Best Builds to Use in the Arms Dealer GM Nightfall in Season 17
Players can pick from many good Destiny 2 weapons to use in GM Nightfalls in Season of the Haunted, including ones that are typically strong in high-end PvE, such as Arbalest or Gjallarhorn. However, it’s worth noting that builds are often made by the selection of Aspects and Fragments within a subclass, what abilities to use, and what Exotics or mods best suit the theme.
This section will cover the best builds to use in the Arms Dealer GM for Season of the Haunted.
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Arms Dealer is often considered one of the easiest GM Nightfalls in Destiny 2 and for a good reason. It has the Acute Solar Burn modifier, which makes Gjallarhorn an incredible weapon for damage and Champions alike, and it also works great for the new Solar 3.0 classes.
Destiny 2’s Hunters have a great option in the form of their Void 3.0 kit with Omnioculus, but they also now have access to the Star-Eater Scales plus Blade Barrage combo for the best DPS Super in the game.
Star-Eater Scales should be used with a Harmonic Siphon mod for Solar weapons and/or a Kinetic Siphon mod for their Kinetic slot to produce as many Orbs of Light as possible. This serves the purpose of gaining eight stacks of the Feast of Light buff, which then allows Blade Barrage to deal over 650,000 damage with a single cast.
The alternative is a Void 3.0 build that focuses on team-wide invisibility and damage resistance, which is very useful in many situations. This build should revolve around Mobility and Resilience with as much Discipline and Strength as possible to keep chaining Smoke Bombs and stay alive, while also throwing grenades often.
There is a build variation that uses the Aeon Swift Exotic to grant Special and Heavy ammo to the Hunters’ allies while using finishers on Elite enemies or mini-bosses, and it pairs greatly with Echo of Obscurity for extra invisibility.
This can also be used with the Solar 3.0 Hunter by using Classy Restoration before finishers, so as to stay alive throughout every fight and also generate ammo for allies.
Destiny 2’s Titans should use a Solar 3.0 setup with Loreley Splendor, which makes them extremely tanky when combined with both Well of Life and the Sol Invictus Aspect.
This build removes the need for Classy Restoration, and players can then use great GM mods like Revitalizing Blast and Solar Fulmination for frequent ignitions.
Going the Arc route with Cuirass of the Falling Star as an Exotic is still a very viable option, simply because Arms Dealer is not as hard as other GM Nightfalls and allows for a more aggressive setup.
Players can use middle-tree Striker in combination with the aforementioned Exotic to obtain a huge damage boost to Thundercrash, which then easily destroys Champions and bosses.
Destiny 2’s Warlocks have fewer options in this specific GM because the Acute Solar Burn modifier calls for using Dawnblade and Well of Radiance.
While the iconic Well of Radiance plus Phoenix Protocol build is very strong, this specific GM might benefit from a different type of build that deals a lot of damage with grenades and activates ignitions often.
Among the best Warlock builds for hard PvE content, one that currently stands out is Dawnblade combined with the Starfire Protocol Exotic for an extra grenade charge.
This build works best with maxed Discipline and high Resilience and Recovery for damage mitigation and high Rift uptime, respectively. Classy Restoration works very well here, but it’s not mandatory.
Because of the Acute Solar Burn modifier, it’s a good idea to have two copies of the seasonal Armor of the Dying Star mod equipped.
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Beginning of the Strike
Destiny 2 players will begin the GM in a room where an Unstoppable Champion and a Barrier Champion spawn, alongside Void-shielded Incendiors and some regular Cabal enemies, including sniper Psions.
Players should immediately stun the Unstoppable Champion, possibly with the Revitalizing Blast seasonal mod equipped in order to also take red-bar enemies caught in the explosion and damage the Barrier Champion in a single hit.
Then, players should burst down the Barrier Champion, which will cause another ignition when it activates its barrier and a player with Revitalizing Blast breaks it.
When all enemies are defeated, players should activate the console in the room to access a new area.
