Destiny 2 Abilities Sandbox Preview Showcases New and Reworked Abilities

Today featured another Dev Insight article for Destiny 2. There is a whole host of changes coming to the ability sandbox in the Monument of Triumph update. Along with balance changes to current abilities, each Class is getting new abilities, new aspects, and reworked abilities. All the changes should give players new ways to play in Destiny 2. There is also a general ability regeneration nerf to lower the impact of abilities in the Destiny 2 sandbox.

Destiny 2: New Subclass Aspects

Titan Sunbreaker – Sunburst

The new Solar Titan Aspect increases the strength of the Titan barricade.

• Towering Barricade – Your barricade slides forward across the ground before stopping, allowing you to advance in safety
• Rally Barricade – Standing behind your barricade grants scorching rounds to you and your allies’ Solar and Kinetic weapons.
• During the deployment of the barricade, Titans can recast their class ability. Reactivating causes an explosion that scorches combatants. Dealing damage increases the power of the blast.
• Arbor Warden, Hallowfire Heart, and Kephri’s Horn have specific interactions with the aspect.
• Roaring Flames Aspect increases the damage.
• Can create Sunspots with the Sol Invictus Aspect
• Damage of the ability scales with Class stat above 100

Hunter Gunslinger – Crackshot

The new Solar Hunter Aspect grants players more ways to deal damage to targets.

• Activate your class ability to fire up to three scorching shots at targets you’ve marked. Aim at targets to mark them.
• Landing all three shots cures you.
• Combos well with Radiant Dance Machines and Sixth Coyote
• Pairs well with On Your Mark and Gunpowder Gamble Aspects
  • Crackshot damage counts toward their progress
• Damage of the ability scales with Class stat above 100

Warlock Voidwalker – Soul Siphon

The new Void Warlock aspect allows players to siphon from enemies.

• Ready this aspect by striking a foe with your powered melee ability.
• Once readied, press your melee ability to begin siphoning energy from all enemies in front of you, dealing damage and gathering Overshield and class ability energy from each target.
• Pairs well with Felwinter’s Helm, Claws of Ahamkara, and Karnstien Armlets
• Pairs well with the Feed the Void Aspect for more Devour uptime
• Damage of the ability scales with the Melee stat above 100

Destiny 2: New Darkness Grenades

Stasis Shatter Grenade

• A grenade that sticks to combatants before exploding into razor-sharp Stasis shrapnel. The shrapnel ricochets off surfaces, dealing damage to all in its path. Hitting a frozen target shatters it instantly and deals bonus damage.
• Direct hits freeze combatants and slow enemy players.
• The Touch of Winter Aspect has a unique interaction.
• Stasis Shatter can stun Unstoppable Champions again.

Strand Slicewire Grenade

• A grenade that bounces and releases multiple whirling threads, severing targets.
• Can strike enemies up to four times
• The Mindspun Invocation Aspect has a unique interaction.

Destiny 2: New Ability

Hunter Nightstalker – Phantom Surge

The new Hunter melee provides Nightstalkers with another melee option.

• Dash forward, slashing combatants as you pass through them. Deals significantly increased damage to Void-debuffed targets and targets marked by On The Prowl.
• Generate Void Overshield for each combatant hit. Defeating at least one combatant grants additional Overshield and refunds some melee ability energy.
• Phases through enemies

Destiny 2: Ability Reworks

Hunter Nightstalker – Trapper’s Ambush

• Activate your air move to consume your class ability energy and dive to the ground, damaging targets on impact. Damage greatly increases if striking while you have any positive Void status effect. Damaging enemies with this ability heals you, and defeating combatants with this ability grants Devour.
• Using Trapper’s Ambush while Invisbile will refresh the Invisibility timer
• Uses class ability energy instead of melee energy
  • Activates Marksman’s Dodge and Gambler’s Dodge.
• New animation
• New VFX
• Features a Void blade instead of a smoke bomb

Titan Sentinel – Ward of Dawn

• Create a large protective dome for you and your allies. While inside Ward of Dawn, allies gain Void overshield and increased weapon damage, while it weakens targets inside the Ward of Dawn.
• The Ward’s owner also gains increased melee damage while inside and can pick up and throw the Ward’s core to reposition the Ward up to two times.
• Twice the previous size
• Helm of Saint-14 Exotic can extend the duration of the Ward of Dawn and grants Weapons of Light outside the dome.
• Players can discover further secrets after the patch release.

