Destiny: Warlock Sunsinger Survival/Raid Build

Sunsinger is the fire mage class in Destiny. They have a lot of survivability for a Warlock class and an amazing super ability. I’m starting to see more Sunsingers, especially in raids, but it used to be a highly underrated class.

This build is centered around getting the most survivability and still being useful during a raid or Heroic/Nightfall Strikes. 

Feel free to check out my Quick and Dirty Beginner’s Guide for the basics of the game and links to other guides relating to Destiny.

This guide will cover my Survival/Raid build for Sunsinger including:

• Skill Choices – Which skills I chose and why.
• Gear and Stat Choices – Which faction gear I chose, the stats I chose, and why.

Skill Choices – I get knocked down, but I get up again.

Let me explain the skills I chose and why.

Grenade

• Solar Grenade – Creates a flare of solar light that continually damages enemies trapped inside.

This is a great grenade for hitting grouped up enemies and doing a lot of damage over time.

The Firebolt grenade is good for enemies that move quickly and are more spread out. The Fusion grenade is best for single target.

Jump Ability Upgrade

• Balanced Glide – Provides bonuses to both speed and control.

This is personal preference. I liked the balanced one the most personally, but you may want something different. 

Radiance Upgrade

• Fireborn – Radiance can now be used to revive yourself while dead.

This is one of the best abilities and reasons to have a Sunsinger. During heroic/nightfall strikes and raids, this can save you from a wipe. As long as your Super is ready when you die, you can instantly revive yourself by using it.

Radiant Skin is also useful because it reduces damage taken as long as Radiance is active. It is more for solo and Crucible play, but can still help in any situation.

Song of Flame is great for reducing your group members’ cooldowns, so it is also something to look at, it just doesn’t help you with survival as much as the other 2.

Melee Ability Upgrade

• Flame Shield – Damaging an enemy with Scorch reduces incoming damage for a short time.

When it comes to survival, this is the best choice. You get a shield just from damaging an enemy with your melee ability, you don’t even have to kill it.

Arcane Tree

• Arcane Wisdom – Increases battle recovery and speed.

I chose this because it gives the best survivability in my opinion. Even a Titan with the highest armor can be killed almost instantly from high level content, so the extra armor for Warlock won’t help as much as moving fast and recovering health faster.

Ability Upgrade

• Radiant Will – Increases duration of Radiance.

This is best for survival because the longer your Radiance stays active, the less damage you take.

Order Tree

• Ancestral Order – Increases all attributes.

I think this one helps the most since it gives some of everything. Chaos Order might also be a good choice since it increases speed a lot, but Divine Order only increases armor, so it is not as helpful.

Ability Upgrade

• Touch of Flame – All grenade ignite, causing damage over time.

I like this one because you’ll get a little extra damage, no matter which grenade you choose. 

Gift of the Sun is also a choice because it lets you use an extra grenade.

Gear and Stat Choices

Stats

Since your Super ability and Melee ability gives you all your defense and survivability, Intellect and Strength is the best to go with. Intellect is most important though, since Radiance reduces cooldown of melee ability while it is active.

Gear

New Monarchy and your class Vanguard have items with Strength and Intellect. It it is up to you to decide which to go for first.

You can raise New Monarchy faster because if you equip their class item, all your rep goes to that faction. You can only get Vanguard rep from certain activities.

Keep in mind that you need Crucible marks for New Monarchy gear and Vanguard Marks for Vanguard gear, so it is best to raise both of them so you can potentially get multiple pieces of gear a week.

Vanguard also sells Intellect and Discipline gear, so if you decide to change it up, this is a good route to take.

That’s it for this Sunsinger Survival/Raid build in Destiny. Feel free to let me know of your own build suggestions. If you’d like more tips and guides, visit my Quick and Dirty Beginner’s Guide.

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