Bungie issues major buffs for Strand Hunters in Destiny 2

Strand Hunters were hit with nerfs soon after the new subclass went live in Destiny 2. While the nerfs did make it difficult for Hunters to perform well while using this subclass, they still manage to hold their own in PvE activities. As mentioned in the "This Week At Bungie" (TWAB) blog post, the Strand Hunter has received major buffs that will drastically improve the class's performance.

Bungie usually keeps issuing buffs and nerfs to classes when they don't perform as intended. Not only does this ensure that there's parity between the three classes, but it also ensures that players keep rotating and improving their playstyles.

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Threaded Spike gets a major buff in Destiny 2

The Threaded Spike is a very unique melee ability in Destiny 2. When deployed, Hunters throw a rope dart that hits and passes through targets, unraveling them and then returning to the player. If the player catches the rope dart when it reaches them, they receive a portion of melee energy depending on the number of targets they've struck.

While it's an interesting concept, the melee energy it refunded was very low, and it was difficult to catch the returning dart. Keeping these issues in mind, here are the changes that Bungie deployed:

• The projectile now deals approximately 55% increased damage against PvE combatants.
• The projectile covers 30% more distance before returning to the player.
• The dart's speed is reduced when it returns to the player, making it easier to catch.
• The energy that players gain when catching the dart is also increased.
• The projectile has the ability to pierce Cabal Phalanx shields.

Some players have also reported that the developers have buffed the Hunter Strand super. While there's no mention of this happening in the blog post, the developers have shadow buffed other abilities in the past, so there's no reason why they won't do so now.

Not only that, the Strand Grapple ability got buffed as well. The base cooldown has been reduced to 82 seconds, while the activation time between two consecutive grapples has been reduced to 0.2 seconds. This change will affect all three classes equally.

These changes will help players live the Spider-Man Dream in Destiny 2, given that the Grapple will be activated instantly. Although Strand as a subclass is fairly strong, these buffs will make the subclass even stronger. Since it's only been one season, players should expect more such balancing changes for Strand. Moreover, the developers will introduce new Aspects for the subclass, so it'll be interesting to see how players incorporate those into their builds.

Like what happened in Beyond Light, players must complete a mission to unlock these Aspects in Destiny 2. Not only that, they will be rewarded with a hand cannon as well for all their troubles.