Destiny 2: The Final Shape's Prismatic subclass and Dread faction detailed
As part of new gameplay showcase.
As the delayed June launch of Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion inches ever-closer, developer Bungie has aired a fresh gameplay showcase, this time offering a closer look at the new Prismatic subclass, new Exotic class items, and the new Dread enemy faction.
The Final Shape - which Bungie is describing as a the "culmination of a 10-year journey [but] not the end of Destiny 2 and...definitely not the end of destiny" - takes players into the Traveller for a confrontation with major antagonist The Witness.
As part of this journey, players can take advantage of The Final Shape's new Prismatic subclass, enabling them to combine certain class abilities from different damage types. Once both sides of a new Light and Dark meter are filled by using their respective damage types, Prismatic players can access a new power level known as Transcendence. This gives all classes a unique grenade combining both Light and Dark, while Hunters get an additional Fire and Ice combo, Titans can combine Strand and Arc, while Warlocks can deploy Stasis and Void at the same time.
Additionally, there's a weapon damage bonus that stacks on top of other weapon damage bonuses, and grenades and melee are instantly refunded when Transcendence is cast, meaning it's possible to loop them together one after the other. Bungie describes Prismatic as an "advanced subclass where you have more build-crafting options, more potential combinations, more fragments than you'd normally get, more fragments slots to socket than you'd normally get", adding that it "feels a little game-breaking".
The Final Shape also sees the introduction of new Exotic class items designed to enhance Prismatic builds. These allow players to steal random rolled perks from other Exotics and combine two of these into a single Exotic, letting them do "things that other classes consider their own but now they're yours".
Which brings us to The Final Shape's new enemy faction, the Dread, which Bungie discussed a little during its showcase. Alongside the familiar Tormentor, which joined Destiny 2 last year, the Dread - described as the "embodiment of The Witness" - consists of the Subjugator, the Weaver, the Attendant, the Grim, and the Husk.
The Grim, essentially a bat with a gun, can screech at players, suppressing their abilities and slowing them down if the attack hits. Husks, meanwhile, are melee bruisers with dangerous-looking blades that can do "cool acrobatic attacks" - and if players don't kill them right, the Geist inside pops out to strike. And, lastly for now, are the Weavers and Attendants - Strand and Stasis scions that have been shaped by The Witness, with the Weaver able to shoot out a powerful Strand wave that pulls players toward it. A closer look at some of today's reveals can be found over on the Destiny 2 website.
The Final Shape arrives on 4th June, but ahead of its release, Bungie is running a limited-time pre-event it's calling Into the Light. This introduces 12 reprised "fan-favourite" weapons as per the schedule above, a new PvE wave defense activity known as Onslaught, the new Hall of Champions social space, reprised Exotic missions and rewards with The Whisper and Zero Hour, the Pantheon raid boss gauntlet, and a new PvP map pack introducing Cirrus Plaza, Eventide Labs, and Dissonance. Into the Light starts today, 9th April, and runs until 3rd June.