Today Bungie released both a trailer and a large-scale blog post on the next new element making its way to Destiny 2 in Lightfall: Strand.
Strand is one of the biggest selling points for the new Lightfall Expansion. Despite it being the second Darkness element to be added to Destiny 2, all we have known about Strand for the last few months is its name and the fact that it has a Grappling Hook. There were theories and ideas, but nothing really concrete.
Now, following both an in-depth trailer and blogpost on Strand, we know a vast amount of knowledge about the new element and subclasses. This includes all of the Strand keywords, how each class functions as well as their Supers, Grenades and Melee abilities. There’s a lot to unpack but a lot to be excited about, too.
Strand Keywords
Strand is an Element centred on the idea of unravelling the threads of reality, pulling them apart to make them do your bidding. It is the second Darkness subclass to follow Stasis and Bungie worked hard to try and keep that identity of the Darkness. Kevin Yanes described the initial idea of Strand: “Part of my desire was to have something more ‘astral’ in the game. Strand also aligned really well to the fantasy of the product: the 80s action hero.”
They also outlined the main keywords (or elemental verbs) related to Strand. These are to Strand what Weaken, Scorch, Jolt and Freeze are to the other elements of Destiny 2.
- Tangles: Swirling green orbs of Strand energy similar to Warmind Cells. They can either be shot to cause a Strand explosion or thrown for a more precise detonation.
- Unravel: Attacking an Unravelled enemy will cause additional damage to nearby targets (similar to Jolt). Those targets also become Unravelled after being hit.
- Suspend: In PvE, Suspend will lift enemies off the ground and make them helpless. In PvP, enemy Guardians will rise from the ground, but they can still move and shoot back.
- Sever: A debuff that lowers enemy damage output.
- Woven Mail: A buff that grants damage resistance (in both PvE and PvP). However, only body shot damage is affected in PvP, precision hits and melee damage will still deal full damage.
Teacher and Student
Eric Smith described an example of the flow state with Strand, one focused on a large number of actions per minute with much room for decision-making.
“I defeat an enemy with my melee ability and they unwind into a Tangle. I grapple onto the Tangle, which refunds my grapple, and snatch the Tangle out of midair. I then hurl the Tangle at a group of enemies in the distance, grappling onto the Tangle again while it flies and pulls me through the air behind it. As the Tangle nears a group of enemies, I slam downward out of my grapple to suspend a lone enemy who split off from the group while the Tangle slams into the rest of the group and explodes. There’s a lot of these really cool dynamic interactions built into Strand and that makes it feel unique.”
Inside Strand Blog Post
Unravel the Future
Strand Subclasses
Warlock
Warlocks are Broodweavers, powerful masters of Strand who understand the beings known as Threadlings better than any other class. These are small sentient Strand creatures who roam the battlefield looking for prey, before leaping at them and exploding. Every class has access to Threadlings in one way or another, but Warlocks have a special interaction with them which highlights their role as summoners: any summoned Threadlings who do not carry out their attack will return to the Warlock, becoming perched and armed for the next fight (unlike with Titan and Hunter where the Threadlings will simply disappear).
They also have a new Melee ability called Arcane Needle. Upon activation, the Warlock will send out a tracking projectile that Unravels targets with a flick of their wrist. They can chain up to 3 of these Arcane Needles in a row.
Needlestorm is the Super of choice for Strand-wielding Warlocks and it is a powerful mix of burst and area denial. On cast, the Guardian will send out a barrage of sharp Strand spikes that imbed themselves in your foes (or the environment around the). Afterwards, they will explode into an armada of Threadlings that will seek out any enemies who didn’t die from your initial assault.
Broodweaver Warlock
Warlocks have access to 2 Strand Aspects at launch, both of which lean into the power fantasy of being the genius mastermind behind an army of minions.
- Weaver’s Call: On Rift cast, the Warlock weaves three Threadling eggs, which hatch into Threadlings when they hit a surface. Any perched Threadlings are converted to additional eggs.
- Mindspun Invocation: This Aspect improves several of the Warlock’s grenade abilities:
- Grapple: When you execute a grapple melee, the Warlock weaves three Threadling eggs from the target.
- Threadling Grenade: You can consume your Threadling Grenade to generate a full complement of perched Threadlings.
- Shackle Grenade: You can consume your Shackle Grenade to gain a buff, creating a suspending detonation on every kill.
