Hi again everyone! Its WillyT, back with another hot-topic post. I've been seeing a lot of talk on these forums recently about the ever-changing topic of balance, and wanted to throw my ideas out there. As always, lets be respectful in the discussion, and get right to it! I do want to preface this discussion by saying that while much of this topic will be related to PvP, I am not a die-hard Crucible player. I am a Warlock main who focuses on PvE and is the first to attest that I am not very good at that side of the game. I am mediocre when I play with clanmates (usually a 1.3-1.5 kd), but otherwise profess that I am effectively hot garbage. I'm just giving my take on this topic, as it relates to all aspects of the game. Everyone wants to be powerful. We play Destiny to feel like superheroes, with otherworldly abilities, and we all want to grow as strong as possible. The thing is, everyone has their own favorite class, with their personal loadouts and abilities that match their playstyle. This brings me to my main point, and I'm going to be blunt: Many players tend to get salty/mad when their class of choice isn't the outright best/most dominant class in the game, and when they ask for "balance", they actually want their class to be put back on top. I've come to this conclusion based on hours of discussion, both on these forums and with random players I meet by playing the game. Whether it comes to class abilities, supers, or exotics, people tend to have an issue with theirs "not being good enough", when in reality they are fine. I want to hit on a few popular issues people have, and break them down to see the fundamental flaws. We'll go through these based on the class that they affect. [b]Hunters[/b] I was first inspired to create this thread around a month ago, when I was in a Scourge of the Past fireteam with who was probably the most toxic player I have ever been with. Seriously, this guy was arguing that BEING toxic actually made you good, and started attacking me because I disagreed that Hunters always get screwed by Bungie. Lack of One-Hit Ability- I'll preface this by saying that I would be completely fine with Hunters having a one-shot ability, be it grenade or melee. That said, I don't think its something to complain about when you actually look at the comparisons in game. The obvious choice would be Titans with shoulder charge, and then Insurmountable which allows them to continuously one-hit melee people. This is annoying, but my Crucible-loving friends say its not that hard to shutdown with a shotgun. Secondly, you have handheld supernova for the Warlocks (which I main). While it is one-shot, you have to be at pretty close range. In order to use it, you need to hold and wait to charge for a second or two, and then can only walk around until you hit someone, making you an easy target at range. Bottom line--while annoying (especially the titans), these aren't game breaking, and Hunters have arguably the best class ability for PvP in their dodge. Lack of Armor in Supers (Golden Gun and Spectral Blades)- I think the lack of armor in supers is why Hunters tend to call themselves the most skilled class, and to a degree they are correct. These supers are what I would classify as the high-risk/high-reward type, where they are the easiest to get knocked out of, but have the greatest peripherals. Take GG--yes, it is the squishiest of all supers, and lacks the ability to shut down other supers, but that is only logical when you look at what it really is: a roaming super, with infinite range and insane aim assist, that is a one hit kill on a non-super guardian and gives you 6+ shots. You gain those abilities by trading armor and shut down ability--if it had those too, it would be broken. The same goes for SB: I constantly hear that people get shot out of it, but it has an exotic to extend duration, has crazy lunge and lets you go invisible while tracking through walls. Again, high risk, high reward. Blade Barrage isn't Good Enough (Especially compared to Nova Bomb)- This one is pretty simple: while BB and NB are similar in that they are burst, shutdown supers, there are some key differences between the two, namely the cast time and AoE. Blade Barrage does not do the damage of a Nova Bomb, but it shouldn't. Blade barrage is cast incredibly quick, with the fans traveling much faster than the NB, while the knives still have tracking. Also, BB can be thrown in two areas, giving a much wider potential AoE, compared to Nova which goes in one place. To gain these, you sacrifice total damage of the super. [b]Warlocks[/b] This is the class I main, so I can attest to a lot of this through hours of personal experience. "Everything We Have That's Good Gets Nerfed"- This is true, but also necessary. Nova Warp in the Fall was like what I described with Hunters, if their Golden Gun had armor and could shut down supers. To say a nerf wasn't needed would be ridiculous, it was as broken as broken could get. The problem arose when Bungie nerfed every aspect of the super, making it useless. They have since adjusted it and put it in a much more fair state. The same goes for Daybreak. The tracking on this super was way to strong, almost like the blasts were being steered by an AI. You could see this in Gambit, where invaders' swings would literally track you into caves. It is now much more akin to Hammer of Sol, with better range and speed, but lower AoE. "We Don't Have Good Exotics"- There is only one truly broken exotic in the game, a certain pair of boots that will be named later...Warlocks have some of the best support exotics to go with the best support supers in the game, making them must haves for endgame PvE content. Just look at last season's class exotics...I think most would agree the Warlocks definitely got the best one (and most fun to use). "The Majority aren't Warlocks, and Love to Keep Us Weak"- The fact is, Warlocks are an easy class to play. They have a good combination of armor and speed, and have some great supers for both PvE and PvP. Only minor things need adjusting to make all of their setups usable. Their abilities won't stand out as much as a Hunter's when used properly, but its by far the easiest class to pick up right away. [b]Titans[/b] Titan is by far my least played class. They have valid gripes with the game (as do all classes) but some are just outlandish. Lack of a Shutdown Super- This complaint was pretty valid until a couple weeks ago. At that time, an exotic known as Peregrine Greaves was added back into the game. This should solve the issue of not having a shutdown super, as now Titans can have a shutdown melee--seriously, it one shots a Titan in a bubble shield. I haven't tested it on Blade Barrage or Nova Bomb, but it can shutdown any other super. Lack of PvE Subclass- This is somewhat understandable, but still has its issues. Titans may not have a Well of Radiance, or a Tether, but that doesn't mean they don't have their strengths. Bottom-tree Sentinel with doomfang is massively underrated, and Hammers is prime for ad-clear. In addition, hammers grants the option to use everyone's favorite debuff, melting point, which is used in tons of PvE boss fights. In terms of high burst dps, really the only thing thats very effective at that would be Golden Gun (preferably with Celestial Nighthawk). Warlocks don't have anything close to that damage either, its unique to the hunter class. Useless Class Ability and Crappy Armor- I won't deny that the barricade is not the most useful, but when you can have an infinite one-hit melee ability, I think thats the trade you make. In terms of titan armor, there is a lot of bad stuff, but thats the case with all classes, and Titans have some of the best all-around armors in the game too. TLDR: Everyone has a mix of good and bad stuff, thats what balancing is. The most popular complaints are usually that the class in question isn't good to the point of being broken. That's all I've got for now! definitely leave your thoughts in the comments. Eyes up!