More Defined Classes (and Subclasses)
Our features editor Ishmael Romero was at Destiny 2’s gameplay event and got plenty of hands-on time and impressions with the game. One of the improvements he noted during his time with Destiny 2 was the way in which both the classes and subclasses feel more defined and unique. While this will certainly allow dedicated players to perfect their Fireteam loadouts and strategies, it’s also a pretty great improvement for newcomers too.
With more to differentiate between each of the three classes and their respective subclasses, Destiny 2 looks set to make it far easier to choose and master your character role. In the first Destiny, it wasn’t that clear what role Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks all had in a fireteam. At the start, they were more or less all damage dealing classes with varying degrees of usefulness depending on the situation. With the exception of the Defender, and later the Nightstalker which both served as support roles for the other subclasses, party role was very fluid. For example, Hunters in vanilla Destiny were not very sought after in the first raid, Vault of Glass. So anyone picking that class expecting to lead the way in vanquishing Vex, were probably quite disappointed. That script flipped of course in Crota’s End where Hunters were arguably the most sought after class to take on Crota. It’s easy to see how casual or new players would be confused.
For Destiny 2, Bungie seems interested in giving the subclasses more defined roles. Titans for example, look like they are finally heading towards the path of being a true tank class. The Defender subclass seems like it’s on the way out, and instead it’s natural defensive style is being pushed to all Titan subclasses.
It might sound somewhat trivial, but in a game that’s best experienced with others (and with Bungie really driving community interaction in Destiny 2), these more refined classes are sure to help newcomers find their roles within the ranks of Guardians.