Helhest is an Arc Support character in Destiny: Rising. This guide covers her best weapon choices, artifact setups, team compositions, and strategies for both PvP and PvE content.

Understanding Helhest's Role

Helhest works as an Arc support with a versatile toolkit. She can heal teammates, boost their damage output, and generate heavy ammo for the squad. Her drones create area-of-effect zones that buff any allies standing inside them, making positioning crucial to getting the most out of her kit.

Complete Build Configurations

PvP Support Build

Weapon Loadout

Primary Weapon: Trinity Ghoul fires arrows in a spread pattern, which makes landing hits much easier than single-shot weapons. You can grab it from the Battle Pass without spending extra, and while it's forgiving, you'll still want to aim for headshots to maximize your damage.

Heavy Weapon: End of the Line

Artifact Setup

Slot 1: Ring of Abundance
Slot 2: Ring of Conversion
Slot 3: Ring of Courage
Slot 4: Talisman of Inspiration

PvP Challenges

Helhest can be tough to play in PvP. You need consistent headshot accuracy to make her work, and without Overclocked Shot active, her weapons take a while to charge up. This makes it harder to secure kills against players who know how to move.

PvE Support Build

Weapon Loadout

Primary Weapon: Yoshimoto has a built-in trait that speeds up your draw time. The movement speed bonus helps during speedruns, though it's still slower than most non-bow weapons.

Heavy Weapon: Royal Contravene

Artifact Setup

Slot 1: Unrelenting Ground
Slot 2: Unrelenting Evolution
Slot 3: Calming Token
Slot 4: Illuminated Ground

Why This Works in PvE

Helhest shines in PvE because she does everything a support needs to do. She heals, buffs damage, and generates heavy ammo all at once. The ammo generation is particularly useful here since you can fire Royal Contravene more freely without worrying about running dry.

Weapon Selection Analysis

PvP Weapons

Best Choice: Trinity Ghoul

The spread pattern means you don't need perfect aim to connect shots. It's free from the Battle Pass, which is a huge plus. Just remember that headshots still matter for your overall damage.

Alternative: Yoshimoto

The faster draw speed and movement bonus help you dodge opponents and reposition quickly. You need to land headshots consistently for this to be effective, though.

About Heavy Weapons

Trinity Ghoul gets the recommendation despite Helhest's heavy ammo generation because consistency matters more in PvP. The spread pattern helps you land hits when precision is difficult. Royal Contravene works if you've got steady aim and can reliably hit crits, since it deals more damage per shot.

PvE Weapons

Best Choice: Yoshimoto

The quick draw time and speed boost make this perfect for speedrunning content. It's still slower than guns, but the mobility advantage is worth it in PvE scenarios.

Alternative: Trinity Ghoul

The adjustable spread gives you flexibility in different situations. Once Lightning Rod activates, you can mow down groups of enemies easily. Focus on precision kills to get the most value.

Heavy Weapon Strategy

Since Helhest generates heavy ammo constantly, you should use an exotic heavy to maximize your damage against bosses. Trinity Ghoul remains a solid backup option if you prefer the flexibility and already have it from the Battle Pass.

Artifact Selection and Strategy

PvP Artifacts

Top Pick: Ring of Abundance

This boosts your overshield strength and healing received, making you much tankier. You're less vulnerable to anti-heal effects when you've got overshields up. The benefits stack on overshields rather than splitting between healing and shields, which makes it more effective overall.

One thing to note: healing becomes less useful when you're constantly generating overshields anyway.

Alternative: Inspiring Axion

This gives you significant damage reduction, but only against targets 15 meters away or farther. The specific range requirement means it won't always be active during fights.

Build Approach

In PvP, staying alive matters more than anything else. You need time to line up those precision shots. If you're already surviving well and landing headshots reliably, you can switch to damage-focused artifacts instead.

PvE Artifacts

Top Pick: Unrelenting Ground

Standing still activates damage reduction, which is perfect for ranged characters. If you're constantly moving around, this won't help much.

Alternative: Inspiring Axion

Strong damage reduction when enemies are 15+ meters away. The range requirement is pretty specific, so it's situational.

Build Approach

Helhest's drones already keep you alive and boost your damage. The artifact setup here focuses on making the drones even stronger and increasing your weapon damage rather than adding more survivability.

Team Composition Recommendations

PvP Teams

Best Teammates: Ning Fei with Umeko or Tan-2

Ning Fei's mobility lets her jump in and out of drone zones easily. Her summons can overwhelm enemies, and she benefits a lot from the heavy ammo generation.

Umeko and Tan-2 both appreciate the extra survivability for long-range sniping. Heavy ammo generation means more sniper shots. The downside is your team might end up with too many piercing weapons.

Team Synergy Consideration

These characters work great with Helhest specifically, but the overall team might need different characters depending on who else is playing.

PvE Teams

Best Teammates: Umeko and Estela

Umeko applies debuffs that increase damage to enemies. She likes to sit back and snipe weak points, which pairs well with heavy ammo generation.

Estela's summons draw enemy aggro away from the team. The drone buff zones are large enough that Estela can reposition freely. She can also run heavy weapon builds when paired with Helhest.

Mission-Based Adjustments

Character effectiveness changes based on mission requirements, so check if these picks make sense before locking them in.

Strategic Gameplay Approaches

PvP Strategy

Pick survivability artifacts first to give yourself more time for precision shots
Use Trinity Ghoul's spread to maintain steady damage even when your aim isn't perfect
Stay inside drone zones during engagements to get the buff benefits
Plan fights around weapon charge time when Overclocked Shot isn't active
Keep targeting headshots even with the spread pattern to maximize damage

PvE Strategy

Place drones in spots where your team will naturally position during encounters
Use heavy ammo generation to keep firing exotics at priority targets and bosses
Take advantage of Yoshimoto's speed during speedruns or when moving between fights
Stand still when possible to activate Unrelenting Ground's damage reduction
Position drones so all teammates stay in buff range
Adjust your focus between healing, damage buffs, and ammo generation based on what the encounter needs

PvP Viability

PvE Effectiveness

Support Power

Beginner Friendly

Build Customization Considerations

When to Change Things Up

PvP Adjustments

If you're surviving consistently and landing headshots without trouble, swap to damage artifacts. Royal Contravene becomes a good exotic pick if your aim is reliable, since it deals more damage than Trinity Ghoul's consistency-focused approach.

PvE Adjustments

Trinity Ghoul works well if you care more about flexibility than movement speed. The Lightning Rod effect is great against grouped enemies. Some missions might need different artifacts based on engagement ranges and how much you need to move around.

Pros

Excellent support capabilities with healing and damage buffs
Heavy ammo generation enables frequent exotic usage
Flexible toolkit adapts to different team needs
Strong PvE performance across all content types
Drones provide consistent area control

Cons

Requires consistent headshot accuracy in PvP
Slow weapon charge time without Overclocked Shot
Limited bow weapon options currently available
Positioning-dependent buffs require team coordination
Challenging learning curve for new players

Summary

Helhest is a versatile Arc Support with different paths for PvP and PvE. Her healing, damage buffs, and ammo generation make her valuable to any team. PvP builds focus on staying alive and dealing consistent damage with spread weapons, while PvE builds take advantage of heavy ammo generation for exotic usage and drone strategies. Pick teammates based on the mission and overall team needs rather than just individual synergies.