TITAN

TITAN

Brute force, masters of war, a powerful combination of strength and skill.

Titans are the most heavily armored and the most direct of the three Classes. They assault fortified enemy positions head-on, utilizing their mastery of the Light to shield and protect themselves and their allies… or to destroy their adversaries.

Titans begin with the Striker specialization, unlocking Defender at Level 15.

Striker

The Titans’ Striker specialization focuses on wielding powerful Arc energy, granting offensive bonuses to melee strikes and obliterating foes with the mighty Fist of Havoc super. Striker is particularly potent in Crucible matches on close-quarters maps, or in more confined PvE missions.

Maximizing Strength and Intellect lets you capitalize on Striker’s two greatest strengths: Storm Fist and Fist of Havoc. If you can get to grips with your enemies, you can punish them with crushing melee strikes.

In situations where close-range combat is difficult, impossible, or inadvisable, consider shifting your stats around to emphasize Discipline to a greater degree. Doing so allows you to either make extensive use of Flashbang grenades to disorient your foes, or rapidly throw high-damage Arc grenades.

Grenades

Flashbang Grenade

An explosive grenade that disorients the enemies it damages.

Flashbangs disrupt and confuse enemies, blinding them with raw Arc energy. Use them to suppress multiple hostile targets that have a clear line of sight to you. You can take advantage of the disorientation to press an attack, or retreat and relocate to a more defensible position.

Flashbangs are especially potent in PvP, where they function as full-strength explosive grenades and can blind nearby players. They are ideal for sieging a defended position or covering a retreat.

The degree to which targets are blinded by a Flashbang depends on how much of the blast they catch while looking at it, and how close they are to the epicenter. Be careful: you can blind yourself!

In PvE, blinding enemies is extremely easy, and any foes hit by the blast radius are disoriented for a short time. Keep in mind that Majors and Ultras can shrug off the effects more easily.

Pulse Grenade

A grenade that periodically damages enemies inside its explosion radius.

Pulse grenades deal continuous pulses of Arc damage in a large spherical area. They do not deal damage between pulses, so the targets must be within the area of effect when the pulse triggers.

Pulse grenades are useful for blocking off narrow passages, but they are less effective in wide-open spaces where hostiles can easily move away from the pulse waves. Your own Pulse grenades won’t hurt you after the first pulse of damage.

Use Pulse grenades against clustered enemies in tight spaces, to cover a retreat or block off a path, or to block an objective area in PvP. Pulse grenades do not have damage falloff. If a target is anywhere inside the pulse wave area when the pulse fires, they take the full force of the Arc damage.

Lightning Grenade

A grenade that sticks to any surface, periodically emitting bolts of lightning.

A focused spike of Arc lightning, this grenade has the highest single-target damage potential of the Striker’s grenades, but it demands superior throwing accuracy. Once the Lightning grenade lands, it projects a cone of Arc damage out to 12m, with no damage falloff. Any targets inside the cone when the Arc lightning pulses take full damage.

Aim for flat surfaces, and you can use the Lightning grenade as a barrier to block off doorways and hallways. The Lightning grenade is not a great choice in vast exterior areas, as it is considerably harder to use in open spaces.

Abilities

Lift

Jump and then press Jump again while in the air to activate Lift.

Lift provides Titans with a surge of acceleration in midair, and then keeps them aloft for a short time. Lift is similar to the Warlocks’ Glide ability, but not identical—the Warlocks’ Glide is smoother and has a bit more control, whereas Lift gives a stronger surge of momentum for quicker vertical travel.

The timing for activating Lift to achieve the greatest height boost from it is also different than the Warlocks’ timing. If you switch between the two Classes, this can throw you off until you readjust.

Increased Height

Upgrades Lift to travel to greater heights.

More total height gives you the ability to more easily reach high ground from more areas. Keep in mind that you’re trading off speed or control, so this can be a poor choice if you use the extra height in the open in a firefight.

Use the extra vertical distance to reach elevated positions safely from behind cover or before a fight breaks out. If you’re under fire during combat, be sure to employ jump cancelling by stopping your Lift early.

Increased Control

Upgrades Lift for better directional control while in the air.

