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The Ultimate PvE Subclass Showdown: Dominating Destiny 2’s Endgame

The burning question on every Guardian’s mind: What is the best subclass in Destiny 2 for PvE? While “best” is subjective and depends heavily on playstyle, content, and current sandbox balance, a strong contender consistently rises to the top: the Voidwalker (Warlock). Specifically, the subclass utilizing aspects and fragments that maximize Void Leech, Devour, and volatile rounds. This setup offers unmatched survivability, incredible damage output through volatile explosions, and excellent add clear capabilities, making it a top-tier choice for almost all PvE activities.

Why Voidwalker Reigns Supreme

The Voidwalker subclass, especially when built around Devour and volatile rounds, provides a synergistic loop that keeps you alive while dealing massive damage. Here’s a breakdown:

Devour: Each kill fully heals you and grants Devour, extending your health regeneration and empowering future kills. This makes you incredibly tanky, especially in add-dense environments.
Volatile Rounds: Void weapons now apply Volatile Rounds, causing enemies to explode on death. When paired with the Echo of Instability fragment this creates a devastating chain reaction, clearing rooms with ease and applying immense damage to higher health targets.
Void Leech: A full super bar allows for increased weapon damage output when picking up orbs of power. This effect can be activated prior to using super, giving you a huge advantage against bosses.
Versatility: Voidwalker provides great flexibility. You can focus on pure add clear, single-target damage, or a balanced hybrid build, adapting to the needs of your fireteam and the encounter.
Powerful Supers: Nova Bomb, in both its Cataclysm and Vortex flavors, offers significant burst damage and area denial, useful for various situations.
Build Potential: It boasts a high ceiling for min-maxing and can be tailored to specific exotic armor pieces like Contraverse Hold, Nezarec’s Sin, and Verity’s Brow, further enhancing its effectiveness.

While Voidwalker is a powerful and generally considered one of the best, other subclasses also shine in specific scenarios. Solar Warlocks with Well of Radiance provide essential survivability and damage buffs for challenging boss encounters. Titans with Void, Arc, and Solar all have powerful options for buffing themselves and allies. Hunters offer potent damage-dealing supers and debuffs.

Other Notable PvE Subclasses

Here’s a quick look at other strong contenders:

Well of Radiance (Solar Warlock): Essential for providing healing and damage buffs in challenging boss fights. A must-have for many raid teams.
Sentinel Titan (Void): Offering overshields and debuffs with Ward of Dawn and controlled demolition, Sentinel Titans enhance team survivability and damage output.
Banner of War (Arc Titan): This new subclass offers substantial damage output in addition to self-healing and team buffs, making it one of the highest damaging Titan subclasses available.
Nightstalker (Void Hunter): Providing invisibility and significant debuffs with Shadowshot, Nightstalkers are valuable for both survivability and enhancing team damage.
Gunslinger (Solar Hunter): With powerful burst damage potential through Golden Gun and Celestial Nighthawk, Gunslingers are excellent for single-target damage.
Strand Hunter: With a strong focus on crowd control and traversal, this subclass is a great option for faster-paced game modes such as raids and dungeons.
Stormcaller (Arc Warlock): Offers both burst and sustain damage through arc souls and can provide good add-clear.

Ultimately, the “best” subclass depends on individual playstyle, team composition, and the specific challenges of each activity. However, Voidwalker’s combination of survivability, damage, and versatility makes it a consistently strong choice in nearly all PvE scenarios.

Optimizing Your Build

To truly maximize your PvE potential, you need to fine-tune your subclass build:

Choose the Right Aspects and Fragments: Select aspects and fragments that synergize with your desired playstyle. For Voidwalker, prioritize aspects that enhance Devour and provide volatile rounds.
Select Your Weapons Wisely: Pair your subclass with weapons that complement your abilities. Void weapons with Volatile Rounds are essential for maximizing your subclass.
Optimize Your Armor Stats: Focus on stats like Resilience for damage resistance and Discipline for grenade uptime. Recovery can be beneficial, but is less important with Devour.
Use Mods Effectively: Utilize armor mods that enhance weapon handling, ability regeneration, and damage resistance. Mods can significantly improve your overall effectiveness.
Synergize with Your Team: Coordinate your subclass and weapon choices with your fireteam to create a well-rounded and effective team composition.

