The developers of Destiny 2 have now revealed their plans on how they intend to nerf the Spectral Blades Hunter regarding PvP soon.
Why is there a nerf? In its current form, the Spectral Blades Hunter (Way of the Wraith), or rather its super, is too dominant in Bungie’s eyes in the Crucible. Many guardians are also annoyed by this super in PvP – many have been frustrated as opponents by this Hunter super.
Because the super lasts a long time (if used correctly), can be significantly extended with a specific exotic, and guarantees users a high survivability. It is really difficult to dodge this super or counter it with weapons. It’s no wonder that the Crucible has been dominated by Spectral Blades Hunters for quite some time now.
What changes for the Spectral Blades Hunter
However, according to Bungie, the dominance should soon come to an end or at least be weakened – without devaluing the super. The changes are set to arrive in Destiny 2 with the next update. However, Bungie did not specify an exact date for the patch.
For the upcoming nerf, the developers primarily have two aspects in mind: damage reduction and super duration.
This is how Bungie changes the damage reduction of the Spectral Blades
This is how the damage reduction was previously: So far, this Hunter super has had the highest damage reduction of all long-lasting supers in the game – regardless of whether the Hunter is cloaked or not.
This is planned: With the change, the Spectral Blades super will have the lowest damage reduction of all long-lasting supers in its regular super state and one of the lowest damage reductions in cloaked mode.
This is how the damage reduction changes specifically:
- Damage reduction in normal super state reduced from 60% to 52%
- Damage reduction in cloaked state reduced from 62% to 54.4%
This was the intention behind the adjustment: With the cloaked mode, X-ray vision, and their high mobility, this super already provides a high survivability by default. The lower damage reduction now is intended to require users to plan better and position themselves more skillfully if they want to survive long enough to get multiple kills.
This is how the super duration of the Spectral Blade changes
The following changes exist for super duration:
- Super duration in normal super state (without attacks) reduced from 17.5 to 14.5 seconds
- Super duration in cloaked super state (without attacks) reduced from 26.6 to 23.5 seconds
- The super energy cost for light attacks during the super increased by 50%
This was the intent behind the nerf: With these changes, there should still be some time to plan attacks during the super – but now with the feeling that one really has to hurry.
Furthermore, the increased costs for light attacks are meant to prevent the wild spam of attacks. Because before, they consumed hardly any energy. Now the Hunter is forced to think more and use attacks more strategically to effectively utilize the super.
Also, an exotic armor piece is in sight
This is the exotic in question: As part of the adjustments to the Spectral Blades Hunter, an eye has also been cast on an exotic chest piece specifically designed for this subclass – the Gwisin Vest.
Why is this chest piece being looked at more closely? The Gwisin Vest is essentially the most important exotic of the Spectral Blades Hunter.
Because every Spectral Blade kill of its bearer restores more super energy before they cloak. With this piece of armor, the Spectral Blades super could be significantly extended.
What exactly is supposed to change? Bungie has not revealed any concrete details about this yet. For now, it is said that they are currently looking at the vest and experimenting with some changes for this exotic.
Now they want to first see how the changes play out in testing. After that, they will decide whether the changes will go live. If it comes to that, they will, however, only find their way into the game in the context of Season 7.
What do you think of the planned changes? A fair adjustment? Or will this super be completely devalued?
