[Top 5] Destiny 2 Best Solo Classes To Play

Updated:

13 Jan 2023

For the past few seasons, Bungie has been hard at work to completely revitalize the existing Solar, Void, and Arc subclasses to a brand new, 3.0 system. Using the same fragment system that was introduced with Stasis, and with new abilities and supers introduced, the new updates completely changed the way that you customize and use your powers. As of Season 19, all subclasses have been brought to 3.0, and with Lightfall soon upon us, it’s crucial to get a head start on which subclass is best for solo play.

But why Solo? After all, Destiny 2 is a game that focuses very heavily on its usage of Fireteams - and while that is true, a guardian must first master their own subclass in respect to their own capabilities and playstyles. Only then can you integrate yourself into your perfect fireteam. Understanding which solo subclass works best for you will also let you breeze through activities where you might not want to wait for your friends, such as lost sectors or campaign missions.

1. Voidwalker

Voidwalker weilding the void.

The Voidwalker is arguably the strongest subclass in the game right now. In solo gameplay, especially PvE, there is nothing better. Voidwalkers are known for three essential abilities: Devour, the new Child of The Old Gods, and Novabomb. All of which come together to create astonishing solo gameplay. In solo gameplay, honing these three abilities allows for the guardian to become an unkillable cannon of power.

Activating Devour lets you steal the life source of any enemy you kill, immediately granting you full health. With the Child of The Old Gods aspect equipped, using any rift grants you a void soul, flying after any enemy you shoot and debuffing them, causing damage as it provides you with grenade and melee energy. And for when you’re facing a boss, Nova Bomb releases a concentrated bolt of Void to disintegrate enemies (in my opinion, the best to use is Cataclysm which chases its opponents and detonates into smaller bombs that track nearby targets). Since Voidwalker has been around since Destiny 1 launch, there are a slew of exotics that work incredibly well with it to add even more fun to the subclass.

What VoidwalkerExcels In:

Keeping you alive, since as long as you can kill anything you’ll be granted full health
With the unique Blink ability, Voidwalker is also the fastest of the Warlock subclasses and can be handy for getting past enemies without taking too much damage
Novabomb is perfect for either clearing every ad out of a room, or for eliminating bosses easily.

Choose Voidwalker if…

You’re someone who tends to always find themselves with low health
You’re someone who likes the ability of having enemies being killed in one section, while you focus fire elsewhere (thanks to the power of the Void Soul)
Like Supers that can save you in a pinch and wipe your problems in an instant

2. Sunbreaker

Sunbreaker aiming his shot.

If what you want is an insane amount of fun while tanking any bit of damage thrown your way, Sunbreaker is the subclass for you. Sunbreaker, while amazing on its own, is really elevated by the usage of on exotic armor; Lorely Splendor. It’s due to this exotic that you can become practically immortal. Lorely Splendor can be collected by completing the Witch Queen campaign on legendary solo, and it’s mighty worth it.

In collaboration with the aspect Sol Invictus, creating sunspots which are boosted to insane levels with the exotic helmet. Your ability regen at breakneck speeds, you keep your super for a painfully long time, and you are granted restoration. The helmet also drops a sunspot where you stand when you become critically damaged, bringing you back up to health. This is great in solo where you can run and have the confidence that, if somehow you do get brought down to low health, you’ll have a sunspot at your feet to bring you back into the fight.

What Sunbreaker Excels In

Keeping you in the fight since it’ll restore your health should you become weakened
With the speed at which you regain your abilities, you can continue throwing grenades and melees without worry
If you wanted to run through a difficult encounter and not deal with the enemies, you could in theory do just that.

Choose Sunbreaker if…

You’re someone who doesn’t know when to get behind cover
You're someone who likes being the one to stand in the middle of a crowd of enemies and annihilate them
You constantly are wishing you had more of your abilities to use

3. Nightstalker

Nigthstalker taking the perfect shot.

