Destiny 2 Classes and Subclasses Guide: Choosing Your Guardian’s Path

Choosing the right class in Destiny 2 is a foundational decision, influencing your playstyle, build options, and overall experience in the game’s vast and ever-evolving world. Since the initial fight against the Red Legion, the core classes – Warlock, Titan, and Hunter – have remained, but the elemental subclasses have undergone a dramatic transformation. From the original Arc, Solar, and Void, we now have Stasis, Strand, and the highly anticipated Prismatic subclass, each offering unique abilities and strategic possibilities. This comprehensive guide, brought to you by Gaming News, will delve into each class and subclass, helping you make an informed choice and master your Guardian’s potential.

Understanding the Core Classes: Warlock, Titan, and Hunter

Each class in Destiny 2 embodies a distinct archetype, influencing not only gameplay but also the overall aesthetic and lore of your Guardian.

The Warlock: Masters of Space Magic

Warlocks are the scholars and mages of Destiny 2, wielding the Light (and now the Darkness) with finesse and intellect. They excel at support roles, area-of-effect damage, and controlling the battlefield with their abilities. Their class ability is the Rift, which allows them to place a healing well or empowering buff for themselves and their allies.

• Strengths: Excellent area-of-effect damage, strong support capabilities, potent super abilities for clearing rooms or buffing the team.
• Weaknesses: Can be squishy without proper build crafting, reliance on ability cooldowns, less effective in highly mobile, close-quarters combat without specific builds.
• Ideal Playstyle: Mid-range combat, supporting allies from the back lines, utilizing abilities to control the flow of battle.

The Titan: Unbreakable Walls of Defense

Titans are the tanks and protectors of Destiny 2, known for their resilience, raw power, and ability to control the battlefield through sheer force. Their class ability is the Barricade, providing cover for themselves and their fireteam.

• Strengths: High survivability, powerful melee attacks, excellent at creating space and controlling choke points, can withstand significant damage.
• Weaknesses: Can be less agile than other classes, may struggle with long-range engagements without proper weapon choices, ability cooldowns can be a factor.
• Ideal Playstyle: Front-line combat, aggressive pushing, protecting allies with barricades, utilizing melee abilities to disrupt enemies.

The Hunter: Agile Assassins and Stealth Experts

Hunters are the agile and elusive assassins of Destiny 2, specializing in precision damage, stealth tactics, and swift movement. Their class ability is the Dodge, allowing them to quickly evade danger or reload their weapon.

• Strengths: High mobility, excellent at dealing single-target damage, capable of quickly repositioning on the battlefield, excels at stealth and flanking maneuvers.
• Weaknesses: Lower survivability compared to Titans, relies on precision and timing, can be vulnerable when abilities are on cooldown.
• Ideal Playstyle: Flanking enemies, using stealth to gain an advantage, delivering high-damage precision shots, exploiting enemy weaknesses.

Delving into the Subclasses: Harnessing the Elements

Each class has access to a variety of subclasses, each aligned with a specific element and offering a unique set of abilities, Aspects, and Fragments. Understanding these subclasses is crucial for crafting effective builds and tailoring your playstyle.

Arc Subclasses: Unleashing the Storm

Arc subclasses focus on speed, chaining electricity, and overwhelming enemies with raw power.

Warlock: Stormcaller

Stormcallers channel the power of lightning, unleashing devastating Arc storms that chain between enemies. Their supers are capable of clearing entire rooms, and their abilities offer excellent crowd control.

• Super: Chaos Reach (fires a sustained beam of Arc energy) or Stormtrance (unleashes lightning from the Warlock’s hands, chaining between enemies).
• Key Aspects: Ionic Trace generation, amplified buffs, Arc Soul summoning.

Titan: Striker

Strikers are aggressive melee fighters who use their fists to unleash powerful Arc attacks. They excel at close-quarters combat and disrupting enemy formations.

• Super: Fists of Havoc (smashes the ground with Arc energy) or Thundercrash (launches the Titan into the air, crashing down on enemies).
• Key Aspects: Juggernaut (provides an overshield while sprinting), Knockout (enhanced melee damage), Terminal Velocity (improved Thundercrash).

