Destiny 2‘s Beyond Light expansion has arrived and with it a new destination in Europa, a new story, and new gear to collect. But perhaps the biggest addition for this annual expansion is Stasis, a new subclass element that allows Guardians to wield Darkness instead of Light.
The new Stasis subclass powers have been widely covered in the run up to Destiny 2: Beyond Light’s launch, and so players knew that there was a lot of potential in these new Darkness powers. However, what wasn’t expected is how game-breaking they would also be.
In terms of PvE, Stasis seems to be a nice addition to the game. The subclasses don’t seem to be too over powered and they offer some new wrinkles to enemy engagements. In PvP, on the other hand, the addition of Stasis is a complete mess.
If players have spent any time in Crucible since the launch of Destiny 2: Beyond Light, they likely have seen firsthand how game-breaking Stasis can be. From grenades that trap players in place to one-hit-kill abilities with no cool-down, there are so many aspects (literally) of Stasis that completely ruin the Crucible experience.
There are tons of clips online of players freezing other players in place, emoting to gloat, and then killing their opponent, who is helpless to do anything. Destiny 2 community members were joking when they said that Stasis would ruin Crucible because all players would do is throw grenades and freeze each other, but that’s actually what is happening. The freezing is made worse by the fact that players need to take damage just to get unfrozen.
It’s not just the freezing in place that is a problem, but it is one of them.There is also an Aspect for the Hunter Stasis subclass that gives it a one-hit-kill “melee” that has virtually no cool-down and is very strong. Moreover, the Warlock’s Shadebinder Super is so strong that it can damage opponents through multiple walls, and the attack does not cost any extra Super energy. Players could trap opponents and then damage them without any recourse.
Warlocks also get a melee attack that has extremely good range and that tracks from distance. Under the right circumstances, it can kill anything, even another player in their Super.
Destiny 2 has had plenty of overpowered weapons, abilities, and exotic armor pieces, but few feel on the same level as Stasis. There is genuine concern among the PvP community that Bungie will not be able to properly balance the Stasis subclasses for Crucible while also preserving their viability in PvE. Freezing a single target in a patrol area is just a different way of taking out an enemy. Freezing a real-life player in PvP is a free kill.
And with Trials of Osiris set to kick off its first weekend of Year 4, it’s likely to be total chaos. Matches could go either way depending on usage of abilities and nothing else. Yes, skilled players can still win matches using weapons, but the balance has certainly shifted. On a weekend when Trials of Osiris was likely to see its highest player count in some time, there may be a lot of players who stay away.
There was also a bug with the Witherhoard exotic grenade launcher that was certain to make Crucible a nightmare, but luckily Bungie disabled the weapon for the time being. Stasis is admittedly less game-breaking than the bugged Witherhoard was, but it’s still been a problem for most people.
Some think that Bungie should postpone/cancel Trials of Osiris for this weekend, but that would be the developer admitting that there is a problem with Stasis. No doubt balance will come, but it won’t be arriving so soon after Beyond Light’s release date. Season of the Hunt hasn’t even truly started yet, and players will want to at least see Stasis as promised.
At this point, it’s unclear what direction Bungie can take to get the Crucible back on track. Balancing Stasis has already shown to be a tricky proposition, but if the developer doesn’t do anything then a lot of Crucible fans are likely to avoid PvP altogether. And those that do jump into a match are only doing it for Powerful Rewards.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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