Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, has announced changes to the Strand subclass in its upcoming Season 21 update. The changes include a reduction in the grapple’s base cooldown, as well as adjustments to the Ashes to Assets and Hands On armor mods. Bungie stated that when both mods are equipped, only one will work, but clarified that they can still be used simultaneously.
The Actual Change
The actual change that will be made to the grapple melee is that “defeating an enemy specifically with the grapple melee will no longer double dip and count as both a grenade and melee kill.” Bungie explained that this change was made to make the grapple melee consistent with how other abilities in the game interact with these mods.
Season 21 Strand Changes Preview
Bungie explained that it’s happy with how Strand is currently performing, but it will be balancing it over time. The first changes are set to be released in Season 21 “as a part of a larger ability-balance pass.” The upcoming changes include:
Grapple
- Reduced base cooldown from 105s to 82s.
- Reduced the minimum time between grapple activations from 2.5s to 0.2s.
Strand Hunter
- Increased damage vs. PVE combatants by ~55%.
- Increased projectile travel range before beginning to return to the player by 30%.
- Slightly reduced speed of the dart as it returns to the player to make catching it easier.
- Increased energy gain for catching the dart based on the number of enemies hit.
- Now pierces Cabal Phalanx shields.
In addition to the Strand changes, Destiny 2’s annual Guardian Games event will return on May 2 and last for three weeks until the end of Season 20 on May 23. During the free in-game event, players will be able to earn medallions by performing various activities, including a class-based version of the PvP mode Supremacy. Two special weapons will be among the earnable prizes during the competition.