FAQs: Mastering Destiny 2 PvE Subclasses

Here are some frequently asked questions to help you further refine your subclass choices and gameplay:

1. Is Well of Radiance still meta?

Yes, Well of Radiance remains a crucial support ability for challenging PvE content, especially in encounters where sustained healing and damage buffs are essential.

2. Which Hunter subclass is best for solo PvE?

Nightstalker is a strong contender due to its invisibility, which provides survivability and allows for strategic positioning. Gunslinger is also a good choice, allowing for high burst damage and decent mobility options.

3. What’s the easiest Warlock subclass for beginners?

Stormcaller is generally considered the easiest Warlock subclass to learn due to its straightforward abilities and area-of-effect damage potential.

4. Which Titan subclass is best for add clear?

Arc Titan provides a high amount of add clear through chaining abilities and lightning strikes. Void Titan can also work well, as volatile rounds will eliminate low health targets in a single explosion.

5. How important is Resilience in PvE?

Resilience is incredibly important, providing a significant amount of damage resistance. Aim for at least tier 8 (80 Resilience) or higher.

6. What are the best exotic armor pieces for Voidwalker?

Contraverse Hold and Nezarec’s Sin are excellent choices, enhancing grenade damage and ability regeneration, respectively. Verity’s Brow is also a good option, as it will increase your weapon damage output and your fireteams.

7. What is the best way to use volatile rounds?

Pair volatile rounds with weapons that have high fire rates or area-of-effect damage to maximize the number of explosions and clear adds quickly.

8. Is it worth running multiple Wells of Radiance in a raid?

No, while having one Well of Radiance is beneficial, multiple Wells offer diminishing returns. It’s better to diversify your team’s subclasses for greater overall effectiveness.

9. How do I maximize my ability uptime?

Focus on armor stats like Discipline (grenades), Strength (melee), and Intellect (super). Use mods that enhance ability regeneration and consider subclass fragments that provide ability energy on kills or damage.

10. Which debuff super is best for PvE?

Shadowshot from the Nightstalker Hunter is a popular choice, providing a significant damage debuff to enemies.

11. Does power level matter in PvE?

Yes, your power level affects the damage you deal and the damage you receive. Being below the recommended power level for an activity will significantly increase the difficulty.

12. What are some good PvE weapon archetypes?

Auto Rifles, Hand Cannons, Pulse Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns, Fusion Rifles, Linear Fusion Rifles, and Rocket Launchers are all viable in PvE, depending on the encounter and your playstyle.

13. How do I effectively use supers in PvE?

Use supers strategically to clear groups of enemies, deal burst damage to bosses, or provide support to your team. Coordinate super usage with your fireteam for maximum impact.

14. Are there any “must-have” mods for PvE?

Armor mods that enhance weapon handling, ability regeneration, and damage resistance are always beneficial. Specific mods may depend on your subclass and weapon choices.

15. How can I improve my overall PvE performance?

Practice regularly, experiment with different subclasses and builds, and learn the mechanics of each encounter. Communicate effectively with your team and adapt your strategy as needed. Consider joining online communities and resources to find other players and learn from experienced Guardians.

Continuing the Learning Journey

Destiny 2 is a constantly evolving game, and staying informed about the latest updates and strategies is crucial. Resources like the Games Learning Society at https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/, focus on the educational aspects of games and games-based learning, but you may be able to take the analytical and problem-solving skills that can be gained through gaming into other walks of life. By continually refining your knowledge and skills, you can master any subclass and dominate the PvE landscape.

What is the best subclass in Destiny 2 PvE?