The working theory concerning ability cooldowns in Destiny 2 up until now has been that the charge rate of supers, grenades, melee, and class abilities are standardized for every player. That is, every ability has a set cooldown timer that will not be affected by gear or any other item. But some new screenshots of Destiny 2 show that might not the case.

These screenshots clearly show the bottom perk on armor can increase the recharge of abilities in the game. The images below show faster recharge for supers, grenades, and class abilities, but it's probably safe to assume that a similar perk exists for melee attacks as well.

destiny 2 armor affects ability cooldowns
destiny 2 armor tool tips armor ability cooldowns

This is good news for those who feel like the cooldowns on abilities are too slow–a common complaint and point of contention among fans currently playing the Destiny 2 beta.

There's very little to go on here, though, so it's too soon to tell how much the armor perks will buff the recharge rate. Many Destiny fans have been complaining that the current cooldowns in Destiny 1, which can be as short as 20 seconds fully spec'd, are way too fast for PvP.

Basically, players can lead every engagement with a grenade, as well as get multiple supers in one match. In Destiny 2, however, it's common for a player to only get one Super per match, maybe two if they get a lot of kills. It will be interesting to see how Bungie handles this criticism in Destiny 2, and just how quickly those cooldowns can be shortened.

The other potentially interesting thing about these cooldown perks on armor is that they may be an armor mod that players can choose to put on any piece of armor. That would allow more flexibility, letting players choose which perk (through a mod) they would like to have on a specific piece of armor.

Considering that these screenshots were taken from the Destiny 2 beta, it is always good to proceed with caution, as things can and will change in the final game. However, this should give some hope to those concerned about the cooldown time on their Guardian's abilities.

Destiny 2 will launch September 6 on PS4 and Xbox One, then on PC on October 24.

Source: Destiny Reddit