[Dread] shoots [Fluctus] like wave projectiles with horizontal orientation, infinite body punchthrough, multiplicative galvanized aptitude and NO headshot multiplier (similar to Nataruk and Paris Incarnon).

Raw dmg red crit memes: https://overframe.gg/build/480848/

EVOLUTION GUIDE

Evolution II
Hitman's Opportunity will be your main perk to pick. This gives +70 base dmg and an extra +100% damage (additive to [Galvanized Aptitude]). Note since [Galvanized Aptitude] is bugged on incarnoff mode (charged shots scales off uncharged shots), this perk is also bugged on incarnoff mode giving less than the advertised +100% dmg. This works normally on Incarnon mode, being additive to Galvanized Aptitude and multiplicative to Serration/Merciless.

Coup De Grace actually ONLY works when [Dread], [Despair] and [Hate] are all equipped, and ONLY builds up in incarnoff mode. Hitting 5 shots in a row in incarnoff then transforming to Incarnon mode allows you to snapshot the extra +50 dmg and +50% fire rate buff for the duration of incarnon charge and never goes down despite missing shots. Only use this if you plan on doing the full Stalker cosplay.

Evolution III
Swift Deliverance is most useful to increase projectile speed to allow easier headshots without using the exilus on [Terminal Velocity].

Evolution IV
Zeroed In gives +1 flat crit damage which is the highest DPS boost for raw damage and slash DPS (approximately 4 to 15% increase compared to Survivor's Edge). Use this for slash builds and raw damage (corrosive/viral) builds. Note however, if you count the average status effects gained per shot (dependent on RNG) and Galvanized Aptitude's +80%dmg per status, Survivor's Edge is slightly better.

For Heat DoT / Heat Inherit based builds, use Elemental Excess to boost the status chance, which gives more heat procs per shot.

Calculations:

MOD BREAKDOWN

• Galvanized Chamber - mandatory multishot mod

• Galvanized Aptitude - mandatory damage mod, giving +80% dmg for each unique status affecting the target. Having just three status effects from [Dread]'s innate elements gives +240% dmg (3.4x multiplier), and on Dread Incarnon specifically, this is MULTIPLICATIVE to other base damage sources like Serration/Arcanes. Note this is ADDITIVE on Incarnoff mode.

• Serration/Amalgam Serration - this is mandatory if you decide to run Longbow Sharpshot, but is flexible if you decide to run Primary

• Merciless/Deadhead arcane for [Bladed Rounds], [Hammer Shot] or Viral. Gives +165% base dmg which is multiplicative to both galv aptitude and longbow. Amalgam Mod is a nice quality of life boost that gives more sprint speed with a negligible loss of DPS.

• Hunter Munitions - 30% to make slash proc, used for bypassing armor

• Critical Delay - mandatory crit mod

• Vital Sense - mandatory crit mod

• Primed Bane of Corrupted/Grineer- double dips DoT for final +140.25% dmg boost (2.4025x multiplier), separate to Serration, G.Aptitude and Longbow. If you don’t like banes, you can swap this out for Bladed Rounds, Hammer shot or Viral.

• Vile Acceleration - Fire rate makes the draw speed more tolerable and affects the overall DPS. Alternatives include Primed Shred or Vigilante Fervor. This is also FLEXIBLE if you run Coup De Grace perk for Bladed Rounds, Hammer shot or Viral.

• Vigilante Armaments - small chance to boost crits to next tier

Arcane

• Longbow Sharpshot - gives +300% final multiplicative dmg on the next shot after a headshot. The wide projectiles of [Dread] make headshots very easy so this bonus can be kept active quite easily. If you don’t like to aim or find it difficult to upkeep, just use a different arcane like Primary Merciless/Deadhead.

• Primary Merciless - best arcane for use in endurance when you expect most kills via slash procs

• Primary Deadhead - best arcane for general use because it forces a 1.3x headshot multiplier onto Incarnon Dreads 1x headshot multiplier.

NOTE: Without longbow or deadhead arcane, you have NO reason to aim at heads in incarnon dread mode because it has NO headshot multiplier.

Why not Viral?
Viral 60/60 mods is a good option to give raw damage as well as a useful status effect, however, for a slash build only the viral status effect is useful and this takes up TWO mod slots. If you have the slots or prefer this, feel free to run viral, eg drop [Amalgam Serration] + [Vile Acceleration] for [Rime Rounds] + malignant rounds, consider external fire rate buffs and use Primary merciless over Longbow Sharpshot.

Since viral status gives 2x multiplier at 1 proc and 4.25x multiplier at 10 procs and Dread Incarnon procs about 1-2 viral status per shot, this is effectively a 2x multiplier that takes 5 to 10 shots to build up to 4.25x multiplier.

Two mod slots means you need to drop Bane and [Serration] (and run Primary Merciless over Longbow), which together give a slash DoT multiplier of about 1.36x2.4=3.264 for every shot without build up AND giving the option of external viral (e.g. from Panzer, Nourish or a secondary primer) to further boost damage up to 3.2x4.25=13.6x. External viral status can be applied much quicker too.

Riven
Crit Damage, Multishot, Crit Chance, Damage, Fire rate, Tox/Cold - Having +dmg on the riven (which is usually NOT recommended) is actually good because this allows you to replace [Serration] and is multiplicative to Galv Aptitude and Longbow.