When Bungie launched the Beyond Light expansion for Destiny 2 in 2020, one of the major new additions to the game was the Darkness-powered Stasis subclass. Compared to the subclasses granted to Guardians by the Light, Stasis was more customizable and allowed for more flexibility, an idea that Bungie wants to continue in its next expansion The Witch Queen.
The studio confirmed that there will be no new darkness subclass in the expansion or throughout Year Five of Destiny 2, but the first Light subclass that will receive new abilities and mechanics will be the dark energy manipulating power of Void.
Bungie says that its main goals are to preserve the existing power fantasies of Void, create new build-crafting possibilities through the combination of Aspects and Fragments, and set up a framework for the damage type to be integrated into the rest of the game.
Some of these changes will put Void on par with Stasis by allowing players to apply three negative status effects to enemies and three positive effects to themselves and the rest of their fireteam. For enemies, these effects include a Suppression status that prevents targets from activating abilities or shooting, a Weaken debuff that slows enemies down and makes them take increased damage, and a Volatile modifier that essentially turns an enemy into a walking Void energy bomb.
On the beneficial side, Void Guardians can cast an Overshield that reduces damage. They can also become invisible and use the Devour effect to regain health, grenade energy, and extend the effect. Bungie also detailed some of the new and updated abilities that players can try out with their preferred Guardian class when Void 3.0 is introduced.
Nightstalker Hunter
Shadowshot will be enhanced with the Moebius Quiver, which allows players to fire two volleys of three Void Arrows in a cone that seek out enemies and spawn Void Anchors on impact. Once tethered, enemies will be Volatile and weakened, with the overall redesign goal being to make it easier to blanket an area with traps in preparation for a fight or put burst damage on a boss.
The Aspect for this subclass works with the Stylish Executioner finisher, which grants Invisibility and Truesight when an enemy under the Weakened, Suppressed, or Volatile status has been eliminated. After performing a Stylish Execution, the next melee attack while invisible will weaken enemies. Bungie says that these changes will create a twist on the Nightstalker’s current Flawless Execution perk, resulting in a class that specializes in defeating debuffed enemies to keep looping their invisibility.
Sentinel Titan
For Sentinels, Bungie is looking to give this class more options when it comes to using their shield projectile. Shield Toss is being redesigned to emphasize aggressively pushing forward into groups of enemies, softening them up, and making players tougher. The Overwatch Aspect lets Titans cast a Void-empowered Barricade to gain a Void Overshield, which allies can also benefit from, which makes the Titan fulfill the role of a front-line protector for a team.
The empowered Barricade slowly regenerates the Void Overshield of allies bunkering behind it, while the Shield Toss projectile melee grants players a small chunk of Void Overshield for each enemy hit by it.
Voidwalker Warlock
The Warlock’s Void subclass Aspect, Child of the Old Gods, is designed to be a strong debuff tool that gives Voidwalkers an additional way to lock down an area while keeping themselves in the fight for longer. Casting a Rift will summon a sentient black hole, which will launch itself at nearby targets. This black hole will start siphoning their energy and weakening them, refunding their life force back to you as either grenade (Healing Rift) or melee energy (Empowering Rift) depending on your chosen ability.
Defeating enemies who are being siphoned by the Child will refund some Rift energy. Pocket Singularity is being changed to push targets away when it detonates and makes them Volatile at the same time. Bungie says that this ability is being envisioned as an anti-dive tool and a way to push enemies out of cover, launching them into the air where they’ll be momentarily helpless.
These changes won’t be seen until The Witch Queen launches on February 22, 2022, but for now, there’s still a lot to do in Destiny 2. Season of the Lost has just launched, and ahead of a massive overhaul of the PvP Trials of Osiris multiplayer event, players are already breaking the sandbox with the latest Hunter Exotic, Radiant Dance Machines. Beyond that, players can look forward to Bungie’s 30th-anniversary celebrations, which will feature the return of the fan-favorite Gjallarhorn Exotic rocket launcher in December.
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