How Strand Subclasses Work in Destiny 2 Lightfall

The new Strand subclass has the potential to be a watershed moment for Destiny 2’s movement and combat mechanics. While the construction of the class will follow the system set down with Stasis and added to other classes with their own 3.0 updates, Strand comes with a host of new abilities, conditions, and systems that could crack an already fragile game into a thousand pieces.

Here’s a breakdown of what we know about the Warlock Broodweaver, Hunter Threadrunner, and Titan Berserker Strand subclasses. 

Strand Subclass Abilities in Destiny Lightfall

Announced in a new blog post, each Strand class has a different focus based on the fantasy Bungie wants to evoke while playing it.

• Warlocks have typically played a supporting role, and their abilities have focused on area denial, add control, and widespread rather than focused damage, among others.
• Titans are all about being in your face, with “punch” being their primary MO since the earliest days of Destiny.
• Hunters are the ninjas of the franchise, focused on mobility, debuffs, and the power to be in places no one would expect them.

That latter ability is likely to spread to all classes now with the new grapple power Strand offers, which has you consume your charged Grenade ability to summon a grapple point anywhere you see fit, including open air.

Warlock Broodweaver Overview

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The Strand Warlock is all about little energy creatures called Threadlings, “explosive minions woven from Strand matter,” according to Bungie. While all classes can create Threadlings, Warlocks specialize in them, with the unique power to make them and have those that didn’t explode return and follow the Guardian until they’re needed.

The Warlock melee is slightly less interesting, creating up to three tracking projectiles that unravel any enemy they strike. Unraveling is a new debuff that spreads Strand energy to other enemies when the first unraveled one dies, causing them also to be unraveled.

Warlock Broodweaver Aspects

It wouldn’t be a new subclass without new Aspects, and the Warlock, per its focus on Threadlings, has two strong ones.

• Weaver’s Call: On Rift cast, the Warlock weaves three Threadling eggs, which hatch into Threadlings when they hit a surface. Any perched Threadlings are converted to additional eggs.
• Mindspun Invocation: This Aspect improves several of the Warlock’s abilities:
  • Grapple: When you execute a grapple melee, the Warlock weaves three Threadling eggs from the target.
  • Threadling Grenade: You can consume your Threadling Grenade to generate a full complement of perched Threadlings.
  • Shackle Grenade: You can consume your Shackle Grenade to gain a buff, creating a suspending detonation on every kill.

The Warlock’s Needlestorm Super sends out a wide-cast net of Strand threads that embed themselves into enemies and the ground before exploding into an army of Threadlings.

Hunter Threadrunner Overview

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Hunters have always been the most mobility-focused class, and Bungie wants to take that to a new level with the Strand Threadrunner class. Besides the class-agnostic grapple, they can also attack multiple foes while in the air, and while Bungie didn’t elaborate, their new rope-dart somehow benefits from maximum agility.

Their new melee attack, Threaded Spike, bounces between enemies before returning to the Hunter. If the Strand reveal is anything to go by, the Spike can move through at least five enemies on a single use.

Hunter Threadrunner Aspects

The two Threadrunner Aspects continue their focus on mobility.

• Ensnaring Slam: While in the air, press the air-move input to slam downward, suspending all nearby enemies.
• Widow’s Silk: This Aspect grants an additional grenade charge. The Hunter’s grapple ability creates a persistent grapple Tangle when it latches, which fully refunds grenade energy when grappled to. Hunters can use this ability to set up chains of grapple points that their entire team can use, greatly enhancing their ability to move around quickly in combat and/or traverse the environment.

Movement is paramount in the Threadrunner Super, Silkstrike, as well. Aside from a light and heavy attack with their whip, Strand Hunters in Super can create persistent grapple points for their team to use that fully refunds already boosted grenade energy when Hunters attach to them.

Titan Berserker Overview

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Per the usual Titan playstyle, the Strand Berserker focuses on being in enemies’ faces as much as possible, this time with sharply woven blades of energy that sever anything they touch. Severed enemies are “less capable of affecting the material world,” meaning they do less damage.

The new melee ability for Strand Titans, Frenzied Blade, has them lunge forward up to three times to attack anything in their way. One of their Aspects adds Woven Mail, a damage-reducing overshield, while the other knocks the enemy into the air and suspends them.

Titan Berserker Aspects

• Into the Fray: Destroying a Tangle weaves Woven Mail unto the Titan and nearby allies. In addition to reducing damage taken, this Aspect also increases the Titan’s melee energy regeneration while wearing Woven Mail.
• Drengr’s Lash: When the Titan casts their class ability, the Titan will blast forward a powerful ripple in reality, suspending enemies caught in the shockwave’s path.

Bladefury is the Titan Strand Super, and like the Stasis Behemoth Super, it sees the Titan going straight into melee. Their attack speed increases up to three times on a light attack hit while the heavy attack unleashes blades of energy in front of the Titan.

Strand Grenades and Fragments Explained

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Strand has three new grenade types: grapple, Threadling, and Shackle. Grapple is precisely what it sounds like. The Threadling grenade summons three of the little buggers, and Shackle throws a bola that explodes and sends out a secondary one that suspends targets in mid-air.

We’ll get to choose from four new Fragments as well:

• Thread of Ascent: Activating your grenade ability reloads your equipped weapon and grants increased weapon handling and airborne effectiveness for a short time.
• Thread of Fury: Damaging targets with a Tangle grants melee energy.
• Thread of Finality: Finishers generate Threadlings.
• Thread of Warding: Picking up an orb of power grants Woven Mail.

Those are the big takeaways about the new Strand subclasses. It’s a lot to take in, meaning Lightfall is bound to be a massive upheaval for Destiny 2. Hopefully, Strand delivers on many of the promises we’ve seen. For more on Destiny 2 seasons and expansions passed, check out our guides hub for Bungie’s shooter.

Featured image via Bungie