New Destiny 2 Stasis PvP nerfs will bring it in line with Light subclasses

What you need to know

• Bungie is deploying a large number of nerfs against Stasis abilities and grenades in PvP in a Destiny 2 hotfix.
• The hotfix is expected to go live on June 3, 2021.
• Bungie is implementing the nerfs to bring Stasis more in line with Destiny 2's Light subclasses in PvP, as Stasis has been oppressive since its release with Beyond Light in late Fall 2020.

In a new blog post, Destiny 2 developer Bungie has announced a huge number of PvP-specific nerfs to the Stasis subclasses that became available when Destiny 2: Beyond Light released in November 2020. These nerfs will go live in a hotfix that's expected to arrive on June 3, 2021, ahead of when Bungie was originally planning to deploy them.

Bungie explains in the post that these nerfs are intended to reduce the oppressive nature of Stasis abilities and grenades in PvP, which have largely dominated the Destiny 2 Crucible arenas ever since they were introduced. These changes won't impact how effective Stasis is in PvE activities, but they will bring Stasis more in line with the game's Light (Arc, Solar, and Void) subclasses. You can check out the full change notes below:

General Stasis

Stasis Freeze

• Reduced duration of all non-Super freezes vs. players to 1.35s.
• Reduced Special-weapon, Heavy-weapon, and Light-ability bonus damage vs. frozen players from +50% to +5%.

Stasis Slow

• No longer reduces weapon accuracy.
• Now increases weapon flinch when under fire.
• No longer suppresses class ability and air moves (e.g., Icarus Dash).
• Reduced movement speed penalty while slowed by ~20%.

Whisper of Hedrons Fragment

• No longer increases weapon damage after freezing.
• Now increases weapon stability, weapon aim assist, Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery after freezing.

Whisper of Rime Fragment

• No longer provides overshield while in Super.

Coldsnap Grenade

• Seeker no longer tracks targets after initial target acquisition.
• Increased arming duration before seeker spawns from 0.3s to 0.8s.
• Reduced detonation radius vs. players from 3m to 1.5m.
• Now bounces off walls and detonates on the ground.

Titan Behemoth

Shiver Strike

• Reduced flight speed and distance.
• Reduced knockback vs. players.
• Removed slow detonation on player impact.

Cryoclasm

• Now requires the Titan to sprint for 1.25s before activation when not in Super.
• Removed cooldown.

Howl of the Storm

• Reduced angle of initial freezing/damage cone.
• Reduced crystal-creation freezing radius.
• Slowed down sequence of crystal formation to allow victims more opportunity to escape.
• Now spawns a small crystal on walls if performed into walls.

Glacial Quake

• Reduced heavy slam vertical freeze range vs. players.
• Reduced damage resistance from 50% to 47%.

Hunter Revenant

Withering Blade

• Reduced slow duration vs. players from 2.5s to 1.5s.
• Reduced Whisper of Durance slow-duration extension vs. players from 2s to 0.5s.
• Reduced damage vs. players from 65 to 45 (after one bounce reduced further to 30).
• Reduced projectile speed by 10%.
• Reduced tracking after bouncing off a wall.

Winter's Shroud

• Reduced slow duration vs. players from 2.5s to 1.5s.
• Reduced Whisper of Durance slow-duration extension vs. players from 2s to 0.5s.

Touch of Winter

• Coldsnap seeker no longer has increased movement speed or travel distance.
• Coldsnap seeker now spawns a small Stasis crystal on detonation.

Warlock Shadebinder

Penumbral Blast

• Reduced tracking and proximity detonation size and tracking vs. players.
• Reduced freeze radius vs. players when impacting the environment from 2.7m to 1.5m.

Iceflare Bolts

• Seeker now only chains once when spawned from a player shatter.

Winter's Wrath

• Freezing-projectile tracking strength now ramps down to 0 after 2s of flight.

Overall, I think it's good to see that Bungie is taking big steps to ensure that Stasis doesn't continue to dominate all of the other subclasses in Destiny 2's PvP modes while also ensuring it still remains viable and fun to use in PvE activities.

Do you like these nerfs, or do you think Bungie is overcorrecting here? Let me know. Destiny 2's latest expansion, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, is available for $40. If you haven't tried out Destiny 2 yet, I highly recommend doing so as it's one of the best Xbox One shooters out there. Make sure you check out my beginner's guide on how to get into Destiny 2 in 2021 for helpful tips, tricks, and more if you do.