So, as everyone knows by now I am sure, the Hunter's usefulness is a hotly contested issue, while most seem to agree that the Titan and Warlock are in a good place, though many don't like Cataclysm (the Slova Bomb) in one of the Voidwalker Trees. I was thinking about how you would break down what makes a class good. So I thought of a few factors to use in comparing them: 1) Ability to kill enemies (DPS) 2) Ability to help the team (Utility) 3) The "Fun Factor" (How much fun it is to play) So which classes stack up well and where? [b]TITAN[/b] I started with the Titan because, frankly, I think it is currently the best class in the game. [u]DPS: [/u] Obviously all characters have the ability to do similar DPS since they can all use the same weapons. This comes down to class abilities. The Titan's reloading Barricade increases DPS dramatically. I watched a video of a player in the Inverted Spire using Sweet Business (the minigun exotic auto-rifle). This Titan was able to burn through its entire ammo reserve without stopping one time. They just held down the trigger and as their ammo got low, they would hit crouch and stand back up immediately and the weapon was reloaded. This allowed them to keep Sweet Business at its maximum RoF the entire time, pouring an ungodly amount of damage into Protheon. Moreover, the Titan can do this for his entire fireteam. I don't think anyone else can match this in terms of boosting total DPS for himself and the team. [u]Utility:[/u] The Titan has so much team utility. Barricade can grant an enormous amount of DPS to teammates by reloading for everyone. The Sentinel can literally block enemy supers with his shield, or he can drop a bubble that grants Armor of Light and protects the whole team. Additionally, the Sentinel's melee grants nearby teammates an overshield on a kill, that is nuts. I don't think any class comes close to the overall Utility of the Titan. [u]Fun:[/u] This is the hardest one because it is subjective, and I think it is actually where most of the debate is going on. People find different classes fun, and they mistake the "Fun Factor" for actual DPS and Utility. Essentially, people defend what they like. I think the Titan is extremely freaking fun. While the Sentinel is clearly the most versatile subclass in teh game now, I had the most fun on the Striker of any of the subclasses during the beta. Two grenades, and the pulse grenade was awesome, make it possible to reliably get grenade kills, even with the now weaker grenades. With Pulse grenade leaving the damaging field you could do some great area denial. Also, being able to run around shoulder-charging people and dropping three freakign Fists of Havoc was insane. I easily performed the best with this subclass of all the subclasses in the beta. Striker felt the easiest and most intuitive to use, and it felt the most fun to me. Sentinel was also very fun. [b]WARLOCK[/b] [u]DPS:[/u] I think the Warlock has the second highest DPS potential, thanks to his rifts. The weapons of light rift will clearly boost DPS for the warlock and any of his teammates who take advantage of the rift. Additionally, the healing rift can boost DPS simply by keeping you in the fight instead of running for cover. Both the Dawnblade and the Voidwalker also have teh ability to make enemies explode and do AoE damage on a melee kill, which is pretty cool, and the Dawnblade can dodge almost constantly while airborne and also drop from the sky to heal, keeping him in the fight and doing damage. [u]Utility:[/u] Again, very high Utility. Can heal teammates or buff damage for entire team, which will be amazing for boss DPS phases. Other than its class ability, Warlocks don't offer their teammates a lot of utility that I can see, but the rift alone will be highly desirable on raids. [u]Fun[/u]: Again, highly subjective, but I found Warlocks to be the least fun. They were a very good class, and offered a lot of great stuff, and there is no reason to dislike them that I can see, but I just had the least fun with the Warlock in the beta. The Warlock lacked "wow," if you know what I mean, even though he was very good overall. [b]HUNTER[/b] I'll be perfectly frank, I think the Hunter is the worst class in Destiny 2 by a healthy margin, but since there is a subjective element, not everyone will agree. [u]DPS:[/u] The Hunter overall seems to have the lowest DPS potential in the game, with the possible exception of the Gunslinger running Way of the Sharpshooter. The Hunter can dodge to reload his weapons, but the dodge animation is, frankly, not significantly faster than the reload animation. If you are running Way of the Outlaw and have Chains of Woe, the dodge/reload is actually slower than just reloading. The Gunslinger has the potential to boost team DPS significantly via Chains of Woe granting a team buff to reload speed (which won't be as effective as the never-ending firing of the Titan's small barricade, but can be used on the move, so it is situationally better), or by granting a boatload of Orbs via the Way of the Sharpshooter with Golden Gun precision shots. The Arc Strider is out in the cold. He has the lowest DPS potential in the game. He has not one ability that boosts team DPS, leaving him with basically just his dodge/reload to give him an itty bitty boost to damage. Arc Strider's melee/dodge perk doesn't even renew his melee unless enemies are nearby, but the dodge grants no iFrames and it is easy to track, so dodging with enemies nearby is often a death sentence. The Gunslinger will have a place in high-end PvE, but the Arc Strider Won't. Even his ability to clear adds with Arc Staff will not be enough because most of the other classes have supers capable of killing just as many adds (three Fists of Havoc combined with shoulder charges can clear a lot of trash mobs). The Hunter is the overall loser in this department, but mostly because of the Arc Strider. The Arc Strider is the BIG loser. [u]Utility:[/u] It is very similar to the analysis above. The Hunter has no team buffs (other than Chains of Woe) or team healing abilities, and nothing that can boost team survivability. The Hunter might have some utility through Way of the Sharpshooter by granting teammates orbs. I suspect that Way of the Sharpshooter Gunslinger will be the only hunter build of the ones available in the beta that will ever see raids outside of a clan charitably agreeing to let a friend play their pet class. The Arc Strider offers no utility whatsoever that I can see other than Disorienting Blow in the Way of the Wind. [u]Fun:[/u] Here is where the Hunter shines, and why I think people are defending it despite its obvious failings. The Hunter is -blam!-ing FUN to play! Dodging is enormously fun, especially when you are playing Arc Strider and leaping around dodging bullets. The Arc Staff is incredibly fun to use, even if it is a bit unwieldy at times and takes some getting used to. The Golden Gun is also a blast because of its time to target. It is really satisfying to OHKO someone from halfway across the map. The throwing knife is also incredibly gratifying to use, especially if you land a headshot. I think the Hunter is maybe the most fun to play, even though he is, frankly, the most worthless, which is why many people are still defending the Hunter as a class, despite the fact that objectively he brings the least to the table as an overall class (though Way of the Sharpshooter will likely be quite viable). When you break it down, Hunter really has 1/4 subclass nodes (of things available in the beta) that is truly good for more than just having fun and PvPing. The other classes, on the other hand, are basically useful in both PvP and PvE on 4/4 of their skill nodes. This is why I think the Hunter is objectively the worst class in the game.