Before I start I should lay out my blatant bias for this post: I am an Arcstrider main. I love the subclass and its melee focus, dodging and weaving and ad clearing like no one else can. But I have one problem, and it's that Destiny 2 high end content doesn't exactly allow for that playstyle. Arc is a glass cannon, and is limited with healing, and its melee focus gets me killed more than anything since champions and tougher enemies deal a lot of melee damage, even with tier 10 resilience and running Flow State. Plus, even when I'm playing it safe, Arc doesn't have the same support capabilities for Warlocks, who I've started getting into. They don't feel like a Warlock, but rather just a guy who shoots lightning a lot. It's fun, but it would be nice to not die so quickly in high end PVE just because I can't use Cure, Restoration, Devour, or whatever Koolaid the other subclass have. So let's get started with the main portion of this post and my current solution to fixing my personal woes.
Besides Arc Souls, there are no other "buffs" that Arc gets, making it lack luster in the team support area. I want to change that. Add a new buff for Arc, we'll call it Overcharged, that adds Damage Resistance that stacks. We'll make it intrinsic to Electrostatic Mind, Lightning Surge, Disorienting Blow, Tempest Strike, and Juggernaught. Also add a new fragment that allows anyone who picks up an Ionic Trace to get one stack of Overcharged.
[b]Overcharged:[/b] Adds 5% damage resistance per stack. In PVP, maximum of 2 stacks(10%); in PVE 4 maximum(20%). Gaining a new stack resets the timer for being Overcharged. Total duration of 10 seconds regardless of number of stacks.
[b]Electrostatic Mind:[/b] Add "Casting your rift makes you and allies who enter your rift gain two stacks of Overcharged."
[b]Lightning Surge:[/b] Add "Defeating targets grants you one stack of Overcharged for each target defeated"
[b]Disorienting Blow: [/b]Add "and grants one stack of Overcharged."
[b]Tempest Strike:[/b] Add "Defeating targets grants you one stack of Overcharged for each target defeated"
[b]Juggernaught:[/b] Add "Charged melee kills while amplified grant you one stack of Overcharged"
This change fixes a lot of issues with Arc. Firstly, these changes allow for otherwise skippable aspects to get a boost in viability by adding much needed survivability to the subclass. Before, you could only heal with Titan melees, Combination Blow, and Warlock rift. DR was also limited to Spark of Resistance which just got nerfed and is too melee range focused. Adding Overcharged allows for Guardians to be better protected when pushing a champion or a boss, especially with how dangerous melee damage is against powerful enemies. With limited intrinsic healing, Arc Guardians need more to boost their survivability. Obviously if this buff is too strong, decrease how many stacks they can get in each gamemode. But given it's required setup with Ionic Traces, and the various class aspects and abilities, not only would it take effort to pull off, but it also allows for aggressive players who take Spark of Discharge or Spark of Ions to not have to be in melee, and can opt to take a safer and more distant approach(Warlocks in particular), all while still maintaing an aggressive playstyle since most of the ways of getting Overcharged require using an ability to get a kill. It gives them more options than simply running up to an ad and punching it and hoping to get your Combination Blow or Knockout aspect to start working.
The new buff also gives Warlocks a new support ability to use for buffing non-Arc allies, making them more viable in fireteams with various subclass members running. Amplified can't be activated for non-Arc Guardians, and this change keeps that practice but lets Warlocks fill that support role even better. I originally was opting for Speed Booster to have its DR given to Amplified instead, but with this new buff, I think it would boost the survivability enough to not warrant such a change. Jolt is a great debuff with how easy it is to setup, but I think it needs something extra to propel it to the same level as the others. With the additions to the various aspects and melee options, it also makes choosing one aspect or ability over another much more important for Guardians.
The only other change I would propose is make blind affect yellow bar enemies, but instead of blinding them it makes them less accurate. It's not a great debuff, nor is it blatantly bad. But it's more useless than any other debuff in the game, so making it have some sort of minor accuracy penalty to higher health enemies would make it viable. Plus the devs could tweak the strength of the inaccuracies, such as temprarily removing enemies from having their shots track to guardians while they are blinded. Something to consider.