Warlock Broodweaver – Mindspun Invocation: Threadling Grenade

• Hold the grenade input to charge your Threadling Grenade, causing it to weave a Threadling Nest at the impact location that repeatedly spawns Threadlings.
• Interacts with the Service of Luzaku Exotic

Destiny 2: Stasis Harvest Aspects

Shatter Shards

• Create Shatter Shards when a Stasis Guardian shatters a Stasis Crystal or frozen enemy, or when they defeat a slowed or frozen enemy.

Harvest Aspects

• Grant Forst Armor when picking up a Shatter Shard
• While having Frost Armor, defeating an enemy with a Stasis or Kinetic weapon has a chance to shatter the enemy, dealing damage around the shattered enemy
• With Frost Armor, taking damage grants ability energy
  • Titan – Melee energy
  • Warlock – Grenade energy
  • Hunter – Class ability energy
• Reduced Fragment slots from three to two

Frost Armor

• Stacks melt off one at a time, instead of all at once
• Each stack gives more damage resistance

Destiny 2: Ability Balance Changes

Warlock

• Heat Rises (Aspect)
  • While Heat Rises is active, it now reduces the accuracy of combatant attacks versus the Warlock.
  • Heat Rises no longer decreases the initial burst of speed provided by activating Burst Glide.
• Icarus Dash (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Chain Lightning (Melee)
  • Increased damage against combatants by 100%.
  • Now has two ability charges by default.
• Lightning Surge (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Child of the Old Gods (Aspect)
  • Now suppresses combatants for a short time after initial attach.
  • Increased the Child’s max speed and acceleration by 100%.
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Nova Bomb: Cataclysm (Super)
  • Allied projectiles now pass through the Nova Bomb projectile instead of colliding with it.
• Frostpulse (Aspect)
  • Now grants five stacks of Frost Armor if this ability freezes a target.
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• The Wanderer (Aspect)
  • Threadling final blows now reduce your Tangle cooldown by one second.

Titan

• Offensive Bulwark (Aspect)
  • While the player has a Void Overshield, final blows now grant melee ability energy.
• Unbreakable (Aspect)
  • Final blows with Unbreakable’s blast now grant Devour.
  • Slightly increased the size of Unbreakable’s blast.
• Bastion (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Shield Bash (Melee)
  • Increased damage against combatants by 100%.
• Thruster (Class Ability)
  • Can now be activated while airborne.
• Knockout (Aspect)
  • No longer grants a lunge-range increase versus enemy players.
• Touch of Thunder (Aspect)
  • Lightning Grenade
    • Now grants five stacks of Bolt Charge per hit.
  • Flashbang Grenade
    • Now explodes on initial bounce in addition to its existing detonation.
  • Storm Grenade
    • Increased storm duration by 0.5 seconds.
    • Increased maximum tracking speed versus combatants by 38%.
    • Increased time to reach max tracking speed by 25%.
• Seismic Strike (Melee)
  • Increased damage against combatants by 100%.
• Hammer Strike (Melee)
  • Increased damage against combatants by 100%.
• Diamond Lance (Aspect)
  • Reduced the size of the freeze detonation from the thrown Diamond Lance versus players.
• Cryoclasm (Aspect)
  • Sliding while you have Frost Armor now launches a Stasis wave that shatters Stasis Crystals and frozen enemies in front of you.
• Glacial Quake (Super)
  • Heavy attacks now deal additional damage in an area in front of the Titan.
• Drengr’s Lash (Aspect)
  • Defeating elementally debuffed targets now grants class ability energy.
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
  • The suspending wave’s impact damage now scales with your Class stat when your Class stat is above 100.

