Destiny 2 – [TOP 5] PVE Sub-Classes

Destiny 2 PVP might get a lot of attention in the news and on YouTube but at its core, it still remains a PVE focused game. There is no better feeling in Destiny 2 than completing a raid with your friends and reaping all the rewards that it has to give you.

That is why a lot of the sub-classes in Destiny 2 are geared towards PVE situations and why there are a lot of great options to choose from. 

Destiny 2

The new DLC Destiny 2: Beyond Light introduced a few new sub-classes that change the way the game is played. Technically, Stasis is a whole new tree as it is a different element than solar, arc, or void. Beyond Light added a sub-class for each of the classes and these sub-classes are powerful, to say the least. 

In this guide, we’ll go over 5 of the best PVE sub-classes that you can currently get in the game as well as some additional information on how to use them well.

Three of the five are going to be the new Stasis sub-classes because they are just too powerful right now not to mention. To figure out the other two you’re going to have to read further below. 

I should also mention that the three new sub-classes are technically tied for the first position because each has different roles that they play so you can rest assured that whether you main Titan, Warlock, or Hunter, the new sub-classes will be the way to go for most activities.

For an accurate decision on what the best sub-classes for PVE are, we’re mostly going to focus on end-game activities such as raids because that is when your choice of sub-class really matters. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

The three stasis sub-classes also don’t have grenades described in them; with these sub-classes there are three grenades that can be equipped by any of the sub-classes. These are the Glacier Grenade, Coldsnap Grenade, and the Duskfield Grenade.

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Glacier grenades produce stasis crystals on impact which can be used as a cover or for freezing enemies in place. Coldsnap grenades generate a wave of stasis that tracks up to three foes and freezes them. Duskfield grenades form an implosion that sucks enemies and freezes them if they are caught in the blast radius. 

Behemoth

Behemoth is the new Titan sub-class that was introduced with Beyond Light. It allows you to control the power of Stasis, a gift bestowed upon Guardians by The Darkness.

It is safe to say that this was an unprecedented event, something that has never been done before in Destiny. It is the first time that The Darkness has given Guardians power and with these powers, it has surely impressed them. 

This sub-class doesn’t feel strange to Titans as they have always found a balance between offense and defense.

That is exactly what this sub-class embodies. We’ll go through the melee and super that this sub-class comes with but before that, I feel that it is important to remember the class ability and the jump. 

This sub-class, even though it grants power from a completely different source, does not offer any changes to the class ability or jump. The UI for the sub-class is definitely different and the way that you can augment this sub-class is also really intricate but there are no changes to the jumps and class abilities that Titans have at their disposal.

The changes that have been made, however, are to the super and the melee ability. Destiny 2

The melee ability of this particular sub-class is called Shiver Strike. This ability allows Titans to charge with a burst of stasis energy towards their target. When they reach their target they summon a gauntlet made out of pure stasis energy.

This gauntlet pushes back the target with force and slows down enemies that are nearby. It is an incredibly powerful melee ability that works wonders for crowd control. Pair it with a shotgun and you’re set.

The Super is called Glacial Quake and is a melee-based super. The super summons the aforementioned gauntlet which the Titan slams into the ground creating shock waves and freezing nearby enemies. The enemies are frozen because of the stasis crystals that are formed because of the shock wave. Destiny 2 That is only the first part.

After the shock waves, the second part of the super begins. The Titan is coated in armor made from these crystals. The Titan also receives additional jumping capabilities and melee strength. Truly a super worthy of Titans. 

Revenant

The Revenant sub-class belongs to Hunters and really emphasizes the agility and dexterous nature of Hunters. Like all the stasis sub-classes, the main changes are to the melee ability and the super.

The melee ability is called Withering Blade and it is a shuriken that bounces off of enemies while slowing and damaging them. If it hits an enemy twice it also freezes them in place, making them easy to finish off. 

The super of this class is called Silence and Squall. The Hunter summons dual kama blades, Destiny 2 each with different attributes. When the first is thrown it will explode in a  blast of stasis where it hits, freezing enemies in a radius around it.

The second creates a stasis storm where it lands that tracks nearby enemies while slowing and damaging them.

Shadebinder

Shadebinder is the stasis subclass for Warlock. This gives Warlocks a staff of stasis that is used in both the melee ability and the super. The melee ability is called the Penumbral Staff and it loses a bolt of stasis from a summoned staff. Whatever the bolt hits are frozen completely. 

The super is really cool and is called Winter’s Wrath. The stasis staff is summoned and the Warlock shoots out stasis crystals that freeze anyone caught in their path.

