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UNDERSTANDING SUBCLASSES
Last Updated: 05/23/2023
What are Aspects & Fragments?
- First introduced with Stasis, Aspects & Fragments are dynamic customization options for your subclass, enabling Guardians to wield their abilities in new and exciting ways
- As of Season 18 of Destiny 2, all subclasses now feature a variety of aspects and fragments to choose from, with more on the way in future releases of Destiny!
- This page will go over the variety of aspects & fragments currently in the game, how to acquire them, and offer additional guides from community members!
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Understanding Subclasses
Quick Information
Why did the Subclasses get updated?
- When Stasis was released with Beyond Light, Bungie introduced the new Aspect & Fragment system, a new way of customizing your abilities
- During Year 8 of Destiny (Year 5 of Destiny 2), Bungie reworked the original Light subclasses to the new system to provide better ways of using your light abilities, while also giving them new capabilities
- In Year 9 of Destiny (Year 6 of Destiny 2), Bungie released Strand, while also providing additional fragments to the existing subclasses to provide even more customization options!
Why don't I have access to Stasis or Strand?
- Darkness Subclasses are unlocked by their respective Campaigns:
- Completing the Beyond Light campaign will provide a quest to unlock Stasis.
- Completing the Lightfall campaign will unlock the majority of Strand, alongside a variety of quests.
- In Destiny 2, your subclass can be customized to fit your playstyle!
- This can be done by adjusting your super ability, your general abilities, and acquiring and slotting Aspects & Fragments.
New Light Experience: Unlocking Subclasses
- When you first start the game, players will need to earn XP to unlock some of the functionality of their light subclasses.
- Veteran Players who have been playing the game should already have the majority of their Light Subclasses unlocked.
- While some abilities (ex: Grenades) and fragments are unlocked by default, additional abilities and fragments can be unlocked by visiting Ikora Rey in the Tower Bazaar.
- Once purchased, an option to meditate will become available near Ikora − doing so will unlock the items that were purchased!
- This will need to be done on all your characters, and the items from Ikora Rey cost Glimmer.
- Darkness Subclasses are unlocked by their respective Campaigns:
- Completing the Beyond Light campaign will provide a quest to unlock Stasis.
- Completing the Lightfall campaign will unlock the majority of Strand, alongside a variety of quests.
General Definitions
- Super: Your Guardian’s ultimate ability that charges over time.
- Abilities: A variety of actions that your Guardian is capable of:
- Class Ability: Your class defensive ability that charges over time.
- Movement Ability: How your Guardian is able to move during gameplay.
- Melee: Your Guardians close-quarter ability that charges over time.
- Grenade: Your Guardian’s grenade that can be used, and charges over time.
- Aspect: General modifications to your subclass that provide additional enhancements for your Guardian to bring to combat.
- Aspects are unique to each class, per element type.
- Fragments: Used to modify abilities, exclusive to that element type.
- Fragments are shared across all classes.
Light Subclasses
ARC
General Overview
- Earn XP and unlock abilities by visiting Ikora Rey in the Tower Bazaar.
- Veteran players will have most abilities unlocked.
- Arc focuses on aggressive gameplay and speed.
- Arc jolts stun Overload Champions.
- Arc blinding effects stun Unstoppable Champions.
Fragments
When critically wounded, taking damage from nearby enemies emits a burst of damaging arc energy that jolts targets. This effect is similar to the old Armour Mod, Reactive Pulse.
You have greatly increased resilience, recovery, and mobility while sprinting, providing roughly +30 to each stat mentioned.
When amplified, defeating targets with arc special weapons will cause a blinding explosion, comparable to an explosive perk like Chain Reaction.
While surrounded, gain resistance to incoming damage. Passively provides +10 Strength. Works in PvP, and stacks with other sources.
Sliding over ammo bricks will reload your equipped weapon and grants ~10% melee energy.
Your arc grenades jolts targets. Lose -10 Disciple. Grenades that hit multiple times, such as a skip grenade, refreshes the Jolt Debuff duration (which is 4s).
