Published on: Dec 4, 2015 @ 23:28
The heavily anticipated December 2.1 patch brings changes to our loadout, but perhaps more importantly, a thorough update for Titans. Bungie sandbox designer Sage Merrill has revealed the philosophy and plans to put the almighty Sunbreakers in their place, while giving Strikers/Defenders a fighting chance.
Bungie has always had concepts and ideas for what each class should embody – what role they should fill as a Guardian, how they act, and how they feel from a player perspective. For the first time, a specific class is getting serious attention in hopes that Titans will finally be able to realize their potential as front-line warriors.
Though extensive testing was done before releasing new subclasses, it will always remain a fact that the final result can only be determined after the player base gets to their hands on new content. That being said, Sage admitted to being surprised by the strength of the Sunbreaker and realized that the Titans would need some tweaks.
These are the KDR stats from Titans in 6v6 playlists… no surprise.
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Our Thoughts
Melee
Thanks to a 12.5% increase across the board, Titans can now reach 4.5 meters instead of 4. We’re incredibly happy to see this change, and it’s safe to say that Destiny fans at large will be happy as well. For a class designed to be “up close and personal”, it was nothing more than sad to see Warlocks reach the range of a shotgun while Titans swiped away at nothing with their “T-Rex arms”. Increased damage to the Striker’s melee ability means that getting up close might actually pay off.
Movement
The adjustment to Catapult is a surprising but welcome addition, however, only time will tell if the jump option will now be valuable. With the “Titan skating” method becoming quite prominent (using Increased Control to move quickly in a horizontal space), Titans are in some circumstances, the fastest class in Destiny. An extra boost to speed might create some handy evading opportunities but the jump still has tough competition.
Sunbreaker
Many have felt the burn of a Titan’s hammer and would love to see them ruined, but the changes to the ‘Thermal’ class seem predominantly fair. The issue of build variety was apparent, considering they rarely used different perks in PvE or PvP activities – Cauterize or die. A cooldown time on Cauterize and a reduction in blast radius/tracking on hammers means Sunbreakers will have to choose their movement and throws carefully, instead of charging forward pel-mel without a care in the world. A reduction in damage resistance, though slight, puts Titans in a position to be headshotted by high impact sniper rifles. This seems perfectly fair, considering all other supers can die from this as well.
Striker
Overall, we’re happy to see Strikers get some good buffs – maybe even a little scared. With builds being all about synergy, the up-close-and-personal Titan lifestyle might best be utilized with Striker. Combine added melee damage with faster sprint from Headstrong or more armor from Unstoppable and Destiny might be looking at its first true tank.
Juggernaut’s 14.3% increase and ability to be used in the air breathes a new life into a normally unused perk, which we’re always happy to see. These striker improvements give players a reason to choose other subclasses besides Sunbreaker, and we hope that Bungie continues to encourage variety.
Defender
Defender Titans will be benefiting from the melee range and improvement to Catapult, but otherwise, receive the least amount of changes overall. The gift of recharging grenade and melee abilities when a bubble is cast is certainly a welcome improvement, but it might stand to reason that other perks might have need some tweaks as well. We’ll be interested to see if Defenders are able to compete against the new and improved Strikers in the Crucible, but as a support class, it seems like they will continue to dutifully do their job.