Destiny 2 studio Bungie has been teasing the game’s new Beyond Light expansion over the past few months, and after promising fans at Gamescom that more information was on the way on the new Stasis subclasses for Guardians, the studio has delivered with a dive into the abilities and customization players can expect from the Shadebinder subclass for Warlocks.
Bungie describes all three Stasis subclasses in Destiny 2: Beyond Light as being built around controlling the battlefield in unique ways, and for Warlocks, playing as a Shadebinder is all about freezing enemies with an icy Stasis staff. The subclass’s melee attack shoots exploding ice crystals at enemies, leaving anything it hits vulnerable for further attacks, while the Super ability, called Winter’s Wrath, brings the staff out to freeze nearby opponents immediately, finishing off with a brutal shockwave.
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In the update revealing the Shadebinder, Bungie described gameplay possibilities like freezing close-range enemies and moving on to foes elsewhere, or shattering groups of enemies quickly after suspending them where they stand. Bungie also detailed some of the deeper customization features that fans can expect from the Shadebinder and the other Stasis subclasses coming to Destiny 2, with a system built around finding items in the world called Aspects and Fragments to specialize abilities in ways that fit players’ needs.
Aspects add active effects to Guardians’ abilities and are specific to Warlocks, Hunters, or Titans, while Fragments are passive, class-agnostic upgrades that affect stats and slot into players’ Aspects. The studio used an example of a Shadebinder Warlock augmenting their Rift class ability with Aspects and Fragments to hint at some of the potential combinations of the system.
The Frostpulse Aspect adds a freezing effect to enemies caught within the Rift, while the Whisper of Refraction Fragment lowers the class ability cooldown when players shatter enemies, leading to a powerful combo where the Warlock can use their Rift as a method of crowd control that refills itself quickly with the right placement.
Guardians with a love for punching things won’t have to wait long to see how Stasis powers will come into play for Titans, as Bungie will show off more of Beyond Light on Thursday with a reveal of the Behemoth subclass. The developer says all three classes will have their own Aspects to allow players to make their Guardian uniquely awesome.
Players will have to wait until November to see for themselves how the new customization options end up working in Strikes, Gambit and the Crucible, but the new options appear to have plenty of gameplay possibilities to shake things up. Destiny 2‘s subclass skill trees, while more focused than the confusing organization of the original game, limited players’ chances to really hammer out their own ways to play the game. Bungie seems intent on giving that power back to Guardians; here’s hoping it pays off.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is out on November 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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Source: Bungie