In Destiny 2, the icy Stasis classes have turned the Crucible into a nightmare for many. Bungie is addressing the issue and is finally nerfing PvP and PvE largely separately.
Here’s why PvP is a nightmare: For about 4 months now, the Crucible, where players compete against each other in Destiny 2, has been unplayable for many. It’s due to the Stasis abilities that came with Beyond Light.
With Stasis, opponents can be slowed or completely frozen. You basically have to stand still and watch the match go on without you. Including the wonderful feeling of being unable to do anything while the enemy aims for your head, fires, and you shatter into a thousand pieces, taking out half the team.
In short: If you get hit by one of the many Stasis abilities, you can put down the controller in 90% of the cases and wait for respawn.
This is what Bungie is doing about it: Since the previous “emergency measures” for Stasis didn’t really end the nightmare, the Destiny developers have presented extensive balance adjustments.
- An update will be released on March 23
- The patch will target general Stasis skills like grenades, but also specifically the dominant Titans and Hunters
- The update even brings buffs for the Stasis Warlock
- The Stasis adjustments are just the first step; next, the old Light classes will get some love
As much fun as it is to freeze and hinder others, it’s far less fun to be on the receiving end. Since the introduction of Stasis, Bungie has been struggling to maintain a balance between the new classes and the old Light classes.
Extensive nerfs aim to put an end to the Stasis nightmare
First, the good news for PvE: It is always the greatest concern of Guardians that a weapon or ability is nerfed into the ground in both modes, even though it is only a problem in one.
Bungie has ensured that many nerfs only affect PvP and the ability works just like before in PvE. MeinMMO therefore notes with each adjustment whether it applies across the entire game or only in the Crucible.
The Stasis Hunter has had its wings clipped
Shatter Dive (entire game): For 4 months, players have gotten used to Hunters appearing out of nowhere and killing even Supers with a dive. This already led to a nerf that brought so little change that players wondered if it was a mistake. Here’s what will happen now:
- The damage resistance in the Shatter Dive animation has been completely removed
- After using Shatter Dive, Hunters now have to wait 4 seconds before they can use the skill again.
- The second part of the problem, the Stasis crystals, will also be addressed – more on that below.
Sword of Shattering (only PvP): As befits an ice ninja, Hunters throw up to 2 shurikens that slow enemies.
- Damage against players has been reduced from 90 to 65 (with Season 13, a damage buff was recently applied here, which is now being reversed)
- Each hit now adds less slow – reduced from 60 to 40.
- Target tracking range reduced from 12 m to 8 m. This concerns the projectile’s bouncing off, which can target multiple targets.
The Colossus Titan loses defense and consumes more energy
Glacial Quake (entire game): The Stasis Titan’s Super can decide entire rounds. This is because it lasts forever and has an enormous damage reduction while you zip around the map at high speed. That is about to change:
- Damage resistance reduced from 60% to 50%
- Energy cost for melee attacks during the Super increased from 3% to 7% per hit
- The combination of melee and heavy attack now costs more energy (previously, only the heavy attack drained energy)
- The widespread freezing effect upon activating the Super has been removed (only in PvP)
Seismic Strike (entire game): The charged melee of the Colossus Titan allows for quick movements across the map and can also serve as an escape tool. Bungie states:
- “The downward velocity of players using Seismic Strike has been increased when slowed, to pull them down more from the air.”
- Players are not quite sure if this is a buff or nerf. It should mean that Titans lose height quickly during use and can no longer maneuver as well.
Class-wide balance adjustments for Stasis in Destiny 2
The issue with Stasis is not only the powerful Supers but also the abilities that all classes can use. Bungie is now tweaking that as well.
Early Light Field Grenade (only PvP): The grenade that was once mocked has turned out to be a real monster. From a long range, it pulls enemies in and traps them in the field. During this time, you are practically helpless as almost all abilities are disabled and weapon handling and stability drastically drop.
- Pull range has been reduced from 9.5 m to about 6 m
- Slow stacks have been reduced: from 20 to 10 on explosion and from 10 to 5 per tick in the Stasis field
Stasis Crystals (only PvP): Stasis can also create ice walls and crystals. If destroyed by gunfire or attacks, this triggers a shatter explosion. The high damage from this is the actual reason the Hunter’s Shatter Dive is so dangerous.
- Crystal fragment damage per single crystal has been reduced from a maximum of 85 and a minimum of 55 to 55/25
Whispers of Chains (only PvP): The new fragment from Season 13 provides damage reduction near Stasis Crystals and frozen enemies. Especially the already hard-to-kill Supers freeze everything extensively and create countless crystals, making them even harder to kill.
- Damage resistance in the Super reduced from 25% to 5%.
- Outside the Super, the resistance remains at 25%
Whispers of Torment (entire game): This fragment grants Guardians valuable grenade energy when hit by enemies. Due to a bug, the effect could be triggered infinitely.
- The effect will no longer be triggered continuously when standing in a Titan Barricade and taking damage
If you haven’t unlocked all Stasis fragments yet, that will become easier on March 23. At least in PvP, the quests should go significantly faster.
Warlocks are the winners this time
A week after the introduction of the Stasis classes, Warlocks underwent numerous nerfs. They haven’t recovered from that to this day, which is why Bungie is giving them some buffs. However, the Warlocks won’t emerge completely unscathed.
Winter’s Wrath (entire game):
- Tracking of Winter’s Wrath projectiles has been improved – tracking strength now decreases over 10 seconds (previously, it lost effectiveness after 2.2 seconds)
- Projectiles from the Super now freeze from 1.6 m distance (previously 1.5 m)
- Environmental detonation now starts at the highest point and shrinks over time to 40% of that.
Penumbra Blast (only PvP): Stasis Warlocks throw a projectile with charged attack that freezes enemies and causes damage. The damage was increased at the start of Season 13 but is now dropping again:
- Damage from Penumbra Blast against players has been reduced from 80 to 30
Icy Eruption (entire game): If you shatter frozen enemies with this aspect, a homing Stasis wave erupts from them that freezes victims on its own.
- Target tracking range of Icy Eruption increased by 33 %
- Turning speed has been increased, allowing them to hit nearby targets more effectively.
- A problem was fixed where Icy Eruption would continuously try to switch targets
With the patch, not only Stasis Warlocks are receiving adjustments, but also the Arc Super Chaos Reach. The Arc bolt can be canceled early, and especially in combination with the Geomag Stabilizers, Super was possible much more frequently.
- The amount of Super energy refunded when Chaos Reach is canceled early has been reduced.
What do you think of the announced changes for Stasis? Does it make the Crucible more bearable for you or is Destiny 2 shooting itself in the foot here? The annoying freezing will also be revised in the future.
Especially pleasing is that many of the changes will only take effect where they are needed. This cements Bungie’s ability to balance PvP and PvE separately.
