With Destiny 2 launching in September on consoles, and at some undefined point on PC, Bungie has been showing off another one of the new subclasses: the Hunter Arcstrider—a fancy martial artist that’s pretty handy with a staff.
The Arcstrider dashes around the battlefield with an energy staff, weaving between enemies with great speed, dealing a a lot of damage before quickly getting out of the way of anyone looking for retribution.
The Arcstrider replaces the Bladedancer class from Destiny 1, and carries an identical grenade loadout and the same selection of jump powers—high jump, strafe jump, and triple jump. The Arcstrider also benefits from the Hunter's class-wide abilities: Gambler's Dodge and Marksman's Dodge. The former generates melee energy when you dodge near enemies, and the latter reloads during dodges. You can have one or the other active, which lets you optimise your chosen subclass for melee or ranged encounters.
There are two distinct subclass paths that can be taken. The Way of the Warrior path includes abilities that activate your dodge after a kill, extend your weapon range, and turn your strikes into double hits after you’ve dodged an attack. Way of the Wind, on the other hand, allows you to disorientate enemies, take less damage while dodging, move faster and reduce your dodge cooldown.
If it’s not already very clear, the Arcstrider really loves dodging.
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