NEW Pestilence EXOTIC LMG Build - 2.8M DOTs Hit Like a Truck! THE DIVISION 2

[@b-co1-26in5]

Loved the animation and explanation you gave to explain how the Virtuoso works at different ranges. Simple and to the point.

[@Scrub_Nation]

I finished the season a while ago, as well as the seasonal journey. I shut the modifiers off so I can continue playing normally. I understand why people make build videos with the modifiers on, but I wish people would start making more videos without them. Show me the damage I'll always have vs the damage I'll be losing once the season ends and we get a whole new set of modifiers.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

I think it's worthwhile to showcase both and be up front about if they are integral to the build or not. Love or hate them, they are build-defining at times. And they are the flavor of the Pringles for the moment. For example, the 1886 hazpro XP farm build Tux recently posted is 1000% useless without modifiers and there is no reason to even bother to try to put it together. Likewise, many of the CQB builds I'm seeing latley pop up on YT are really leaning into the short range modifiers. Ironically, it's the mid range stuff that all sucks (gee, I wonder why *THAT* could be?!!? 😂).

[@KO_KiloOscar]

Great build and one of the best explanations of it all I've seen. The diagrams really help see whats happening.

[@gseasley2]

Definitely gonna try this build. I love the Pesti! Thanks!

[@TuxedoBandido]

Glad to hear it! It's a fun one. Hope the explanation helped.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

So many good pesti builds now. Star of TU22, won't be shocked when it catches a nerf. It's nuts at 935rpm base.

[@gseasley2]

@@grumpyoldman6503 hopefully no nerf! The Pesti is my favorite!

[@bert-tv8865]

Build is insanely good the only change I made was liquid engineer perfect Bloodsucker backpack for servibibility cause the damage is still cracked but once you start killing it's hard to die 🎉🎉🎉Great build . I underestimated this new holster I hadn't even tried it yet now I'll put it on every build I can lol😂

[@edrex3547]

Yeah I agree. The build looks awesome but the backpack looks like something I'd definitely tinker around with. Seems like a waste to have the explosive resistance when you could have something else in that spot. Weapon damage, CHD, etc.

[@joelchoquet5183]

The second you said modifiers you lost me

[@ChevyMuscle55]

So I guess we're all leaving you in the past? They were annoying for the first 10 minutes while learning them. Now they are a fun new challenge. But hey, if you want to skip out on all the new content, who am I to tell you that you can't...🤷‍♂️

[@joelchoquet5183]

@ it’s not new content…..it hasn’t been for years! And “you” don’t leave me anywhere I play solo the way I wanna play thanks though dipshit

[@steelrain5626]

Modifiers aren't new content.

[@steelrain5626]

A lot more players are leaving compared to new players joining.

[@ChevyMuscle55]

@steelrain5626 they are..they just may not be exactly what we were all wanting and expecting. Adapt and overcome, Agent.

[@squad51_kmg365]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE what they did with the Pesti. it has become one of my favorite guns again.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

Amen squaddie.

[@genericgoon5179]

As an avid pestilence user, I'm excited to try this out. That said, relying modifiers is kinda something I'm used to from playing so many seasons of Destiny 2. That Said, i feel even without the modifiers this is still ginna be a solid way to run the pestilence.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

It definitely is, pesti status with OD, vile, and the pack has never felt better if you haven't tried that (I used to prefer bluescreen in that build and now I'm team pestilence full time).

[@littletweeter1327]

I don’t care about the modifiers but I thank you for the good explanation of the virtuoso set. I might try nibjabiking that set with something… the theorycrafting must go on!

[@BigBadWolf1st]

Always loved the Pesti. I'm running the Ninja BP, 3 Virtuoso and 2 Lengmo. Don't have the Scabbard yet but I'll give this build a try when I get one.

[@jan-simonkrause9188]

OK, I have to correct a few basic misconceptions here. In the last update, the M249's rate of fire was buffed while its damage was reduced. But with the Pestilence, only the buff was applied and the base damage is the same as before. That means: The weapon gets most of its damage from shooting and the DoT has become a nice accessory. With LMGs, the best third attribute is crit chance and not armor damage. That applies to all LMGs. With the Pestilence, armor damage was only left on because BEFORE the patch, a lot of damage was taken from the DoT. So that has changed. I can promise you, roll the Pestilence to crit chance and put it in a crit build like Striker or Umbra and it will plow through the enemies like a truck.

