Anthem Storm build and abilities - the best Storm builds and loadouts

Storm builds in Anthem are all about building yourself out as a glass cannon - that's high damage at the expense of low armour and shields, for those new to the world of MMOs and the like - and that playstyle can make the Storm one of the most satisfying Javelins in the game.

Here, we'll detail the best Anthem Storm build that we've found so far, along with any other little tips or tricks for playing the Storm class, and a full runthrough of the Storm's abilities so you can plan your own builds in advance.

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Anthem Storm abilities and loadouts

The storm is a glass cannon, built around dealing out high, ability-based damage at range. It has pretty great mobility and naturally hovers, rather than walking around on foot, allowing you to glide over minor obstacles on the ground.

Storm gear slot 1 options - Blast Seals

• Flame Burst: Quick explosion dealing AoE Fire damage.
• Ice Storm: Primer, places AoE Ice damage explosion that freezes enemies.
• Ice Blast: Primer, fires large Ice damage projectile, freezes close-range enemies.
• Living Flame: Primer, Fire-damage projectile that seeks out enemies.
• Lightning Strike: Detonator, AoE Lightning damage to targeted area.

Storm gear slot 2 options - Focus Seals

• Shock Burst: Bolt of Lightning damage that bounces to nearby enemies.
• Frost Shards: Primer, several quick-fire Ice-damage projectiles.
• Shock Burst: Primer, Electric damage projectile that can bounce off walls.
• Burning Orb: Detonator, chargable projectile dealing AoE or single-target Fire damage.
• Glacial Spear: Detonator, single concentrated beam of Ice-damage.

Storm Melee

• Fiery Strike: Detonator, dealing Fire-damage.

Storm Support options

• Wind Wall - Translucent wall that blocks enemy projectiles.
• Quickening Field - Bubble that reduces cooldown on abilities for allies who enter.

Storm Ultimate

• Elemental Storm: Primer and Detonator that deals combined Ice, Fire, and Lightning damage in a big AoE.

StormCombo Effect

• AoE Spread - spread the Elemental effect of primed enemies to nearby enemies when combo is activated.

ANTHEM | Best Damage Storm Build 'Fire & Ice'

Watch on YouTube

The best Anthem Storm build and other Storm strategies

As you'll already know, the Storm is a glass cannon, and so you need to play accoringly. Here are our suggestions for the best Storm builds, and advice on how to play the role effectively.

Storm build ideas and advice

• The first, and simplest, build for the Storm is the Frost Sharts / Lightning Strike self combo, which lets you prime and freeze a single target and then detonate it with a shock of lightning that does high single-target damage and AoE damage in a pretty small area around it. Great for single targets, but not the most efficient in terms of playing to the Storm's strengths.
• The best Storm build, we think, is the build that Arekkz lays out in the video above: Ice Storm as a Primer and Burning Orb as a Detonator. This allows you to freeze, and thus crowd control, large waves of enemies, and then detonate them all with a charged Burning Orb and, in the process, use Storm's passive to spread that freezing status to more enemies around it. It gives you amazing crowd control and some flexibility with Burning Orb's five charges, that you can burst in one go or spread out in smaller blasts.
• Finally, you can build the Storm as a great just-Primer or just-Detonator, if you want to focus on syncing up well with your squad, with a range of both kinds of combo attacks available and even an Ultimate that'll do both, too. How you do so is really your choice!
• Look for gear inscriptions and Components that affect the 'speed' of your abilities - in Anthem gear 'speed' means cooldown time, so the percentage that inscription is the percentage decrease in time it takes for your abilities to recharge. Hit between 40 and 60 per cent in total and you can almost infinitely use your abilities because they cooldown so quickly.

Storm playstyle and strategies

• Your focus should be on getting the most out of your shield - the Storm gets a big defensive buff when hovering, and so couple that with your long-range abilities and the playstyle is obvious: get as high and far away from danger as possible, whilst still being within range to dish it out without extreme prejudice.
• When you start to get focused by enemies, make the most of your dodge, which is a kind of 'blink' that teleports you a short distance. Use it to completely dodge projectiles and shake focus or 'aggro' away from you. In essence: hover, deal damage, blink, hover, repeat!
• It's worth packing some short-range weapons, like shotguns or assault rifles, for when you get caught out or stuck on cooldown. Blast away some close range enemies with those and then get back up in the air as quick as possible.

Cycle back to our Anthem Javelin and classes guide hub for more like this!