Here, the priority target is the Cabal Thresher ship flying overhead, which should be shot with a rocket launcher and finished with Primary weapons if necessary.
Then, players should stay in the back of the area while clearing the various Cabal soldiers, Phalanxes, and Psions, and then take out the mini-boss in the middle of the room. Sniper Psions will be on the opposite side of the area, and players should avoid their shots.
Once all enemies are killed, a Cabal ship will drop a few Cabal soldiers and an Unstoppable Champion, which players can easily take out from afar.
Then, a Solar Charge will become available to pick up, and players should carry it to the ledge on the right, where several War Beasts and a Barrier Champion will spawn.
Players should immediately shoot the Barrier Champion with a rocket and break its barrier, taking it out while also using a grenade for the War Beasts.
Another Thresher will appear in the sky, and players should shoot it down with another rocket, picking up the Solar Charge again and moving forward.
On top of the platform where the Solar Charge is supposed to go, another Barrier Champion will make its stand.
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Destiny 2 players should let it activate the barrier and then break it, bursting the Champion down with whatever weapons they prefer, and then deposit the Solar Charge.
At this point, multiple Cabal enemies will appear from a door nearby, and in the distance, an Elite Cabal soldier and an Unstoppable Champion will spawn.
Players should defeat the common enemies first, and then focus on the Unstoppable Champion and the remaining soldier.
Find The Base
Destiny 2 players will then enter an area with some Cabal red-bar enemies, which can easily be dealt with thanks to explosives in the room.
After a short walk, players will then step outside of the building and reach a point where summoning the Sparrow is useful to reach the next location safely.
The intended path is on the right, which would take players through a plethora of Fallen and Cabal enemies before reaching the base, which could cause a death or two.
Instead, players should go to the left and head for the base by climbing the supports planted in the ground. In front of them, players will see a Barrier Champion advance alongside other Cabal adds.
Players should defeat this particular Barrier Champion before entering the base in order to not miss out on Platinum rewards at the end of the Strike.
Before hopping onto the Sparrow once again to move into the base, players should be wary of the mini-boss sniper that normally is located near the Barrier Champion that was just defeated, as it can one-shot the Sparrow and players with it.
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Tank Room
This room is probably the deadliest of the whole GM simply because the tanks can one-shot players with their missiles and there are six Champions in total, but the encounters are separated by activations that players have control over.
Once in the so-called tank room, the first enemy that players will see is a huge Goliath Tank similar to those in the Proving Grounds GM. Destiny 2 players should immediately focus it with rockets to bring it down as soon as possible.
There will be many regular and Elite Cabal found at the entrance of the room, including Void-shielded Incendiors and an Unstoppable Champion.
Players should stun the Unstoppable Champion if it’s approaching and clear adds instead of bringing the Champion down. The process should be repeated until it’s safe to shoot the Unstoppable Champion.
After the Champion is dead, one player should reach for the console on the far right, activating it. The other players should clear the remaining adds on the upper level of the room before taking on the two Barrier Champions on the ledge.
When all red-bar and Elite enemies are defeated, players should burst down one Barrier Champion and pop its shield immediately, finishing it on the spot. Then, they should take on the remaining Champion, which typically moves a bit back near the elevator.
There is a console for players to activate near the elevator, but doing so will trigger the next combat portion. It’s important to pick up Special and Heavy ammo bricks if present and wait for Supers to recharge if they are close enough, as the enemies are tough in here.
Once the console is activated, Destiny 2 players will be met with another Goliath Tank on the elevator, and shortly after three Unstoppable Champions will spawn.
Players should immediately use rockets against the tank to destroy it before it can fire its missiles, and a player with Revitalizing Blast should rapidly stun all the Unstoppable Champions.
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This will cause an explosion that will damage them multiple times, a process that can be repeated from a distance, making short work of these normally deadly enemies.
Using finishers and Heavy ammo to defeat them may be necessary if they get too close, though.