This ability gives you a bit more horizontal control while you’re floating. It won’t let you maneuver enough to dodge accurate enemy fire, but it can let you reach small or awkwardly positioned ledges.

Catapult

Upgrades Lift to provide a strong initial burst of momentum.

Catapult gives you a good surge of speed when you initiate your Lift. This is generally the best choice for PvP, and it’s also a good choice for PvE if you often find yourself using Lift in combat to evade enemy fire.

Fist of Havoc

Smash the ground and dissolve nearby enemies in a maelstrom of Arc Light. Four-minute recharge.

Fist of Havoc is a massive ground smash attack that causes an eruption of lethal Arc energy in a sphere around you. While performing Fist of Havoc, if you are pushing any forward direction on the movement stick, you leap in that direction before pounding the ground. If you are neutral on the stick or hold backward, you remain in place and execute it immediately. (This also applies to the Death From Above talent.)

Fist of Havoc is particularly nasty because it executes extremely quickly. If you trigger Fist of Havoc through a doorway or around a corner before enemies can spot you, you are all but guaranteed to catch them in the blast and kill them instantly.

Note that you can be killed during Fist of Havoc’s activation as you fly through the air, so don’t charge into an adversary’s position in the open and rely on Fist of Havoc to protect you. Even though it does give you significant damage resistance while activating, it’s not a guarantee of survival. Also, be careful about using Fist of Havoc too aggressively. Although being up close and personal is the Striker’s forte, reckless use can land you in the middle of a hostile group of enemies.

When you execute a moving Fist of Havoc, it always leaps you forward a set distance. Get comfortable with this range to aid your accuracy when you fire it off. Be careful with sloped terrain, as going uphill can shorten the distance of your leap, and going downhill can cause you to overshoot your targets.

Aftermath

Fist of Havoc leaves a damage-dealing field in its wake.

Aftermath causes Fist of Havoc to leave a pulsating field of Arc damage on the ground after the initial ground smash. This field deals four pulses of 140 damage each, making it ideal for area denial in PvP and useful for dealing lingering damage to tough or clustered targets in PvE.

With the Aftershocks ability, you gain an extra pulse of damage, extending the duration and damage of the field. Like the Pulse grenades, players in PvP can avoid this effect by jumping out of it.

Death From Above

After jumping, you can aim Fist of Havoc at enemies below.

Death From Above lets you aim the Fist of Havoc in midair, targeted in the direction that your camera is pointing. If you are neutral on the movement stick or holding back, you drop straight down, which is useful if you know foes are directly below you.

Death From Above increases your mobility options with Fist of Havoc, making it considerably easier to accurately target than to leap while on the ground.

Shockwave

Fist of Havoc unleashes a wave of devastating energy that travels along the ground.

Shockwave unleashes a wave of lethal energy along the ground. This is instantly fatal to any targets in PvP and deals heavy damage in PvE, particularly to weaker enemies that it can usually dispatch instantly. Shockwave can result in some impressive multi-kills if you manage to catch a group with the initial leap and blastwave, and then finish off any remaining targets directly ahead of you.

In PvP, you can also use Shockwave to hit a chokepoint or group of clumped foes from beyond the range they normally expect. Leap early, and let the Shockwave finish off any enemies. Similarly, in PvE, you can use the Shockwave to deal damage without exposing yourself fully by leaping directly into a large enemy group, which is useful on higher difficulty missions.

Storm Fist

A punishing melee attack that deals bonus damage.

Storm Fist is an Arc-charged melee strike that hits a bit harder than a normal melee swing (dealing 110 damage).

Overload

Hits with Storm Fist have a chance to immediately reset its cooldown.

Overload can potentially allow you to execute multiple Storm Fists with full damage repeatedly. This isn’t a reliable effect, but when it triggers, it can give you a spike in damage output.

Overload encourages you to get into melee range and spam melee attacks until it fails to trigger, then back off and wait for it to refresh.

Discharge

Hits with Storm Fist have a chance to deal area-of-effect damage around the target.

Discharge can increase your damage output when fighting clumps of enemies in PvE.

