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Destiny 2

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Edited by LocDog: 12/19/2024 4:01:21 PM
24

Warlocks in PvP: Where’s Our Game-Changing Exotic?

Hi everyone, I’m an average player who started his Destiny 2 journey during The Witch Queen DLC. Since then, I’ve racked up over 5000 hours in the game (yes, I know… no life). I’ve dabbled in everything Destiny 2 has to offer but stayed primarily for PvP. I’m not a top-tier gamer—my highest rank in the competitive playlist was Adept, which I’ve reached twice. In Trials of Osiris, I’ve gone Flawless 19 times. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s honest work! I enjoyed Trials because it felt less chaotic compared to 6v6 modes filled with supers and shared heavy ammo (seriously, why does the whole team get heavy?). The prestige of going Flawless kept me coming back almost every weekend. The Current PvP Experience Lately, though, I’ve had to let go of my Flawless aspirations. Whatever matchmaking system is active right now has me consistently facing much stronger opponents. For example, this past weekend, I played about 10 games of Trials—and didn’t win a single one. I understand the skill delta in Trials matchmaking is wide, but it feels too wide now. So, I’ve embraced the chaos and shifted my focus to experimenting with fun, off-meta builds. The Build Experiment Seeing how Prismatic Titans are dominating with their one-hit melee kills and diamond lance combos, I wondered if there was something comparable for Warlocks—my main class. Winter’s Guile came to mind. For those unfamiliar, it grants a bonus that automatically shatters targets frozen by Penumbral Blast. My inner mad scientist was thrilled to try it out! But to my disappointment, it doesn’t work in PvP. Neither on the Stasis nor Prismatic subclasses. The Bigger Picture Bungie, is there a reason for this? Warlocks are the least represented class in the game, and I can’t think of any PvP builds that are as strong as what Titans and Hunters currently have. For example: Titans: One-hit melee builds (e.g., Prismatic melee+diamond lance combos), overshields from Barricades and exotics like One-Eyed Mask etc. Hunters: Invisibility spam, endless utility with builds like Young Ahamkara’s Spine for trap-heavy playstyles, or even the constant awareness and versatility of Knucklehead Radar. Meanwhile, Warlocks are left with inconsistent or underwhelming options. The only standout is Lightning Surge, but let’s be honest—most Warlock mains will agree it’s inconsistent. You can occasionally get flashy kills, but it requires specific exotics and a high-risk kamikaze playstyle. When it comes to PvP, Warlock exotic options feel lackluster. Ophidian Aspect and Transversive Steps are staples, but they don’t fundamentally change how you play. Sure, there are alternatives like Sanguine Alchemy, Briarbinds or Starfire Protocol, but they rarely pay off in PvP; especially in higher-skill lobbies. The Question When are Warlocks going to get an exotic that truly shakes up the PvP meta? Something impactful, something competitive. Titans and Hunters have multiple standout options—why can’t we? I’d love to hear thoughts from fellow Guardians and, hopefully, get some insight from Bungie. Let’s bring Warlocks back into the PvP conversation!

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  • The problem is bungie has no idea what they want to do with warlock! Except for keeping it the poster child of Dawnblade and Well of Radiance for years now. Like i actually want to play other classes! But it doesn't stop there. Warlocks are supposed to be the grenade class, and yet they fail at that miserably due to nerfs, poor execution, making grenades universal, and forcing warlocks to rift exotics and rift gameplay. When it's hunter, that is the class ability class. When hunters and titans get something new or a buff, it adds a new way to play the game when it's warlocks. it's only to improve a subpar ability that most likely still sucks! Necrotic grips are the only exotic in years that actually add and / or expand on a new way to play warlock. Except it sucks in pvp and isn't any good in high-end content. It's the closest thing we've ever gotten to the name warlock, too.

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