Bungie has lifted the lid on how Arc abilities are evolving in Season 18 of Destiny 2, transforming the sublcass into a system that allows players to hit harder and move faster than ever before. Arc 3.0’s inspiration is the 2009 action movie Crank 2: High Voltage, a bonkers adventure starring Jason Statham as he finds novel methods to keep his artificial heart charged long enough so that he can exact his revenge on the gangsters who stole his original organ.
Destiny designer Sam Dunn describes Arc 3.0 as the “go fast and hit stuff” subclass on the Bungie blog, a set of abilities where players are given tools to keep moving forward with maximum aggression. While Void 3.0 focused on invisibility and Solar 3.0 used Radiant buffs to turn Guardians into explosive death-dealers, Arc 3.0’s party trick is Amplified. An amplified Guardian can move faster and is more agile without having to equip additional Aspects or Fragments and all Arc classes become amplified after rapidly defeating targets with any Arc damage.
A few seconds of sprinting will boost player-speed, add a sizable PvE damage resistance buff, and enable an even longer slide ability to your Guardian. Even if you’re not amplified, the speed booster buff will stay active as long as you keep sprinting.
When it comes to dealing with enemies, you’ll be able to apply Blind and Jolt debuffs to foes. This naturally blinds PvE enemies and leaves them unable to fire their weapons at you for a brief moment, with Jolted opponents periodically sending out slivers of chain lightning to nearby enemies. In PvP you can expect to have your screen whited out, HUD removed, and a ringing audio effect that will be disorientating.
An ability that was previously unique to Warlocks, Ionic Traces, will be applied to all Guardian classes, sending small slivers of energy to players that will help recharge abilities more quickly. Here’s what players can expect from each class when Arc 3.0 goes live.
Hunter
Arcstrider Hunter
For Hunters, Bungie wanted the Guardian class to embody a “graceful warrior monk” that can quickly close gaps and deliver devastating amounts of close-quarters damage. Arc 3.0 adds crowd control tools, restoring the Arc Staff Super and transforming it into a weapon that can block projectiles, be used to perform an armored dodge, and buff damage resistance. The second Super that Hunters get is Gathering Storm, a new ultimate ability that sees the class leap into the air and hurls their staff into the ground or an enemy.
Upon impact, the staff emits a damaging burst that jolts nearby enemies and serves as a lightning rod that overcharges it with a burst of power, creating a large damage zone around it for several seconds and sending out arcs of lightning to damage any enemies that move near it. For their Arc 3.0 Aspects, Hunters will have three to choose from and customize.
Flow State
Defeating a jolted opponent makes you amplified. When amplified, the dodge ability recharges faster, makes you more resistant to damage, and you have quicker reload times.
Tempest Strike
Hunters can perform a sliding melee that launches an Arc wave along the ground, dealing significant damage and jolt debuffs to any enemies in its path.
Lethal Current
After dodging, a Hunter gains increased melee lunge, their next melee attack jolts the target, and they create a damaging lightning aftershock. When used with the Arc Staff Super, the next staff light attack hits twice after a dodge, and hitting a jolted enemy with a melee attack will blind them.
Warlock
Stormtrance Warlock
Warlocks retain their Stormtrance and Chaos Reach Supers, but the tweaking that Bungie has done will turn this Guardian class into a “lightning shaman” that channels both deadly electricity and the Emperor Palpatine power fantasy.
Chaos Reach still fires a concentrated beam of Arc energy while Stormtrance combines its top and bottom trees to make Warlocks slippery and dangerous to approach. When activated, Stormtrance creates a damaging shockwave and allows a Guardian to teleport using the Blink ability. The core idea with this Warlock subclass is that being amplified modifies abilities, such as the Ball Lightning melee being able to electrocute enemies three times instead of once.
With Chain Lightning, an amplified Warlock can create two sets of chains and double the number of opponents hit with that lethal power. As for Aspects, here’s what Warlock can expect.
Arc Soul
The rift that a Warlock casts still creates an Arc Soul that will assist them and allies in battle. If amplified, any Arc Soul you have or gain is supercharged and gains an increased rate of fire.
Lightning Surge
Sliding will activate the Warlock’s melee, transforming them into a teleporting ball of lightning that calls down a field of lightning bolts at the exit point and jolts targets.
Electrostatic Mind
Arc ability kills and kills on Arc-debuffed enemies create Ionic Traces that amplify you when collected.
Titan
Fist of Havoc Titan
Titans essentially become juggernauts with Arc 3.0, unstoppable forces of nature that are designed to move fast and punch hard when they reach their final destination. To maximize the potential for fist-to-face techniques, Titans have Fist of Havoc and Thundercrash Supers in Arc 3.0. Fist of Havoc is largely unchanged, but it now has an adjusted slam radius that pulls from both of its skill-trees and leaves a damaging field in its wake. Using it as an aerial attack adds a damaging area of effect element.
Thundercrash now has noticeable advantages when used in specific situations with Arc 3.0’s intrinsic amplified and speed boost buffs, they can end up getting significantly stronger. With the Titan’s new Thruster ability that adds a quick burst of speed, you’ll have an evasion technique on par with a Hunter and an opportunity to make the most of that small gap to strike back.
Returning melees will be joined by a brand-new charged attack known as Thunderclap. Holding down the melee button charges up Arc energy that can be unleashed in either a quick powerful jab or held and built up to deliver one almighty blow. The charged state cannot be stored and the Titan must be on the ground to charge the punch, but the damage is significant in PvP especially. A Thunderclap at 90% of its charge will one-shot kill an opposing Guardian, but it’s a move with high risk attached to that high reward.
For Aspects, here’s what Titans can choose from:
Touch of Thunder:
This Aspect improves Arc grenades in the following ways:
Flashbang: Fires an additional blind impulse on its first bounce.Pulse: When the grenade damages an enemy, it creates an Ionic Trace. Pulse Grenade damage also increases over time as the grenade lingers after impact.Lightning: The grenade ability gains an additional charge and jolts targets on the initial blast.Storm: A roaming thundercloud is formed and tracks down enemies, firing lightning bolts at the ground underneath it.
Juggernaut
While sprinting and with full class ability energy, the Titan gains a frontal shield that can block incoming damage. An amplified Titan gains a stronger shield, and once depleted, your class energy is exhausted.
Knockout
Melee kills will trigger health regeneration and add amplified to a Titan. Critically wounding an enemy or breaking their shield briefly increases melee range and damage and a Titan’s base melee attack becomes Arc-empowered while Knockout is active.
Fragments
Arc 3.0
Like the other subclasses, Arc 3.0 will also introduce a suite of new Fragments that can be mixed and matched to customize the abilities of your Guardian. Bungie revealed a few of them, ahead of Arc 3.0’s official debut.
Spark of Beacons
When amplified, Arc special weapon kills create a blinding explosion–better get Riskrunner ready.
Spark of Resistance
When surrounded by enemies, you’ll gain increased damage resistance.
Spark of Momentum
Sliding over ammo will reload your weapon and grant a small amount of melee energy. Sliding over Heavy ammo adds additional energy.
Spark of Shock
Arc grenades apply jolt to enemies.
To complement the class-specific Aspects, Arc 3.0 will also introduce a suite of new Fragments, which offer new perks to build upon as well as add bonuses (or penalties) to your Guardian’s intrinsic stats.
For more details, don’t forget to tune into the Destiny 2 showcase on August 23, where Bungie will reveal more about the future of the game, the next expansion, and other changes on the horizon.
GameSpot – Game News
