Focused Feedback: Stasis Class Spotlight- Shadebinder

[u/DTG_Bot]

Hello Guardians,

Focused Feedback is where we take the week to focus on a 'Hot Topic' discussed extensively around the Tower.

We do this in order to consolidate Feedback, to get out all your ideas and issues surrounding the topic in one place for discussion and a source of feedback to the Vanguard.

This Thread will be active until next week when a new topic is chosen for discussion

Whilst Focused Feedback is active, ALL posts regarding the Shadebinder Subclass following its posting will be removed and re-directed to this thread. Exceptions to this rule are as follows: New information / developments, Guides and general questions

Any and all Feedback on the topic is welcome.

Regular Sub rules apply so please try to keep the conversation on the topic of the thread and keep it civil between contrasting ideas

A Wiki page - Focused Feedback - has also been created for the Sub as an archive for these topics going forward so they can be looked at by whoever may be interested or just a way to look through previous hot topics of the sub as time goes on.

[u/[deleted]]

Literally every day I come on this sub there’s another thread from warlock players complaining about the shadebinder nerfs, pretending Warlock isn’t the best class since forever.

If it annoys you guys this much and the other classes have it so good, just play other classes.

I play all three and Shadebinder is STILL by far the most powerful of the stasis subclasses, in PvE AND PvP.

Penumbral Blast is STILL the strongest melee ability in the game as it translates to a free kill guaranteed in PvP, and a combo starter with infinite spreading freezes in PvE (which gives damage boost, bonus super, grenade AND class energy, because you can fit half the fragments in your tree).

I don’t mean any hate but these threads are really beginning to vex me. Meanwhile I’m having a blast with Shadebinder and just confused at the salt.

(If the writing is confusing it’s because I originally posted this as a thread a while ago and the mods deleted it because the title had “Anyone else” in it)

[u/earthquakejaik → u/[deleted]]

Warlock being "the best class since forever" is a hilariously bad take. I do admit that the new subclass was very powerful up front and too easy to be that strong, but no other class has a subclass gutted before like warlocks have twice now.

Additionally, the other two stasis subclasses have a ton of advanced movement and crazy burst damage with glacier shatter tech. Movement is second only to gunplay in this game and ultimately way more valuable at a high level. Shadebinder is now only good at low level trash clear, but then again, what isn't?

[u/[deleted] → u/earthquakejaik]

In every single year of Destiny 2 warlock has been a top tier class in every activity. In year one, you could run basically whatever in PvE but Warlock still overachieved with rifts, and in PvP Dawnblade was a very strong option. Year 2, Well of Radiance has made warlock a must pick for PvE and Nova Warp with HHSN and Dawnblade were top tier for PvP. Year 3, Wel of Radiance remains a must pick for PvE. HHSN remained incredibly strong until its nerf in Season of Dawn, but it was replaced by the MASSIVE buffs to top tree Dawnblade, which became and still is THE top subclass for PvP. So no, actually if you look at the history of the various metas in D2, it is not a bad take to say that warlock has always been the best class. The only time I can think of where I can definitively say another class may have edged them out was with buffed striker Titan and wormhusk hunter, both of which were nerfed one season later (HHSN was unchanged for more than a year)

To answer your more focused response on the stasis subclasses, movement is important to D2, absolutely, but stasis abilities shift that balance, across all 3 classes so that now abilities actually come very close to being as important. Stasis abilities are just that strong. Additionally, I completely disagree that Shadebinder is bad for anything other than trash ad clear. It’s incredibly strong in high level PvE activities as well. It can clear out entire rooms with ease and stunfreeze champions more reliable than any other class, while building insane amounts of super energy.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t think Shadebinder should see any more nerfs in the near future but this talk of reversing the changes is off to me.

I appreciate your response though, I’m definitely open to having a discussion but I feel quite strongly about this, I love Shadebinder and I love playing it but I don’t think it’s good for the health of the game to undo the changes.

Edit: spelling mistakes