Hunter: Arcstrider

Arcstriders are agile melee fighters who use an Arc staff to unleash a flurry of attacks. They excel at mobility and dodging, making them difficult to hit.

• Super: Arc Staff (summons an Arc staff for rapid attacks and deflections).
• Key Aspects: Flow State (dodging amplifies Arc abilities), Lethal Current (dodging empowers melee attacks), Tempest Strike (sliding melee attack that launches a wave of Arc energy).

Solar Subclasses: Wielding the Sun’s Fury

Solar subclasses focus on healing, burning, and explosive damage, providing powerful offensive and defensive capabilities.

Warlock: Dawnblade

Dawnblades are airborne support casters who use Solar energy to heal allies and rain fire down on enemies.

• Super: Daybreak (summons a flaming sword to hurl projectiles) or Well of Radiance (creates a healing and empowering well).
• Key Aspects: Icarus Dash (aerial dodge), Heat Rises (consume grenade to float and gain benefits), Touch of Flame (enhanced grenade effects).

Titan: Sunbreaker

Sunbreakers are fiery warriors who wield hammers of Solar energy, burning their enemies and creating explosions.

• Super: Hammer of Sol (summons flaming hammers to hurl at enemies) or Burning Maul (wields a flaming hammer for melee attacks).
• Key Aspects: Roaring Flames (melee kills increase damage), Sol Invictus (Sunspots heal and empower), Consecration (slam attack creating a damaging Solar eruption).

Hunter: Gunslinger

Gunslingers are sharpshooters who wield a Golden Gun, dealing massive precision damage to single targets.

• Super: Golden Gun (summons a high-damage Solar pistol) or Blade Barrage (throws a volley of explosive knives).
• Key Aspects: Knock ‘Em Down (enhanced Golden Gun), On Your Mark (precision hits grant buffs), Gunpowder Gamble (charged grenade that explodes on impact).

Void Subclasses: Embracing the Darkness Within

Void subclasses focus on weakening enemies, suppressing their abilities, and creating defensive barriers.

Warlock: Voidwalker

Voidwalkers are masters of Void energy, warping reality and unleashing powerful explosions.

• Super: Nova Bomb (launches a massive Void projectile) or Vortex (creates a damaging Void vortex).
• Key Aspects: Feed the Void (Void ability kills grant energy), Chaos Accelerant (overcharge grenades), Child of the Old Gods (sends out a Void Soul that weakens enemies).

Titan: Sentinel

Sentinels are defensive guardians who use Void energy to protect their allies and suppress their enemies.

• Super: Sentinel Shield (summons a Void shield for blocking and melee attacks) or Ward of Dawn (creates a protective dome).
• Key Aspects: Controlled Demolition (Void abilities apply Volatile to enemies), Offensive Bulwark (overshield benefits), Bastion (overshield and extended Sentinel Shield).

Hunter: Nightstalker

Nightstalkers are stealthy assassins who use Void energy to weaken enemies and vanish from sight.

• Super: Shadowshot (tethers enemies, suppressing their abilities) or Spectral Blades (becomes invisible and wields Void blades).
• Key Aspects: Trapper’s Ambush (smoke bombs weaken enemies), Vanishing Step (dodging grants invisibility), Stylish Executioner (defeating weakened enemies grants invisibility and Truesight).

Stasis Subclasses: Controlling the Freeze

Stasis subclasses, introduced with the Beyond Light expansion, focus on freezing enemies, slowing their movement, and creating Stasis crystals for cover.

Warlock: Shadebinder

Shadebinders are masters of Stasis energy, summoning shards of ice to freeze and shatter their enemies.

• Super: Winter’s Wrath (summons a Stasis staff to launch projectiles and create a blizzard).
• Key Aspects: Bleak Watcher (grenade becomes a Stasis turret), Iceflare Bolts (shattering frozen targets creates seeking ice bolts), Glacial Harvest (creates Stasis shards on freeze).

