The uninspired status chances of last year has shifted the Phantasma from a two fire mode weapon to a single fire mode weapon. Sadly, the secondary fire mode has lost most of its punch and at the current time only the primary fire mode is really worth using.
In primary fire mode the weapon projects six frontal beams with a limited range of twenty meters and no damage fall-off. The range can be extended if need be by using Sinister Reach.
While the critical stats on the weapon are very low the status chance is very high and considering the amount of beams the weapon projects the weapon becomes a status monster.
I'd recommend you leverage this by either building Corrosive or Viral using non-upgrade sixty sixty mods so you leave more room for more heat procs. This will cause the weapon the apply tons upon tons of procs and stack a lot of damage over time very quickly on targets. From this point onwards Bane mods can help, especially in combination with electricity. This is because of how damage over time is calculated and in this case we can use Primed Charged Shell for maximum DoT damage.
That said, I do not encourage the use of Faction mods as I see them as a sub-par design decision from multiple points of view and I chose not to propagate their usage in the hopes that the Developer will eventually re-think their approach to faction mods.
Riven disposition is also solid on the Phantasma sitting at three out five and I'd recommend you trying to get Multishot and Damage above everything else. Status chance or the element of your choosing are also not a bad idea. That said, keep in mind that the weapon does not require a Riven to be competitive.