[@erinmorales5097]

Nice!!! Haven't unlocked Active Mod yet but I'm getting close. I love the DMG

[@Cryptic8Nomad]

I played a lot back in the day before my new job took over my life haha. Just got internet in my semi and downloaded it on my steam deck. Saving this video for when I can start a build. If I recall that lmg is a darkzone drop though... I'm going to get creamed in there as a newbie again 😂 and with pc players. I had it on ps4 and spent untold hours on division 1.

[@rupertwellington3744]

It's not cross platform don't worry

[@Cryptic8Nomad]

@rupertwellington3744 Playing on steamdeck I thought I'd be in the pc pool. Am I only playing with other ppl on steam deck? That's going to be like 5 ppl... was hoping to have an old friend join me...

[@rupertwellington3744]

my bad im a moron I misunderstood

[@Cryptic8Nomad]

@@rupertwellington3744 😂 all good

[@mattcain07]

Dope build bro! Not gonna lie I did the same when I saw the virtuoso description and just trashed the prices lol. Thank for the build!

[@memphismemphis6596]

Yep Pestilence is crazy fun now

[@MrIrrepressible]

How do u get consistently high ticks with the pestilence

[@SuperMan-cc5wc]

Got the pestilence from a exotic cache and I remembered this build I’ll def try this

[@terrynichols4509]

I loved the pestilence before but since the start of the season I've been running it. It is such a monster

[@raulsantanamontoya1210]

Thank you for the 411 brother you always step up👍😎

[@saudrrr8198]

Thank you for explaining what the set actually does instead of just saying go get it

[@samhuang6966]

Amazing build I love it! can't wait to try....💯👍

[@darrengarside2106]

As a possible returning player who doesnt have all these pieces and will also run solo do you have a build with the pestilence for me ?

[@josepheousthegreat]

What cosmetic jacket is that? I want it

[@MidwesternCornbilly]

Unless I completely missed it, you didn't show what you were running with the mask. This looks like it will be a great build.. For those of us who want to write this stuff down, so we know what to farm and craft for, try slowing down your presentation. Even at 1\4 replay speed you move too fast on certain screenshots. Keep in mind, most people watching your videos are new to the game.

[@b.f.837]

Stellite coating has to be the worst modifier after requital

[@jrockon2774]

thank you, i didnt know you can activate and lock in the modifier... geez what a noob i am 😆

[@dl4087]

Excellent build. There's a lot going on but once you have the sequence down omg. The pestilence this season is a winner. Agentdown420 Agent down but not out!

[@giacospace]

Different perspective: 3 Lengmo (mask, backpack Backbone, chest with Glass Cannon), 2 Petrov (Contractor's gloves, Holster), Sawyer's Kneepads. 5 red + 1 blue + 3 PFE and all attributes where possible as weapon handling and armor regen. Gunner spec of course

[@Andrews.1]

Lose the knee pads and add pacarios holster, and you'll get more consistent damage.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

​@Andrews.1 depends on what you mean by "consistent". It's not anywhere close to as much damage for the ticks since Sawyers is 30% TWD fully stacked. But it's easy to lose and pins you to 1 spot, which is where it sucks and needs a bit of a rework. In that sense it's more consistent. IMO it's not really worth it going that deep into Legmo and with the way centurion is working now, it's better than Sawyers regardless and also locks out piccaros.

[@giacospace]

@@grumpyoldman6503 I agree, I tend not to think much on the "not moving part" but just play as it goes. The tick is high already and you cannot be staggered by explosions (plus explosive resistance) which is good when doing legendary activities.

[@Raija1980s]

Can someone please post the gear pieces and mods needed on it?

[@markkue5173]

Glad Ubisoft made the changes. No good looking Exotic weapons should be nerfed useless for us just to farm and stashed away but put to great use in PVE/PVP. 😊

[@jwill5033]

This build is straight destruction

[@flaxi0n832]

they reduced the dmg from the highend version of this weapon and raised the rpm, but for the pesti they forgot to reduce the dmg

[@grumpyoldman6503]

Sssh.

[@chumrocket]

why is my virtuoso 2 pcs set give smg and shotgun damage

[@R0nin041]

Could this be used with out the session mods????

[@TuxedoBandido]

yes. Just roll crit chance to around 45% or so

[@R0nin041]

@@TuxedoBandido would this do as much on the ticks???

