General Game Mode Advice

Straight from Bungie

As one more treat for you, there are some words of advice from Kevin Yanes, a member of Bungie’s PvP Design team over the next few pages. Kevin shared his thoughts on all aspects of PvP, including game modes, Class builds, and weapons.

Control

“Players in this game mode should focus on crowd control and zoning. The easier you can shut down lanes or apply pressure away from your zones, the better time your team will have holding it. It’s okay to sacrifice your life if you’re in the lead in zones and you’re keeping enemies away.

“Objective players should opt to use supers like Fist of Havoc, Nova Bomb, Ward of Dawn, and Arc Blade, as they shine in Control due to team clumping. Using your super to clear out a capture zone can swing a game for you in the last moments.

“More aggressive kill-focused players should opt for Golden Gun and Radiance, as those supers excel at killing a large number of enemies over a longer period of time. A good team composition will have a balanced mix of players on offense and defense.

“Grenades that leave a field or spawn seekers are key in this mode. These grenades can keep your enemies off capture zones long enough for you to stage an attack.”

Clash

“In this game mode, players are allowed to be more selfish. Players should maximize their own kill potential over others. While picking team-focused abilities may help your team out, you’ll find fewer opportunities to coordinate with random players due to less team clumping.

“Striker Titans, Bladedancer Hunters, and Voidwalker Warlocks should look for chokepoints to maximize their super’s lethality. Focus points like Wards and heavy ammo can be used against the enemy team, as they are more vulnerable to Fist of Havoc and Nova Bomb.

“Defender Titans should try to use their Ward as a stake in the ground to take the power positions in each map. By casting in a good power position, your teammates (Fireteam or not) are encouraged to hold the Ward and gain its benefits.

“Sunsinger Warlocks and Gunslinger Hunters are for the more independent players. These Classes will have an easier time finding good situations to use their super in, as each super excels at taking down single target enemies quickly in a variety of environments. These Classes often are the favorites in Clash, as they fuel the chaos and can feed off of it.

Skirmish

“Teamwork-focused Classes and players shine in Skirmish. Due to the harsh respawn penalty and lower score to win, players will find themselves clumping together and trying to team fight as much as possible.

“Defender Titans should use the team clumping to their advantage by giving their team shields or damage boosts. A clutch Ward can stop a Nova Bomb or Golden Gun from completely cleaning out your team.

“Sunsinger Warlocks can run really any build they want, as the high grenade count will be advantageous on smaller maps regardless. Sunsingers looking to maximize teamwork should pick Song of Flame, as while active, it lowers all cooldowns for nearby allies.

“As mentioned before, Striker Titans, Bladedancer Hunters, and Voidwalker Warlocks can capitalize on the team clumping to clean out entire enemy teams. Nova Bomb Vortex has the capability to destroy Wards and leave behind a damaging area of effect so those trying to run are (at the very least) weakened.

“Bladedancer Hunters and Striker Titans will be able to Arc Blade and Fist of Havoc right into a team and clear them out before they realize anything had happened. Additionally, Arc Blade’s Razor’s Edge and Fist of Havoc Shockwave can penetrate a Ward while a player maintains distance.

“High-lethality classes like Gunslinger Hunters are still viable in Skirmish and should be used to take point and engage team fights. Having at least one of these types of Classes on your team is ideal to success.”

Salvage

“Salvage plays extremely close to Skirmish, with the exception that there is even more clumping due to the salvage points. Strategy remains the same, outside of having more chances to punish clumping.”

Rumble

“Rumble is the place for highly independent Classes. Classes like Bladedancer Hunters, Gunslinger Hunters, and Sunsinger Warlocks rule in Rumble due to their high single-target lethality.

“Gunslinger Hunters have an easier time posting up on Rumble maps, as they can Tripmine one entrance to an area and focus their attention elsewhere. At the very least, the Hunter will hear their Tripmine detonate and can react appropriately. Golden Gun is a great way to take advantage of the chaos in a Rumble fight.

“Bladedancer Hunters have a great grenade in Arc Bolt, allowing them to check corners and chain to other players at close range. Arc Bolt is a great way to capitalize on chaotic close-range encounters, as (at the very least) the enemy hit with Arc Bolt will be starting the fight at a health disadvantage.

“Arc Blade’s Escape Artist allows players to vanish and surprise enemies at close quarters. This super greatly synergizes with the smaller maps of Rumble.

“Sunsinger Warlocks shine in Rumble through Radiance’s Radiant Skin, Firebolt Grenade, Viking Funeral, and Touch of Flame. This build layout specifically gives the ability to take more damage in Radiance while setting people on fire with their grenades via Touch of Flame.

“Firebolt Grenade in combination with Touch of Flame allows Sunsingers to check corners for enemies and then start a fight at health advantage. Sunsingers should opt to only engage on fights where Burn has given them the health advantage.

“Defender Titans, Striker Titans, and Voidwalker Warlocks will have to try a bit harder to maximize their effectiveness, as their kits are geared toward more team play and player clumping.”

Combined Arms

“In Combined Arms it’s important to know when and where vehicles spawn. Brave souls should make a break for the Interceptor and rain rockets on an enemy Control Point. The Salvo will provide support for ground troops looking to advance and get enemies to focus on you rather than those capturing the point. Players who grab Pikes can harass foot soldiers and even shimmy onto some control points to bombard advancing opponents.”

“If vehicles aren’t your cup’o’tea a good solution for dealing with them while on foot is getting to Turrets located throughout each map. These can be effective at putting a stop to careless Pike drivers as well as those on foot. A well placed rocket or skilled sniper shot can also make short work of vehicles, just don’t miss. When in doubt players can always look for the tunnels in Bastion and buildings and passages in First Light to avoid the fire of the Interceptors and Pikes… happy hunting.”

Favored Class Loadouts

Here are some of Kevin’s favorite Class setups for PvP.

Class Setups for PvP

Mod Comments

Here are some of Kevin’s thoughts on the various mods you can find on weapons for PvP.

Various Mods

Favored Mods per Weapon Class

And here’s a list of Kevin’s favorite mods to find together on different weapon classes.

PRIMARY WEAPONS

SPECIAL WEAPONS

HEAVY WEAPONS