Destiny 2: Best Void Warlock Build for Grandmaster Nightfall

Destiny 2, Gaming Guides

Grandmaster Nightfalls have finally arrived in Destiny 2 Season 19. With the Power Level requirement now reduced to 1580, more Guardians than ever are taking part in the challenging endgame activity to acquire the best gear and resources that the MMORPG has to offer. I’m sorry to add to the ‘fear of missing out (FOMO)’ component of this game, but if you aren’t farming GM Nightfalls during this double rewards week, you are seriously losing out! But don’t worry if you believe you’re not up to the task; this Void Warlock build guide will help you get there.

Best Warlock Vortex Grenade Build – Destiny 2

This build uses the Contraverse Hold Exotic Gauntlets and is designed to maximize both your damage output and survivability – two factors that are most crucial in an activity such as GM NF. With a combination of powerful abilities and carefully selected mods, you’ll be able to eliminate enemies and control the battlefield quickly and with relative ease.

Prepare to become your friends’ best Nightfall companion in Destiny 2, and don’t blame me if you get flooded with invites every time you start the game!

Warlock Voidwalker Subclass in Destiny 2 Featuring All Necessary Fragments, Aspects and Abilities

1. SUBCLASS

Super Ability: NOVA BOMB

You can choose any of the two Nova Bomb variations as your Super. I suggest using Cataclysm for most activities and switching to Vortex when you know you’ll be fighting a mostly stationary Boss (e.g., Oryx in the King’s Fall raid). Cataclysm travels slower than Vortex but seeks targets and deals more damage upon detonation. On the other hand, Vortex creates a singularity that does more damage over time (DoT), can group up enemies by pulling them inwards, and doesn’t lead to an annoyed fireteam by blocking your teammates’ shots like Cataclysm.

Class Ability: HEALING RIFT

Given that you will always have a full health bar thanks to Devour and Void Overshields that this build grants you, it is always helpful to have an ’emergency button’ for times when you are overwhelmed by your opponents during a high-difficulty mission. Healing Rift is that emergency button that you may save for when things become challenging. And, of course, if you are running with a fireteam, your allies will be ever grateful to you.

Movement Ability: BURST GLIDE

You can select whichever movement ability you are most comfortable with here. I prefer Burst Glide because it provides more swiftness to Warlock’s relatively slow movement speed.

Void Melee: POCKET SINGULARITY

Pocket Singularity makes your targets Volatile, as will your grenades in this build. As it also pushes weaker targets away from you, use it to maintain that sweet distance between you and your enemies.

Void Grenade: VORTEX GRENADE

The Vortex Grenade is a must-have for this build since every element, fragment, and exotic armor all contribute to enhancing this specific grenade ability and turning it into a nuke that decimates everything.

2. ASPECTS & FRAGMENTS

Aspect #1: CHAOS ACCELERANT

Our first aspect will enable us to ‘overcharge’ our Vortex Grenade by holding down our grenade button (Q by default). This overcharged grenade will have a larger radius and last longer.

Aspect #2: FEED THE VOID

This aspect grants you the Devour buff whenever you defeat an enemy with any Void ability. When you land final blows on any target, Devour restores you to full health and lowers your Vortex Grenade cooldown while also extending its own duration.

Fragment #1: ECHO OF REMNANTS

This fragment, along with the Chaos Accelerant aspect, extends the duration of your grenades by three seconds. This means that our Vortex Grenades will now last for seven seconds – up from four seconds by default.

Fragment #2: ECHO OF UNDERMINING

Undermining will enable our grenades to ‘weaken’ targets, making them more vulnerable to incoming damage and slowing their movement. Weakened enemies will also have difficulty firing accurately, which is a fun touch.

Fragment #3: ECHO OF INSTABILITY

Defeating targets with our Vortex Grenade will now also grant Volatile Rounds to our Void Weapons. Volatile Rounds afflict enemies with ‘unstable Void energy,’ which makes them explode when you shoot them with a Void Weapon. More about this in the Weapons section of the guide!

