Destiny 2's August showcase today revealed more about Season 18, the various new items that players can look forward to obtaining, and a lot of what the Lightfall expansion is truly about both story-wise and gameplay-wise. Bungie stated in the past that it was working on a whole new element of damage to introduce further down the line, but these plans shifted at some point during development, and The Witch Queen became the herald of the 3.0 subclass updates rather than introducing something entirely new. However, Lightfall is coming in 2023, and with it, Destiny 2 fans will be able to wield the powers of the new Strand subclass.
Strand subclasses are movement-themed, and each class gains access to its own set of abilities, including brand-new Aspects, Fragments, and Supers. This is a great juxtaposition to Stasis, which instead is all about slowing and freezing others in place. Much like the well-established identity of Darkness subclasses in Destiny 2, the reworks for the Void and Solar subclasses too were about redefining the themes that made them what they were and what they are now. With Season of Plunder, Arc is getting a similar 3.0 update that helped Void and Solar improve, and the way its gameplay loop works could make it the perfect marriage of Light and Darkness subclasses.
Why Destiny 2's Arc 3.0 is a Successful Rework
Like the newly announced Strand, Arc 3.0 is about moving around and perfecting a playstyle that promotes awareness of the players' surroundings. Arc subclasses don't have fancy grappling hooks to do that, but they do use the sheer power and speed of lightning to allow Guardians to jump right into the action. This is something that the base Arc subclasses didn't really have in Destiny 2 until now, but the new tools coming from Aspects and Fragments can help players achieve the power fantasy of rushing into the fray and emerging victorious.
The facelift Arc subclasses get with Destiny 2's Season of Plunder is great because of the tools that help players close the gap, electrocute their enemies, and stay alive while doing so. Compared to the Light subclasses that already got their rework, Arc stands out because it combines what they are supposed to achieve separately, which is a first for this element that was once the worst of the three, with the only exception coming from Titans using Thundercrash. Void subclasses are more about crowd control and self-preservation through means like Devour, overshields, and invisibility, whereas Solar subclasses are about healing and explosions.
Arc 3.0 combines these gameplay elements into one subclass that's still very much its own thing, with its own identity. Yet, it plays out in a way that combines everything there is to love about Light and Darkness subclasses, and it also offers a glimpse into the future by showing what a renewed focus on movement can do when Lightfall's Strand comes next year. This healthy mix of playstyles and iconic features also makes each class simultaneously more defined and more similar to each other, with Titans gaining access to a dodge ability, Hunters punching their way through enemies, and Warlocks finding a happy medium.
Destiny 2's take on the Light subclasses with the updated 3.0 system means that players can now fully explore every build option they want with every element without them feeling outdated. Destiny 2's Hunters gained a new Super that fills a major power vacuum created with Forsaken, Warlocks get a built-in Exotic item into their abilities, and Titans get a new charged melee that devastates enemies, which is build diversity at its fullest. Overall, pushing Arc 3.0 for last was probably the best call Bungie could make, and the once shallow element can now find its time to shine.
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.