Defeating a jolted target creates an ionic trace, providing +12.5% ability energy.
Defeating 3 combatants or 2 Guardians in quick succession will create an Ionic Trace. Works with the Osmosis Perk.
Charged and Uncharged Melee hits greatly increase your reload speed for 5 seconds.
After sprinting for more than one second will grant a +150% recharge buff to your class ability cooldown. However, you lose -10 points to the stat that governs your class ability cooldown.
While critically wounded, your melee and grenade abilities regenerate at a substantially increased rate until your shields begin to regenerate.
Your lingering arc grenades (Lightning, Pulse, and Storm) now last 50% longer. Great for additional territory control.
Rapidly defeating targets while amplified creates an Orb of Power. Orbs of Power generated are low-yield orbs, granting about as much power as a Siphon Mod. This fragment has a short cooldown.
Taking melee damage increases your outgoing melee damage by 75% for the next 4 seconds. Stacks with other melee damage buffs.
Finishers make you amplified for 15 seconds. Provides +10 Recovery. Additional finishers refresh the timer.
Defeating a blinded target with precision damage creates a blinding explosion, similar to perk-based explosions like Chain Reaction.
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Arc Keywords
- Amplified: Get amplified by landing rapid arc kills. Gain +50 Mobility, increased sprint speed, slide distance, jump height and +40 weapon readiness.
- Ionic Trace: A bolt of pure Arc energy that travels along the ground, seeking its creator. When picked up, Ionic Traces grant +12.5% ability energy (+15% for class abilities).
- Blind: Combatants are disoriented and unable to shoot for 10 seconds. Guardians temporarily lose their HUD and suffer from distorted audio for ~2 seconds.
- Jolt: Jolted targets periodically release chain lightning to nearby targets when damaged.
SOLAR
General Overview
- Earn XP and unlock abilities by visiting Ikora Rey in the Tower Bazaar.
- Veteran players will have most abilities unlocked.
- Solar focuses on support, either by providing healing opportunities or inflicting area-of-effect damage.
- When radiant, weapons can pierce Barrier Champion Shields.
- Causing an Unstoppable Champion to ignite will stun them.
Fragments
When you revive an ally, you and other neaby allies gain x1 Restoration for 2 seconds. Picking up Firesprites also grants x1 Restoration. Gain +10 Resilience.
Solar grenade final blows cure you. No cooldown. Works with PvE & PvP.
Your class ability recharges faster for 3 seconds when you apply Scorch to targets.
Applying restoration, cure, or radiant to allies grants increased grenade, melee and class ability energy for a short time. Lose -10 Discipline.
Improves target acquisition for Hammer of Sol, Daybreak and Blade Barrage, allowing your super projectiles to bend slightly towards the enemy mid-flight.
Solar weapon or ability final blows extend the duration of Restoration and Radiant effects applied to you. Lose -10 Resilience. Extends maximum duration of those buffs to 12 seconds.
Final blows with your Solar Super causes targets to ignite and creates a Firesprite. Provides +10 Strength.
Charged Melee attacks against combatants make you and your nearby allies Radiant. Works against Guardians. Works well with Hunter 'Knock 'Em Down' Aspect to refund melee ability energy.
Your Solar Ignitions spread +40 Scorch to affected targets. Provides +10 Discipline. Can be improved depending on your build, such as equipping Ember of Ashes.
Solar weapon final blows grant you and your allies increased recovery for a short duration, stackable up to 3 times. Increases airborne effectiveness by +20 when active. Also creates a Firesprite on Solar Weapon kills while this fragment is active. Lose -10 Recovery.
Defeating targets with Solar Ignitions grants roughly +10% grenade energy. Useful in crowded encounters.
Increases Radiant duration to 15 seconds and Restoration to 7 seconds. Does not work with Ember of Empyrean.
Your Solar Ignitions have an increased area of effect (12 meters). Provides +10 Strength. Recommended for Ignition-based builds for fiery explosions and area-of-effect damage.
