Ultimate Interceptor

No other javelin can do the amount of pure single target damage that the ult Interceptor can. This particular build is highlighted around pushing max ult damage, while having a reasonable amount of melee damage for the times between ults, and also being able to support the rest of the team with acid debuffs and a support debuff. Components are selected for their ability to increase ult damage, guns and gear are focused on maintaining damage in between ults, while also generating ult charges through use of Viper’s Bite, so you can launch slice and dice your way through anything in your path.

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Weapons

Shard Storm

• Shard Storm is among the top tier of weapons in Anthem. It has high base damage, and will go through walls, enemies, turrets and anything else. It’s great for killing things from medium distance,which the rest of this build does not do very well, being so melee focused. On this particular one, I have 375% damage.

Glorious Result

• Whatever gun you put in this spot is typically going to be a stat stick. This is my ultimate stat stick, which is why I’m using it, as the weapon itself is trash. This version has 180% Armor (100% and 80%), 25% Gear Recharge and 13% Elemental damage.

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Melee Weapon

Deathstalker Blades

• Deathstalker Blades is the Interceptor priming melee. The damage done is acid, which applies a 25% debuff to all enemies, although it does not do as well against shields. It also has an MW perk that states it “increases damage against an enemy below 50% health”. This does not increase the damage done on each swing. Instead, it increases the speed with which the melee hits come by 100%, which effectively doubles their damage. It also has the advantage of not stealing combos from Rangers and Colossus in your group, which will make them like you more. On this one I have 350% weapon damage.

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Gear

Serpent's Veil

• This is a pure stat stick ability. The actual utility as a direct source of damage is minimal, although it is a very effective AoE acid primer. The major advantage that it has is that it increases acid damage by 200%, which means that if you are using Deathstalker Blades, you get an additional 200% melee damage whenever you apply acid to something. Since Deathstalker Blades apply acid, it’s basically on anytime you are attacking anything. If you’re using Deathstalker Blades, it’s basically a must. This one has 200% charges and 18% gear recharge.

Viper's Bite

• This is how you build your ult with this build. Every enemy that you hit with Viper’s Bite will generate 7 ult charges for you. So you want to spray it into groups as much as you can, because that will build your ult quickest. Charges are the most valuable component on this item. It does decent damage on its own, but you really want to be able to throw multiple charges without having to wait for a recharge. Mine has 200% charges.

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Support Item

Slayer's Furor

• This item applies a debuff enemies in a small AoE, and makes them take an additional 33% damage, which is its main utility. It will also hop to other nearby enemies once the initial debuffed enemy is defeated. This one has 200% charges and 35% Repair Drop Rate.

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Components

Rejuvenating Ammo

• This is a nice component, but the MW perk of giving you extra armor for picking up a health pack is not too important for this build, since you aren’t going to be shooting your guns that much. I mainly have it here because it has more utility than any of the other options that I have with big ult damage. This one has 50% ult damage (which is good) and 10% Combo Chains (which is absolutely useless on this build, and almost as useless on the Storm for which it was intended).

Softened Blows

• This is without a doubt the best defensive component in the game, thanks to it’s MW perk.  Because the shields on a Interceptor are tissue paper thin, despite the large boost to your shields which this component provides, you will really appreciate the 75% damage reduction that should last until your shields start to regenerate themselves.  You can run Interceptor, Storm or Ranger without Softened Blows, but it’s a huge handicap if you don’t. Additionally, this one has 48% ult damage and 35% ult damage, which makes it probably the most valuable component in my entire vault.

Emergency Power

• I have this here because it adds more ult damage than any other component that I have. It starts with a 30% base ult damage increase. Then I have a double ult damage roll on it- 48% and 35%, for a total of 113% ult damage from this one component.  The complete refill of your ult meter when your armor gets too low is a nice “oh shit” button to have, especially with how much ult damage this build puts out.  If you’re in danger of dying, and you use an ult with this build, anything that was damaging you other than Stronghold bosses is going to be dead by the time you’re done.

