Destiny 2 Classes Guide - What To Pick?

Updated:

05 Jun 2020

With Destiny 2’s seasonal event, Guardian Games, coming to a close this upcoming Tuesday, class warfare has certainly been on every Guardian’s mind. Titans secured a guaranteed win last week, winning a majority of days so that even if Hunters or Warlocks pulled ahead, there was no possible way for them to win.

So it begs the question; which class is the best?

Titan:

Pictured above: D2 Titan.

Class Ability: Barriers

Unique Melees: Shoulder charge (one-hit in PvP), recoverable hammer throw

I’ll start by saying I personally main a Titan and I’d recommend first-time FPS players and Guardians new to the world level a Titan before anything else. Titans are your classic bullet sponges and it allows for a mistake-prone, reckless playstyle. It’s a great endgame choice for new players because Titan mechanics rarely require perfect timing; you’re often going to be the savior.
New players should opt for the Arc Striker. Paired with Insurmountable Skullfort, an Exotic item that fully refunds Arc melee energy for every Arc melee kill, you can rapidly clear trash mobs with the melee ability and incredibly quick-charging grenades.
Solar Sunbreakers are fantastic for simultaneous support and DPS. Using the bottom tree Solar titan lets you throw hammers and create sunspots, that increase ability recharge and damage for your teammates. However, the middle tree, with its hammer slams and throwing hammer melee ability, is by far the most satisfying to play.
Pick Void for add-clearing, but be warned you have to pair a Void Super with specific Exotic armor items to fully take advantage of many of the abilities. Code of the Aggressor paired with the infamous Doom Fang Pauldrons allow for an almost unending Super with great add-clearing abilities and boss damage.

Titans are the best for:

Long lasting, low-DPS Supers, typically best for clearing adds
Team defense/support roles

Pick a Titan if you:

Are looking to charge headfirst into action
Want to play a horizontal playstyle; e.g. lots of add clearing and ground-based encounters
Haven’t quite mastered Destiny 2 controls just yet or are looking for a low-stress playstyle

Warlock:

Pictured above: D2 Warlock.

Class Ability: Healing/Empowering Rifts

Unique Melees: Damaging/Healing projectiles

There’s a very good reason why warlocks are the choice of many, especially those who played Destiny 1 and know how demanding endgame activities are. Warlocks are finicky, with low health, extremely high damage and ability recharge. Oh, and the potential to run playstyles that make you immortal if you keep getting kills.
Unfortunately, this class isn’t for the impatient. Running into battle without adds cleared or abilities charged will get you killed. Warlocks reward a strategic, communicative playstyle. You can certainly pick a Warlock if you’re new to Destiny and FPS shooters, just don’t expect to have the easiest time leveling. However, put in the time with a Warlock and you’re rewarded with a flying god that rains death on the enemies of the Light.
The Arc Stormcaller is remarkably good at add-clearing. I would stay clear of the middle tree Chaos Reach; other loadouts have much higher DPS without sacrificing abilities. Chaining Arc damage to enemies is incredibly satisfying, and the storm grenade combines suppression and damage. It is perhaps the best grenade in the game.
The Solar Dawnblade has amazing DPS, and the abilities are spectacular. You can act as support with the middle tree or use the top or bottom trees to absolutely decimate adds and lay down massive damage with Dawnblade. My favorite Exotic combination here is Wings of Sacred Dawn, which let you aim in midair and destroy your enemies from above. Pair it with bottom tree Dawnblade’s seeking flame swords and you can absolutely punish enemies in PvP or lay down incredibly accurate damage in PvE.
When I mentioned turning into an immortal god, I was referring to the Voidwalker’s bottom tree Devour ability. Kills with the melee ability start a chain where kills fully replenish health and if you hit your shots, you can rack up hundreds of kills in one life. The Super ability, Nova Bomb, is the highest DPS Super ability in the game for boss damage, and when paired with an Exotic like Skull of Dire Ahamkara, you can recoup it instantly.
Overall, building a Warlock’s arsenal takes a while because the Exotics are almost necessary to take advantage of most abilities. But once you get the Exotics, Warlocks are easily the strongest class in the game (provided you aren’t keen on running into the fight).

Warlocks are the best for:

Quick Supers but incredibly high DPS, great for boss damage
Team support roles, long-range clearing

Pick a Warlock if:

You want to be able to do incredibly high damage, at the cost of low health
You’re good at utilizing cover and understanding Destiny’s complicated stat breakdowns
Your fireteam needs a DPS character

Hunter:

Pictured above: D2 Hunter.

Class Ability: Dodge

Unique melee abilities: Throwing Knives

Hunters are-and I cannot stress this enough- dominant in PvP. If PvP is your thing, main a Hunter early on and master the dodges and throwing knife/shotgun combos; you’ll be unstoppable. But they definitely have their strengths in PvE as well. Hunters are a great way for players to get used to Destiny mechanics; they’re just as forgiving as Titans, but you’ll sacrifice strength for agility.
Hunters tend to be the designated orb creators. Most fireteams will send a Hunter in (sometimes sacrificially) to use either Shadowshot or Arcstrider to generate tons of Orbs of Light from adds and trash mobs, collect the orbs and activate the higher DPS Supers to clear the entire room. Hunters will often be watching from the wings, using longer-range weapons and occasionally darting in for a revive or to assist with a peskier enemy.
Arcstrider Hunters are terrifying in PvP and extremely necessary for any endgame PvE activities. The speed they move at and the defense they provide, as well as the orbs they rapidly create, protect and empower the entire team. This loadout has an incredible number of synergistic exotics, and especially for beginners, is incredibly easy to use effectively.
The Solar Hunter class, Gunslinger, is fantastic for beginners. Depending on the tree it grants between 3 and 6 shots with the Golden Gun, each of which does massive damage. Your ability is a throwing knife that is extremely convenient when you’re stuck reloading a gun. Between the knives and the dodge, Gunslinger hunters have extreme survivability and the chance for a literal blaze of glory.
When they came out with Shadowshot in Destiny 1, 3 years of PvE strategy went out the window. Shadowshot made it amazingly easy to trap and melt bosses or snare massive groups of enemies and instantly give an entire raid team of 6 their Supers. It is definitely much harder to master Shadowshot than any of the other Hunter loadouts; between the suppression smoke grenades and the emphasis on sneaking around, this playstyle requires a bit of experience and patience to master- but it can make endgame activities a breeze if used effectively.

Hunters are the best for:

Snaring enemies and rapid battlefield movement; e.g. weakening enemies so your team clears them up
Ranging and team support

Pick a Hunter if you:

Like a faster-paced game (like really, really fast paced)
Want a vertical playstyle (rapid movement, lots of finding high ground, lots of jumping)
Your team needs an add suppressor/distractor

Closing Thoughts:

I think each class certainly has strengths, but in the current meta (Season of the Worthy), I think you’d be hard pressed to find a stronger vanilla build than a Warlock. However, add in the seasonal mods, and the Titan pulse grenade and Arc shoulder charge/punching ability allows you to rapidly spawn Warmind Cells, which can lay down massive AoE (Area of Effect) damage. On the other hand, the results of the Guardian Games prove that Titans at least show up the most.

So conclusively? Warlock is a safe bet to always come out on top in PvE, but run when you see an Arcstrider Hunter coming at you in the Crucible.

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