The Warlock then raises the staff and sends out a shatter shockwave that shatters enemies that are frozen. This is one of the best supers for crowd control, especially if you are in the middle of a big fight.

Dawnblade: Attunement of Grace

This particular sub-class belongs to Warlocks and is one of the most important sub-classes in the game, especially for the endgame. This sub-class was introduced in Forsaken and really changed how Warlocks are played.

Before this sub-class people used Warlocks mainly for damage, tossing Nova Bombs every chance they got. This sub-class was a meta-changer and made huge changes to how the game was played.

This sub-class is not only important, it is necessary to have on your team for raids. The biggest reason for that is super that this sub-class comes with but not only for that reason alone. This is the Warlock class that is completely geared towards being a healer and support, two roles that are important for any raid party.

All aspects of this class really work well together and make this class one of the best classes to date. We’ll go through the grenade, the melee, passive, and the super so that you can understand why I’m raving about this subclass.

The grenade is the most unique aspect of this sub-class because it is multi-purpose. If you just press the grenade button then your Warlock will just throw the grenade that you have set normally. If you hold it down though, it will turn into a supercharged healing grenade that not only heals anyone that passes through it, it also gives them an over shield.

You will not believe how many times this has saved raids for myself and my friends. The ability to throw a full heal as far as you can throw grenades is not something that can be taken lightly. 

The melee of this class may seem a little lackluster as it has an extremely short range and it does okay damage. The special thing about this melee ability is that it gives you and your nearby allies an empowered buff. This buff gives a boost to weapon and melee damage, exactly like a rift of empowerment would. 

The passive that this sub-class has makes it all the better at playing support. Whenever you empower or heal an ally, you reduce the cooldown of your melee, grenade, and class abilities. This means the more you act as a support, the more you’re rewarded for it.

Now we come to the super. The one super that is expected for all raids, for all fights that require you to deal damage to a boss. The Well of Radiance starts with your Warlock plunging Dawnblade into the ground and creating a huge rift that heals and empowers everyone standing in the rift.

This empowering it makes it so that your weapons and abilities deal more damage. The latter part of that statement is most important because it means that it increases the damage of other supers as well. There’s nothing quite like a Celestial Nighthawk shot fired from within a Well of Radiance for melting bosses. 

Gunslinger: Way of the Sharpshooter

This particular class is a favorite of many Hunters and is extensively used in PVE. It is particularly effective at melting bosses, especially if you throw on Celestial Nighthawk. That exotic armor alone makes this sub-class one of the best in the game.

This is another of those classes that are expected to take part in raids that require high boss damage. The main reason for this sub-class’s spot in the top five is because of the super that it has coupled with Celestial Nighthawk but it is also because of what the sub-class allows you to do as a Hunter. 

The first thing that makes this class stand out is the melee ability. Pressing the melee button throws a knife at your selected enemy which means that this melee ability has more range and allows you to deal with enemies from far away even if you have no ammo.

The melee ability also recharges immediately if you land a critical killing blow with it. This allows you to go on a knife-throwing spree if your aim is good enough.

The passive is also amazing because, with every precision hit that you score, you can reduce the cooldown of your super. This is super helpful in fights that have multiple phases as it allows you to use your super every time there is a damage phase without having to worry too much about collecting orbs of light.

The sub-class also makes it so that every time you get a precision hit with your Golden Gun, it increases the damage as well as the time that it is active. This is useful as well but if you’re using Celestial Nighthawk it doesn’t matter as much.

What does matter though, is the fact that this is the only sub-class that allows you to get precision hits with the Golden Gun. Usually Golden Gun doesn’t get a precision damage bonus because technically it’s not a bullet but this sub-class allows you to get the damage bonus with it.

The super is the real reason why this class is so good, especially because of Celestial Nighthawk. Celestial Nighthawk is an exotic helmet that makes it so that the normal amount of shots that you have with the Golden Gun is replaced with a single high-powered shot that deals an insane amount of damage.

This works well with this particular class because this class allows you to do precision damage with the Golden Gun, turning your super into a million damage dealer. 

Conclusion

There are a few things that I should mention. The first is that the new sub-classes are really in-depth and have more aspects that can be customized such as Fragments and Aspects.

These are simple and explaining them would spoil the quest attributed to it. Secondly, the stasis sub-classes are amazing for crowd control, ad clearing, and PVP but fall short in boss damage. That is why the other two options were mentioned.

Also, Destiny 2 allows you to change sub-classes without any penalty so don’t feel bound by sub-classes. Try them all out and see what suits you, but do keep the above 5 in mind because they are too important to not play. 

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