Symbiotic Surge

• This is possibly the best offensive component in the game, thanks to it’s MW perk. It also gives you a large boost to your armor, which comes in handy, given how squishy the Interceptor is. The MW perk that gives you 50% damage increase when you pick up a health pack applies to all damage (including ult and combo). Because it is a universal component, you would ideally want double ult dmg rolls for this build, although a single roll is fine, since the MW perk basically acts as an additional ult damage inscription. Otherwise, you will want Armor or Gear Recharge. This one has 50% ult damage and 80% shield max.

Thermal Cooling

• I have this here because I have a double ult dmg roll on it. It also happens to be my favorite QoL component in the game. Once you get used to having the extra flight time, you will really miss it when you go back to something else. This one has 40% ult dmg and 38% ult dmg.

Bloodlust

• All of these components are selected because they increase Interceptor ult damage, either via inscriptions, MW perks, or both. Bloodlust by itself gives you an additional 30% melee damage base, plus another 75% melee damage after a melee kill. With how often you are using your melee attack, it adds some extra utility for those times when you are not in your ult. This one has 50% ult dmg and 38% ult damage.

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Overview

The Perfect Build

This is one way to build an ultimate Interceptor, but it is certainly not the only way. It’s also not necessarily the most effective build for Interceptor in general, but it is certainly close. A hybrid option that had more melee damage in exchange for trading off some of the ult damage would be more effective at clearing things faster. But this isn’t that build. This is for hitting stupid total damage and killing anything is your path with your ult. This is also as close to perfect as I can get this build with the components that I have. Every component serves a function, both in terms of inscriptions and base effect. Because we’re not using a shotgun, we don’t need Acid Slugs. Or any of the other gun related components. Rejuvenating Ammo would be more useful if I had a Close Encounter being my armor stat stick instead of the Glorious Result. With this build, you keep Shard Storm equipped in case you need to use it. If I had a double armor Close Encounter I would keep that equipped for the MW perk to increase melee damage, as well as the damage of my Shard Storm. I’d also like a double ult roll on Symbiotic Surge, or one other double ult component to replace Rejuvenating Ammo, but they are very rare. The ult on this build can do over 20 million damage, and if you have someone else keeping up an acid debuff and Slayer’s Furor/Berserker’s Cry it can push over 30 million when you factor in the shadow that is left after your ult is over. This is more than enough damage to kill anything short of Stronghold bosses.

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The Downsides

The toughest part about playing Interceptor in general is that you are squishy as hell. Compared to every other javelin, you’re going to be like a wet paper bag. That means that you have to stay moving constantly in order to not die, even if you have a lot of armor (shield is basically crap).It makes learning how to play Interceptor one of the more challenging javelins. You also don’t have any good burst damage when you’re not in your ult, so you’re going to have to dodge around higher HP enemies as you attack them.

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The Upsides and Build Options

But the upside is that you’ll be able to basically kill all enemies with a single ult. Legendary Enforcer walking around? Hit him for 5 seconds with your ult then go on to something else, because he’s dead. 2 Legendary Enforcers hanging out with a Legendary Escari- none of them will be there by the time your ult is done. And Interceptor ult damage is null, so it does not scale up or down against armor or shields- it does all of its damage regardless of the enemy type. You can even kill a Bristleback with a single ult once you have enough damage. I’ll typically run a variation on this build that sacrifices a small amount of ult damage on my Symbiotic Surge to get additional melee damage, and swap out the Shard Storm for a Close Encounter, so that I have more melee damage while still retaining enough ult damage to get through anything. It’s a build that I can confidently take into any situation where I might be solo, or I might have to carry low DPS players. Most other ult builds don’t really have that option, they either lack room clearing speed or boss killing speed.

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Build Variations and Sigils

I typically run this build with an Epic Acid Sigil and an Epic and a Rare Ultimate Sigil. The extra 10% from an Uncommon Ultimate Sigil is not worth losing out on the 30% acid damage. Unless I’m chasing the highest number I can hit, which is not an uncommon occurrence. With only acid and Slayer’s Furor debuffs and Symbiotic Surge, this build can hit 189k small hits and 379k big hits when I run 3 ult sigils. The 2 ult sigils are probably overkill for this build, but this whole build is overkill.

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