For the past few weeks, Bungie has released a steady flow of new teasers and information about Lightfall, Destiny 2’s latest expansion. But there’s one new feature that Guardians have been sitting on the edge of their sparrows for: the Strand subclass.
This subclass has featured prominently in almost all marketing material for Lightfall, with its distinct neon colors and new movement mechanics. But hard details have been hard to come by. Fortunately, in a trailer released on February 7, 2023, just before the weekly reset, we’ve gained a few more insights.
The Strand subclass was inspired by the 80’s action hero, but this concept slowly began to meld into what the development team called “dark telekinesis”, before evolving into the Strand we see today. But Strand has proven to be a concept that’s hard for many Guardians to get a grasp on, in part because of the unique vocabulary surrounding it.
Here’s a crash course on everything you need to know:
All Strand Verbs and Vocabulary in Destiny 2’s Lightfall
- Weaving – creating an object using Strand.
- Tangle – In game, if you defeat a Strand-debuffed enemy, a Tangle is left in the form of a swirling bundle of Strand fibers. These Strand fibers will then explode when shot, causing area of effect damage to nearby enemies. Guardians can also pick up Tangles and throw them, similar to a grenade.
- Unravel – A form of debuff. Shooting an unraveled enemy will cause threads to burst out of the target and attack other nearby targets. Once hit, that target will also gain the Unraveled debuff.
- Suspend – a suspended PvE enemy is lifted off the ground for a brief duration and is essentially disabled. In PvP, a suspended player is lifted off the ground but can still move (slowly) and fire their weapon to fight back.
- Sever – a debuff which causes the effected enemy to output less damage.
Now that we have that cleared up, Bungie has given us a few more concrete details on how the Strand subclass will work. The new Grapple mechanic will be used by pressing the grenade button. The Guardian will then weave a hook from Strand matter, which they can then use to grab onto an anchor point. The grappling hook will then begin to automatically contract, pulling the Guardian along. You’ll have the ability to create your own grapple points out of thin air, which will allow you to propel yourself through the sky, even if there’s nothing solid to latch onto.
At the end of the grapple, Guardians can use a grapple melee, which will deal bonus damage, unravel an enemy, and push them back. While this will be a universal ability, each class will interact with the Strand subclass in a unique way.
Warlocks and The Strand in Lightfall, Destiny 2
We’ve long known that Warlocks using Strand are called Broodweavers, and Bungie has described them as “Strand minion masters”.
These minions are Threadlings, which are explosive minions created from Strand matter. The Broodmaster will summon Threadlings, who will then run forward, jump on enemies, and explode. But if they can’t find an enemy, they’ll return to their Warlock. An unused Threadling will condense itself into an orb that will orbit the Warlock, similar to an Arc Soul you’d get from a rift. Their orbit around their Guardian is called Perching.
Warlocks will also have a new melee attack called Arcane Needle, which is a deadly projectile that tracks targets, and causes both high damage and the Unravel debuff upon impact. Warlocks will be able to chain three Arcane Needle debuffs in a row.
The Warlock Strand Super is Needlestorm, which combines burst damage and area denial. On cast, the Warlock conjures a multitude of hardened spikes, then launches them forward with a wave of their hand. These missiles will stick to both enemies and landscapes before detonating and reweaving themselves into an army of Threadlings that will hunt down any survivors. Clearly an excellent add clearing Super.
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Hunters and The Strand in Lightfall, Destiny 2
The agile Hunters are called Threadrunners, and they take the mobility of the Strand subclass to the next level.
The Hunter melee attack is Threaded Spike, which is a rope dart that bounces between enemies, damaging and Severing them before returning to the Hunter. Upon return, it grants the Hunter melee energy for each enemy hit.
As for the Hunter’s Super, they’ll have access to Silkstrike. When cast, the Hunter can use their grapple to move freely through the world in third-person view, while throwing their rope dart to strike down enemies. This rope dart will have both a light and heavy attack, with the light attack being meant for single opponents. When striking with the rope dart on the ground, the Hunter can chain attacks to deal devastating damage. The heavy attack, in contrast, will allow the Hunter to swing the rope dart around in a full circle, damaging all nearby enemies.
Titans and The Strand in Lightfall, Destiny 2
Bad news, Titans. I know there’s been a lot of concern that the Titan would get another Fist-based subclass. Unfortunately, Strand will continue the trend.
Titans, called Berserkers, will be able to summon gigantic blades onto their gauntlets with their melee ability, Frenzied Blade. Using this ability, the Titan will rush forward, slashing at enemies with their Strand blades, Severing the foes impacted. Titans will be able to chain up to three of these dash-and-slash attacks.
The Berserker Super, Bladefury, is a fist-roaming super that will have the Titan dual-wielding fist blades and traversing the battlefield. The Super’s light attack is a supercharged version of the Frenzied Blade melee attack, with each attack that connects increasing the next attack’s speed. These light attacks also charge the Super’s heavy attack with each hit.
With the heavy attack, the Titan hurls a pair of projectiles forward that then seek out enemies, suspending and damaging them on impact.
Related: A Sneak Peek into Lightfall’s Newest Arsenal of Weapon and Gear in Destiny 2
We’ll likely get even more concrete details in the coming weeks, but it’ll be interesting to see how these subclasses play into Lightfalls changes.
