Character Design¶

Before choosing a class you’ll want to create a character. The races – Exo, Awoken, and Human – don’t really matter nor does the gender. There are no benefits to picking whatever you want so do exactly that, make the character that you want to play as.

Class Overview¶

As a Guardian of the City you’ll be organized into one of three classes: Hunter, Warlock, or Titan. Each class has two different sets of skills, one is the primary and another being a subclass. The subclass is unlocked at Level 15 and once any character you have reaches Level 15, all other characters will have their subclasses unlocked, allowing you to choose another class while starting as the subclass should you prefer it. Before making a choice, understand that all classes can wield the same weapons but certain armor is specific to the class since upgrades to the armor can grant bonuses.

Grenades¶

Every subclass can have three grenades and they have varying uses. The base recharge time is 50 seconds and it can be lowered to 25 based on the amount of Discipline you have from equipment. For the most part, grenades deal full damage from the epicenter of the blast and damage tapers off from there. Some grenades don’t simply explode and deal damage in other ways though. The damage below is based on PvE enemies at equal level on Normal difficulty without any upgraded bonuses to your gear. The damage below is also reflective of PvP where the leveling bonuses are negated. For in-depth information check each grenade individually beneath the chart.

Titan Grenades¶

Flashbang - Blinds the opponent in PvP and disorients enemies in PvE

Pulse Grenade - Deals damage in pulses. There is no falloff and Aftershock can add a pulse.

Lightning Grenade - Deal four pulses of 100. Aftershock adds a pulse. No falloff of damage.

Magnetic Grenade - Two explosions of 100 then 80. 65 added damage if target is stuck.

Spike Grenade - Rapid pulses for 100 damage per second. Lasts 4 seconds with no falloff.

Suppressor Grenade - Shuts down player abilities for 10 seconds. Disables enemies in PvE. Ultra enemies are not affected.

Hunter Grenades¶

Incendiary Grenade - 115 Damage initially and 5 ticks of 5 damage over 5 seconds.

Swarm Grenade - Releases 5 seeker drones that deal 7 damage per hit. Hits twice and explodes for 7 additional damage. Maximizes at 245 damage.

Tripmine Grenade - This is a proximity grenade. Explodes instantly if target is stuck.

Flux Grenade - Deals an additional 65 damage if target is stuck.

Skip Grenade - Four bouncing drones attack twice for 7.5 damage each then explode for another 15. Maximizes at 120 damage.

Arcbolt Grenade - Deals 80 damage to up to three targets. Bolts may arc to additional targets.

Warlock Grenades¶

Vortex Grenade - Deals damage in rapid pulses for 100 damage per second. Lasts for 3.5 seconds but can be modified by Vortex Mastery to 6 seconds.

Scatter Grenade - Detonates on impact and releases a cluster of Void bomblets.

Axion Bolt - Releases a Void Seeker at two enemies dealing 90 damage.

Solar Grenade - Rapid damage in pulses for 100 damage per second. Lasts 3.5 seconds and has no falloff damage.

Firebolt Grenade - Deals 80 Solar damage to four targets.

Fusion Grenade - Deals 65 additional damage if the target is stickied.

Melee Abilities¶

Each class has a unique melee modifier as well. Titans and Hunters will lunge forward at full distance to strike but Warlocks will only step then project a wave of Solar or Void energy. Hunters have a unique modifier in that their melee ability will use Knife Throw. When in close proximity for a melee attack, the knife will not be thrown and the modifier is saved. Both Titan and Warlocks will use a regular melee attack when the modifier is down. These attacks deal 100 damage each. The Throwing Knife has a chance for precision however and can deal 130 damage at this point.

Jumping Abilities¶

Each class has the ability to jump off the ground. It’s a basic feature but the classes have different secondary jumping skills. Hunters will gain the ability to Double Jump and even Triple Jump while Warlocks and Titans have the ability to Glide and Lift respectively through the air. It is possible to cancel the latter. Hunters cannot cancel a Double Jump but have the benefit of being able to rapidly change direction in mid-air. Jumping is a crafty way to get around the terrain but in PvP you want to avoid simply jumping in the open as it makes for an easy target.

Super Abilities¶

This ability is unique to each subclass and allows the Guardian to channel raw Light into Arc, Solar, or Void energy to unleash devastating powers. They aren’t all about simply destroying your enemy; some are about aiding others and yourself. When activated you will gain a resistance bonus. Some Supers allow persistent resistance, the Arc Blade and Radiant Skin. These abilities can take up to 4 minutes to charge normally, though defeating enemies will decrease the time it takes to charge, exponentially increasing for numerous kills rapidly.

Using a Super Ability to defeat an enemy will result in Orbs of Light dropping that other players can pick up. You will not be able to see these unless they are dropped from another character. Picking these up will greatly boost your Super Meter in comparison to just killing enemies or waiting. More Orbs of Light can be generated if the attack defeats a Major, generally 4 instead of 1. It takes about 6 Orbs of Light to completely refill your Super and that’s wonderful if you are in a team because you can almost cycle Supers very rapidly.

Character Stats¶

There are 8 different stats that you’ll want to be actively aware of and have an understanding of in order to be competent in Destiny:

Level

While playing Destiny you’ll defeat numerous enemies and earn experience. This counts towards your overall level as you go from Level 1 to Level 20. At Level 20 you will reach what is called a “soft cap.” This means that experience is no longer the driving point of your leveling up and from here you’ll need to equip gear with Light.

Light Level

Once you reach Level 20 the experience bar won’t level you up any longer, instead you’ll receive a Mote of Light. To increase your level further you must equip Armor with Light. Level 20 Rare Armor will max out at +15 Light, Legendary between +25 and +30 Light, and Exotic at +30 Light.

Agility

This is the primary stat of the Hunter and thus a Hunter starts with 5 points in this stat while Titans and Warlocks start with 1. The higher this stat goes, the faster you will run and the higher you will jump. You will also accelerate more quickly when you attempt to sprint.

Armor

This is the primary stat of the Titan and thus a Titan starts with 5 point in this stat while Hunters and Warlocks start with 1. Armor raises your health with 150 Health at 1 Armor, 165 Health at 10 Armor, and with a Titan you can reach 13 Armor to reach 180 Health. All players in the Crucible have 200 health, these stats are for PvE reference.

Recovery

This is the primary stat of the Warlock and thus a Warlock starts with 5 points in this stat while Titans and Hunters start with 1. The higher this stat, the quicker you’ll begin to regain lost health.

Discipline

This stat can be increased with gear and each point will reduce the amount of time it takes for your grenade to recover.

Intellect

Raised by equipment, this stat reduces the cooldown time on your Super Ability so you can use it more often.

Strength

Like the other two stats, this is increased with equipment and reduces the cooldown on the Melee Modifier.

Attack

This stat assists with averaging out the power of a weapon. The Impact value on a weapon sets the amount of damage; this stat acts as a modifier allowing more or less damage based on the enemy level, except in the Crucible where level advantages are disabled. This means that a low level weapon may have a high Impact but a low Attack and thus, deal less damage because it is not good enough to deal damage to the enemy.

Defense

With the four pieces of equipment you wear you’ll gain a cumulative Defense score. This reduces the amount of damage you will take from incoming attacks.