Destiny 2's huge Season of the Worthy update may finally balance the classes
It sounds like classes will feel more distinct and balanced than ever before in the new season.
Season of the Worthy is finally here in the world of Destiny 2, and amidst a story about the Allmighty being set on a collision course with the Last City comes a slew of balancing updates to the game's three core classes. The 2.8.0 update prepares the game for the arrival of Trials of Osiris later this week, but the most noteworthy aspect of the Season 10 update is no doubt the extensive balancing changes adjusting how Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans will function.
Like most major Destiny 2 updates, Season of the Worthy's update tweaks the abilities of each class while also introducing new armor, weapons, and exotics for players to get their hands on. Looking at the individual changes made to each class, it's clear that Warlocks have been buffed in a major way for their melee attacks while Titans have been had their previously overpowered Barricades nerfed. With the PvP-focused Trials of Osiris set to be a major part of this season moving forward, these sorts of changes to the game's meta will be hugely important.
Warlock is coming out of this new update looking better than ever before. Melee range for Warlocks has been extended by a full meter across all subclasses, giving Warlock the best close combat range of any class in terms of their abilities.
Handheld Supernova, which was always a little bit overpowered, suffered some select but totally necessary nerfs. Range, hold time, and explosion radius have each been reduced and bolt explosion now does self damage, which will make it more of a high risk, high reward maneuver. Even Nova Warp and Dark Matter received slight buffs that balance out the class.
Changes to the Hunter class are much more subtle but they feel more thematic and holistic. Tripmine Grenades now stick to enemies, which is a welcome change that will make an otherwise clunky grenade more viable moving forward. The damage of Blade Barrage has been increased by almost 30 percent, but its impact and the way it staggers larger enemies has been reduced (which is fair). Way of the Pathfinder for Nightstalker was also buffed significantly with an increase to the time limit for Moebius Quiver.
The Titan's Barricade has been the victim of the most significant, albeit justified nerf. It now only has 500 health instead of 600, and most weapons now do more damage than ever before to it. If you thought you'd be able to hide behind a Barricade in Trials of Osiris, you need to rethink your strategy.
This patch's changes aren't solely limited to class abilities though. The number of available armor sets in world sets has gone up to 11 and players will now have the ability to switch the energy type of any armor piece. Stat trackers have also been fully integrated into emblems, and Clan Banner perks have been upgraded for Season of the Worthy. There are also a series of nerfs and buffs that have been made to Exotic pieces of armor, and some of the game's overused Exotic weapons have also been nerfed, all in the effort of more gameplay balance and weapon variety overall.
Other expected season-to-season changes happened in 2.8.0, including the addition of select new items, along with various bug fixes and other quality-of-life improvements. We've only touched on some of the changes here; The full patch notes can be found on Bungie's website.