In PvP, getting into a melee situation with multiple opponents is almost always a bad idea. Given that there is only a chance for this to trigger, you are generally better off with either Amplify or Overload.

Amplify

Kills with Storm Fist significantly reduce the cooldown of Fist of Havoc.

On an Intellect or Intellect/Strength build, Amplify fits in well to give you even more energy for Fist of Havoc. Remember that this is kills, not just hits, so you must seek out weak or weakened targets to get the maximum benefit from this talent.

In PvP, don’t try to force a melee finish, but whenever you ambush an enemy and open fire first, you can often safely finish with melee, boosting your Fist of Havoc recovery time.

Ability Modifiers

Tier 1

Headstrong

Sprinting increases the leap distance of Fist of Havoc. +1 Agility.

Headstrong can let you land Fist of Havoc from a greater distance, which is useful for surprising opponents in PvP with the extended range.

Headstrong adds a fixed distance to the leap, so you do need to adjust to the distance. If you’re used to using Fist of Havoc without Headstrong, you may find yourself overshooting the mark.

Aftershocks

Increases the duration of Pulse grenade, Lightning grenade, and Aftermath.

Adds an additional pulse of damage to Pulse and Lightning grenades, and to the Aftermath effect of Fist of Havoc. This is essentially both a flat damage upgrade and a slight improvement to your area denial ability.

With a Discipline- or Intellect-focused build, you can lay down damaging fields more frequently, frying your foes with the Arc fields as often as possible.

Transfusion

Kills with Storm Fist immediately trigger health regeneration.

Transfusion immediately gives you a slight 10 point heal, then gives you another 1.5 seconds of health regen that cannot be interrupted by damage.

Transfusion is very important for a Strength-focused build. If you really intend to mix it up in melee, Transfusion can keep you standing as you down enemies with it.

Remember that you need to score the kill, not simply hit with Storm Fist. Seek out weak adversaries in PvE, and use your melee strikes to finish close-range fights in PvP.

Tier 2

Unstoppable

You are harder to kill while using Fist of Havoc. +1 Armor.

Unstoppable boosts your damage reduction in Fist of Havoc, and it extends the duration of the damage reduction while you perform Fist of Havoc.

Normally, the damage resistance wears off just as you land and smash with the Fist of Havoc. With Unstoppable active, you maintain that damage reduction through the entire animation until you return to first-person view.

Shoulder Charge

After sprinting for a short time, press Melee to unleash a devastating melee attack.

Sprinting for at least two seconds activates Shoulder Charge. Any time in the next five seconds while you are still sprinting, you can execute a melee attack to perform the Shoulder Charge.

You can also perform a knee slam by jumping out of a sprint and meleeing in midair! This attack is lethal in PvP and deals heavier damage in PvE. It also has a 6m lunge range, compared to the normal 4m melee range.

Juggernaut

After sprinting for a short time, you gain a protective shield.

This ability gives you a 95 health shield after you sprint for two seconds. The shield is actually a frontal shield that appears in front of you, not a full body shield like a Defender’s Force Barrier.

Otherwise, the Juggernaut shield absorbs all frontal damage that impacts it until it breaks or you stop sprinting.

You can use this shield to bull your way into a defended position, or simply to move in the open more safely. You won’t block all shots to your flanks while running, but the shield can definitely take some of the sting off cover transitions.

Passives

Tier 1

Titan Codex I

Training focused on battle Recovery and toughness.+2 Armor, +2 Recovery

Titan Codex II

Training focused on speed and toughness.+2 Armor, +2 Agility

Titan Codex III

Training focused on battle Recovery and speed.+2 Agility, +2 Recovery

Tier 2

Titan Codex IV

Training focused on all attributes.+2 Armor, +1 Agility, +2 Recovery

Titan Codex V

Training focused on maximum Recovery.+5 Recovery

Titan Codex VI

Training focused on raw speed.+1 Armor, +4 Agility

Defender

The Defender specialization wields Void energy to create powerful shields, protecting the Titan and her allies with the power of Light. Don’t mistake this as a passive specialization: the extra durability granted by proper use of a Defender’s abilities allows you and your allies to remain in the thick of combat under heavy fire.

