This week is Bungie’s scheduled Arc Week, where the developer will be rolling out changes to Destiny 2's Arc-powered subclasses prior to Forsaken. For the Hunter, that means changes to the Arcstrider subclass, for the Warlock, changes to the Stormcaller subclass, and for the Titan, changes to the Striker subclass. While the community is more or less happy with the changes - which intended to scale these Arc subclasses to be more viable for all the new content that Bungie’s been releasing - there’s a hiccup. Due to a bug that came with the latest update, the Arcstrider subclass for Hunters is hitting a lot harder than it should be. YouTuber xHOUNDISHx details the bug in the following video:
Thanks to a bug that messed up how certain damage modifiers are supposed to stack, a specific combination of Arcstrider abilities are making the subclass hitting harder than intended. When you mix certain perks in the Arcstrider skill tree, Arcstrider Hunters become god-tier, capable of beating bosses and other enemies with far more ease than what most would consider “balanced”.
The Arc Week changes to the Arcstrider subclass allowed the damage boost from the Combination Blow melee perk to stack up to three times. The damage buff to Arcstrider already sounds great on its own, but thanks to some unforeseen complications, those damage buffs roll over into the Arcstrider’s ulimate ability if players activate it with three active stacks. When taking this specific perk combination with the Raiden Flux chest armor and its exotic perk, Synapse Junction, the Arcstrider receives unprecedented damage and duration buffs on its ultimate ability.
While it’s definitely not as game-breaking as it might initially seem, it’s no surprise that Hunters actually welcome the change. In the on-going debate over the best class in Destiny 2, the community is split in half in thinking of the Hunter as either the strongest, or the weakest. One thing everyone agrees on, however, is that Hunters’s cloaks are the best-looking armor pieces in the game.
Bungie has announced that it would be looking into the problem, but chances are Arcstriders will remain god-tier until then. So, eyes up, guardians - make the most of this weekend while you still can and take the souped-up, newly-refurbished, temporarily-overpowered Arcstrider subclass for a spin.
