Summary
Destiny 2’s Season of the Witch is being praised as a good addition to the Lightfall era for many reasons, starting with a strong seasonal storyline that finally allows Eris Morn to enjoy some time in the limelight (while also posing questions about the Dark Future).Destiny 2’s deckbuildingis another interesting new tool that players can toy with, with Major and Minor Arcana being unlockables that offer either immediate rewards or an easier time in seasonal activities with a degree of customization. However, one of the most important features of Season of the Witch lies in the ongoing events of Neomuna and Veil Containment - namely, the fact that players now have three new Strand Aspects that are all incredibly powerful.
One of the few saving graces of the Lightfall expansion,Destiny 2’s Strandwas received positively right away thanks to its sandbox-altering experience, mainly thanks to new interactions between players and the environment through the Strand Grapple. Still, Strand also comes with many combat perks, such as the ability to Suspend foes or Sever them, immobilizing them in midair and reducing their damage output, respectively. Each new season after Lightfall’s launch saw the addition of another Strand Aspect, now bringing the total per class to four.
RELATED:Destiny 2 Game Director Reveals Popular Super Could Receive a Nerf
Destiny 2’s New Strand Aspects Take Builds to the Next Level
Destiny 2’s buildcraftingexperience is evolving more and more as new tools pave the way for even stronger ones, with the Light 3.0 system from The Witch Queen eventually making Strand such a good and versatile subclass. Things got even spicier now with Season of the Witch, as players were able to unlock a new Aspect for each class, and all three of them being not only quite powerful and useful, but actually creating new and exciting niches for gamers to experiment with in all sorts of content.
Hunters got the Whirling Maelstrom Aspect, which allows them to destroyDestiny 2’s Strand Tangles in order to create Strand whirlwinds capable of dealing massive damage to enemies and Unraveling them for even more damage output when using Strand weapons. This has already found its way in many Strand Hunter builds, and it has a lot of potential in the endgame thanks to the increased damage output and how efficient it can be in situations where ammo shortage is a problem. A good example of this logic would be the World First Raid races, such as the one taking place for Crota’s End.
Warlocks got access toDestiny 2’s Weavewalk Aspect, which allows players to dodge while airborne to enter the Strand weave, gaining incredible damage reduction from all sources and generating Threadlings for every second spent in this form. This Aspect proved to be such a problematic addition, especially in PvP, that it was almost immediately disabled by Bungie - presumably to tweak it a bit more carefully. This Aspect is so strong that it can make players virtually immortal for long periods of time, eventually trivializing some endgame PvE activities or even hard-fought PvP battles.
Last but not least, Titans gained an Aspect called Banner of War, which is arguably one of the best in the entire game if not by raw power at least in terms of overall utility, damage, and support. All players need to get it going is a melee kill inDestiny 2, which will give them their first stack of Banner of War, scaling up to four stacks for maximum melee and sword bonus damage as well as healing. Self-healing abilities are rare inDestiny 2, and they can be game-changers in many situations, both in PvE and PvP, and Banner of War doesn’t disappoint. Overall, theStrand Aspects inDestiny 2’s Season of the Witchare great so far, and it’s going to be hard to top them for a while.
Destiny 2is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Destiny 2’s Season of the Witch and Diablo 4’s Season of Blood Are in The Same Boat
