Destiny Needs more Build and Class Diversity

As of, what seems like ages ago, Destiny has officially been called an MMO by Bungie. Drastic changes have been made over the last year or so that slightly compliment that mindset and today I want to focus on the subject of one of those, more specifically, builds. Bungie has implemented subclass customization with the introduction of Stasis and the aspect and fragment system along with it. They’ve fleshed out the armor mod system so you’re no longer limited (as much) to what armor mods are allowed to go where. Seasonal mod slots on armor allow for season mod selection and the seasonal artifact offers a wide assortment of mods of which you can only select a few at a single time. The new redesign of the Aeon Cult exotics are the closest example of where builds could go in the future, but they only work really well when your team of three use them at the same time, amounting to what feels like one build for three people instead of everyone having their own build. I don’t think Destiny will ever have true builds like a “healer,” or “tank” etc., the game just isn’t built around incorporating that style of gameplay. One day I hope the game can inch closer to that. Everything they’ve done so far are nice additions don’t get me wrong, but every class still feels identical minus one or two subclasses, charged with light mods don’t do a whole lot and are more minor buffs than anything, and the so-called “meta” is nothing substantial because any weapon in the game works fine in any situation almost all of the time.

Class diversity is nonexistent, here’s why. Every class has the same three jumps mostly minus the hunter double and triple jump and why jumps are still “an ability” on the subclass trees blows my mind; I almost never change the jumps on any of my characters. Maybe in future, when all the subclasses are more diverse like Stasis, they’ll move jump abilities off the main tree and let us choose between different melee abilities instead since they’re way more important. Obviously still leave the jump options because different players are comfortable with different jumps, but they don’t have to be such a spotlight on the ability tree as if they have real significance. Every class has a grenade that sticks to a wall and shoots an element straight out of it, a grenade that does damage over time in a stationary area, and a grenade that tracks. Every class has a short range melee, a throwing/long range melee, the only outlier being the shoulder charges for Titans which are a mix of both. Every class has a roaming super or multiple roaming supers that essentially do the same thing just in different “styles” or element types. Every class also has a throwing super where you’re in the air throwing things like knives, scythes, hammers, or fire, and safety supers; bubbles for Titans, Tether for Hunter, and Well for Warlocks. I’d argue Warlocks are the most unique class because of their in-air dodges, glides, ability to hold your grenade to do different things, and the Well of Radiance, the best support super in the game. Sure the Hunter is the only class that can go invisible for like 4 seconds woo, or the Titan is the only class that can deploy cover, Crazy. But these small things aren’t build defining, at least not in the current state of what Bungie has designed Destiny’s builds to be.

It doesn’t help that Stasis is the only subclass you can actually customize. Once the Light-based subclasses get their redesign I hope builds will begin to stand out, unfortunately I still think they’ll be limited if subclass redesigns are the only thing that gets updated. It’ll be a lot like Destiny 1, sure we had what we called builds back then via switching out certain ability perks and messing around until something really clicked, but how long will it take for Bungie to get to that point. Stasis has one super for each class, Bungie’s got nine other subclasses to break apart, we could be waiting ages for them to be updated. Even back in D1 the classes still felt the same minus certain instances like the Warlock self-revive. More than subclass customization needs to be added to truly feel some sort of build diversity.

Charged with light mods is another good attempt at giving players the agency to build a playstyle and give a new flow to combat depending on what charges you with light and what happens when you are charged with light. But in the end it never really seems to matter because you’re still just using the same abilities and guns other classes also have access to. Charged with Light mods just increase your overall damage or ease of use with guns, or cooldowns/damage of abilities. No matter what mods you are running, your Titan build could be the exact same build a Hunter is running, minus some unique exotic that probably either increases damage of something or you’re using or a minor change to an ability that in the long run doesn’t actually matter because of how much damage we deal out as guardians anyways.

The same goes for all weapons in Destiny. The community constantly talks about the “meta,” when in reality the meta means almost nothing at least in PvE. You can take on the toughest challenges in Destiny right now with any weapon, if you could infuse blue gear high enough, you could run through raids in blue gear with no problem. How much damage you deal is more determined on your overall power level versus the gear you have equipped, meaning any gun will always work fine. Fusion rifles have been “terrible” for forever now but you can use them no problem, they kill things much like every other weapon in the game does. Very few weapons will ever be paired with builds because of this, because it really doesn’t matter what you use, it’s all personal preference.

The “best builds” or what’s “meta” is what does the most damage in the least amount of time, always. Those aren’t builds in my opinion.

“Meta builds” in Destiny are as simple as:

1. picking one of three elements you want to use
2. picking one of three supers (most of which act just like supers that other classes also have)
3. put on an exotic armor piece that does something like increase damage in some way with your chosen subclass
4. sometimes a seasonal mod will add even MORE damage too
5. That’s it.

Building your character to do more damage in a game where you’re already doing a lot of damage without a build is lame and doesn’t feel like you’re playing any different. You’re not taking on a role. I wish Destiny could get to that point, and until they do, Destiny doesn’t have true builds in my eyes.

I know Bungie wants builds to be unique and be a way to play in Destiny, look at the Aeon Cult exotics or the hand cannon Lumina or the changes said to be coming for subclasses, but they’ve got a long way to go. So unless you’re playing as an always invisible Hunter, a Warlock with your own turret army, or a Warlock using Lumina and Well of Radiance, don’t tell me you have a build in Destiny.