Show Notes for Episode 237, Parts 1 & 2: 30th Anniversary Ability Sandbox Preview
What follows is a reorganized version of Bungie’s 11/18/2021 TWAB, which we used to breakdown and discuss the planned changes they shared for the Abilities Sandbox. The order is significantly different from the original blog post, so we’re sharing it here to help listeners follow along.
Foundational Pillars
In the 5/27/2021 TWAB, Kevin shared our foundational pillars for the role we want abilities to play in the PvP combat sandbox. As a quick refresher, this is where we want to be:
Weapons are the primary way players engage with combat.
Non-Super abilities accentuate or augment the combat but should rarely solve an encounter by themselves.
Abilities have clear strengths, weakness, and counterplay.
Buildcrafting is rewarding within the moment-to-moment combat loop of Destiny.
We’re not there yet. In general, ability uptime in the Crucible is too high for their current potency and it’s difficult to understand when an opponent will regain an ability after using it. Some of that uptime comes from passive cooldowns, but many of our outliers also come from elements of the buildcrafting system that have previously been unified in ability energy returns between PvE and PvP.
Per our pillars, we want buildcrafting to be rewarding, but in its current state, the combinatorial nature of these perks and items leads to an unsustainable ability energy economy that diminishes weapon play in PvP. For this tuning pass, we’ve focused primarily on items that feed into self-perpetuating loops of ability energy gains. Here’s a brief list of the affected items:
Subclass In-Super Perks - These perks scale down energy returns as you get kills in your Super (i.e., the first kill while in Super returns more Super energy than the third kill). These perks often result in Supers being able to roam the map for much longer than is healthy for the game and mean that a victim can frequently die to an active Super, respawn on another side of the map, and be killed by that same Super again. We’ve rescaled this energy refund decay more aggressively in PvP so that the minimum energy refund is reached roughly twice as quickly. No change has been made to the refund decay against PvE combatants.
Subclass Neutral Game Perks – These perks have had their ability energy regeneration reduced by roughly 50% in PvP. We targeted perks that can either activate out of combat, with a single button press, or those that were returning amounts of ability energy that were significantly out of band.
Variable Ability Cooldowns
In 30th Anniversary, we’ve changed the way ability cooldowns work. Up until now, cooldowns across individual ability types (grenade, melee, class, Super) have generally been identical between all abilities of the same type. For example, all the grenades in today’s Destiny 2 share the same cooldown time (with the exception of Stasis grenades). This shared cooldown means that all grenades need to have roughly the same power output because they have the same time “cost.” For the 30th Anniversary, we’ve made a change that allows us to tune the cooldown of each ability separately. This gives us a new knob to turn when balancing abilities that are too powerful or not powerful enough. Now that we have this new system in place, we’ve done a cooldown-tuning pass of all the subclass abilities in the game, tuning each ability’s cooldown time against its power output. We’ve also tuned ability power outputs and assigned cooldown times accordingly.
We’ve been calling this the Variable Ability Cooldowns system, and we think it’s the beginning of a big change for the Destiny 2 sandbox. It’s a foundational change in preparation to move the Light subclasses over to the Subclass 3.0 system that Stasis currently uses. For the 30th Anniversary, we’re using it to change the cooldown of nearly every ability in the game.
These kinds of varied cooldowns and power outputs should make the game feel more dynamic and give more depth to buildcrafting. To make buildcrafting around cooldowns easier, you’ll now be able to see the base cooldown time of your abilities when selecting them on the subclass screen.
The “Base Cooldown” time is actually the cooldown time at tier 3 of the relevant armor stat (Strength, Discipline, etc.) This is because the system technically penalizes you for tanking your stats below tier 3, in which case your cooldown would be longer than the base. We are looking into updating this to be more intuitive in a future release.
Cooldown times for class abilities are not currently displayed due to a technical issue. We plan to fix this in a future release.
One of our design goals this year was to reduce the amount of ability spam in the Crucible and put the focus back on gunplay. To this end, we’ve made ability cooldown times longer on average than they were before. We don’t want the PvE experience to suffer for the sake of PvP balance though, so we’ve tried to compensate where possible. For example, we’ve increased all grenade damage vs. PvE combatants by 15% or more. This should make grenades feel like bigger power moments than they do in today’s game. Melee ability cooldowns haven’t been increased quite as much as grenade cooldowns, and some of the less-aggressive melee attacks have lower cooldowns than before. Class ability cooldowns have also generally increased, but the changes vary depending on which ability is equipped.
Supers
In PvE, Super uptime should be relatively unchanged from the live game, if not slightly higher.
We are pretty happy with the frequency of Supers in most PvE content, and don’t want to make big changes right now on that front.
Everybody should get at least one Super in a 6v6 match that goes to the score or time limit as long as they engage in regular combat.
Expression of power through using your awesome space magic is a core part of what makes Destiny special, and we’re not looking to change that. We think the cadence of Supers in 6v6 modes is slightly too high, but we don’t expect a dramatic change in Super uptime for most players in playlists like Control or Iron Banner as a result of these changes.
