Bring the Thunder: Inside Arc 3.0 Thoughts (Destiny)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Wednesday, August 17, 2022, 18:10 (831 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

Note: Brain is particularly noisy today, so this post is VERY INSANEdrive in response. Gifs, Multimeda, Links, long-stream-of-thought post... all the fixens. Thought I'd give a heads up here before the plunge.

Pictured: My Brain right now.

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... Powering that high-speed, high-impact goal, one of the prime inspirations for Arc 3.0 was the 2009 action movie Crank 2: High Voltage.

First of all, I already knew Bungie was the best Studio, but a reference to Crank 2: High Voltage? Fantastic.

Do Red Line next! ;D (Hint Hint)

So maybe y'all didn't notice (somehow), but I've really been anxious about Arc 3.0, and it's not just because it's attached to my little talked about Arcstrider. Well... a lot of the anxiety is because of that, actually, but also because Arc -across the board- is my favorite subclass, full stop. Well, sans one exception, the All-Bark-No-Bite that was the original incarnation of the Hunter Super back in D1. Other than that, pure fun. I can, with out fail... when I put on an Arc subclass, I know I'm going to have fun.

See Also... Arcstrider. And HEAVENS ABOVE! AAaaa! OH! OH are you all In for SO MUCH TROUBLE if I happen to cross paths with you lot in PvP, and I have a Super at ready.

(Somewhere I have a video of me in a Mayhem game with Korny on the other team. Alas, I can't seem to find it so this video will have to do.)

But... as I do, I'm getting ahead of myself.

“Arc is really just, ‘go fast and hit stuff,’” said Destiny designer Sam Dunn, when asked about the core fantasy that powered the Arc 3.0 revamp. “We call it the ‘hold W’ subclass. Everything is built around moving forward and enabling aggression and those abilities." ...[it then goes to the quote above]

Yep! This is also why I've at times mentioned how Nova Warp could have been my Void Arcstrider had it not been apparently irrecoverably nerfed to half, because... THEY FEAR IT!

It really straddles the line between void ideals and arc, as it should because "Warlock", but... ANYWAY... what are we talking about again?

Arc 3.0

Alright, keyword chatter time.

Amplified

An amplified Guardian is faster—both in terms of movement speed and in terms of their weapon handling—and more agile, able to perform long slides that can function as a devastating setup for some of the attacks that follow. Unlike other damage type buffs (Void’s invisibility or Solar’s radiant), players don’t need to equip any specific Aspects or Fragments to become amplified. By default, all Arc classes become amplified after rapidly defeating targets with any Arc damage, and equipped Aspects and Fragments offer additional ways to become or benefit from being amplified.

After sprinting for a few seconds, an amplified Guardian will gain another boost in speed (as designer Mike Humbolt put it, “basically as fast as we can make our sprint animation go”), gaining a sizable PvE damage resistance buff, and enabling an even-longer slide ability. (Imagine full-on Metroid speed booster mode, only Samus is now wielding Gjallarhorn). Even if a player is no longer amplified, as long as they keep sprinting, the Speed Booster buff will stay active.

Oh hey. Look at that. A Metroid Reference. I wonder why...

...anywho, this fills me with equal parts thrill and dread. PvE is the thrill, and my playtime in PvP is the dread. Folks are already *blip'n* around the map at plaid-like speeds, and now Bungie is saying that for those in the Arc subclass, they have pushed it "as fast as we can make our sprint animation go" by default?

Hey Squid, wouldn't happen to have an extra pair of GEMINI JESTER you could loan out, would ya?

As for PvE, while I didn't quote it here, the addition of "PvE damage resistance" as part of this whole "Speed Booster" thing really has me interested. You see, this perk is already in part on one of the Arc Mods I've used for builds. And, while mods aren't getting refreshed until Lightfall, I wonder if this could be stacked?

Blind

Blinded opponents in PvE won’t be able to see (naturally) and will also be disoriented and unable to fire their weapon. In PvP, blinded opponents will have their screen whited out and their HUD removed for a short period of time alongside a distorted, washed-out audio effect.

