Lightfall is introducing the new Strand subclass to Destiny 2, but Bungie is also bringing some juice to the three Light-based subclasses when the new expansion drops by adding new Fragments.
Destiny 2’s upcoming Lightfall expansion will bring some major changes to the ability economy, Bungie outlined today. These tweaks will also add a few new Fragments to the Light-based subclasses, which will help pave the way for the Armor Charge system and also give these classes some extra flavor. The developer hasn’t outlined any new Aspects, however.
Some of the new Fragments “are intended as spiritual successors” to features that didn’t make the cut in the new Lightfall system, according to Bungie. This includes changes to Elemental Wells, which will turn into element-specific objects. Other Fragments should “open access to subclass verbs that some classes didn’t have before,” the blog post reads.
Arc subclasses will have access to the new Spark of Instinct and Spark of Haste fragments. Spark of Instinct creates “a burst of damaging Arc energy that jolts targets” if you take damage when critically wounded, while Spark of Haste increases Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery when sprinting. Spark of Resistance is also seeing some nerfs, dropping its linger time to two seconds (down from four) and increasing the number of enemies required to activate to three (up from two).
Since Arc already had Ionic Traces as a subclass object (which all classes inherited from Arc Warlocks), the lightning-based element is only getting a few changes. Solar and Void, however, are getting far more new additions to bring in Firesprites and Void Breaches—the element-specific successors of Elemental Wells.
Starting with Lightfall, all Solar subclasses can create Firesprites, which grant grenade energy when picked up. Bungie listed two new fragments: Ember of Mercy and Ember of Resolve.
Ember of Resolve grants Cure whenever you get a kill with a Solar grenade (and Starfire Warlocks are already salivating at the prospect of it), and Ember of Mercy grants Restoration to the player and nearby allies when they pick up a Firesprite. Reviving an ally will also have the same effect.
In addition to the two new Fragments, Bungie is also touching on Ember of Tempering, Combustion, and Searing. Triggering each of those Fragments will create a Firesprite, too.
Void subclasses will get access to Void Breaches, which grant class ability energy on pickup. Like Solar, Void will get two new Fragments and a ton of tweaks to existing ones.
The new Echo of Cessation makes nearby enemies Volatile upon getting a finisher, and taking down Volatile targets will create a Void Breach. Echo of Vigilance, on the other hand, will grant you an overshield if you defeat a target while your shield is broken, which comes in handy for clutch moments.
With Lightfall, Bungie will also update the effects of Echo of Domineering and Echo of Harvest to create a Void Breach when triggered. More importantly, however, Echo of Starvation will also proc Devour when collecting a Void Breach. Echo of Starvation gives players Devour when picking up an Orb of Power, which will play a bigger role in the Lightfall Armor Charge system.
While the changes are significant, Bungie hasn’t mentioned the addition of new Aspects in the blog post, meaning players who want more far-reaching changes to their subclasses may have to wait some time. In the meantime, though, the changes to Fragments in Lightfall are already enough to give players some more firepower—at least until they can unlock Strand.
