Destiny 2: Beyond Light Stasis subclass customization explained in new Warlock reveal
Aspects and Fragments give off some Destiny 1 skill tree vibes
In the first of three Stasis subclass reveals, today Bungie explained how players can customize the new element, and it's giving us some Destiny 1 vibes.
Today's reveal focused on Shadebinders Warlock, with Behemoth Titans still to come on September 3 and Revenant Hunters on September 8. Two Stasis Warlock abilities were outlined: the Winter's Wrath super and Penumbral Blast melee. The super can fire projectiles to freeze enemies and then detonate frozen enemies with a secondary attack. The melee ability, meanwhile, fires multiple Stasis orbs that instantly freeze enemies, either to immobilize them or set up for a bigger Winter's Wrath. We're still awaiting details on Stasis grenades, but we did see a bit more of the Shadebinder's kit and, more importantly, Stasis subclass customization.
"Each Stasis subclass in Beyond Light will give players the ability to customize abilities like grenades, movement modes, class abilities, and so on," Bungie says. "In addition, we’ve added new layers of customization with the addition of Aspects and Fragments."
It looks like you can equip two Aspects to your subclass, and each Aspect can be further modified by Fragments. To unlock new Aspects and Fragments, you'll need to find them in the world like other collectibles. Aspects are locked to specific classes, but Fragments are universal. Here are the Aspects and Fragments that were shown for Warlock:
- Frostpulse (Aspect): Casting your Rift generates a shockwave that freezes nearby combatants.
- Whisper of Bonds (Fragment): Defeating frozen targets with weapons grants you super energy (-10 Intellect, -10 Discipline).
Based on the UI shown, multiple Fragments can be equipped to a single Aspect, but that may vary between Aspects. In any case, this system should add a great deal of customization to the new subclasses, which is something that Destiny 2 players have been asking for since the game's release. Where Destiny 1 offered skill trees that allowed for more granular tuning, Destiny 2 subclasses come with fixed skill clusters that can't be adjusted. With these Stasis subclasses, Bungie is leaning back toward the Destiny 1 system to some extent, which is exciting to see.
Here's all the Destiny 2 content that's leaving the game and entering the Destiny Content Vault this fall, and how it will affect other content.
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Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.