Spark of Beacons fragment: When the player is amplified, Arc special weapon kills create a blinding explosion.

Well folks, click the embedded video below to see what Season 18 will look like.

Arc 3.0 looks pretty insane... pic.twitter.com/dsozUJJ11i

— DefyFly (@DefyFly) August 17, 2022

... or in the event the tweet no longer works here is a picture ...

While I presume, due to the seriousness of such things, Bungie has done their due scientific and medical diligence to make sure the epileptic Destiny players are reasonably safe... man I'm not sure. I CERTAINLY was not expecting "Blind" to get the Fragment Treatment. And yes, while there is a prerequisite to proc even more blind into the mix, I have to wonder.

All my ask is one question, one word; FREQUENCY? All you have to do to proc that fragment is "rapidly defeating targets with any Arc damage", or other "additional ways to become or benefit from being amplified" and any special Arc Weapon gets Blind. A quick check says there are currently 171 arc special weapons (including sunset), but WHEN everyone is running Arc next season, what is that going to look like?

From text alone, and all the errors "what if" questions bring, I'm not sure if this is going to be fun. I just keep wondering how much this could be abused, much like Shatterdive was with Stasis. "Unable to fire their weapon" indeed.

Instead, I was really expecting a glow up on...

Jolt

Jolted opponents who are damaged will periodically send slivers of chain lightning out to nearby enemies, damaging them in the process.

Spark of Shock: The player’s Arc grenades jolt enemies.

...but there isn't really, it seems. In fact, I'm surprised about how little is talked about in this write up. Then again, it's not like this needs much an introduction, as to play this game long enough is to find yourself on the other end of a Dune Marchers Jolt or Warlock "Arc Web" (Top Tree Perk - Grenades chain lightning to nearby enemies upon detonation.)

Only other thing to say is how surprised I am at how few adjectives there are, and I hope they've made Ionic Traces track even harder, seeing as we'll be zipping all over the place now apparently.

Alrighty then. Class Stuff.

HUNTER

TL;DR:

A Hunter dashing forward crackling with the power of Arc lightning is a sight that is sure to strike fear in the heart of any enemy. As with previous subclass revamps, the team had definite images in mind when considering what the new Arc should feel like in combat. For Hunter, the team imagined the “graceful warrior monk,” giving the Hunter the ability to get in close quarters quickly and effectively make a mess of their opponents in the process.

“For Hunters we wanted to reward staying in close and being safe while you're in close quarters with an enemy, which is very difficult to do in a lot of our content,” said Humbolt. “We wanted to give them tools to stay alive while they either closed the gap or were in a melee combo. That came primarily in the form of giving them crowd control tools.”

What has been described here is the default I know. Come on Bungie... whatya got!

To that end, the Hunter’s Arc Staff Super is returning. With Arc Staff, Hunters will be able to block and deflect projectiles with a press of a button as well as perform an armored dodge where, upon dodging, the Hunter is more resistant to incoming damage.

But one Super just didn’t seem like enough to the team, thus the introduction of a brand-new Arc-themed Super, the Gathering Storm. Here, the Hunter leaps into the air, hurling their staff into the ground (or into an unlucky enemy) like a spear. Upon impact, the staff emits a damaging burst that jolts nearby enemies. Soon after, a giant bolt of lightning strikes the staff and overcharges it, creating a large damage zone around it for several seconds—while overcharged, the staff sends out arcs of lightning to damage any enemies that move near it.

Well that's... disappointing. ...YEAH! I KNOW! That's not the first word you want to see upon description of A NEW SUPER! But, I am. I'm disappointed.

So this thing, this "the Gathering Storm", I'm sure is very cool. It's basically a purely offensive variant of a Warlock Dawnblade, and I guess that's cool. But... it's redundant. Maybe not for those poor sods for whom I have the deepest sympathy for, those who just can't make Arcstrider work for them, but... all in all... why "hurling their staff into the ground"? It's an area denial/crowd control super, but... Hunters have that. It's the Arcstaff. You can control where to push, where to defend and roam as need be to pierce the heart of whatever mob you find. Hunters did not need ANOTHER CQC area denial/crowd control super. They need a super that they can pull off AT RANGE, just as the community has been asking for! Check it! Warlocks have the ol' tickle fingers as CQC, and Chaos Reach for Range. Titans have Temper Tantrum CQC and "Be the Missile" for Range. Hunter has no range super?