If you truly are new to the game, and even a small crowd of thralls scares you, Nightstalker might be the subclass for you. While on the surface pretty weak, if tuned correctly the invisibility can be a fun and life saving tool to use, allowing you to attack enemies without having to worry about them killing you first. In solo gameplay, having the aspect Vanishing Step equipped is going to be your best friend. With this, your dodge makes you invisible to all enemies for a few seconds. You can also equip this with the exotic armor Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk.

With this piece, once you leave your invisibility state you have 5 seconds of a weapon damage bonus, and using a finisher in invis grants you an overshield and improves the regen for your next dodge. This works really well together because just in case your invisibility ends while you’re in a less than stellar position, you can have an overshield and buff to give you a bit of protection while you jump out of the way of danger. Plus, if you use the Shadow Shot super, it grants the largest debuff in the game to any opponent caught in its way, making it easier for you to take them out

What Nightstalker Excels In

Builds that have low resilience and can be taken out rather easily.
Weakening your enemies to an almost paralyzed state, especially useful if your weapons aren't the most powerful.
Giving you a time advantage since you can shoot an enemy before they shoot you

Choose Nightstalker if…

You’re new to the game and don't yet know how much damage you can really take
You like to depend on your special or heavy’s, since you can spend more time without shooting them by choosing to go invisible instead of opening fire
You prefer to plan your engagements, choosing to attack when the opponent is unaware instead of an all out brawl.

4. Stormcaller

Stormcaller eliminating humanities enemies.

In the wake of the 3.0 reworks, the Warlock Stormcaller has arguably seen the largest improvement over what it once was. While not as overtly powerful as the other Arc subclasses provided by Titans and Hunters, Stormcaller has some very smart aspects and fragments that really shine on the solo scene. The name of the game when it comes to Stormcaller is chaining.

Through fragments such as Electrostatic Mind, your kills can drop something called an Ionic Trace, which when picked up Amplify’s your guardian. In an amplified state, you run faster and have increased weapon handling, which in situationswhere you’re getting fired on all sides, it can truly be a lifesaver. The true beauty with Stormcaller also comes in the form of Jolting, which chains lightning to nearby enemies, causing significant damage. With this, you can use the (incredibly far reaching) melee to kill one enemy, chaining lightnight onto all the other ones near them. Stormcaller also has Chaos Reach, releasing a long ranged bolt of lightning that can melt away at a boss's health. One fun fact about this super is that it can actually be canceled midway through, so if you kill a boss and still have half your super left, you can save it for the next one.

What Stormcaller Excels In

Chaining kills onto multiple enemies through its jolt ability
Attacking those far away from you since both the melees and the super can reach across any room you're in
Keeping you onyour toes with the Amplification ability, running at speeds faster than the enemy can shoot.

Choose Stormcaller if…

You’d rather be in the middle of the fight running around as opposed to being behind cover.
You like to keep a bit of distance between yourself and the enemy
Your play style is more aligned with shooting once and letting your abilities handle the rest of the hard work.

5. Striker

Striker flying through the air.

If, just like lightning, you want to hit once and disappear, the Titan Striker might just be right up your alley. With a unique dash ability available only to these guardians, Strikers can land a devastatingly powerful melee hit and run away at incredible speeds, leaving the enemy in confusion. You really want to play into the dash of a Titan to get the most use out of it.

Unlike the other subclasses, Striker is probably the best for those solo players who like to enjoy a bit of PvP. In something like Rumble, the Seismic Strike melee can annoy players to the point of leaving midway. It works by buffing your melee after a short period of running and releasing an arc explosion on impact, which is often enough to one-shot another guardian. You also have the Thundercrash super, which while on paper sounds like something that you might have to be quite accurate for, the movement in this state is insane. In actual gameplay, Thundercrash can pull 90 degree turns like they're nothing, making it hard for players to run away.

What Striker Excels In

Eliminating enemy guardians in one shot
Tracking down guardians who choose to runaway with insane amounts of mobility in Thundercrash
Storm Grenades that do crazy amounts of damage that leaves other guardians jealous

Choose Striker if…

You would rather spend your time solo in PvP than PvE
You like being rewarded for being constantly mobile
You want to be the stuff of nightmares, and annoy enemies to their breaking point