Bungie breaks down Arc 3.0, gives Hunters another Super in Destiny 2

Bungie has broken the silence regarding Destiny 2‘s upcoming Arc 3.0 rework with a lengthy blog post today, outlining in detail how the upcoming system will change the lightning-based subclasses. While all characters are getting more firepower under their belt, Hunters will also receive another Super ability, which has been a long-standing request from some players.

The detailed breakdown is a contrast to Solar 3.0, which launched alongside Season of the Haunted. Ahead of Haunted’s launch, Bungie released little information about the season or the Solar 3.0 rework, and fans hoped to receive more detail about upcoming gameplay aspects before the new season releases.

Related: All Destiny 2 Arc 3.0 Aspects and Fragments

The core fantasy for Arc 3.0 is “go fast and hit stuff,” the blog post reads. To do that, the team will bring three new keywords to the mix: blind, jolt, and amplify. Amplify, the new Arc buff, allows guardians to be faster “both in terms of movement speed and in terms of their weapon handling,” and sprinting even longer after becoming Amplified will grant “a sizable PvE damage resistance buff.” Becoming Amplified doesn’t require specific Fragments or Aspects, though some of them will synergize with the new buff.

With Amplify buffing guardians, Bungie also revealed the debuffs for enemies with Arc 3.0: Jolt and Blind. Blinded enemies, as its name says, can’t see or fire their weapons in PvE, and opposing guardians “will have their screen whited out and their HUD removed for a short period of time,” as well as a ringing sound effect, according to the blog post. Jolt, on the other hand, will make enemies periodically chain lightning to nearby enemies.

Though not a keyword itself, Bungie will also bring Ionic Traces to all subclasses. They were previously exclusive to middle-tree Warlocks, but all characters will have access to them when Arc 3.0 releases. When collected, Ionic Traces grant energy to all your abilities, and they can be paired with Elemental Wells for even more ability energy.

In addition to the new keywords, Hunters are also getting a new Super: Gathering Storm. The Hunter hurls their Arc Staff into the ground or into an enemy, raining lightning on them for a period of time. This offers an alternative to Arc Staff, which is the only Super ability pre-Arc 3.0.

Bungie also outlined the fantasies for each class and gave fans a glimpse at some of the tools they’ll have when Arc 3.0 releases, including some Aspects and Fragments. Hunters can expect to play like a “graceful warrior monk” and will have the ability to “get in close quarters quickly and effectively make a mess of their opponents in the process,” according to Bungie. Arc Hunters will also have the Blink ability, like in Destiny.

Warlocks, on the other hand, had two inspirations: the “lightning Shaman” and Emperor Palpatine slinging lightning from his fingers in Star Wars.

“We wanted the player to feel like they are channeling the power of the storm through their body,” designer Sam Dunn said in the blog post.

Warlocks will get a new melee Aspect, Lightning Surge, which allows them to “transform into a ball of lightning and teleport forward, calling down a field of lightning bolts at the exit point that jolts targets” if they use their melee while sliding. Warlocks will also have access to the Arc Soul as an Aspect, as well as the Electrostatic Mind, which grants Ionic Traces on Arc ability kills and kills on Arc-debuffed enemies.

Lastly, for Titans, Bungie doubled down on the idea of punching enemies and gave fans the new Thruster class ability.

“By double-tapping a button, the Titan bursts in their throttle direction at speed, performing a quick first-person evade, comparable in distance to a Hunter’s dodge,” Bungie outlined. Additionally, Titans will also get a new Thunderclap melee attack, which can be charged up for devastating damage.

In addition to the Aspects, Bungie outlined some of the Fragments coming with Arc 3.0:

• Spark of Beacons: “When the player is amplified, Arc special weapon kills create a blinding explosion.”
• Spark of Resistance: “When surrounded by enemies, the player has increased damage resistance.”
• Spark of Momentum: “Sliding over ammo will reload your weapon and grant a small amount of melee energy. Sliding over Heavy ammo increases the amount of energy granted.” This uses to be a Titan-exclusive feature, but all players can spec into it if they want to with Arc 3.0.
• Spark of Shock: “The player’s Arc grenades jolt enemies.”

Though these are not all the Fragments coming when Arc 3.0 launches, players can already start planning their loadouts and hunting down Exotics they may have missed ahead of Arc 3.0’s release. Players can try out Arc 3.0 for themselves when Destiny 2‘s season 18 kicks off on Aug. 23.