Destiny 2 is overhauling quite a few subclasses to make room for its Arc Week event

Chris Carter

Published: Apr 8, 2019 10:30 am

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

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In case you forgot, Destiny 2 is about to host a new event that centers around the arc (lightning) subclasses. Dubbed “Arc Week” (what intern was thinking “Shark Week” at the time and went with it, right?), the event basically re-balances lightning powers/abilities, allows players to grab the Thunderlord exotic lightning machinegun (from the first game) again, and adds some more exotics to the overall loot pool.

Said balancing is basically a set of buffs across the board. The Warlock’s Stormcaller tree allows for more chain lightning hits, longer buffs, but the Dawnblade and Voidwalker portions also have their own tweaks. The Hunter’s Arcstrider is now better across the board, which different adjustments for both PVE and PVP (way of the warrior damage is increased by 60% against AI and 22.7% against players, for instance, among two other PVP-centric alterations).

As for the Titan, only the Code of the Juggernaut portion of the Striker tree is getting enhancements, with increased melee damage, more buff duration and more damage. You can dive into each nuance with the class-centric patch notes below.

This Week at Bungie [Bungie.net]

Striker Code of the Juggernaut (Bottom Path)

Notes: This path is all about punching enemies to get better at shooting them and shooting enemies to get better at punching them. We want to further incentivize engaging in this loop and make doing so move visible and flashy. Shooting an enemy should make you feel like you are primed to strike with melee. Punching an enemy and releasing your rage will make you feel like a more focused shot.

Frontal Assault:

Now increases all weapon damage for the duration of the buff
- 25% against combatants
- 20% against players
Duration increased from 10 to 16 seconds
Buff timer is now displayed on the HUD

Knockout:

Melee damage bonus increased from 25% to 60%
Now also triggers once you have dealt 60% damage to a target
- Any damage done after 60% will refresh the timer
- Still also triggers off shield pop
No longer consumed after 1 melee attack
Duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds

Arcstrider Way of the Warrior (Top Path)

Notes: This path thrives on striking with precision and timing and is heavily melee focused. To enhance this loop, we are giving it a bit more nuance with a higher potential payout. We want to allow for more room to execute and engage with both the path to success and the benefits once you do succeed.

Combination Blow

Bonus melee damage can now be stacked 3 times (requires a melee ability kill for each stack)
- Buff increases melee damage by 60% per stack in PvE
- Buff increases melee damage by 22.7% per stack in PvP
- For comparison, this ability used to be 1 stack and increased melee damage by 50%
Kills with this ability now heal 40 health in addition to starting health regen

Deadly Reach:

Increased buff duration from 6 to 8 seconds
Buff is no longer consumed by a melee hit

Arcstrider Way of the Wind (Bottom Path)

Notes: This path is about quick movement and thriving under pressure. We want to increase your ability to survive while at low health and enhance your elusiveness so you can be more confident when in danger. This way, you don’t just get a bonus when you’re injured, you have more control over what state you are in, and you can make more risk/reward choices.

Disorienting Blow:

Increased the disorient distance by 50%
Increased duration of disorient on players from 1.5 to 2 seconds

Focused Breathing:

Increased dodge recharge bonus while sprinting by 100%

Combat Meditation:

Increased bonus grenade and melee regeneration while bloodied by 25%

Lightning Reflexes:

Increased damage resistance while dodging from 25% to 40% in PvP
Increased damage resistance while dodging from 63% to 70% In PvE

Stormcaller Stormtrance Super (Top and Bottom Path)

Damage scales up to 150% over 5 seconds of continuous use of the attack
- Updated FX and audio to support this functionality

Stormcaller Attunement of Conduction (Top Path)

Notes: This path focuses prominently on chain lightning, but we also want to better sell the fantasy of being a god of erratic and dangerous energy. We want you to be delighted and surprised by the chaos you cause. On top of that, we should make the choice of using your abilities something to better strategize around, and reward you for doing so.

Chain Lightning Melee

Can now chain up to 5 times, up from 1, and each individual target can be hit twice
Chain damage decreased from 50 to 31 damage per chain hit

Arc Web

Can now chain to many (many) more targets, and back and forth between targets
- The amount of chaining varies based on use, and I will leave it to you all to discover!
Increase chain range from 10 meters to 12 meters
Chaining Arc damage now reduces the cooldown of your grenade
- Works with Arc Web chains and chains from Chain Lightning Melee
- Earn 3% energy per instance of chain damage in PvE
- Earn 10% energy per instance of chain damage in PvP

Stormcaller Attunement of the Elements (Bottom Path)

Notes: Currently this path focuses on creating drone buddies for allies and staying close to them to dish out more Rifts and the buddies therein. Generally, Arc drone is short-lived, and you need to stay close to your Rift to keep it around. Now you will be able to take your pal further and, if you stick with friends, will be able to have it around much more often, making this path more potent as support.

Electrostatic Surge:

Increased bonus regeneration rate of Rift by 600% per nearby friendly Guardian
- This sounds insane, and it’s a big boost you will definitely feel, but it was previously very low.
Extends Rift duration from 15 to 20 seconds
Added a UI notification for when the buff is active

Arc Soul:

Extended duration by 50%.

Now let’s talk about some non-Arc Changes, as well…

Voidwalker Nova Warp Super

Notes: Clearly we swung a bit hard when we hit this previously. This should serve as a nice middle ground to settle into.

Reduced initial charged detonation energy cost by 20%
Reduced energy cost of holding the charged detonation by 7%
Reduced time required to fully charge the charged detonation from 0.9 seconds to 0.7 seconds
Reduced Dark Blink cost by 20%
Increased base Super duration from 18 seconds to 22 seconds

Dawnblade Everlasting Fire Perk

Notes: Similar to the Striker, we wanted to make sure this perk didn’t allow for infinite Supers in certain activities. We’ve increased the amount you get back upfront but put diminishing returns on it so you can’t go forever. This will still be a Super you can extend much longer with skill.

Tuned the amount of Super gained from Everlasting Fire
Initial return increased from 10% to 13% Super energy
Return then decays linearly over the course of 30 kills from 13% to 0.75% returned per kill

Bungie

Destiny

Destiny 2

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Author

Chris Carter

Managing Editor/Reviews Director

Managing Editor - Chris has been enjoying Destructoid avidly since 2008. He finally decided to take the next step in January of 2009 blogging on the site. Now, he's staff!