Obviously this is all my opinion but I would love for Arc to get more love in the survivability area. I want to be able to run higher end content without having to run the same two exotics each game. I know Arc is supposed to be the momentum class, so at least let me stay alive longer so I feel like I'm being rewarded for that type of play. There are other things I wish they'd change but this alone answers a lot of problems in my opinion. Interested to see everyone else's thoughts on an idea like this.
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Maybe play solar? Or void? Solar titan is basically immortal (I hate that playstyle tho). We have different classes and subclasses for a reason my man. That's the fun of the game. I don't mean to be offensive here but you are asking "can I be GOD? Can I do a TON of damage and be immortal also?". And...yeah, that's not gonna happen.
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You said it yourself, it's a glass cannon, so either get better at surviving or stop using a glass cannon in harder content
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Generate orbs...i never had a problem with my hunter, quadruple 100's stats, basically 0 recovery, buf my main perk is recuperation, dont know how this will be on lightfall, but i dont have problems with survivability.
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LOL more resistance. Good lord the patrol mode athletes are having a fit today.
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Anyone see that Dr strange movie where they cundure a shield from aerial attack. I think that would be good for guadians all round
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The last thing this game needs is MORE damage resistance.
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Regret
Cater to casuals! - old
Bad idea no thanks -
They're adding a new fragment that gives greatly increased damage resistance while sprinting to all arc subclasses.
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Edited by Kalyx triaD: 2/10/2023 6:31:22 PMHonestly I think they're going for a glass canon vibe. I don't think Arc is a class about tanking damage, it's giving damage in bursts and darting away. But I understand how that's not matching the 'go forward' tagline of Arc. Perhaps if Amplified made you immune to any slowing effects like Wizards dark cloud, and Jolt deals heavier stun so you could strike and move. That would help you survive without being more tank-y than the subclass needs to be.
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Assassins cowl with one two punch shotty is viable in endgame. Watched a arc hunter solo scarlet keep gm even survived a thrall explosion.
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You can’t die if everything around you is dead…
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I just wish they were a bit less stingy with their aspect energy. Like gunpowder gamble. Literally you throw a bomb that go boom, and you have to neuter your entire build to use it. Which is why almost nobody does.
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Star eater scales, recuperation mod on legs, harmonic siphon, spark of amplitude, ikelos sub with voltshot. Wouldn’t use anything else in master raids other than pheonix/starfire well lock.
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Can't make good builds?
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could I get a TLDR?
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You'll be met with nothing supportive since you said you play Hunter. That's how it works
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The whole focus of Arc is speed. Not resilience. There’s Exotics you can use to add survivability if you want it, but it’s not inherent to the idea of the subclass.
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more survivability yeah, insane add clear + insane dmg res+ health regen , yeah is bad
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Try using assassins cowl
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A Hunter? What a surprise… Is arcstrider a tank? No. Therefore, it does not get as much dmg res. You have the deflect for a reason, USE IT! Same with Nova warp. (For clarification, yes, I am a nova boi). Nova warp is meant to be a wraith, NOT a metal-plated statue. Therefore, they have given it a teleport to evade attacks, and to escape from possible death.
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Edited by ARNAGHAD: 2/9/2023 6:36:09 AMFor example, when it comes to hunters - after all this time, void hunter is still huge advantage over the rest of them. Solar hunter dies as soon as a champ looks in his direction, arc hunter is stronger, but it needs to be in melee range so it gets smoked too, stasis is viable but drives the gameplay to a crawl and is a slog to use. This is a failure on their part 100%. Subclasses need to be more balanced than this and no, not by nerfing those that are good so that they all suck equally.
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you must be crazy if you think we need more dmg resistances in this game
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Arc titan, the unstoppable train, the flying missile of doom, the cant stop won't stop for the objective im getting kills with my fist, you want those to be harder to kill...
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Edited by mayo68: 2/9/2023 11:30:30 AMMy stormcaller is liking everything you are serving sir! Tuff to get my freak on while hiding in cover. [spoiler]JUST LET BLINK HEAL[/spoiler]
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More dmg resistance? Are you out of your mind? Change your sub class if you want.
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I just want an option on Stormcaller to get a heal off of melee kills like Hunter and Titans, is that too much to ask for???