The world of Destiny 2 is filled with tons of choices to make about gear and loadouts, but no choice is as important as the class a player chooses when they create their character. Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters all have their own unique advantages, disadvantages, and skill sets that cater to wildly different styles of play, so choosing the right class can make all the difference in someone's Destiny 2 journey.
Thankfully, Destiny 2 allows players to create three characters so everyone can have a character of each class, so everyone can freely switch between each class as they choose, but most people spend the most time with their main character, so it's important to choose the right class when starting out.
Updated April 1st, 2021 by Charles Burgar:Â Destiny 2 has seen some massive changes throughout Year 3 and 4. Build diversity has become larger than ever, Stasis has fundamentally changed the game, and each class has received various balance changes. Picking a class to main can be quite tough, but that's where this guide comes in. This article now discusses the largest pros of each class, ranging from their builds to solo potential.
Why Hunters Are The Best
Best Solo Class
No class in Destiny 2 can solo content quite as easily as a Hunter. Looking to complete dungeons as a lone wolf? Hunter won't disappoint. Want to dominate the Crucible as a lone Guardian? Hunters are up to the task. The only thing Hunters lack is support capabilities, but that isn't necessary for soloing Destiny 2's hardest content.
Their solo potential is incredible due to one mechanic: invisibility. Nightstalkers, the Hunter's Void subclass, has the ability to go invisible after certain conditions. Being invisible is great for getting out of tough gunfights, allowing Hunters to easily regen their health and reposition.
Excellent Agility
Hunters can't shoulder charge or dash through the sky as the other two classes can, but they make up for this with unprecedented agility. Every Hunter can make use of their Dodge class ability, allowing them to dive out of danger while either reloading their weapon or gaining their melee charge back.
If that wasn't enough, Hunters can launch themselves in the air with ease through their extra jumps. Having trouble with jumping sections? Equip Triple Jump. Want to close the gap with the opposition? Use Strafe Jump. When Exotics are accounted for—ST0MP-EE5, Mask of Bakris, and The Dragon's Shadow to name a few—Hunters are easily the most agile class in Destiny 2. A player who's mastered the Hunter's moveset will be near-impossible to hit.
Best Supers
Lone wolves aren't known for bringing team-oriented buffs. Instead, Hunters are renowned for their devastating Supers that pack a serious punch. A Hunter can mean the difference between one-phasing a raid boss or a multi-phased raid encounter.
Sure, grenades and melee abilities are powerful on their own, but Hunters' real strengths lie with their Supers. Shadowshot can shut down enemy Supers in the Crucible and shut down hordes of enemies. Silence And Squall can turn a wave of enemies into ice statues that explode on death. Arc staff can clear a sea of enemies in strikes and reflect enemy Supers in PvP. Golden gun is especially deadly in the right hands, giving Hunters a hitscan revolver that kills most targets with a single bullet. When paired with the Celestial Nighthawk Exotic helmet, one bullet is all it takes to eliminate Destiny's toughest opponents.
Why Titans Are The Best
Best Defensive Abilities
Titans are the final stand against the enemies of the Traveler, creating Barricades and Ward of Dawn domes to absorb enemy fire. Every Titan subclass can create Barricades that absorb copious amounts of damage. This is useful in tough PvE content and especially useful in PvP game modes.
These defensive abilities become downright mandatory in raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls. Titans can single-handedly keep a team alive with Code of the Commander's Banner Shield Super. Projecting a line of Void energy from their shield, Commander Titans absorb an infinite amount of damage while granting their team a 25% damage boost. With the Ursa Furiosa Exotic, Titans can repeatedly use this Super with little downtime. For raids, Titans can deploy a Ward of Dawn, an energy dome that absorbs enemy projectiles and even enemy Supers. Any ally that enters the dome gains a 35% damage buff for 20 seconds, the strongest damage buff in the game. Titans are essential for any endgame activity.
Melee-Oriented Playstyle
When their defenses fail, Titans close the gap to crush their opponents under the weight of their fists. Every Titan spec in Destiny 2 has an affinity for meleeing targets, granting buffs that range from overshields to increased weapon stability.
Exotics turn Titans into melee machines, slamming themselves into the ground every couple of seconds to clear out waves of enemies. Punching, shoulder charging, and throwing hammers at targets are just some of the melee abilities a Titan has. Those that love closing the gap will find great success as a Titan.
Devastating Builds
Titans take full advantage of Destiny 2's armor mod system and wide selection of Exotics. Some of the most synergy-heavy builds in Destiny 2 are found on Titans. With the right gear, a Titan becomes an unstoppable juggernaut or the bringer of nuclear bombs.
Behemoth Titans can make great use out of Heart of Inmost Light, an Exotic focused on enhancing abilities. They can use all of their abilities with minimal cooldowns, charging across entire combat arenas to slam targets into walls. Code of the Siegebreaker Titans can spawn Warmind Cells with the right build, allowing every ability to generate the equivalent of a nuclear bombs. Players that love theorycrafting can get a ton of use out of a Titan's subclass.
Why Warlocks Are The Best
Support Abilities
The Warlock class is a safe choice for anyone who likes to play as a support class or healer in other games. While not every spec is fully centered around support, every Warlock subclass has the ability to place a Rift on the ground that provides a 20% damage buff or passive healing to anyone inside the Rift.
Dawnblade's Attunement of Grace spec is a full-on support subclass, allowing Warlocks to heal players with overcharged grenades and place a supercharged Rift as their Super. No other class in Destiny 2 can support allies quite as easily as a Warlock.
PvP Potential
Every class in Destiny 2 can dominate in the Crucible with the right build and playstyle, but none of them have the level of outplay potential that a Warlock brings to the table. A skilled Warlock player can have enemy teams second-guess their positioning or unleash devastating Supers every minute.
Attunement of Sky is arguably the strongest PvP spec in Destiny 2, allowing Warlocks to take to the sky with ease. With their perfect in-air accuracy, Warlocks can reign death from on high with their Celestial Fire melee ability or accurate weapons, making the enemy team uncertain of which angles are safe. When things get tough, Sky Warlocks can dash into cover and deploy a Rift, turning a gunfight on its head.
Attunement of Control is also a highly used spec, allowing Warlocks to cast a devastating beam of lightning every couple of minutes. Utilizing a high Intellect stat and the Geomag Stabilizers Exotic, Control Warlocks can earn their Exotic in as short as two minutes initially. Summon a giant electric beam, kill the enemy team, then cancel it early to preserve 25% Super energy. With the right mods, Control Warlocks can cast their Super every one to two minutes.
Build Variety
Build variety reigns supreme on Warlocks. Hunters and Titans have some unique builds of their own, although they can't match the sheer variety of what Warlocks can do.
Warlock builds can allow players to summon multiple ice turrets, create two weapons platforms that float around them, throw infinite grenades, become nigh-invincible by killing targets, and so much more. This sort of variety allows Warlocks to dominate in PvE and PvP with enough skill and patience, making them a must for any difficult content.