Per-hunter build routes
- Long Tong — S-tier Amber companion engine — one element, amplified twice.
- Jenny — S-tier dismantle economy — every bad drop becomes fuel.
- Marcus (beginner) — The most readable first route: Extra-Shot Crit.
- Jester · Stella routes — Crit-window and Starlight blueprints in the build guide.
Want to test a combination first? The build planner scores synergy and flags conflicts before you commit a run to it.
The five build archetypes
The archetype names below are how the community groups builds. The trigger keywords in brackets — [Embarkation], [Final Shot], [Growth], [First Shot], [Destination] — are official terms that appear in item text; the groupings themselves are player convention, not an in-game menu.
Shatter (Frost)
Frost weapons such as Dark Ice and Ice Shatterer build Freeze. Shatter builds stack Freeze quickly, then convert frozen targets into burst damage through Shatter effects on relics and parts. The archetype trades sustained damage for control: groups stop moving, then break at once. Solo players often favor it because control reduces the pressure of dodging alone.
Disruption (Lightning)
Lightning families like Lightning Gun build Disruption, interrupting and chaining between enemies. Disruption builds want frequent hit events — fire rate, extra shots, chain effects — so the Transmutation applies constantly across a room. Patch 1.0.466 touched several Disruption-related triggers, so treat older advice as provisional.
Growth (stacking)
[Growth] stacks reward effects that accumulate across a run. The High Priestess (Upright), for example, converts a share of overhealing into Growth stacks. Growth builds are patient: weak early, strongest late, and they pair naturally with economy Hunters like Lanny who extend the run's resource curve.
Embarkation (run-start triggers)
[Embarkation] effects fire when you set out. Relics like War Horn (permanent max Bullet Attack on Embarkation) and Executioner's Axe (Physical Damage growth from Embarkation) define the archetype, and Tarot multiplies it: The Fool (Upright) triggers Embarkation effects one additional time, while The Fool (Reversed) triggers them all twice when you dismantle an Embarkation relic — a real synergy with Jenny's economy.
Final Shot (magazine effects)
[Final Shot] and [First Shot] effects key off magazine position, so the archetype favors small magazines and fast reloads — the fewer bullets per cycle, the more often the trigger fires. The Magician turns [First Shot] into a Magic Bullet; reload relics like Magician's Hat compress the loop. Charge weapons and large magazines work against the archetype.
How to choose
Start from your Hunter's engine, not the archetype. Long Tong and elemental archetypes reinforce each other; Jenny feeds Embarkation-dismantle loops; Marcus's extra shots serve Disruption and Final Shot equally well. The archetype is the direction the run offers you — the Hunter decides how much of it you can use.
Evidence boundary
Trigger keywords and item effects are cross-checked against the current English database and official patch notes; archetype groupings are community convention. See how evidence is labeled.