With the upcoming Expansion - The Final Shape, I wanted to take the time and address some feedback I have for Warlock exotics, specifically those that qualify under "movement exotics" or "neutral exotics".
1) [u][b] Transversive Steps[/b] [/u]
One of the most quintessential exotics for movement for Warlocks, starting all the way back from year 1 of Destiny 2. Transversive Steps are [i]not[/i] given the treatment that Stompees and Lions Rampart do, where the boots buff the jumps / glides / lift of the classes. This is more apparent with Stompees where the Benefit to Sprint Speed and Slide Distance is the EXACT SAME, but the only difference is that Transversive Steps auto reloads your weapons after 1.5 seconds. I don't believe this is enough of a tradeoff, especially with Warlock, a class that is notorious for self inflected deaths due to bad jumps and glides. It could be argued that the reason Warlocks don't get the benefit to the glides is becasue of the reloading after 1.5 seconds, but I'd say in the current sandbox, especially with the abundance of weapons and perks where auto reloading isn't worth it, this makes it directly worse than Stompees since Warlocks DO NOT get a buff to their glides. This also comes from a time where auto reloading after sliding was way more worth it at the start of Destiny 2, and now it feels like the exotic is stuck in the past.
I propose to remedy this, Warlocks get added functionality to increase the duration of their glides, alongside a slight speed increase to them. This would make it on par with Hunters and Titans in terms of having an exotic that boosts you basic movement ability, without the need for it to feel needed. Id also say that removing the Auto Reload function from it in exchange for this would be a worthwhile trade.
2) [u][b]Astrocyte Verse and Blink[/b][/u]
Ahhh everyone's favorite child, Blink. While I commend Bungie for their constant changes to Astrocyte and Blink to make sure it is updated in the sandbox, I'd say that it's time for a total rework of the exotic, and some buffs to blink. As it stands, because of Blink being more limited than the other movement options on warlock, I'd say it's time to bake the upgrade Astrocyte Verse gives to Blink's base movement into the actual movement ability. As it stand right now, if you are running Blink on a Warlock, you are essentially FORCED to go with Astrocyte verse for how much of an upgrade it gives to Blink, otherwise you'd just run a different exotic and use a glide. The main weakness of the Astrocyte Verse and Blink combo is that you are taking up an exotic slot JUST to boost your main movement ability. And although getting free Nova Warp teleports and making enemies Volatile is nice, it's not enough to counter other exotics, aspects, or fragments that do the same thing for less or for a better trade. However, I'd say that you could lean more into the Void Warlock teleport damaging fantasy instead. The changes I am going to propose also take into account Hunters having access to Blink, so Blink itself will still get buffed, just not to the level it will when having current iteration of Astrocyte would buff it.
[b]The changes I think should be made to Blink are the following:[/b] Increase Blinks Distance by 20% instead of 25 at base, reduce the cooldown from 3.55s to 3 seconds instead of going down to 2.85 seconds, decrease blink activation delay down from 1.65 to 1.3 instead of going down to 1.15. - I'd say these changes to Blink are fair as across the board Blink will be buffed, but because hunters have access to Blink as well, it won't feel like BOTH Hunters and Warlocks always have Astrocyte Verse on. These changes also are just a straight quality of life improvement to make it a more viable option in PvE.
[b]The changes I propose for Astrocyte Verse are the following[/b]: Keep removed super energy cost of Nova Warps Dark blink, keep weapons ready faster out of blink and radar remains up, keep in making enemies volatile after blinking, add on functionality that on top of making enemies volatile, whenever you blink you create a small Nova Burst at the destination you arrive at. The damage values on the small nova burst can be enough to kill red bars and orange bars, but not enough for higher tier enemies while also setting them volatile, and this can also be a small damage burst in PvP, im thinking maybe about half a melee worth of damage?
Onto some exotics I think could be made INFINITELY better with some very slight changes.
[u][b]Skull of Dire Ahamkara[/b][/u] - Add on "Nova Bomb Hits" to the existing functionality of the exotic, to mirror Shards of Galanor but for Void Warlock. This makes it so now only is it a good Ad Clearing option, but it will make it so much more viable in terms of a Bossing / Raid exotic.
[u][b]Promethium Spur[/b][/u] - Instead of dropping both rifts at the enemies location, drop it at the players location. This makes it a much safer option for harder content, without making it too broken. Cooldown between being able to consume charged to do so can be increased to compensate, as well as the amount of Class Ability Energy that Solar Weapon Kills Give.
Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts on some changes that I think are needed to enhance the fantasy for Warlocks, as well as what changes could be made to those exotics. Let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to leave some feedback I'd be more than happy to take it into account.
Thank you guardians, see you in The Final Shape!
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Some great suggestions. Agree with what you are saying. So many exotics need updating. They have very little use, and their benefits only activate in very small game-play loops. Pro Spurs currently don’t feel worth using. I don’t want a rift to : A) get places whenever I get a kill. I want to choose when I use it. B) I don’t want a rift out in the open, just because I killed an enemy there. That’s just not smart gameplay. You are right, the player should choose where and when to place and use the rift. They could make a fun function- hold a key/ button/ over charge your rift ability, that becomes a rift grande, throw it, if it hits a target those hit are weaned, and wherever it lands a rift forms.