[@mikerzisu9508]

​@@R0nin041no way

[@grumpyoldman6503]

​@@mikerzisu9508when virtuoso is up, yes that is independent of modifiers. So the clip from the range is still true. Uptime is crappy but that's the nature of the gearset in a nutshell and why I don't like it. Same as Breaking Point, more or less.

[@mikerzisu9508]

@@grumpyoldman6503 my pgc pesti build can maybe get close to 2m ticks without modifiers, I just don't see how these numbers are possible without enabling them. Especially in a build that isn't all red cores. The ticks feed off of raw weapon damage, so the higher that is the higher the ticks.

[@AgentGeo]

Anyone try this build out with out the modifiers? wondering how it performs.

[@P.Mantis-nw3xi]

The majority don't like to constantly swap to keep their damage up. This is one of those "cool, but I'm not going to use it" builds.

[@baterix82]

o/ Tux try this setup>>> Mask-Visionario + Vest-Vedmedytsya + Holster- Centurion and 3pcs- Lengmo

[@grumpyoldman6503]

The optimal range mask? For swap speed?

[@ShKeletor90.the_Bright_Star]

Sawyers with the gift bag and 4 piece virtuoso with the vindicator rifle does more than 3 million per shot.

[@ShKeletor90.the_Bright_Star]

Love your content btw 👍🏽

[@grumpyoldman6503]

Ya but it's Sawyers. Stuck to the floor.

[@ShKeletor90.the_Bright_Star]

@ yes because sawyers is for a Marksman or rifleman. You still have a 10 sec window to move around and keep your stacks (cover to cover)

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@ShKeletor90.mr.takeUrGrl you lose your stacks even if you change your facing. 😭 Then you have to build them up again. It has its uses, but being stuck more or less in 1 place is kinda boring gameplay, IMO. If you didn't lose your stacks cover to cover or there was slightly more forgiveness before your stacks timer kicked in, it definitely would see more usage by me anyway.

[@ShKeletor90.the_Bright_Star]

@@grumpyoldman6503 you play as you wish. What can I say

[@KeyzDebonair]

Any new content with these modifies?

[@grimreaper6112]

no there rubbish

[@HumbleThyself]

on your XP farming build, you have 100% hazardous protection . I don't understand where the other 10% of Hazard protection comes from. You get 10% from the Yaahl gear and 30% from the Uzina Getica and 50% from having 10% on 5 gear pieces. That equals only 90%. where is the other 10%?

[@remingtonsteele3493]

It‘s from the watch. With maxed-out hazard protection (50) you get 10% extra hazard protection.

[@TuxedoBandido]

nailed it.

[@HumbleThyself]

@@remingtonsteele3493 thank you so much for the reply, this was a real head-scratcher for me. I am only watch level 150 or so. And I have no points in hazardous protection.

[@HumbleThyself]

@@TuxedoBandido thank you, I watched your video like five times trying to figure out where are the extra 10% came from. I guess I will have to run two pieces of the ceska armor, until I bring my watch level up.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

​​@@HumbleThyselfyou can also just use specific resistance mods in gear slots or improvised gear. You only need like 95% to be immune to most stuff for hazards you specifically care about (shock, fire, ensnare generally). But then it's also hard to hit 150% HSD threshold for the 1886 specially. M1a classic is another way to go with an easier HSD target and highish base damage, but you need more red cores, which makes the bonus armor from memento less useful to keep your 1 tap, body killing potential running. Depends on how much expertise you have, so if low SHD it's likely a non starter for you regardless.

[@sargewilliepete2174]

Crits don't do anything for the pestilence tick. Pestilence builds should be ALL RED for weapon damage. Nothing else matters. You got the right idea with the Backbone, and Glass cannon as the chest piece, or even overwatch. Lengmo is stronger than Virtuoso. Most of your damage is coming from By the teeth I'm suspecting rather than Virtuoso. An All Red Lengmo with the pestilence and the Backbone is still King.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@@sargewilliepete2174 you guys are living in the past. The pesti tick itself isn't the point anymore. Its slow, the pesti gun damage itself is very significant and >> than the tick damage even if you hyper optimize for it.

[@sargewilliepete2174]

@@grumpyoldman6503 You missed the point. And no the tick is significant based on weapon damage, but what I will agree with you on is the buff to the Pesti slaps in conjunction with the modifiers, which changes everything. With modifiers you want damage right now, you don't need to thick. Pesti and True Patriot - All red is what I'm currently running. Damage is immediate. Ticks are good enough, especially with By the Teeth.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@sargewilliepete2174 I didn't miss the point. The gun is good by itself. Building specifically for higher ticks damage is largely irrelevant. It's bonus damage on top of really good output regardless. You don't have to DoT and hide. Also check out the clip starting at 5:22 to see what virtuoso does to the tick damage specifically.

