So I was watching NothingButSkills YT channel (great library of content) to track down hunters and one of his other videos popped up on his Eclipse status effects build.

Holy crap it’s deadly. I put my own version of it together (4xEclipse, Coyote (no Vile), and an all yellow holster I had in my stash). I started the Technician specialization, recalibrated all my eclipse for status effect, and wow!

Skill Tier 6!!!!! My drone is way better than I am now. LOL. That thing shreds Chungas and dogs for breakfast. And the fire starter with Eclipse… unbelievable. Anyone within 15m burns to death… red, purple, yellow, it doesn’t matter. If you get a group incoming from a spawn or a Black Tusk helicopter they’re all dead before they know what hit them. The cool down on my drone is 15 seconds and I’m never out of fire bombs. It’s insane. I’m frankly surprised this is possible.

If I equip the Scorpio, I can also do some serious damage with that… and it’s status effects will transfer too thanks to Eclipse. If you load it up with special ammo… Look out.

This build is so much fun burning everything in sight. I’m starting to think I have some deep seeded issues

Eclipse indeed can be very powerful, especially when playing solo.

You will have even more fun with that build if you'll be able to add some finishing touches to it: the Vile instead of Coyote's Mask would be a great idea since you are not really benefitting a lot from that mask. And what brand are you using for your holster? In case you want to swap mask and holster, you could consider using one piece Golan (10% Status Effects) and one piece Wyvern (10% Skill Damage). And in case you want to stick to the Technician Specialization you don't even need to change the blue core attribute of the Golan piece. Or change Armor to Weapon Damage, if you prefer.

In case you don't need Wyvern or Golan, you could also use one piece of Belstone Armory to give you some Armor Regeneration. That's also pretty nice. Just in case you need to up your survivability. But this could also be done by using Armor on Kill Gear Mods – because you don't really need Skill Haste or Duration for that build.

Hell, Eclipse even is fun as a red and blue build, using Ridgeway's Pride, one piece Sokolov (e. g. the named glove with 15% Status Effects) and an SMG with Sadist....

Well try using firewall spec also, it makes the flamethrower melt people pretty nicely also, which i think is a pretty rare thing in this game

This build is so much fun burning everything in sight. I’m starting to think I have some deep seeded issues

The Pyromaniac named AR also works well with Eclipse.

Or The Grudge SMG.
Pyromaniac + The Grudge is the pair for that biuld.

Here's my take on a Firestarter/Eclispe build. If you're doing a damage based status build then try and work the Vile mask in as it's worth way more than a Coyote's mask in an Eclipse build. You might have fun with airburst as well; it has a nice long burn duration and high damage on it too so if you can get used to using it it's very strong in Eclipse because of that set's talents. Capacitor or Scorpio both work well but I prefer Capacitor, but any In-Sync weapon goes well in a skill damage build too. I'm not sure what Eclipse pieces you're using but I thoroughly recommend you run both the chest and back pack talent as these are what makes the set so strong; that extra 5m matters and 30% amp damage to vile or any weapon damage slaps.

Eclipse is a great gear set and you can make some really strong status effect builds with it.

Thanks guys. Some good suggestions.

I don’t have the Vile Mask yet so the Coyote mask will do for now… it helps a bit with the shotgun effectiveness which is very useful if enemies get close. I’ve burned myself to death a couple of times now LOL.

I’m using the Eclipse backpack and chest which make this build so good.

I forget the brand of my holster but it has skill damage as the brand bonus if I remember correctly.

In addition to the Scorpio, I pack the Surge with Perfect Spike so if I want to make my drone even more lethal, I just need to pop an enemy in the head occasionally. I also have the Pyro AR… I need to try that with this build.

To be honest, there’s really nothing I need to improve on this build. It’s like running around as a demon god. The fire kills everyone except named elites, Chungas and warhounds but the drone shreds those. Its possible to take a CP or do a mission and never fire a shot. LOL.