You apply 50% more Scorch stacks on targets, applicable to both your weapons and abilities. With this, expect to trigger Solar Ignitions more often.
Defeating 2 or more targets with Solar Ignitions generates an Orb of Power. Orbs of Power generated are low-yield orbs, granting about as much power as a Siphon Mod.
Defeating Scorched Targets grant 20% melee energy. Also creates a Firesprite. Provides +10 Recovery. Works well with Titan melee builds.
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Solar Keywords
- Cure: You are healed in a burst of Solar Light, restoring a set amount of health and shields based on the number of Cure Stacks you have. Applicable in PvE & PvP, though diminished effects in Crucible.
- Restoration: Continuously regain health and shields over time without interruption, lasting several seconds.
- Radiant: Your weapons gain a 25% damage boost in PvE, and 10% in PvP, lasting from 10-15 seconds depending on your build.
- Firesprite: An fiery substance created by fragments or certain gear that provides grenade ability energy upon pickup.
- Scorch: A debuff that causes damage over time that increases in magnitude with each source of Scorch applied. If the Scorch stacks reach x100, the enemy will ignite. Applicable in PvP as well, though Scorch cannot kill a Guardian.
- Ignite: A large solar explosion that causes damage over an 8-meter radius. All enemies can ignite. There is a damage falloff, though this can be improved depending on your build.
VOID
General Overview
- Earn XP and unlock abilities by visiting Ikora Rey in the Tower Bazaar.
- Veteran players will have most abilities unlocked.
- Void focuses on stealth and support capabilities, as well as weakening debuffs that allow Guardians to inflict better overall damage.
- Volatile Rounds can pierce Barrier Champion Shields.
- Void Suppression stun Overload Champions.
Fragments
Finisher final blows create a burst of Void Damage that causes nearby enemies to become Volatile. Defeating Volatile targets creates a Void Breach.
Defeating a target when your shields are depleted grants you a temporary Void Overshield.
Void ability kills cause enemies to explode. Provides +10 Intellect. Works in PvE & PvP.
Damaging enemies with grenades grant +10% melee energy. Lose -10 strength. Works best with lingering grenades (Vortex, Void Wall & Spike Grenades) as they provide +5% melee energy per damage tick.
Melee final blows (Charged/Uncharged) grant +10% grenade ability energy. Works in PvE & PvP. Works with Glaive Melee kills as well.
Your lingering grenades (Vortex, Void Wall, Void Spike & Axiom Bolt) last 50% longer. Works in synergy with the Voidwalker Aspect, 'Chaos Accelerant.'
Final blows while surrounded by 3 or more enemies grant small amounts of Super Energy. Stackable with other super energy boosting perks.
Void grenades weaken enemies. Lose -20 Discipline. Lingering grenades refresh the weaken debuff. Works in both PvE & PvP.
Void buffs applied to you (Devour by 50%, Invisibility by 2 seconds, and Overshield by 50%) have an increased duration. Lose -10 points to the stat that governs your class ability cooldown.
Melee Final Blows (Charged/Uncharged) start health regeneration for you and nearby allies. Provides +10 Resilience. Works in PvE & PvP. Improve benefits of this fragment by focusing on your recovery stats.
After suppressing a target, gain +30 mobility for 10 seconds and create a Void Breach. Your equipped weapons are reloaded from reserves. Provides +10 Discipline. Works in PvE & PvP.
While crouched, you gain maximum movement speed and an enhanced radar that tracks targets from more precise angles. Provides +10 Mobility & +10 Intellect.
Defeating targets with grenades grants Volatile Rounds to your Void Weapons for 10 seconds. Works in PvE & PvP. Works best with rapid-fire weapons, especially Machine Guns.
Defeating weakened targets with precision final blows will create an orb of power and a Void Breach. Provides +10 Intellect. Orbs of Power generated are low-yield orbs, granting about as much power as a Siphon Mod.
Finisher Final Blows grant invisibility for 5 seconds. The duration of this fragment can be extended to 7 seconds by equipping Echo of Persistence.
