Every lightning-powered subclass in Destiny 2 is getting some major tweaks next week. And developer Bungie has decided to give this new, wide-reaching patch a name: “Arc Week.” The changes in the update, announced on the Destiny 2 weekly blog, will affect Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans alike. And we’ve got plenty of thoughts about the patch notes!
“After the release of Forsaken, the sandbox team wanted to revisit some older subclass paths and freshen them up a bit,” Bungie said in the blog post. “This entailed tuning for balance as well as quality-of-life fixes. We’ve also added new functionality to a couple of subclasses. In update 2.2.1, we’re focusing on Arc subclasses for Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks to kick off Arc Week.”
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This includes a number of changes to every subclass, but it’s mostly good news. Nearly all of them are mainly buffs. For example, Hunters’ Disorienting Blow melee ability (part of the Arcstrider subclass) had its distance buffed by a whopping 50 percent.
To synergize with the tweaks, the week will also feature Arc Singe in applicable activities and Arc Bounties. That way players can use the newly updated subclasses to maximum effect. The Thunderlord Exotic Destiny 2 quest will also be available for a second time — between April 9 and April 23.
Some non-Arc subclasses are also getting changes. Like the Warlock’s Voidwalker Nova Warp Super ability: which has seen its length increased by four seconds, and the time required to fully charge a detonation reduced from 0.9 seconds to 0.7 seconds. That might not seem like much, but it’s a big change for a Super that was previously nerfed into obscurity.
The More Things Change…
Shockingly, however, the Hunter Spectral Blades Super remains untouched — for now. This will come as both a surprise and a disappointment to many. Anyone who’s played Crucible in Destiny 2 lately knows just how out of control the Super has become, with its ability-lengthening Exotic: Gwisin Vest. Thankfully, Bungie is at least aware that Spectral Blades needs a nerf.
“You may be asking ‘What about Spectral blades???'” the developer added. “We know it’s out of bounds and are working right now on a few tweaks to bring it back in line. We’ll let you know the details once we’ve finished play testing and tuning to lock in on what the changes will be.”
The changes to the Arc subclasses are welcome, but long overdue. Bungie seems to like to make huge changes once every few months — as opposed to more frequent minor tweaks. That system often leaves players frustrated for extended periods of time due to the static state of the meta. Spectral Blades going untouched — even after such a big patch — will probably remain the big takeaway for many players when it comes to Arc week. But hopefully, moving forward, the Arc Week will bring more Destiny 2 Supers closer to the terrifying ability.
Other changes in update 2.2.1, scheduled to deploy on April 9, include new Exotic catalysts for Prospector, Rat King, Hard Light, and SUROS Regime. There’s also a buff to the drop rates of “Season of the Drifter” weapons in both Gambit activities, as well as in The Reckoning.
Here’s a look at the Arc Week patch changes outlined by Bungie:
Titan – Arc Week Changes
Striker Code of the Juggernaut
Frontal Assault:
- Now increases all weapon damage for the duration of the buff
- 25% against combatants
- 20% against players
- Duration increased from 10 to 16 seconds
- Buff timer is now displayed on the HUD
Knockout:
- Melee damage bonus increased from 25% to 60%
- Now also triggers once you have dealt 60% damage to a target
- Any damage done after 60% will refresh the timer
- Still also triggers off shield pop
- No longer consumed after 1 melee attack
- Duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
Hunter – Arc Week Changes
Arcstrider Way of the Warrior
Combination Blow
- Bonus melee damage can now be stacked 3 times (requires a melee ability kill for each stack)
- Buff increases melee damage by 60% per stack in PvE
- Buff increases melee damage by 22.7% per stack in PvP
- For comparison, this ability used to be 1 stack and increased melee damage by 50%
- Kills with this ability now heal 40 health in addition to starting health regen
Deadly Reach:
- Increased buff duration from 6 to 8 seconds
- Buff is no longer consumed by a melee hit
Arcstrider Way of the Wind
Disorienting Blow:
- Increased the disorient distance by 50%
- Increased duration of disorient on players from 1.5 to 2 seconds
Focused Breathing:
- Increased dodge recharge bonus while sprinting by 100%
Combat Meditation:
- Increased bonus grenade and melee regeneration while bloodied by 25%
Lightning Reflexes:
- Increased damage resistance while dodging from 25% to 40% in PvP
- Increased damage resistance while dodging from 63% to 70% In PvE
Warlock – Arc Week Changes
Stormcaller Stormtrance Super
- Damage scales up to 150% over 5 seconds of continuous use of the attack
- Updated FX and audio to support this functionality
Stormcaller Attunement of Conduction
Chain Lightning Melee
- Can now chain up to 5 times, up from 1, and each individual target can be hit twice
- Chain damage decreased from 50 to 31 damage per chain hit
Arc Web
- Can now chain to many (many) more targets, and back and forth between targets
- The amount of chaining varies based on use, and I will leave it to you all to discover!
- Increase chain range from 10 meters to 12 meters
- Chaining Arc damage now reduces the cooldown of your grenade
- Works with Arc Web chains and chains from Chain Lightning Melee
- Earn 3% energy per instance of chain damage in PvE
- Earn 10% energy per instance of chain damage in PvP
Stormcaller Attunement of the Elements
Electrostatic Surge:
- Increased bonus regeneration rate of Rift by 600% per nearby friendly Guardian
- This sounds insane, and it’s a big boost you will definitely feel, but it was previously very low.
- Extends Rift duration from 15 to 20 seconds
- Added a UI notification for when the buff is active
Arc Soul:
- Extended duration by 50%.