Supers should be less frequent in 3v3 modes than in the live game, where two Supers per match is a fairly regular occurrence.
Primary weapon play should have a noticeable benefit in Super energy regeneration.
With this new system, we are scaling energy gains up and down granularly based on the source of the damage (both outgoing and incoming). Outgoing Primary weapon damage has a significantly higher return of Super-energy-per-damage-point than any other type of damage.
Different Supers should come online at different times in a given match, and your Super of choice should have an impact on how quickly it regenerates. To that end, we’ve separated Supers into cooldown tiers that affect both the passive regeneration rate as well as the damage-based regeneration rate. This tiering was primarily influenced by each Super’s kill potential, where most one-off Supers are unlikely to wipe a team or a room of combatants, but a long-lasting roaming Super can and should have a tradeoff as a result.
Supers
Tier 5 (Fastest Regeneration)
Well of Radiance
Tier 4
Blade Barrage
Silence and Squall
Tier 3
Shadowshot
Burning Maul
Arc Staff
Nova Bomb
Thundercrash
Tier 2
Golden Gun
Chaos Reach
Nova Warp
Stormtrance
Daybreak
Sentinel Shield
Tier 1 (Slowest Regeneration)
Spectral Blades
Fist of Havoc
Hammer of Sol
Glacial Quake
Winter’s Wrath
This sets us up for the future as we move towards the Subclass 3.0 system. As an example, for the 30th Anniversary, things like the Deadfall and Moebius Quiver variants of Shadowshot will share the same cooldown tier, but with the Void 3.0 launch in February, they could exist in different tiers based on their potency. By that same token, Ward of Dawn—which is currently tied to Sentinel Shield’s cooldown—will be moved into the Tier 5 group as a standalone Super with Void 3.0.
Future Look
We hope 30th anniversary shakes up the sandbox in new ways and gets you excited for even more changes coming in the The Witch Queen. The team will likely go heads down for a bit as we still have Solar and Arc to 3.0ify alongside other insanely cool initiatives. The team takes player feedback seriously and as Destiny players ourselves, we have an intrinsic fire to keep improving things for everyone. We hope what you’ve seen over the last year reinforces that this team is both about competitive balance and making incredibly dope new shit.
General
Armor Mods
In general, we’ve reduced energy returns from these mods by roughly 50% in PvP, depending on the number of copies of the mod you have slotted.
Melee Kickstart
Grenade Kickstart
Utility Kickstart
Perpetuation
Bolstering Detonation
Focusing Strike
Bomber
Outreach
Dynamo
Distribution
Momentum Transfer
Impact Induction
Stasis
With this release, Stasis crystals will now slow players instead of freezing them, and they’ll do much less damage to players when they detonate.
While forming, Stasis crystals now slow nearby players instead of freezing them.
They still freeze PvE combatants while forming.
Increased slow/freeze radius while forming from 1.75m to 2.6m.
Reduced crystal detonation damage vs players by ~55%.
Increased crystal detonation damage vs. PvE combatants by ~60%.
Increased crystal detonation radius from 6m to 8m.
Whisper of Shards - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Whisper of Chains - Increased damage resistance vs PvE combatants from 25% to 40%.
As far as PvE is concerned, Stasis crystals will still freeze combatants, and we’ve increased Stasis crystal detonation damage vs PvE combatants. Looking at the numbers, it was almost always better to shoot directly at a combatant instead of at a crystal near a combatant. This change should help crystals better live out their explosive-barrel dreams.
One-Shot Abilities
In our effort to put the emphasis back on gunplay in the Crucible, we’ve decided to reduce the number of abilities that can one-shot a full-health Guardian.
Shoulder Charges
Handheld Super Nova
Warlock
Uncharged Melee
Reduced melee range from 5.5m to 4.5m (now matches Hunter and Titan).
Reduced suppression time after melee (can now melee back-to-back at the same speed as Hunter and Titan).
Dawnblade
Firebolt Grenade
Reduced base cooldown from 82 seconds to 64 seconds.
Reduced damage per bolt from 90 to 65.
Increased damage vs. PvE combatants by 15%.
Middle-Tree Only
Benevolent Dawn (50% Decrease)
Bottom-Tree Only
Everlasting Fire (Rescaled energy refund to decay more aggressively)
Stormcaller
Top-Tree Only
Arc Web - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Middle-Tree Only
Ionic Traces - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Bottom-Tree Only
Rising Storm - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Electrostatic Surge - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Stormcaller Exotic Armor
Crown of Tempests - Grenade, melee, and Super energy regeneration scalar buff duration reduced from 7s to 4s in PvP.
No change in PvE.
Voidwalker
Middle-Tree Only
Dark Matter - 50% Decrease in ability regen
Handheld Supernova
Reduced damage vs players.
Now deals 150 damage max.
Increased damage vs Champions and Bosses by 30%.
Increased projectiles range from 12m to 14m.
Now pushes targets away from the Warlock on detonation.