Picking up an Orb of Power or a Void Breach grants Devour for 5 seconds. Duration can be extended by killing enemies or by picking up additional orbs. This fragments duration can be extended by equipping Echo of Persistence.
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Void Keywords
- Devour: Final blows fully restore health, grants +15% grenade energy, and additional shield recovery per kill. Lasts for 10 seconds.
- Invisibility: Turns your Guardian invisible, preventing PvE combatants from shooting you and hides you from the radar in PvP until you attack or duration ends. In PvP, you will appear on the radar every 5 seconds.
- Overshield: Grants an Overshield that provides about 45 HP and +50% damage resistance (no resistance bonus in PvP)
- Suppression: A debuff that disables ability usage for 6 seconds. PvE enemies are disoriented while suppressed. Lightbearers lose access to their abilities.
- Void Breech: An energy particle created by fragments or certain gear that provides class ability energy on pickup.
- Volatile: Void particles that latch onto a combatant, exploding if taken enough damage. Applicable to both PvE & PvP, though takes much more damage to set off the explosion.
- Weaken:Increases damage enemies take by 15% in PvE and 7.5% in PvP. PvE enemies are disoriented while suppressed.
Darkness Subclasses
STASIS
General Overview
- Unlocked by completing the Beyond Light Campaign and the Born in Darkness Quest.
- Requires purchasing the Beyond Light Expansion.
- Visit the Exo Stranger on Europa for Aspect & Fragment Quests.
- Stasis focuses on slowing down targets or binding targets in a sheet of ice, disrupting the battlefield.
- Slow Effects can stun Overload Champions.
- Shattering Ice Crystals can stun Unstoppable Champions.
Fragments
After freezing a target with Stasis, you are granted +60 to Mobility, Resilience and Recovery, as well as +20 Stability, Aim Assist and Airborne Effectiveness for 12 seconds. Lose -10 Strength.
Shatter Damage is significantly increased when destroying a Stasis Crystal or Frozen Target. In addition, the blast radius of the shatter is increased to 10 meters in PvE, and 8 meters in PvP. Particularly effective for Hunters.
Defeating slowed or frozen targets grant you +10% class ability energy. Note that tougher enemies grant additional energy. Works in PvE & PvP.
Slow from your abilities lasts 2 seconds longer in PvE and 0.5 seconds in PvP. Any lingering abilities also increase by 2 seconds (both PvE & PvP). Excludes Stasis Crystals. Grants +10 Strength.
Defeating frozen targets grants +2.5% additional super energy. Lose -10 Discipline and Intellect. Stacks with other perks that provide super energy. Synergic with Ager's Scepter. Works in PvE & PvP.
Shattering a Stasis Crystal temporarily grants an improved grenade recharge rate for 5 seconds. Recharge rate increases to 200% in PvE and 100% in PvP. Destroying multiple crystals extends this duration. Works in PvE and PvP.
While you are within 10 meters of frozen targets or Stasis Crystals, you gain a 40% damage resistance buff in PvE (15% in PvP). Grants +10 Recovery. Stacks with other damage resistance buffs. Works in PvE & PvP.
Gain +5% grenade energy each time you take damage from targets. Does not grant additional energy from multiple targets. Works in PvE & PvP.
When near 2 or more targets, gain +2.5% melee energy per target per second, capped at 10%, stacking with your Strength stat. Works in PvE & PvP.
Damaging a target with a charged melee grants Nimble Arsenal that reloads your stowed weapons and grants +100 Weapon Readiness (Handling) for 5 seconds. Cannot be refreshed while active. Works in PvE & PvP.
Nearby Stasis Shards track to your position. Grants +10 Resilience and Intellect. Note that they will not track if you are invisible. Works in PvE & PvP.
All Primary Weapons in the Kinetic Slot deal +43% more damage against frozen targets and +100% more damage against Stasis Crystals. Does not work with Special Weapons. Works with PvE & PvP.