WHY!?

If you're going to give Hunters the Titan Arc Super from D1, at least let us pull off a Zeus and put that sucker where ever we choose.

AS for everything else, melee and what not, it's all the kit I already know and enjoy and I'm SO OK with that. I was really worried that the Combination Blow loop was going to be taken out, and I'm so glad it's still in.

Nothing really to say about the Aspects, as it's all repurposed stuff that's already in the different trees.

AND THEN, THERE IT IS! BLINK IS BACK BAY-BEE! CALLED IT!

Oh, to both BLINK & ARCSTRIDER!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

And that is why I digressed about Nova Warp. Dang it Bungie.

WARLOCK

TL:DR &

Player fantasies don’t come any more vivid than what the team had in mind for Arc 3.0 Warlocks. Two separate images were top of mind: the “lightning shaman” and Emperor Palpatine in full lightning-fingers mode while turning Luke Skywalker into burnt toast.

Because, look... we all kind of know. There is no other electrified anything that has pieced into the social lexicon quite like StarWars very own big bad. It's just a given. They could of said, "You know" and the answer would be 98% Yes we know, and 2% post answer "What's a Star Wars".

“We wanted the player to feel like they are channeling the power of the storm through their body,” said Dunn. “Controlling the storm, controlling lightning like an elemental conduit.”

What follows is, basically, the kit. As far as I can tell, the biggest thrill Warlocks will have with Arc 3.0 is what ever combinations we get to make through the fragments. It strikes me that, kind of like how Hunters are the class for the "Radiant" buff, same is potentially true with Warlocks and all the buffs which come with "Amplified".

By and large, the only thing that has my curiosity peeked is the following aspect;

Lightning Surge: The Warlock activates their melee while sliding to transform into a ball of lightning and teleport forward, calling down a field of lightning bolts at the exit point that jolts targets.

Is it just me, or is that NEW. Like, new new. Strikes me as a... basically a Raiden Teleport from Mortal Kombat. If so... oh. Oh my that's cool. But it feels... off brand.

*Gif not found :(*

TITAN

TL:DR:

https://t.co/QQArHL30yc pic.twitter.com/KxjliaOfhJ

— Kevin Yanes (@_Tocom_) August 17, 2022

"Never ask me for anything ever again" indeed.

Titans haven’t traditionally been known as paragons of mobility but, with Arc 3.0, the team is shaking things up. The teams had a couple of inspirations in mind for the Titan Arc revamp: the lead-with-your-fists bare-knuckle brawler and the freight train.

“You don’t get to move the Arc Titan,” Humbolt said, “they move you. The Arc Titan’s ultimate goal is to punch you in the face and so a lot of what we did for Arc Titan was to try and figure out how we facilitate fist-to-face contact as much as possible.”

...

One of the biggest changes coming to the Arc Titan is the new Thruster class ability. By double-tapping a button while on the ground, the Titan bursts in their throttle direction at speed, performing a quick first-person evade, comparable in distance to a Hunter’s dodge. “Arc is the damage type that is about mobility, so if we were going to add a mobility boost anywhere [for Titans] it was going to be here,” said Humbolt.

As for my thoughts about this stuff gameplay wise, not sure. Titan is my least used class (worst jump #triggered) and such was even more true back in D1.

I guess I'll find out.

But then we skip along to the interesting stuff.

Those returning melees will be joined by a brand-new charged attack known as Thunderclap. Here, the Titan player holds the melee button and charges up Arc energy that can be unleashed in either a quick powerful jab or held and built up, to be unleashed in a furious One Punch Man-style blast that will devastate an opponent. The charged state cannot be stored and the Titan must be on the ground to charge the punch. The damage is significant: a 90-percent-charged Thunderclap will one-shot Guardians in PvP; but that reward will be balanced by the time it will take to build up that charge level and the fact that you must remain stationary to charge, always a dangerous move in PvP.

