Here’s How Each Destiny 2 Subclass Could Be Rebalanced

Hunter Class

Arcstrider Subclass: Speed it Up

All of the Hunter subclasses took a bit of a hit when supers were nerfed to not make players nigh-invincible while using them from Destiny to Destiny 2. The subclass that got hurt the most by that though is the new Arc Hunter, the Arcstrider. It has a very similar (albeit improved) super as the Bladedancer that is just as effective at clearing adds but when set up correctly, can help stunlock and damage more powerful enemies too, but traded way too much survivability in return for it. It lost its ability to cloak and takes way more damage than it did before.

Arcstrider would benefit greatly from some kind of speed boost. Something that allows it to perform its job as crowd controller more effectively without reverting back to gameplay mechanics from the first game. It doesn’t need to be a straight speed increase, as that would probably break things on the PvP side of things. Instead, change/add to Lightning Reflexes. Make it so that if you take any kind of damage while dodging, the Arcstrider gets a massive speed boost to close in on its enemies. This can let it zip in, and out of, trouble without worrying as much about getting killed in the heat of battle. This could even be a stacking bonus that lets the Arcstrider attack faster too, making it more effective on major single targets too in Destiny 2.

Gunslinger Subclass: PvE Team Synergy

The Gunslinger has a lot of the same problems in Destiny 2 that it did in the original Destiny. It has a very useful nuke of a super, especially when used in conjunction with Celestial Nighthawk, but lacks synergy with the rest of the fireteam in PvE events. Sure, they are going for a “lone wolf” archetype here, but at the end of the day, Destiny 2 is a team game at its heart, and Gunslingers need more tools that work together with the team.

The best way to fix this problem would be to buff Chains of Woe. Instead of only increasing reload speed for nearby party members, it should do that plus more. Buffs such as increased precision damage, wider precision hitbox, AoE damage, etc. could allow Gunslinger to still be the lone wolf that goes for critical hits but also rewards the party members of skilled Gunslingers. This gives Gunslingers team synergy, without having to alter their identity.

Nightstalker Subclass: The Ultimate Tracker in PvP

Nightstalker, especially with the Orpheus Rig, is doing well, at least in PvE. Although it’s kind of BS that Calus can’t be affected by Shadowshot, but that’s worthy of its own rant. In Destiny 2’s PvP though, now that supercharged enemies can be killed normally, Shadowshot isn’t as useful as it once was. Shutting down supers is still nice but where it was the only way to stop certain supers in the first Destiny, that’s not the case. Really any super can stop any super now if used right. Plus, with 4v4 being the new standard mode, there are just less opportunities to catch multiple people with a tether. It’s still not useless, it’s just that you really need to be patient to make the Shadowshot super as effective as something that’s easier to use and more powerful like Golden Gun or Fist of Havoc.

Instead, what would give Nightstalker a better niche in PvP is if its tracking and trapping skills were played up more. Make Deadfall anchors harder to spot, allow Snare Bomb to track enemies that it doesn’t kill, or if you really want to get spicy, give Nightstalker an ability somewhere to track enemies Foetracer style for their team while supercharged. All of these wouldn’t do anything to make Nightstalker more effective in terms of its DPS, but rather would just give it more team synergy than it does now.

Titan Class

Sentinel Subclass: Bring Back the Helm of Saint-14 and Make Ward of Dawn More Useful

The Sentinel is in a pretty great spot right now in Destiny 2. It’s both tanky, and powerful in PvE, and is a force to be reckoned with in PvP. A well-placed Shield Throw in either game mode can be absolutely devastating. This is especially true in competitive game modes in Crucible, where players tend to like to stick close together to get team-kills. It doesn’t need any balancing right now.

But still, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun thinking about how to make Sentinels even better, right? Right now the Ward of Dawn could use a little love. Removing Weapons and Blessing of Light was a good idea because it was too helpful and everyone would likely go back to using Ward of Dawn instead of Shield Throw if that was brought back. However, what we really miss is the Helm of Saint-14 and its blinding potential. Bring back the Helm of Saint-14 as an exotic helmet for fans of Ward of Dawn. Having that option in the mix would create some interesting situational choices for Sentinels. When defending an area, Ward of Dawn with the blinding effect could be very useful, while Shield Throw would be better for pushing forward, attacking a boss, and crowd control.

Striker Subclass: A Boost Versus Bosses

Back in the original Destiny, Striker suffered from being a one trick pony. Able only to clear a small group of enemies with Fist of Havoc while not doing enough on majors/ultras. For the most part, it was regulated to PvP play. Now in Destiny 2, the Striker is in much better shape. Its super has been upgraded to match other crowd control specialists with its shoulder charge and ability to slam more than once. It has made the Striker a force to be reckoned with in PvE and an absolute monster in PvP.

