Since Bungie put stasis in players' hands with Beyond Light, the studio has been working overtime to rein in the icey powers across Destiny 2. Nerfs have been a regular occurrence over the last year and will continue for the foreseeable future as Bungie tries to keep the subclass from being as problematic as it was at Beyond Light's launch. Hunters will be the target of the next notable nerf which is set to target one stasis ability in particular when the Bungie 30th Anniversary event begins.
Bungie is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Destiny 2 with a special in-game event to close out 2021 alongside a special content pack on December 7. The in-game event will kick-off with a new 6-player matchmade activity Dares of Eternity which Bungie said will include rewards honoring the studio's history. The 30th Anniversary Pack will include a new dungeon set inside the Cosmodrome's infamous loot cave rewarding classic Destiny weapons, new gear and cosmetics inspired by Bungie's game library, and the return of the Gjallarhorn.
Alongside the pack and event, Hunters' shatterdive will be the latest stasis ability to get nerfed when the event kicks off. Bungie sandbox lead Kevin Yanes confirmed on Twitter a shatterdive nerf is ready to go and will be part of the larger 30th Anniversary patch, though Yanes did not say what other abilities may be getting nerfed. He did say the idea with this nerf is to try and shift the current Destiny 2 meta away from abilities to focus more on gunplay.
As mentioned above, stasis has been an ongoing balancing problem for Bungie since it was introduced with Beyond Light. Players were vocal almost immediately about how overpowered the subclass was, especially in PvP, causing many players to stop jumping into Crucible matches until the first major nerfs rolled out in Destiny 2 in June 2021. Subsequent nerfs and patches have been more specific, targeting specific stasis abilities which Bungie feel are still problematic in the overall sandbox.
Shatterdive, in particular, has been the bane of many players who find themselves in Gambit and Crucible matches against stasis-happy hunters. Hunters will first throw an icewall grenade which, when combined with the shatterdive, causes additional area-of-effect damage and potential one-shot opposing players if they are frozen by the initial grenade throw. It could prove even more aggravating for players in Crucible if other players were running stasis and communicating, only adding to the toxic views many players have had of stasis for nearly a year.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