Nova Warp - Increased damage vs Champions and Bosses by 30%.
Voidwalker Exotic Armor
Contraverse Hold - Duration of the grenade regeneration buff is no longer random between 1 and 4 seconds and is now a fixed duration of 1.75 seconds. Reduced grenade energy regeneration scalar by 50% in PvP.
The previous average duration due to weighting was 1.71 seconds, with a 1 second duration being most common, so this should improve the Exotic’s consistency across the game with a lower return in PvP.
No change in PvE.
Shadebinder
Winter's Wrath
Reduced shatter-pulse damage vs enemy Supers.
Must now generally freeze and shatter all Supers twice to eliminate.
Penumbral Blast - Increased proximity-detonation radius vs PvE combatants by 100%.
Bleak Watcher - While Bleak Watcher is equipped, all Stasis grenades charge at Glacier Grenade rate.
General Warlock Exotic Armor
The Stag - Reduced class ability energy refund on shield break by 50% in PvP.
No change in PvE.
Hunter
Dodge
No longer breaks projectile tracking (still breaks AA)
Marksman's Dodge
Tier 10 Mobility cooldown increased from 11s to 14s. Base cooldown unchanged at 29s.
Gambler's Dodge
Tier 10 Mobility cooldown increased from 11s to 18s. Base cooldown duration from 29s to 38s.
Gunslinger
Bottom-Tree Only (Not Six Shooter)
Practice Makes Perfect - 50% Decrease in ability regen (reduces cooldown of super with crit hits)
Revenant
Shatterdive
Much less lethal vs players due to Stasis crystal changes.
Much more lethal vs combatants due to Stasis crystal changes.
Increased shatter damage vs frozen PvE combatants by 100%.
Grim Harvest Aspect – (shards on slowed/frozen kills) Increased fragment slots from 2 to 3
Arcstrider
Flux Grenade
Increased base cooldown from 82 seconds to 182 seconds.
Increased attached detonation damage from 150 to 250 (one-shot kill in PvP).
Increased damage vs PvE combatants by 15% (on top of base damage increase).
Removed projectile tracking.
Added a small amount of aim assist.
Increased throw speed by 117%.
Now sticks to all surfaces.
Arcstrider Exotic Armor
Shinobu’s Vow - Reduced grenade energy gain on hits vs players by 66%.
Top-Tree Only
Combination Blow - Kill an enemy with this melee ability to trigger health regeneration and increase your melee damage temporarily.
Reduced base cooldown duration from 96s to 15s.
Nightstalker
Bottom-Tree Only
Vanish in Smoke melee - Reduced base cooldown from 96s to 75s.
General Hunter Exotic Armor
Frost-EE5 - No longer stacks multiplicatively in PvP with other regeneration buffs, is now an additive scalar. No change in PvE.
Titan
Barricades
Towering Barricade - Increased base cooldown duration from 37s to 40s.
Rally Barricade - Reduced base cooldown duration from 37s to 32s.
Shoulder Charges
All Shoulder Charges
No longer one-shot players.
Sprint activation time reduced from 1.5s to 1.25s.
Increased range from 5.5m to 6.8m.
Targeting-cone width increased by ~10%.
Increased damage vs PvE combatants by 25%.
Striker
Top-Tree Only
Aftershocks (50% Decrease)
Seismic Strike
Reduced AoE damage from 90 to 40.
Now blinds enemies in the area on hit.
Increased base cooldown from 82s to 90s.
Middle-Tree Only
Inertia Override (50% Decrease)
Bottom-Tree Only
Knockout - Melee lunge range and melee damage bonus now deactivate after a melee kill.
Trample - Super-energy gain from Fist of Havoc light attack now decays to minimum amount over 3 PvP kills (down from 7).
Frontal Assault melee - Increased base cooldown from 82s to 106s.
Fist of Havoc - Heavy-slam radius reduced from 8m to 6m (bottom-tree only).
Sentinel
Shield Bash
Reduced AoE damage from 90 to 40.
Increased base cooldown from 82s to 90s.
Sentinel Exotic Armor
Doomfang Pauldrons - Reduced Super energy gain on activation when an opposing player is killed by a Void melee by 50%.
No change in PvE.
Sunbreaker
Hammer Strike
Reduced direct impact damage from 170 to 120.
Increased base cooldown from 82s to 90s.
Behemoth
Diamond Lance
Increased fragment slots from 1 to 3.
Now spawns a Diamond Lance upon:
Killing a PvE combatant with a Stasis weapon.
Killing three players with Stasis weapons in a single life.
Killing an enemy with a Stasis ability.
Shattering an enemy.
Shiver Strike - Increased Shiver Strike damage while in Glacial Quake by 50%.
General Titan Exotic Armor
Heart of Inmost Light - Ability energy regeneration scalars reduced by 50% in PvP.
Reworked so activating multiple abilities will now reliably result in multiple Empowered stacks. The stacking behavior was previously a bug, but this seemed like a good opportunity to promote it to a feature.