But honestly, as twisted and fun as this is, it’s not likely something I’ll use regularly. What I like most is the shooting and doing that with minimal sponge (Perfect Glass Cannon CHC/CHD build).

@virtual-chris Yeah, Eclipse and some other skill builds are crazy powerful.. but they bore me after a bit, as I'm here to pew-pew

I have been tempted to try a WD core rolled Eclipse build, with a Fenris piece and Pyromaniac.. kind of a make shift version of my Gear 1.0 AR/Spotter/Wicked/Unbreakable build..

@latenitedelight
i tryed that once , it was ... mehhhh, its one of those builds were nothing is really good and you quicly drop the idea.

@dagrommit yeah but in sync does the same thing but more damage....

@metal_greg

I find with this build, I’m rarely shooting my gun, and if I am, it’s usually the Scorpio.

The Surge with Perfect Spike is good if I see my drone engaged with a Chunga or elite and I can boost its damage for 15s with one head shot to any enemy, then get back to burning people alive. LOL.

@metal_greg a six tier eclipse build is going to be focused on damage from status effects, not weapon damage. May as well use a weapon that maximizes the former.

@dagrommit and how does Pyro give any damage towards status effects? the talent gives 25 weapon damage to burning enemies. in-sync gives 30/40 since the fire ticks proc the talent. the other part of the talent is every 3(?) kills applies burn. but the burn from that talent is so weak its like its not even there.

(...) I have been tempted to try a WD core rolled Eclipse build, with a Fenris piece and Pyromaniac.. (...)

(...) i tryed that once , it was ... mehhhh, its one of those builds were nothing is really good and you quicly drop the idea.

I think that an all red Eclipse build should not try to apply status effects with skills – because they usually aren't strong enough at Skill Tier 0. And it usually takes too long / is too complicated to apply a status effect to an enemy in order to prog the backpack's talent.

That's why I incorporated Ridgeway's Pride in my 3-3-0 Eclipse build. It automatically applies bleed to enemies nearby when shot and spreads it on kill. Works very nice with Sadist on an SMG.

@metal_greg you should pay attention to the original quote - the OP is a "flame enthusiast", and using the firestarter chem launcher. The AR also sets enemies on fire by itself. Enemies on fire are unable to fire back, and are entertaining in and of themselves

@noxious81 Between canisters and the Pyromaniac, I figure I would set enough enemies on fire to possibly make it work regardless of skills - plus it could just be my anti-Outcast build..

I don't like using skills anyway, so probably just a simple Seeker + Sticky Bomb combo that are click and move for boss sets. Just need it to be fun on Hard or Challenging, I don't bother with Heroic much anymore.

For those who like to use the fire grenade or any grenade for that matter you can completely reload all grenades without a box.
All you have to do is have a load out with a different specialization. When between battles switch to the different load out and back to the original and all your grenades will be replenished or have a load out with every specialization and you can switch between grenades. You cannot do this while in battle you have to be out of battle if some player opens the door to the next room before you do it it cannot be done. Out of battle only.

On those seasonal speed runs, I always run EP with the vile, a jammer pulse, with the Demo specilzation, and a piece of China Light. I also make sure to usually have a shotgun with DTTOOC on it and my tick rates from the jammer are about 109K per tick. I use the fire chem launcher as the second skill, and just melt EVERYTHING with that combo.

Once you get up to Challenging level, I switch the jammer for a fire chem sticky, and keep the other fire chem launcher. I keep the Demo specialist as I want that tick damage to be as high as I can get it. Scorpio is a must here, as the damage alone from the skills isn't enough to finish most NPC's off often times.

@dagrommit ah, i see. and you know what, im probably gonna use that gun too cus having another way to set enemies on fire does sound pretty cool.

@txdieselkid have you tested whether it's actually worth it to spec into the vile ticks instead of having more status or skill damage?