[Despair] Incarnon projectiles explode on a short delay with 160 base dmg pure heat AOE in approximately 4m with fall off.

EVOLUTIONS:

Evolution II: Fatal Affliction increases base dmg by 50 and gives a pseudo galv shot effect of +40% dmg per status (applies only to initial base dmg and non-AOE component). Stalker's vendetta requires you to hold all three stalker weapons and consumes tons of ammo so we don't use this one.

Evolution III: Swift Deliverance increases projectile speed by +50%

Evolution IV: Critical Parallel increases base CC to 48% and base CD to 3.4x. This is slightly better than both elemental balance and survivor's edge when accounting for both raw damage and heat status DPS combined.

See calculation table:

https://imgur.com/a/JoZUVow

TLDR: Critical parallel is about 10% better than Survivor's Edge for total DPS. Elemental Balance is best for pure heat status DPS, which is probably only relevant with Heat Inherit.

MOD BREAKDOWN:

Why not [Galvanized Shot]?
Currently [Galvanized Shot] is bugged on most Incarnon weapons, only applying to the base damage (60) and ignoring the dmg from the perks eg +50 from Fatal Affliction. Additionally, Galv Shot does NOT apply to the AOE component which actually accounts for approx 65% of total damage (excluding headcrits and headshot multi). The +120% dmg per status is also additive to +40% dmg per status from Fatal Affliction, slightly reducing the overall impact of Galv Shot. Finally, [Despair] has a very lopsided weighting with 80% puncture at base, meaning after mods we have final weights of approximately 1% impact, 4% slash, 20% puncture, 31% viral and 43% heat. The chances of proccing impact or slash are so minimal that we effectively consider [Despair] as having 3 statuses to boost [Galvanized Shot] in most cases. Using an external primer and applying at least 5 statuses total does allow Galv Shot to overtake [Hornet Strike] and Primed Expel.

Why not [Hornet Strike]?
Secondary Deadhead actually provides all the base damage you need, +360% dmg with each stack lasting 24s after a headshot kill. Primed Expel is slotted over [Hornet Strike] as this provides more overall DPS, however, if you DON'T like faction mods, feel free to swap this out back to [Hornet Strike] or even [Galvanized Shot].

[Galvanized Crosshairs] vs [Primed Pistol Gambit]?
[Galvanized Crosshairs] gives highest possible crit chance but requires you to aim down sights AND get headshots, which shouldnt be too difficult with the direct hits of [Despair]. If you prefer not to constantly aim for headshots, feel free to swap this out for Primed Pistol Gambit or even Creeping Bullseye.

Alternative choices to go over Primed Expel:

• Hornet Strike - next best choice
• Galvanized Shot - last resort
• Primed Fulmination - increases 4m AOE to 5.76m.

Arcane
Secondary Deadhead gives the highest multiplier if you aim at heads alot (5.98x) and also forces a 1.3x headshot multiplier on the AOE component when you get headshots.
Cascadia Flare gives a multiplier of 5.8x which would be best if you tend not to aim for headshots.
Secondary Merciless is a viable alternative to both.

ELEMENTAL VARIANTS

FOR GRINEER/CORRUPTED with or without armor strip : Viral Heat is the most versatile and globally applicable combination
FOR ACOLYTES/THRAX/GRINEER/INFESTED without armor strip: Can run Corrosive + heat for ferrite armor specifically
FOR CORPUS: Use Radiation + toxin for Corpus (swap [Frostbite] and [Pistol Pestilence] out for electric 90 + tox 90 mods and rearrange.