[@ARealToothbrush]

I don’t understand why aren’t people using status effect pieces with pesti? Every build I see is all Gun and LMG damage.

[@rupertwellington3744]

it doesnt count as a status I believe, I tried to use it with Ongoing Directive once and it would not tag the enemies

[@TuxedoBandido]

yeah, the plague is a debuff not a status effect and you can only increase it from weapon dmg, not even crits buff it or striker stacks.

[@thrice1084]

only downside about this build, is it doesn't allow you to make every tick it 2~3m... it's only the initial tick after you switch the dmg bonus back and forth... sadly not game breaking for pestilence but a nice new alternate way to play around with it.

[@Lunatic108]

Its a great build for mobbing, but not really for bosses or heroic/legendary content due to its reliance on needing constant kills between the distance ranges.

[@smegul1464]

On a challenging control point 😂

[@rumpeltv1080]

Nooooooo, another build i have to try. 😅

[@ivarwillis7829]

Mods no thanks.

[@quicxilver_00_]

[@Panama1Way2]

I'm #666 on the thump-ups

[@grumpyoldman6503]

Too bad you cant work in 3p legmo using backbone without massive investments/opportunity costs to leverage perfect unstoppable force (and 30% LMG WD). They should have done a pack-> chest talent swap ala Perfect Companion with Electrique.

[@dalejohnson80]

Please add the fart dust cloud back 💪🏾🪖😆

[@anthonyescobar8233]

They must have nerfed it today. I'm not getting close to that damage.

[@triperz8030]

Then you get one tapped by an enemy red bar anyway.

[@jsullivan649]

I really hope they remove the skills screwing up the rotation for that holster... super annoying.

[@skrovirggaming7013]

Pls change your dmg setting

[@Stolliv-Olli-]

👍💪🤝

[@umainebearman]

Typical massive, making gear sets to try and make you play a certain way. Thats not build diversity. The games a DPS check. Just stick to your crit builds. The insane actions of the enemy AI necessitates you just end engagements ASAP. Builds like this are just time wasters. 3 improvised pieces, with coyotes and whatever BP and and chest with whatever weapon with chd everywhere and some chc. Youre not going to beat 250 to 300 crit damage with crap like this.

[@qSilenceOne]

I'm not sure why people are so obsessed with the "Pestilence" weapon. The DOT itself is pretty pointless. Think about it-if you can stack that DOT up on a mob to the max, that should tell you right away that it's weak. Now, let's talk about the DOT itself. The tick rate is incredibly slow. Anyway, let's consider the group aspect. If you're using this build in a group, thinking you're going to do a lot of damage, by the time you kill one mob, someone else has already killed 5 or 6 while you’ve just killed 1. As for the range-whether you're using ranged, mid-range, or short-range meters, it's irrelevant. If you're doing enough DPS, it won't matter what range you're at when you kill them. I respect people trying to find new builds, that's cool, but claiming this one is OP is just wrong.

[@MandaloR-NL]

Ever heard of punctuation marks?! 🤦‍♂️

[@fishpunda3000]

​@@MandaloR-NL For real.

[@xanderx51]

Well let's go over a few things. You mention that by the time you kill one another guy has killed 5. Not exactly and it also very situational. I mean the dot get those who are behind cover and you dont even have to do anything. And if you even build it even close to the best the dot will take down yellow bars by the time you even have even reloaded.and that's even before you add any gear perks you might be running.

[@TuxedoBandido]

There is some other weird stuff at play too. Enemies get suppressed and the DOTs hit them even when their hiding, and they roll over on kill. The stranger thing is, the stronger the weapon, the less the DOT carnage. If the average tick comes out at say, 1M, and heroic elites are 10Mil., the DPS will shred that dude before the ticks get a chance. But if the ticks work em, while I am busy with his friend, my TTK is much faster when I swing his way. So now that the Pesti is stronger, the ticks aren't ALL IT, they're now a helpful friend. In Legendary the DOTS do get more helpful of course.

[@jrullan892]

Bro at full stacks from hounds and named elites everyone just ticks away in a blink ... What are you talking about ? 😂

[@ZomBSnatcher4671]

This build is devastating. I wish I thought of it. Excellent work 💪🏻🫡