Hunter

• On the Prowl (Aspect)
  • In addition to acquiring a target when you become invisible, you will now also passively acquire a target after a short time if you are not invisible. This passive acquisition does not occur against enemy Guardians.
• Mobius Quiver (Super)
  • Reduced the maximum Moebius Quiver buff to Crossbow weapons by 50%.
• Acrobat’s Dodge (Class Ability)
  • Can now be activated while airborne.
• Proximity Explosive Knife (Melee)
  • Increased detonation size from five to six meters.
  • Increased detonation damage by 11%.
• On Your Mark (Aspect)
  • Now grants Solar Restoration x1 for three seconds instead of Cure after final blows at ten stacks.
• Knock ’em Down (Aspect)
  • Now grants Cure on Super activation.
• Blade Barrage (Super)
  • Increased knife projectile speed and tracking.
  • Increased the knife detonation size from three to 4.25 meters.
  • Increased knife detonation damage by 10%.
  • Knife detonations now Scorch enemies.
• Golden Gun: Deadshot (Super)
  • Reduced Super energy gain from player kills by 40%.
• Arc Staff (Super)
  • Now grants Bolt Charge stacks on kill.
• Lethal Current (Aspect)
  • Now jolts and creates an aftershock when used with Tempest Strike.
  • Can now be activated while in Super.
• Ascension (Aspect)
  • Ascension detonation damage now scales with your Class stat when your Class stat is above 100.
  • Now counts as a class ability for all perks and abilities.
• Rope Dart (Melee)
  • Successfully catching the rope dart now grants Woven Mail based on the number of targets it defeated.
• Widow’s Silk (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Threaded Specter (Aspect)
  • The specter’s detonation damage now scales with your Class stat when your Class stat is above 100.
• Ensnaring Slam
  • Now counts as a class ability for all perks and abilities.
• Shatterdive (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.
• Winter’s Shroud (Aspect)
  • Increased Fragment slots from two to three.

General Abilities

• Grenades
  • Lightning Grenade
    • Increased detonation damage by 25%.
  • Scatter Grenades
    • Reduced chase distance versus players by 50%.
    • Reduced the amount of grenade energy this ability gains from perks by 12.5%.
  • Grapple
    • Against boss combatants, reduced the max Grapple Melee damage bonus granted by grenade stat by 50%.
    • Against boss combatants, the damage bonus granted by the Grenade stat and the Melee stat is now additive instead of multiplicative.
• Multi-Charge Abilities
  • In PvP only, when the match begins, multi-charge abilities now start with one charge instead of all charges.
  • Whisper of Rime (Fragment)
    • Max Frost Armor stacks reduced from eight to seven.
      • Note: Damage resistance rescaled to provide the same max benefit.
  • Spark of Shock (Fragment)
    • There is now a four-second internal cooldown for applying Jolt when applied via an Arc Sou.
  • Invisibility (Status Effect)
    • Made Void Invisibility more visible in the Crucible.
  • Volatile Rounds (Status Effect)
    • Now increases weapon damage versus Champions by 10%.
    • Weapon damage with volatile rounds no longer stuns Barrier Champions.
  • Radiant (Status Effect)
    • Increased weapon damage versus Champions by 10%.
    • Weapon damage while radiant no longer stuns Barrier Champions.
  • Facet of Dominance (Fragment)
    • There is now a four-second internal cooldown for applying Jolt when applied via an Arc Soul.

Ability Stats

• Reduced maximum passive ability cooldown bonus granted by ability stats by ~20%.
• Reduced maximum active ability cooldown bonus granted by ability stats from 190% to 125%.

Supers

• Reduced Super energy generation from dealing damage to bosses by 60%.

Related Destiny 2 Content

You can expect more raid and dungeon guides and Destiny 2 news to follow in the coming days. Below are previous articles we have on Destiny 2.

• Destiny 2 Dev Insights One
• Destiny 2 Dev Insights Two Part One
• Destiny 2 Dev Insights Two Part Two
• Destiny 2 Dev Insights Two Part Three
• Destiny 2 PvP Updates