Titan: Behemoth

Behemoths are powerful melee fighters who use Stasis energy to create crystal formations and shatter their enemies.

• Super: Glacial Quake (summons Stasis gauntlets for enhanced melee attacks and crystal creation).
• Key Aspects: Tectonic Harvest (shattering crystals grants energy), Cryoclasm (sliding shatters crystals), Diamond Lance (shattering crystals creates a Stasis lance).

Hunter: Revenant

Revenants are agile assassins who use Stasis energy to slow and freeze their enemies, unleashing deadly shurikens and devastating blizzards.

• Super: Silence and Squall (throws two Stasis shurikens that freeze and create a Stasis tornado).
• Key Aspects: Winter’s Shroud (dodging slows nearby enemies), Shatterdive (dive and shatter frozen targets), Touch of Winter (enhanced grenade effects).

Strand Subclasses: Weaving the Fabric of Reality

Strand subclasses, introduced with the Lightfall expansion, focus on grappling, unraveling enemies, and suspending them in the air.

Warlock: Broodweaver

Broodweavers manipulate Strand to create Threadlings that fight alongside them, unraveling enemies and controlling the battlefield.

• Super: Needlestorm (fires a barrage of Strand needles that become Threadlings).
• Key Aspects: Weaver’s Trance (final blows create Threadlings), The Wanderer (Threadlings seek out targets), Mindspun Invocation (grenade becomes a woven grenade).

Titan: Berserker

Berserkers are aggressive melee fighters who use Strand to grapple and shred their enemies with powerful claws.

• Super: Bladefury (summons Strand claws for rapid attacks).
• Key Aspects: Into the Fray (grappling grants woven mail), Drengr’s Lash (grappling creates a wave of Strand energy), Frenzied Blade (enhanced melee damage).

Hunter: Threadrunner

Threadrunners are agile acrobats who use Strand to grapple and swing through the air, unleashing deadly attacks from above.

• Super: Silkstrike (summons a Strand grappling hook for rapid movement and powerful slams).
• Key Aspects: Threaded Spike (grappling reloads weapons), Widow’s Silk (grapple creates a web mine), Ensnaring Slam (dive attack that suspends enemies).

Prismatic Subclass: Transcendence

The Prismatic subclass, introduced with The Final Shape, allows players to wield both Light and Darkness abilities, mixing and matching aspects and fragments from different subclasses. This allows for unprecedented customization and build possibilities. Through dealing damage of different types, players can transcend into a powered-up mode with unique abilities.

• Supers: Players can choose two supers, one Light-based and one Darkness-based, from any of the existing subclasses.
• Key Aspects: Aspects and Fragments can be combined from different subclasses, allowing for unique synergy and build diversity.
• Gameplay Focus: Mastering the balance between Light and Darkness abilities to achieve Transcendence and unleash devastating attacks.

Choosing the Right Class and Subclass for You

The best class and subclass for you depend on your preferred playstyle, your role in a fireteam, and the type of content you enjoy playing.

• For Solo Players: Hunters and Warlocks often excel in solo content due to their mobility, survivability, and ability to deal high damage.
• For Team Players: Titans and Warlocks provide valuable support and protection for their fireteam. Hunters can provide crucial single-target damage and enemy debuffs.
• For Endgame Content: Each class and subclass can be viable in endgame content with the right build, but some are better suited for specific roles, such as Well of Radiance Warlocks for boss encounters or Nightstalker Hunters for suppressing enemies.
• Embrace Experimentation: The best way to find the right class and subclass for you is to experiment with different options and see what feels the most fun and effective. Don’t be afraid to try new builds and adapt your playstyle to the evolving meta.

Conclusion

The classes and subclasses of Destiny 2 offer a wealth of options for players to express their individual playstyles and contribute to their fireteams. As Bungie continues to evolve the game, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each class and subclass is crucial for mastering your Guardian’s potential and conquering the challenges that await. With the launch of The Final Shape and the introduction of the Prismatic subclass, the possibilities for customization and build diversity are greater than ever before. So, embrace the Light, embrace the Darkness, and find your path to becoming a Legend.