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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.
Edited by eternalazhrei: 7/25/2017 6:00:00 PM
1

I doubted Arcstrider for PVE, now I think I might enjoy it

I'm a much bigger PVE player than I am PVP. For PVP, even though I've gone positive Efficiency for most of my matches (while enemies were mostly under) and top first or second on my team (this less often, but still often enough), I think the upper skill tree could use some improvements. The melee synergy is not very useful in PVP as meleeing one person then another does not do much damage, and it's likely that an Arcstrider is already low enough health that they're going to go down before they can whittle their enemies down enough to finish off with a melee. But for PVE... my biggest doubt was being able to apply the super to a boss. Bladedancer was very limited in that it took a long time to apply its damage (unlike Voidwalker, Celestial Nighthawk Gunslinger, and Striker's all-in-one style of super) AND was limited to melee range (unlike Stormcaller's mid-range just outside boss AOE, Sunbreaker, and regular Gunslinger), so it kind of had the worst of both worlds. This meant that if the player attempted to use the super on the boss, they were going to get hit with AOE and pushed off after a couple swipes, and trying this again would get another AOE, which normally killed the Bladedancer. The choice was then between applying more damage from the super and dying, or living with having done very little damage with the most powerful ability in the subclass. Showstopper and Razor's Edge did not do nearly enough damage to consider using, so Bladedancer was mostly relegated to add duty and revives through invisibility. And once Nightstalker showed up with better abilities for of both of these situations, as well as good boss usage... Bladedancer fell by the wayside. But Arcstrider seems to be surviving these encounters long enough to apply damage, escape, and survive, as long as you start with enough HP and know your combos. A small number of times I've approached Protheon in the strike armed with my lightning rod and gotten told off for it by the big guy. Harshly. But for most of my runs I've been able to survive through the worst of it with the right combos (that Right-Bumper-twice-in-air spin attack seems to do some good damage). So it seems that Bungie has balanced this portion of the subclass (the super) pretty well. Let's just hope it stays that way. And if the second perk tree, with its better survivability during dodge stops damage instead of just denying target acquisition, Arcstrider should be able to withstand even more punishment. Maybe even deal a bit more if a lot of enemies are staggered by it the way the boss, Primus Cal'aug is in the most recent IGN Nessus reveal at 3:28: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5QlGmv8-5c I'll also just say this about the melee ability as it is something I only recently figured out and most people (from the footage I've seen of players) don't seem to understand. Combination Blow lasts between each hit and does as much damage as the charged melee, so players do not need to "melee dodge melee dodge melee" in order to get the most out of it. If you have a charged dodge but no melee, you can "dodge melee melee melee melee" until most of the things around you are dead. Just make sure to dodge again if you're overwhelmed and it will also trigger health regen. You'll chew through smaller enemies (the ones you were trying to melee anyways) faster this way. Most enemies that took two hits (Goblins, Hobgoblins, War Beasts, Psions, most of the Fallen) are now one hit enemies for a limited amount of time, and anything else that isn't a colossus or gladiator that has taken a bit of damage will go down in one shot too (legionaries, phalanx, you get the picture). And if you finish without either a melee or dodge charge... don't worry, dodge will be back up in about 15 seconds and you'll be able to melee again when that happens. So if a pack of War beasts comes at you, don't dodge between attacking each one, as that will just give them more time to attack you. Instead, hit them all in a row and they'll go down faster than Prince Uldren's ship in an energy wave. So, other thoughts? Ways Bungie could improve the PVP aspects?

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