Bungie's space magic looter-shooter Destiny 2 has been one of the biggest games on the market since it releases, but it reached more consistent peaks in recent years. Its seasonal model did well for Bungie in terms of narrative structure and the pace at which new activities and items are released, and this helps keep players engaged with Destiny 2 between annual expansions. Because Season of the Lost is the game's longest Season to date, the fact that there will be a sort of mid-Season refresh in the 30th Anniversary Pack makes a lot of sense.

The road to The Witch Queen is still long, considering it will release toward the end of February 2022. The 30th Anniversary Pack is thus a perfect way to both celebrate 30 years since Bungie's founding and the 2021 holiday season. This DLC will come with a rather big sandbox patch for Destiny 2, which includes several nerfs to Stasis and some overpowered Exotics, even though there hasn't been much talk about what's coming to compensate for it. This is especially concerning for Hunters, who will see Shatterdive and Stasis crystals nerfed due to their impact on the current PvP meta, but it's worth noting that the cloak-wearing class has seen better days in PvE.

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Destiny 2's Hunter Options Compared to Other Classes

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The main problem with Hunters in PvE is they don't bring much to the table that isn't offered by other classes. There are just a few exceptions in the form of party invisibility with Omnioculus or add clearing and map control with Stasis and Ager's Scepter. One of the preferred roles for Hunters when it comes to high-end PvE activities is to use either Aeon Swift to provide ammo to the whole party, or use Divinity to debuff bosses and reliably take care of Overload Champions. As for Omnioculus, it is a very solid pick for a few specific activities, with one example being the Gorgons' Labyrinth in Vault of Glass.

Regarding add clear and map control with Stasis and Ager's Scepter, the build is one of the best at its job thanks to the combination of seasonal mods and increased Super energy regeneration when using the Star-Eater Scales Exotic legs. This build is very effective, but things are going to change either with the 30th Anniversary Pack or The Witch Queen, depending on one of two things. The first is that Stasis nerfs coming with the December DLC might make this build less effective, thus not worth picking over other classes.

The second is that even if the Stasis nerfs don't affect this build, this will still be gone with the launch of The Witch Queen due to seasonal mods rotating in and out of the meta. As such, Destiny 2 players looking forward to playing Hunters in PvE might be at a disadvantage compared to other classes because they lack a build that is useful in pretty much all content. Warlocks can also count on a plethora of other options for both solo and party play, with an examplebeing the Bleak Watcher Stasis Aspect that provides insanely powerful AoE crowd control. Titans, on the other hand, can also use popular options like Banner Shield with Ursa Furiosa or Thundercrash with Cuirass of the Falling Star.

This leaves little room for Hunters who want to support their fireteam outside of the aforementioned Omnioculus invisibility build, or more common options like the Aeon gauntlets or Divinity. Some Destiny 2 players prefer the classic Tether Hunter build, but that isn't really viable now thanks to the current seasonal model.

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Why Destiny 2's Hunters Suffer in PvE

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In order to avoid power creep and inflicting too much damage thanks to a combination of skills, Exotics, subclasses, and weapons, seasonal artifacts often provide a potent mod that can't be paired with other debuffs. This usually means the mod for a specific Season provides a Weaken debuff, which makes enemies take more damage from all sources; or something more akin to Particle Deconstruction, which only works with a specific weapon category. This inevitably shapes Destiny 2's meta in many ways, but it also deeply affects Hunters and their limited options in PvE.

The reason why this is the case is that the Hunters' Tether applies Weaken, which has always been desirable in all content, even playing solo. If the seasonal mod also applies Weaken, Hunters suddenly become much less useful because what was once the selling point of their Void class is something every class can achieve. Because Destiny 2 debuffs can be very disruptive if combined, when the seasonal mod is something else that applies a debuff on enemies, even then the Hunters' Tether still doesn't work alongside it.

This calls for some buffs to be included in the 30th Anniversary Pack sandbox patch, so while Hunters are nerfed in PvP and stop dominating the meta, they will at least have a chance to shine in PvE. Even one of Destiny 2's old classics, the Celestial Nighthawk combo with the Gunslinger subclass, is now mostly on-par with Titans using Thundercrash with Cuirass of the Falling Star. Ultimately, every Destiny 2 class has its benefits, but those benefits that Hunters bring to the table are outclassed by most other options - and that should change.

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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