Destiny 2’s new ice powers will evolve in Year 4

Destiny 2’s new Stasis subclass is the star of the show for Beyond Light, the franchise’s 2020 expansion. Stasis is the first of the game’s new Darkness classes — with more likely coming in the upcoming expansions, Witch Queen and Lightfall. According to Bungie, more changes are coming to Stasis in Year 4.

Being of the Darkness, Stasis works a little bit differently than the Solar, Arc, and Void subclasses players have known since Bungie launched the first Destiny game in 2014. One of the ways that difference manifests is in the customization system for Stasis. It’s different from the “Light” supers, which are all binary choices, asking players to select one of three branches on each Super tree. Stasis is completely modular, letting players pick and choose various powers to go along with their Darkness subclass.

In an interview with Polygon last week, we asked Destiny 2’s game director Luke Smith about the Darkness customization. “We are really excited about the new system,” he said. With the Stasis Super system operating as a kind of journey into the realm of customization, Bungie seems to think it was successful — and we agree.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Each Darkness subclass comes with a new Super and some unlockable grenade options. Then, players can slot up to two powerful Aspects into their character, which add new perks to their Stasis abilities. For example, Warlocks can choose an Aspect that allows them to freeze nearby enemies when they cast Rift, while Titans can elect to shatter nearby enemies when they slide. Players can then slot less powerful Fragments into those Aspects, offering minor additions like a damage buff whenever the player freezes an enemy.

Currently, each class has two Aspects — enough to fill both slots and that’s it. Players can also earn about six Fragments that they can change out at will. Currently, Stasis is fairly static, with Fragments being the only differentiator between players. But not for long. “Our intention is to add more,” said Smith. Between now and next fall’s Witch Queen expansion, Bungie will add more Aspects and Fragments to Stasis, allowing players to interchange their Aspects and more uniquely customize their subclass.

In our conversation with Smith, he made it clear that the new system isn’t just meant to differentiate the Light and Dark subclasses going forward. The goal was to offer more customization to players. Smith quoted a fellow co-worker, Kevin Yanes, who refers to the new Subclass system as “diet Materia from Final Fantasy 7.”

Currently, players don’t quite have that level of customization. But over the next few seasons, Stasis should expand with new Aspects and Fragments, allowing each player to have a more unique Stasis configuration.