admittedly high risk, but favors the bold with its design. With a Banner of War Titan, you’re going to want to leap into the fray, slash away aytenemies, and build up your melee energy with Monte Carlo. Once you have the buffs activated, some Woven Mail, and a target in your sight, it’s time to adopt a Doom Eternal mentality as you rip and tear through enemies. In vanilla PvE content you’ll seldom have to worry about your health bar, while higher-level content requires a deeper focus and prioritizing specific targets while your Guardian buffs are all up and running.
But when it works? It works. In my own testing, I’ve torn through several Legend Lost Sectors in around five minutes, annihilated Champions without needing to even stun them with weapons, and have cut bosses down to size, all with my melee attack while I weathered an absurd amount of damage. The fun thing about this build is that you can easily swap out Fragments and Exotics for different items, but as long as you can generate orbs of power and deliver a killer blow at a consistent rate, you’re golden.
Some other Exotic options that work nicely include the always-reliable Heart of Inmost Light gear that can be used to cycle between abilities and enhance them;Wormgod Caress, which is a fun alternative to Synthoceps; and Stronghold works really well if you’re playing a sword-heavy style. That particular Exotic adds even more durability to your Titan, as you take reduced damage while blocking with a sword and rapidly damaging targets after blocking shots grants restoration.
There are obviously some drawbacks to this build, as it’s not foolproof. You’re at the mercy of long-range enemies if you’re out of charges, and when facing a boss, you can be in some big trouble if there are no cannon fodder enemies around to carve up and harvest some melee energy from. But for a fast and furious loadout that embodies the very spirit of Titans in Destiny 2? This is one of the all-time best, as the Banner of War build turns you into a Strand-powered reaper.
For a general idea, I’ve listed my own Titan build below with this DIM link, but as mentioned above, this loadout is one that can easily be experimented with to find a groove that works for you. For the armor mods, it’s always worthwhile to prioritize your resilience for that extra boost to soaking up damage, while investing in some recovery mods if you have space will amplify the healing pulse of Banner of War.
Aspects
Into the FrayBanner of War
Fragments
Thread of Transmutation – While you have Woven Mail, weapon final blows generate a TangleThread of Warding – Picking up an Orb of Power grants you Woven MailThread of Continuity – Suspend, Unravel, and Sever effects have increased durationThread of Generation – Dealing damage generates grenade energy
Melee
Frenzied Blade
Grenade
Shackle Grenade
Exotic Weapon
Monte Carlo
Exotic Armor
Synthoceps
Head armor mods
Kinetic SiphonHarmonic Siphon
Chest armor mods
Emergency ReinforcementFont of Endurance
Arms armor mods
Heavy HandedMomentum Transfer
Legs armor mods
Recuperation x 2Kinetic Weapon Surge
Titan Mark armor mods
Powerful AttractionOutreach x 2Every Destiny 2 Lightfall Exotic Revealed
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