With the release of the Forsaken expansion, a total of 9 new Supers arrived in Destiny 2, which are mostly well-received by the fans. However, one of them performs particularly poorly in the eyes of numerous Guardians and needs a buff. Now Bungie has explained how they intend to strengthen this Super.
First top, then flop: When the new Supers were detailed before the launch of Forsaken, the new ultimate attack of the Void Hunter, the Spectral Blades, was particularly well-received by fans – they generated the highest anticipation in a survey on MeinMMO among the Spectral Blades.
But what looked promising and interesting before the release quickly turned out to be the weakest of all new Supers in practice. On Reddit and in other forums, there are numerous posts calling for a rework of the Spectral Blades. Now Bungie responds to player feedback and wants to improve.
This is how the Hunter’s Spectral Blades are being reworked
What is the problem with the Spectral Blades? With this Void Super, Hunters are supposed to cloak themselves in a veil of shadows to then reappear with deadly daggers behind their foes. However, it didn’t really work as smoothly and elegantly in-game as during the presentation.
Many criticize the range of the Super as too short, and the stealth factor that is supposed to be crucial for the Super is hardly relevant, as players can be seen very easily and energy is consumed too quickly in stealth mode. The damage of the Super is also under scrutiny.
In PvE, it is hardly possible to kill a thrall without already using 25% of its Super energy for that purpose. Moreover, the hit detection is absolutely horrendous. Particularly in PvP, numerous fans see it as a real challenge to take out multiple opponents with this Super.
The class abilities outside of the Super, however, are well-received by players.
This is how Bungie plans to improve the Spectral Blades: As Bungie has now announced, the Spectral Blades will be significantly adjusted in an upcoming update. The focus will particularly be on the reliability of melee attacks in PvP as well as the effectiveness of stealth abilities. Here’s how they plan to achieve this:
- The range of the melee lunge will be increased for all attacks. Your Void Hunter will thus be able to make a larger leap forward
- The Super energy costs for light melee attacks will be reduced
- Accelerating the attack rate will require more consecutive hits
- The base attack speed will be reduced. According to the developers, this is not a nerf. On the contrary: this is intended to increase hit registration on intended targets. Furthermore, this should trigger the attack speed increase most often when players focus on a single target
- Melee targeting has been reworked. Now, player input (i.e., where the stick and camera are pointing) will play a bigger role. This should reduce the likelihood of hitting an unintended enemy with the Spectral Blades’ melee attack
- The benefits of the stealth mechanic will be enhanced. In stealth mode, players will gain additional damage resistance. Furthermore, Super energy will not be consumed as quickly when in stealth mode
The studio emphasizes that these changes are not set in stone and that work is still ongoing.
When will these changes come to the game? Bungie did not specify a specific date. However, it is conceivable that these adjustments could be made as part of the upcoming Season 5 update.
Although there is no exact date yet for this update either, the Season 4 ends on November 27, 2018. It is likely that Season 5 will start immediately afterwards – including the corresponding update.
By the way – the Warlock Super Chaos Reach is also being revised: For Chaos Reach, the energy costs for prematurely deactivating the Super will be adjusted. It should become more worthwhile to skillfully deactivate this Super and thus save valuable Super energy.
Specifically, this means: It will be less rewarding to deactivate the Chaos Reach Super extremely early. However, if done later in the Super’s duration, the penalty will be less significant.
What do you think of these changes? Do you feel that this is enough to make the Spectral Blades attractive again? Or are more adjustments needed?