That said, where the Striker still struggles is against bosses and ultra enemies. Fist of Havoc is OK but not as great as others. We don’t want to break Striker and make it do everything it does now but also be as effective on bosses like a subclass such as Gunslinger but an exotic armor piece could do the trick. Something similar to Celestial Nighthawk perhaps. Allow it to revert the Fist of Havoc back to its original form from Destiny 1, but turn it into a borderline nuclear weapon that can deal strong damage to bosses and leave a devastating electrical field in its wake.

Sunbreaker Subclass: More Support and Tank Capabilities

The Sunbreaker is an interesting spot where it’s effective in both PvE and PvP but not necessarily at the top in either situation. Still, it doesn’t have a lot of glaring issues. In Destiny 1, the Sunbreaker could act as a DPS and a support class of sorts with its defense stripping melee. It can still do all of that, but a lot of abilities have been split between the two trees in Destiny 2. Assuming that Bungie isn’t going to just combine it again, we’d like to see them enhance its support and tank roles a bit.

On the top tree, the melee ability has been rendered less effective than its counterpart in Destiny since it can now only be used after sprinting, making it more difficult to pull off. It wears off quite quickly especially considering you have to wait for the animation to finish and get yourself reoriented after pulling off the move. This effect should ideally last long enough for both the Sunbreaker and its teammates as well to take full advantage of considering the amount of risk the Sunbreaker has to take to pull this off on an enemy worth using it on.

Also Sunspots, they are pretty cool in Destiny 2, but they could be better. Right now they greatly enhance a Sunbreaker’s DPS but it should greatly increase its defense as well. While the recharge is pretty great, in a high stress/mobile situation, it may not be worth rooting yourself down. It would be though if chilling in that Sunspot made you incredibly difficult to kill. This could open up opportunities to turn Sunbreaker into a true, out in the open tank while the fires are burning and vary its playstyle beyond just heavy DPS like it is currently.

Warlock Class

Dawnblade Subclass: More Reasons to Take to the Skies

The Dawnblade’s main gimmick is that it’s supposed to be the aerial expert, and any buffs to Dawnblade should continue to enhance that experience and gameplay. Whether it’s through an exotic, or change/buff to an already existing skill, Dawnblade could use some kind of damage resistance buff to encourage flying around more. Right now as it stands, aerial gameplay is something you can take advantage of when you need to, but it’s not something that a lot of players go out of their way to do. Something along the lines of a stackable defense buff while killing enemies mid-air could be viable as well.

If players could feel confident that flying up high wouldn’t get them killed, and it actually provided a significant advantage over being on the ground then you’d likely see more Dawnblade players flying around all over the place. And maybe… if Bungie is feeling brave enough, find a way to work self-revive back in, but in a much more reduced capacity. Perhaps an exotic that made it so dying mid-air while using Daybreak would end the super, but bring you back to life? This wouldn’t break anything and allow Dawnblade users to go buck wild with their super with little fear of death.

Voidwalker Subclass: PvE Team Synergy

Voidwalker has done a complete 180 since the first Destiny. It used to be that Voidwalker didn’t have much going for it other than its nuke super. Now, with the updated perk tree, it can use its melee and grenade abilities to do so much more than just damage enemies, and still has a pretty solid super too. The Attunement of Hunger path, in particular, allows Voidwalkers to become a borderline unstoppable tank.

What Voidwalker lacks though is team synergy. Both paths currently are different takes on a lone wolf style of gameplay. The Attunement of Hunger path is perfect as is, but perhaps Attunement of Chaos could be tweaked slightly to encourage some more team play. Bloom kills could provide a reload buff, Chaos Accelerant could increase ability recharge. Things like that to give the Voidwalker a reason to communicate with its teammates aside from Healing Rifts.

Unlike the Gunslinger which we believe really needs better team synergy, the Voidwalker is just fine without it, but it would certainly make the class more interesting.

Stormcaller Subclass: Increased Speed (for PvE Only Please)

The Stormcaller is one of the most well-balanced subclasses in the game right now. Not only is it destructive as a DPS class, it has a great team-support ability in Arc Soul, which extends the Stormcaller’s destructive ways to teammates. It’s a little difficult to buff Stormcaller anymore without breaking it completely in PvP, but what we would suggest is something similar to what we suggested with Arcstrider: giving the subclass a bit more mobility to get in and out quicker.

The safest way to buff this for PvE and not break PvP would be to add an exotic that increases the speed of the Stormcaller as it kills enemies. Each stack should add a very minute buff but let it stack to something higher like 10-20+. This would ensure that it only applies in those perfect situations where the enemies are begging to get destroyed and open up an opportunity for players to further define their role as a crowd controller if they choose instead of embedding it right into the Stormcaller skill tree and breaking the class.

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That does it for our ideas on how to buff and redesign the current Destiny 2 classes, but what are your ideas? Let us know in the comments below.