Destiny 2 devs gut Well of Radiance survivability in The Final Shape—but offer something in return

If you’ve ever played a Warlock in Destiny 2, odds are you’ve had to run Well of Radiance. “Born to Nova, forced to Well” is a common joke in the community due to the sheer utility of the Solar Super, but it’ll feel drastically different with The Final Shape.

With the new expansion, Destiny 2 developer Bungie is slashing the survivability of guardians inside Well of Radiance, making it much riskier to stand inside the circle of healing. To offset this, the developers are leaning more into its offensive capacity, according to a dev blog today.

The upcoming nerfs hit Well of Radiance hard, with a multi-pronged set of changes to its survivability, including healing and damage reduction received while in the area. Damage resistance gets a sharp cut: down to just 20 percent against non-boss enemies and a mere 10 percent damage resistance against bosses, as opposed to its usual 40 percent. The heal per second is also trimmed by half, from 100 HP to 50 HP—the same as two stacks of Restoration.

The tradeoff is guardians can now move around without worrying about losing their Radiant buff. Exiting the Well itself will grant Radiant for eight seconds, allowing guardians to be more mobile. As a corollary to the gargantuan changes, Well can generate an extra Orb of Power while within its radius and will heal players by 300 HP on cast.

Well of Radiance’s survivability could make a fireteam essentially immortal within its radius in most cases, paired with a strong damage bonus while inside the area. This made it a must-have pick in most PvE activities, especially on the higher end of the difficulty spectrum. It also led to anchored gameplay, however, where players would huddle inside the Well of Radiance area.

The changes aim to “push Well of Radiance further towards that offensive capability,” Bungie said, and a byproduct of those changes is letting guardians be more spread out. While it can help if a squad is too close together (say, using grenade launchers for damage on Pantheon Caretaker), the changes feel like a drastic departure from Well’s current form—which may be warranted to a degree, given Well’s dominance.

Well of Radiance was also noticeably absent in Warlocks’ Prismatic kit. The Final Shape‘s subclass is getting the Song of Flame Super instead—just like how Arc Hunters and Void Titans will have the new abilities added to their kits in the next subclass.

Well’s biggest alternative, Void Titans’ Ward of Dawn, is also being hit with major changes with The Final Shape. Its biggest draw, the Weapons of Light buff, is moving to the Helm of Saint-14 Exotic helmet but tweaking its survivability to apply in an area.

Fans will have to wait until The Final Shape releases on June 4 to understand the full impact of Well’s changes, particularly in higher-end activities. Until then, Warlocks will probably have to stick with Solar for a little while longer. At least they can use Prismatic guilt-free when it releases.