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Continuing a trend of deceptively important blog posts, Bungie shared a laundry list of buffs aimed mostly at Destiny 2's Titans, with a few trace Super and ability changes also coming to the less punchy classes among us. Titans, as it happens, are becoming less punchy, but also – and this is the important part – more punchy. The class is, quite simply, getting some of the most interesting buffs in the history of this MMO.
Back in February 2023, I asked design lead Kevin Yanes about pre-Lightfall feedback on Titan Supers being kind of similar. At the time, he argued that the Strand Super Berserker, still a key part of one of the best subclasses in the game, is really its own thing (I would generally agree) and commented on the Titan fantasy. "Titan mains, we love you," Yanes said. "We do. But remember that we try to reinforce your core fantasy. And at some point, your guy's holding the fist on the cover of the game."
This sentiment became a bit of a sticking point in the following months, and I struggle to read Bungie's newly published "Titan buff train" as anything other than a direct response to long-smoldering complaints that the Titan class is too simple, melee and close-range builds are often impractical in Destiny 2's sandbox, and punching stuff while wearing oven mitts woven from different colors of Space Dust can get old.
"Titans are the bulwarks of their fireteam," Bungie asserts this week. "They live and die on the frontline of battle, barking out orders while never backing down from an encounter. Titans wield defensive staples like Barricade and Stasis Crystals with practiced ease. They specialize in doling out lifesaving buffs like Void Overshield and Woven Mail to their grateful fireteams. And they throw a mean right hook, to boot. But Titans deserve a class identity that’s more than the sum of its fists."
So, what are Titans getting? Hilariously, one buff is a blanket damage increase to their unpowered melee attack – 5% in PvP and 20% in PvE, with increased stun on top. But that's a small part of the many and varied changes coming to Titans in Episode 2: Revenant.
"Now, we don’t want to take away from or replace what the Titan already has," Bungie explains. "Instead, we want to find nondestructive ways to add depth to the Titan’s kit. These kinds of shifts take time, but we’re starting down that road in Revenant."
The Titan class ability barricade, for example, will now draw the aggro of enemies while someone is standing behind the barricade. They won't just shoot in your direction; they'll shoot directly at the barrier, making it easier for you to shoot out from behind cover. Titan's Unbreakable and Sentinel shields will also taunt, letting you move while drawing aggro, and Bungie hopes to add this to Ward of Dawn in the future if the change plays well. This isn't a hard leash on all enemies, but it sounds like a pretty substantial change, and a rare way that Destiny 2 directly incorporates the classic MMO tank archetype.
Barricades are also going to take 50% less damage from all non-boss combatants, which is definitely a substantial change. What's more, players behind a barricade will take 60% less splash damage (it was previously a 20% reduction), which may answer our prayers for a solution to Destiny 2's famously over-tuned Void splash damage.
Here are some other highlights coming to the Titan playbook:
- Blocking damage with the Unbreakable shield will regen grenade energy
- You can hold Unbreakable longer, but you move slower when the shield is hit
- Consecration will now shatter Stasis crystals
- Diamond Lances will also shatter Stasis crystals when thrown or slammed, and slamming a lance will give you and nearby allies two stacks of Frost Armor damage reduction
- Bungie is reverting a nerf to Knockout – melee kills now cancel health and shield stun, "allowing you to immediately start regenerating"
- Stasis melee Shiver Strike attaches a Stasis explosive on hits which freezes enemies and slows in PvP, refunds 80% of melee energy if you whiff, and regenerates energy faster
- Seemingly for all classes, Void overshields will have more damage resistance – increased from 50% to 70%
- For all classes, the Prismatic Facet of Command and Void Echo of Domineering cooldowns have been reduced to 4 seconds
Titans, like Warlocks and Hunters, are due for some Super buffs as well. Twilight Arsenal pickup axes will deal more damage, Thundercrash is getting a 33% bump, and Fist of Havok is one of many Supers getting a damage reduction boost. For Warlocks, Nova Warp is probably the biggest winner with a 20% PvE damage boost, while Hunters are getting the same bonus for Spectral Blades (which, frankly, probably needs more than 20%).
Some of the ability tweaks have potential, too. Warlock's Lightning Surge will now grant Amplified and Hunter's Threaded Specter detonation will deal 33% more damage in PvE. But Hunter is also due for some nerfs, with Combination Blow health regen, "a little too hot" in Bungie's eyes, being reduced.