3. ARMOR & MODS

Helmet: Legendary | Solar Affinity

Helmet Armor Mods for Void Warlock Build in Destiny 2
  • 1x Minor Stat Mod (Resilience/Discipline)
  • 1x Ashes to Assets
  • 1x Grenade Launcher Ammo Finder
  • 1x Elemental Ordnance

‘Ashes to Assets’ grants Super energy on grenade kills, while ‘Elemental Ordnance’ will generate Void elemental wells on every grenade kill. This will be key in having our grenade ability up at all times.

[Exotic] Gauntlets: Contraverse Hold | Solar Affinity

Contraverse Hold Gauntlets Armor Mods for Void Warlock Build in Destiny 2
  • 1x Minor Stat Mod (Resilience/Discipline)
  • 2x Champion Mods
  • 1x Bountiful Wells

‘Bountiful Wells’ will generate an additional Void well every time we get a kill with our Vortex Grenade.

Chest Armor: Legendary | Void Affinity

Chest Armor Mods for Void Warlock Build in Destiny 2
  • 1x Major Stat Mod (Resilience/Discipline)
  • 1x Resilient Retrofit / 1x Grenade Launcher Reserves
  • 1x Well of Tenacity

‘Well of Tenacity’ increases our survivability by providing more damage resistance every time we pick up a Void elemental well. To improve this damage resistance even more, we’ll have two copies of this mod, one on our chest armor and one on our leg armor.

Leg Armor: Legendary | Void Affinity

Leg Armor Mods for Void Warlock Build in Destiny 2
  • 1x Major Stat Mod (Resilience/Discipline)
  • 1x Grenade Launcher Scavenger
  • 1x Well of Tenacity

Warlock Bond: Legendary | Stasis Affinity

Class Item Armor Mods for Void Warlock Build in Destiny 2
  • 1x Major Stat Mod (Resilience/Discipline)
  • 2x Utility Kickstart
  • 1x Elemental Time Dilation

Two copies of ‘Utility Kickstart’ means we can use our Healing Rift more often. ‘Elemental Time Dilation’ will make the effects of our two ‘Well of Tenacity’ mods last longer.

NoteThe Grenade Launcher-related perks may be switched according to your needs.

4. WEAPON RECOMMENDATIONS

Kinetic Weapon

Witherhoard Kinetic Grenade Launcher with Ornament Equipped in Destiny 2
  • As required by the activity. 
  • This can be a Pulse Rifle or an Auto Rifle if you use a special ammo weapon in the Energy slot like me.
  • The all-rounder, Witherhoard, is always a good choice too.

Energy Weapon

Commander Zavala and Veles-X Pulse Rife Ritual Weapon in Destiny 2
  • Any VOID weapon with the ‘Repulsor Brace’ perk, as this perk grants you a Void Overshield with 50% damage resistance – which of course, leads to more survivability.
  • The Wilderflight Grenade Launcher, obtainable from the Spire of the Watcher Dungeon, is an excellent choice as it can roll with both ‘Repulsor Brace’ and ‘Adrenaline Junkie.’ These perks synergize exceptionally well with this build.
  • If you don’t own a Wilderflight with the right perks yet, this season’s Ritual Pulse Rifle, Veles-X, is a perfect alternative.

Power Weapon

Retrofit Escapade Void Power Machine Gun in Destiny 2
  • If you haven’t slotted an Exotic Weapon for the other two slots, the Parasite Grenade Launcher is a good choice. You can acquire this weapon by completing the Witch Queen post-campaign quest, ‘Of Queens and Worms.’
  • Retrofit Escapade, the Void Machine Gun, is also an excellent choice! You can also replace one of the ‘Well of Tenacity’ mods with ‘Font of Might‘ on one of your armor pieces to make it hit even harder.

5. STAT PRIORITY

For this build, your top priority should be first to build Tier 10 Resilience and then try to max out your Discipline second. Having 100 Resilience grants a straight 40% Damage Resistance, and higher Discipline means lesser cooldown on your Vortex Grenade, the ability that is undoubtedly the MVP of this Voidwalker Warlock build.


We hope this Warlock build guide was easy to follow and that it helps you out in your runs on this Season’s Grandmaster Nightfalls! Remember, this is the build I use – use it as a guideline for what yours should look like and then mix and match as you wish. All the best with the grind, Guardian!

Destiny 2: Season 19 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Leave a Comment