Destiny 2’s Worst Hunter Ability Is Finally Receiving some Attention
Bungie has shared one final This Week in Destiny blog post before Season of the Wish launches on November 28. Along with unveiling its seasonal artifact, Bungie details changes to abilities during this new season – some that could cause great unease among Titans while finally providing Hunters who’ve long envied one-shot abilities some justice in Crucible battles.
Titans would sometimes run around in the Crucible before activating Shoulder Charge ability (Seismic Strike, Hammer Strike or Shield Bash). When activated, Shoulder Charge instantly killed any enemy player; while hunters had nothing comparable. December 2021 update 3.4.0 addressed Shoulder Charge so it couldn’t one-shot anybody. Season of Wish will go even further by making any one-shot ability come with significant risks or costs attached – these efforts continue today with “an ongoing effort” being put forth “ensuring any one-shot ability comes with significant risk or cost.”
Players had long found ways around the 3.4.0 nerf by sliding and firing weapons to activate Shoulder Charge or slide melee abilities; this will now be patched out in Season of the Wish so shooting while sliding will no longer trigger these abilities; though Tempest Strike (an Arcstrider Hunter’s moving melee that delivers an electrified uppercut that travels forward damaging and Jolting enemies), will take some damage as a result; nevertheless it will see significant upgrades.
Arcstrider meta has for some time included pairing Liar’s Handshake Exotic gauntlets with Lethal Current and Flow State as its core. Lethal Current’s dodging increases melee lunge range while attacks create aftershocks that blind Jolted targets; Liar’s Handshake’s follow up melee attacks after using fully charged melee attacks deal additional damage and heal you while defeating Jolted opponents amplifies you, recharging Dodge, increasing damage resistance, reducing reload times–in short continuously dodging and punching is an overpowered combat loop capable of decimating large numbers of ads! Why would any Arcstrider ever opt for anything different?
Due to this combination being so effective, few consider Tempest Strike as a legitimate weapon option. That could change in Season of the Wish with these changes:
Increased base damage from 110 to 125. Reworked tracking behavior to become more consistent at longer ranges.
Improved consistency when traversing rough terrain. Tempest Strike got an upgrade of 30% damage against PVE combatants back in Season 19, something much-needed by many players, yet remains virtually useless in PVP for quite some time – likely not enough so as to change that with this buff; at best it may increase Arcstrider Hunter charged melee options to compete more favorably against similar classes out there.