A Defender’s Ward of Dawn is a unique defensive ability, critically important in difficult PvE missions and very useful in objective-oriented PvP modes. A Defender’s Suppressor grenade provides the unique ability to completely shut down enemy abilities, and your melee strikes can fortify you with a Force Barrier, giving you extra durability in combat.

Specializing in Intellect allows you to abuse the Ward of Dawn to the fullest, shielding and buffing your team while denying all foes their ranged offensive abilities. Focusing on Strength gives you a surprising boost to durability, as the increased chances to trigger Force Barrier can greatly improve your staying power in combat.

If melee combat is inadvisable, a blend of Discipline and Intellect allows to you shut down enemy positions with Suppressor grenades.

Grenades

Magnetic Grenade

A grenade that attaches to enemies and explodes twice.

The first of three sticky grenades in Destiny, Magnetic grenades are unique among the three in that they deal the highest base damage, with a sizable blast and a follow-up secondary blast that inflicts more damage. When attached to a target, Magnetic grenades deal 65 additional damage, making them fatal if attached to an opponent in PvP.

While Magnetic grenades do deal slightly more damage than the other two sticky types, you are still best served by sticking them whenever possible. Particularly in PvE, they are well suited to sticking on tougher targets, rather than groups of weaker minions.

Spike Grenade

A grenade that attaches to any surface and emits a torrent of damaging Void Light.

Spike grenades are almost identical to Lightning grenades in their behavior: they attach to a surface and then project a cone of Void energy that deals damage with no falloff.

Unlike Lightning grenades, however, Spike grenades deal their damage in rapid, continuous pulses. This means they inflict damage smoothly over time, whereas Lightning grenades deal damage in sharp bursts.

Otherwise, Spike grenades behave the same. They are good for area denial in confined spaces but generally less useful in open areas.

Suppressor Grenade

An explosive grenade that prevents enemies from using abilities for a short time.

The Suppressor grenade is a powerful disabling tool that shuts down all abilities on any players it strikes in PvP and all special abilities of AI combatants in PvE.

In PvP, this includes grenades, charged melee strikes, supers (even active supers), and movement abilities (though your targets can still perform normal jumps). In PvE, this includes any unique ability from an enemy that isn’t basic movement or shooting.

While the Suppressor effect is the primary reason to use this grenade, it still deals very solid blast damage. Engaging targets that have been weakened and suppressed is a great way to start a fight.

The suppression effect is completely unique to this grenade, giving the Void Titan a powerful support tool in both PvP and PvE. No other Class can shut down enemy abilities in the same way. Be careful: you can suppress yourself!

Abilities

Lift

Jump and then press Jump again while in the air to activate Lift.

A Defender’s Lift is identical to a Striker’s in every way, but note that its Increased Control upgrade gives +1 Agility.

Increased Height

Upgrades Lift to carry you higher.

Increased Control

Upgrades Lift for better directional control while in the air. +1 Agility.

Catapult

Upgrades Lift to provide a strong initial burst of momentum.

Ward of Dawn

Shape Void Light into an indestructible shield to protect you and your allies from harm. Four-minute recharge.

The Ward of Dawn is the Defender’s premiere ability. A powerful defensive tool, the Ward of Dawn erects a bubble of Void energy for 30 seconds that shields you and your Fireteam from all incoming enemy fire.

Unlike the offensive super moves, Ward of Dawn generates Orbs of Light when it blocks damage. The more damage it takes, the more orbs are created.

Note that no one can shoot into or out of the Ward of Dawn, and that includes you and your teammates. However, you can absolutely duck in and out of the Ward, firing on targets before returning to the Ward to reload and heal any damage suffered. As a result, this makes the Ward an amazing tool for creating cover in open areas, or a snap defensive tool for absorbing a massive incoming attack before it hits. This proves especially satisfying in PvP against incoming supers or heavy attacks.

Note that melee attacks still function normally inside the Ward, and grenades can cause problems, as well. Enemies can still enter the Ward and engage you in melee, as it does not block your opponents’ movement and only blocks their ranged attacks.