So, that's cool. But, um... Inner Warlock Main Speaking, this is bull shit. This should be a Warlock aspect.

Check it. Which does this "charged attack" sound more on brand for to you, DBO? Which fits more? The "'lightning shaman' and Emperor Palpatine in full lightning-fingers mode while turning Luke Skywalker into burnt toast" or "the lead-with-your-fists bare-knuckle brawler and the freight train."

Freek'n lightning shaman Warlocks that's who! But Here, I'll level with ya, I'll show you exactly what it should have been, key phrase being "lead-with-your-fists". Think Khepri's Horn Wall Hacks, but with your fists.

Here.

That, but electric. Punch Electricity through the wall. You ever see a .50 cal, and we're talking Titan Punches so it has to be at least a .50 cal, how it's a small hole on one side and LOL WALL on the other? THAT. You charge up your punch, like Warlocks can with grenades and... BOOM! The difference is the physicality. A passive channeling up electricity to the point where you can unleash lighting to totally atomize something? Warlock. Actively charging up your first, pulling that arm back for the hay-maker, like you're stretching taffy, and then following through? Titan. Using that round up to push arc light, THROUGH A WALL, with your fist! Very very Titan.

See? THAT! Is a Titan ability. STOP MIXING THIS SHIT UP BUNGO!

So... with that said, it's fine, I guess. It's just a one off. I guess I should have seen it coming with the "Thunderclap" Finisher, which even then I said... Hey that's Warlock not Titan. But hey, it's fine. Everyone is getting Ionic Traces, so I guess that doesn't count either. So Titans get one Very-Warlock type thing. Fine.

So anyway... what's next? Oh! Right! Aspects.

Ok Titans what did you get...

Touch of Thunder: Improves Arc grenades in the following ways...

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) OH!- SON OF A, BITCH! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

...lol. Maaaannnn.

And... what... what is this?!

Storm: Creates a roaming thundercloud that moves and tracks enemies (similar to the Stasis Hunter’s Silence & Squall Super), firing lightning bolts at the ground underneath it.

I say, with the biggest smile of disbelieving on my face, I hate you all. ...Son of a bitch. And that's just ONE of the things!

*large exhale of air*

We had a SIMPLE SYSTEM here BUNGO. Warlocks get the expertise with grenades, Hunters get the expertise with their class ability doing... WHATEVER THEY WANT if a Hunter builds for it, not just instant reloads or abilities, and Titans. They Punch, Eat Damage and, for Dessert, Eat Crayons. It was Simple.

UGH!... whats that? Titans had two grenades in arc? Well, yeah! That made sense for the class, they even have an exotic for it. The "Space Brute/Barbarian" can carry more. That's fine, but it should not suddenly mean that Titans can pull off stuff out from what has been an established core thing with Warlocks. Again, Two grenades? Fine. But the Transmog is a Warlock Deal. And as a Warlock main, I protest.

Sheesh... man I really do like this game don't I? ...heh... All this effort... Ah whatever.

Let me line this out for ya Bungo. What I'm aware as being the established as CORE FANTASY for each class.

Warlocks: We Transmogrify Abilities and Conjure Familiars (Arc Soul, Child). We can make one ability be something else. With the right Exotic combination, we can even change the abilities of certain exotic weapons. That's our bag.

Hunters: Stat Boosts and Weapon Focused, they don't change abilities, they change performance. Be it their own, or the weapon they wield.

Titans: Their thing is offense as defense, and defense as offense, all done with "The Direct approach". Nothing fancy, and always honest. Be it in their exotics or abilities, this is what they do.

!!

You switched it BUNGO! Look at what you gave Warlocks!

Lightning Surge: The Warlock activates their melee while sliding to transform into a ball of lightning and teleport forward, calling down a field of lightning bolts at the exit point that jolts targets.

This should be for Titans! I knew something felt off! You SWITCHED ASPECTS!

...as for everything else Titan, well, all I have to ask is, if Juggernaut is a thing once again, will this stack with MK. 44 STAND ASIDES?

And... that's all. We get a look at a two other fragments, but it may be best to only say something once we see the full set.

Cheers.