Picking up Stasis Crystals grant double melee energy (~20%). Works in PvE & PvP.
Collecting a Stasis Shard grants a small amount of Overshield, lasting about 10 seconds. Collecting additional shards adds to the overshield and refreshes the timer, maximizing the overshield gains to 100 points. This is a standalone overshield and does not provide damage resistance like the Void Oversheild.
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Stasis Keywords
- Stasis Crystals: A large crystal that freezes nearby combatants and slows nearby Guardians. Crystals can be destroyed, dealing area-of-effect damage.
- Stasis Shard: A small shard that grants melee energy when picked up.
- Slow: A stackable debuff that slows enemy movement, ability regeneration and reduces weapon performance. When the impacted target has maximum Slow stacks, the target freezes.
- Freeze: A debuff that causes enemies to be frozen in Stasis Matter. When additional damage is taken, the target shatters.
- Shatter: A debuff that occurs after being unfrozen by additional damage taken, causing damage to the target as well as dealing area-of-effect damage.
STRAND
General Overview
- Unlocked during the Lightfall campaign.
- Requires purchasing the Lightfall Expansion.
- Visit the Hall of Heroes to unlock Strand Aspects, Fragments and Grenades with Strand Meditations.
- Unravelling Rounds can pierce Barrier Champion Shields.
- Suspending Targets can stun Unstoppable Champions.
Fragments
Defeating suspended targets grant 20% class ability energy. Works great with Hunters with the Ensnaring Slam Aspect equipped.
Damaging targets with a tangle grants ~+10% melee energy, with tougher enemies providing additional energy. Lose -10 Strength.
Activating your grenade ability reloads your equipped weapon and grants increased weapon handling (readiness) and airborne effectiveness for about 15 seconds.
Finisher Final Blows generate Threadlings. Gain +10 Recovery. Only the Recovery boost is provided in PvP.
Picking up an Orb of Power grants Woven Mail. Lose -10 Resilience. This buff refreshes any time you collect an orb of power. A recommended fragment for most builds due to the number of orbs of power available during all activities.
Defeating suspended targets with precision final blows creates an Orb of Power. There is an 8s cooldown for this fragment.
Strand weapon final blows have a chance to create a Threadling, which seeks out enemy targets. No cooldown; requires about 3-4 kills to trigger this fragment. Stacks with Hatchling weapon perk.
While you have Woven Mail, weapon final blows create a Tangle. +10 Strength. This fragment is impacted by the 15s Tangle cooldown. Works in PvE & PvP.
Powered melee final blows grant your Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds for 10 seconds.
Threadlings travel at nearly double the speed and deal +25% additional damage. Gain +10 Intellect. Works great with Warlocks.
Landing rapid precision hits emits a severing burst from the target, inflicting sever to nearby targets for a short duration. Extend this debuff by equipping Threat of Contunuity.
Super final blows emit a suspending burst from the target, causing targets to explode and suspending nearby targets. Can also stun Unstoppable Champion. Gain +10 Resilience.
Dealing damage generates grenade energy. Lose -10 Discipline. Great for Titan supers that can suspend targets, nearly replenishing grenade energy instantly per hit.
Suspend, unravel, and sever effects applied to targets have increased duration, about lasting 50% longer. Gain +10 Strength.
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Strand Keywords
- Woven Mail: When this buff is triggered, you are sheathed in protective matter, reducing incoming damage. In PvP, this buff only reduces dmaage taken on the body (precision & melee damage is unaffected).
- Suspend: Lifts the target off the ground for a brief duration and is unable to move. In PvP, suspended Guardians can still move (though slowly) and fire their weapon to fight back.
- Unravel: Attacking an unraveled enemy will cause threads to burst out of the target and attack nearby targets. Once hit, that target will also become unraveled.
- Sever: When severed, the target’s damage output is reduced.
Video Guides
Subclass Optimization Video Guides
Subclass Element Guides
Titan Build Guides
Warlock Build Guides
Hunter Build Guides
Additional Guides
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