The Ward of Dawn can be destroyed, but generally only in PvP by offensive enemy super moves. In PvE, it may go down if it suffers a huge amount of damage, but this is usually only possible if you place it in a very exposed position on a high-difficulty mission. Ward of Dawn is a vital ability in tougher PvE missions on high difficulty. It can provide your entire Fireteam with protection in areas of intense conflict where there are no other safe places to hide. In PvP, Ward of Dawn is especially powerful in Control and Salvage, where it can allow you to secure an objective safe from long-range enemy fire.

Armor of Light

While inside Ward of Dawn, you and your allies gain significant damage resistance.

Armor of Light provides you and any allies inside the Ward with a powerful regenerating shield. This single upgrade can make dealing with the Ward incredibly difficult for hostile opponents in PvP. If they stay out, you can duck in and out of the Ward and shoot them. If they come in, you are all but guaranteed to win the melee fight that ensues.

In PvE, this is usually the least important of the three upgrades, as the others are often helpful in more engagements. That being said, if you are on a mission where you are routinely forced into close-quarters engagement, you can take advantage of it.

Blessing of Light

Passing through Ward of Dawn grants you and your allies a temporary shield.

Blessing of Light grants you and any allies who pass through the shield a bonus shield that stacks on top of your existing health. This shield normally has 65 health (boosted to 95 with the Illumination talent) and lasts for 10 seconds. Additionally, if the shield is damaged or destroyed, you can simply step back into your Ward to regenerate it.

Blessing can allow you to stay out in the open under more intense fire, giving you more time to unload with your weaponry. It is also helpful in situations where you need some extra muscle to break an enemy position. Set up the Ward, get your entire team to pass through it, and push on a hostile position with a huge health advantage.

Weapons of Light

Passing through Ward of Dawn grants you and your allies a temporary increase to weapon damage.

A powerful damage bonus, Weapons of Light grants you and any friendly Guardians who pass through it a 25% damage bonus for 10 seconds (35% with the Illumination talent). This is a serious boost to the combined firepower of a Fireteam, and it can greatly aid your team in clearing out a difficult encounter in PvE.

In PvP, Weapons of Light can turn your Ward of Dawn into a fortified damage-boosting bunker. If positioned well, you can use it to engage opponents in a critical location with a significant damage bonus.

Weapons of Light gives Ward of Dawn some offensive bite. While it may not be as overtly powerful as the offensive supers, it can result in more sustained damage being dealt over the lifespan of Ward of Dawn. This is true especially if your Fireteam takes full advantage of this powerful buff.

Disintegrate

Killing an enemy with this powerful melee attack creates a Force Barrier around you that absorbs incoming damage.

Disintegrate is a powerful melee strike that grants you a 75 health Force Barrier that lasts for 15 seconds if you kill an enemy with it. This barrier can give you an impressive amount of extra durability, and because it is granted instantly, it can allow you to score a multi-kill in PvP by chaining a melee kill into a follow-up on a nearby target.

In PvE, a Strength-based build using Disintegrate aggressively on any mission with multiple short-range encounters can be extremely powerful. Chaining kills on weaker enemies becomes very easy, and you can often use weak targets to provide you with a free damage shield to tackle tougher nearby foes.

War Machine

While Force Barrier is active, all your weapons reload and ready blindingly fast.

War Machine grants you a massive boost to both Reload and Handling stats, taking you to 150% of your base values. This can push your reload speeds, ADS times, sprint recovery, and weapon switching to incredible levels, giving you a sharp edge in firefights immediately after you down an enemy with Disintegrate.

Unbreakable

Force Barrier continually recharges.

Unbreakable makes your Force Barrier regenerate to full very quickly (under a second if you aren’t taking damage). This extra durability is useful in both PvE and PvP. Combined with good Armor and Recovery scores, it can make you impressively resilient, as long as there are foes around to dispatch in melee. Without Unbreakable, Force Barrier does not regenerate once broken!

Gift of Light

While Force Barrier is active, all your melee kills create Orbs of Light.