Swarming Threadlings
Hunters
Hunters take up the rope dart to become Threadrunners. They have attained greater knowledge and expertise over the Grapple mechanic, allowing them to remain deadly and agile either in the air or on foot. Threadrunners can attack multiple times in the air, provide great coverage and clearance with their Super and have the highest uptime on the Grapple out of any of the classes.
Threaded Spike is an interesting new Melee ability, similar in ideology to the Stasis Shuriken with a twist. This attack will hurl a rope dart that bounces between any available enemies, refunding Melee energy with each enemy hit and each bounce. If you manage to press the melee button at the right time as the dart is returning, you can perform a rhythm-game-esque button press to gain even more Melee energy. The trailer showcases that this attack is fast, very fast, with the ability to hit over 5 enemies in one throw.
Threadrunner Hunter
The new Strand Super, Silkstrike, has the Hunter pull out a longer, deadlier rope dart. In this state, the Hunter is sent into third-person where they can freely use their Grapple to get around the environment as they see fit. The Silkstrike Light Attack is a swift throw forward intended for single targets, while the Heavy Attack is a sweeping area of effect around the user. Both of these can be used while on the ground or in the air.
Like with Warlock, Hunters have 2 Aspects at launch.
- Ensnaring Slam: While in the air, press the air-move input to slam downward, suspending all nearby enemies.
- Widow’s Silk: This Aspect grants an additional grenade charge. The Hunter’s grapple ability creates a persistent grapple Tangle when it latches, which fully refunds grenade energy when grappled to. Hunters can use this ability to set up chains of grapple points that their entire team can use, greatly enhancing their ability to quickly move around in combat and/or traverse the environment.
Keep it Hanging
Titans
Lastly, Titans will unleash their rage as Berserkers. While it seems similar to previous punchy Titan subclasses, Berserker seems to take glee in tearing down their foes with fast strikes and the ability to cripple their damage potential. They are the frontline fighters on Neomuna.
Frenzied Blade is a new Titan Melee ability where the Berserker dashes forward and performs a slash with their Strand-empowered blade arms. This Severs any hit enemy, decreasing their damage output, and holds three charges that can be used to combo between different enemies or one singular target.
Berserker Titan
The new Super is called Bladefury. The Titan spawns two large blades upon their hands, which they will use to rend their foes to nothingness. Their Light Attack is an enhanced version of Frenzied Blade that speeds up the next attack with each hit that connects. Each of these hits also charges up the Heavy Attack, a long-ranged cross slash that Suspends any enemy that gets caught by it.
Titans also get 2 new Strand Aspects at launch:
- Into the Fray: Destroying a Tangle weaves Woven Mail unto the Titan and nearby allies. In addition to reducing damage taken, this Aspect also increases the Titan’s melee energy regeneration while wearing Woven Mail.
- Drengr’s Lash: When the Titan casts their class ability, the Titan will blast forward a powerful ripple in reality, suspending enemies that are caught in the shockwave’s path.
Suspending Slash
New Grenades and Fragments
There are 3 new Grenade options with Strand. These are accessible on all 3 classes without any limitations, similar to how Stasis Grenades work.
Grapple allows the Guardian to replace their traditional Grenade with a powerful mobility tool, with the ability to Grapple whenever you want (even in thin air). Threadling Grenades split into three Strand projectiles when thrown (similar to Skip Grenades) which transform into Threadlings that seek out nearby foes. Finally, The Shackle Grenade is a bola trap, Suspending enemies caught in it before detonating a second time to try and Suspending even more foes.
A new suite of Strand Aspects is also launching with Lightfall. 4 of them were teased here in the Strand Blogpost. These are available on all classes and can be mixed and matched to suit your playstyle.
- Thread of Ascent: Activating your grenade ability reloads your equipped weapon and grants increased weapon handling and airborne effectiveness for a short time.
- Thread of Fury: Damaging targets with a Tangle grants melee energy.
- Thread of Finality: Finishers generate Threadlings.
- Thread of Warding: Picking up an orb of power grants Woven Mail.
Mastering Strand
Strand will have even more to offer Guardians when it launches on February 28th alongside Destiny 2 Lightfall.
SOURCE: Inside Strand Blogpost on Bungie.net + Destiny 2 Lightfall Strand Trailer