Destiny 2 players will then have to deal with a mini-boss that deals heavy damage with grenades and shots, but it can easily be taken out from behind cover.
Then, several War Beasts will spawn once the door to the next area opens, but they can be defeated with a good grenade throw.
Approaching Bracus Zahn
Before entering the next area, players will once again have the option to wait a bit for Supers if they need to, as the door will only open when interacting with the console on the right.
Once the door opens, the final boss of the GM will be standing on a ship in the hangar, and it will shoot players with its sniper rifle. This is not the boss room, however, and players should simply shoot the boss with Primary weapons to make it move away.
There are two levels to this area: the ground level and the upper level, which is made of docks for the ships.
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On the ground level, players will soon be attacked by an Unstoppable Champion. However, this enemy tends to get close to players and isolate itself from other enemies, which makes it an easy target.
A couple of Elite Phalanxes will also be found on the same level, and they should be killed with anti-Barrier weapons.
On the upper level, Bracus Zahn will summon Scorpius Turrets to kill players. Players near them should immediately hide behind cover and instead attack them from afar.
When the Unstoppable Champion and the Turrets are destroyed, players will notice that the boss moved to the parallel upper level ahead, summoning more Scorpius Turrets.
Destiny 2 players should once again prioritize the Turrets and then focus on the two Barrier Champions in the same area. They can appear either on the upper level or the ground level, and they will be the last Champions in the Strike.
These enemies will be easier to beat once all adds are dead, and again players should focus on them one at a time to prevent them from restoring health and wasting time.
A very important thing is that players should not activate the console to proceed to the boss room once the hangar is cleared.
Boss Room
What makes this Strike extremely easy compared to other GMs is that there is a cheese strategy for Arms Dealer that makes the boss exposed to damage for much longer, which usually allows players to defeat it without ever setting foot in the boss room.
This can be done by not immediately activating the console to start the elevator that goes up to the boss room, and instead, have one player climb the huge elevator chain that leads there.
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When the player successfully climbs the whole chain to the top, it’s safe to drop down and onto the elevator, and then finally activate the console.
Before the damage phase begins, Destiny 2 players will have to defeat several Cabal soldiers that appear on the left side of the elevator through a Drop Pod.
A few seconds later, Bracus Zahn will show up on the ledge of the platform up above, where it would normally stand only when the elevator is halfway up.
Players can then start damaging the boss while on the elevator with rocket launchers, preferably with at least one Gjallarhorn on the team so as to provide everyone with Wolfpack Rounds. With this strategy, the boss will be likely defeated before the elevator reaches the top, especially if players damage Bracus Zahn with Supers as well.
However, if players don’t want to use the cheese strategy, the boss room will be a complex one to navigate because of the sheer number of adds, Elite enemies, Threshers, and more.
Yet, Destiny 2 players can still damage the boss from the elevator even without the cheese, and then try to burst it down as much as possible once the elevator reaches the top in order to reduce the phases of the fight.
In fact, after taking damage, the boss will start moving towards the back of the room and then jump on top of a tower. Before the boss reaches the top of the tower, players can still deal damage to it, but then Bracus Zahn will activate a shield to become immune to damage.
Players will then have to pick up a Solar Charge appearing on the map and deposit it on the left side or the right side of the area, depending on what the marker is highlighting.
Several adds will spawn, and a Thresher will repeatedly shoot missiles at players. Because there is little cover in this area, it’s easy to wipe and fail the GM here.
Still, if players deposit the Solar Charge, Bracus Zahn’s shield will be removed and the boss will descend onto the arena again, this time moving towards the other tower. Players will be able to damage the boss until the shield appears on the tower.
From there, the process is identical to the first time, with a Solar Charge appearing alongside a Thresher and multiple adds.
Once the boss dies, the Arms Dealer Grandmaster Nightfall will end, awarding Destiny 2 players with loot and a Triumph associated with the Conqueror Seal.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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