Gift of Light is an extremely powerful team support power if you use it aggressively. If you consistently take down targets with melee, you can significantly increase the number of super moves that your Fireteam can pull off. Critically, the description here is 100% accurate: you generate Orbs of Light with your melee kills while Force Barrier is active. This means that you do not need to wait for Disintegrate to recharge to generate more orbs.

Once your Force Barrier is up, you have until the buff wears off to perform as many melee kills as you can. Don’t be reckless with this talent. Use it judiciously, and you can provide a serious power boost to your Fireteam. This is particularly true in PvE, but the talent is also useful in PvP.

Ability Modifiers

Tier 1

Bastion

Increases the duration of Ward of Dawn. +2 Armor.

Bastion boosts Ward of Dawn’s duration to 45 seconds. This also has the effect of extending the effective duration of both Blessing and Weapons of Light. Note that because Ward of Dawn begins to regenerate as soon as you activate it, Bastion can functionally reduce the time before your next Ward is active if you can get full use out of each one. This is a strong candidate for any Intellect-focused build.

Relentless

Increases the strength and duration of Force Barrier.

Relentless increases the power of your Force Barrier to 95 health, improving your durability slightly.

As both other talents in this tier focus on Ward of Dawn, if you are focused on Strength (or simply not focused on Intellect), this is your best choice.

Gift of the Void

As Ward of Dawn takes damage from enemy fire, it creates additional Orbs of Light.

Gift of the Void causes your Ward of Dawn to generate extra Orbs of Light from incoming damage. For a team-focused Intellect build, this is a superb talent. If your Fireteam is heavily focused around super usage, you may get more mileage out of this talent over Bastion.

In general, it is easier to take full advantage of this talent in PvE than PvP, because players are less likely to wastefully attack a Ward. One note about that, however: if a super move destroys your Ward in PvP, Gift of the Void does generate extra Orbs of Light from its destruction.

Once you see the PvP community wising up to exactly how Ward works, you can potentially use this talent to generate extra orbs during PvP matches from opponents trying to break your Ward with a super, even after most have figured out that shooting Wards is a bad idea. Finally, orbs generated from this talent are created at your position, not the Ward’s location. Keep this in mind if you’re calling out orbs for your Fireteam.

Tier 2

Untouchable

Reduces the cooldown time of Ward of Dawn. +1 Armor.

A simple talent, Untouchable reduces Ward of Dawn’s cooldown by a full 30 seconds. Combine it with Bastion and an Intellect build, and you can have amazing uptime on Ward.

For difficult PvE missions, this is a powerful setup to give your team constant protection and access to Blessing or Weapons of Light.

In objective-focused PvP matches, this can give your team an edge, granting you more leeway to use Ward reactively to stop incoming rockets or supers.

Iron Harvest

Heavy weapon kills have a chance to create Orbs of Light for your allies.

This is potentially a very powerful support ability in PvE, especially with a machinegun. Find a machinegun with good ammo stats and ammo conservation-focused abilities, and you can convert those bullets directly into Orbs of Light for your Fireteam.

In PvP, this ability is generally less useful than the other options in this tier of talents. If you are extremely confident in your ability to secure and utilize heavy ammo, you can use it, but it does not yield a guaranteed benefit.

Illuminated

Increases the benefits granted by Blessing of Light and Weapons of Light.

Illuminated boosts Blessing of Light to a 95 point shield and Weapons of Light to a 35% damage bonus. Both abilities are powerful, and Illuminated increases their effects. Choosing between this talent and Untouchable can be difficult. As a rule of thumb, if you need more focused offense or defense for single tough encounters, Illuminated is superior.

On the other hand, if you need more sustained benefits from Ward, Untouchable is a better choice.

Passives

Tier 1

Titan Codex I

Training focused on battle Recovery and toughness.+2 Armor, +2 Recovery

Titan Codex II

Training focused on speed and toughness.+2 Armor, +2 Agility

Titan Codex III

Training focused on battle Recovery and speed.+2 Agility, +2 Recovery

Tier 2

Titan Codex IV

Training focused on all attributes.+2 Armor, +1 Agility, +2 Recovery

Titan Codex V

Training focused on maximum Recovery.+5 Recovery

Titan Codex VI

Training focused on raw speed.+1 Armor, +4 Agility