When I first heard about Destiny 2’s new Prismatic subclass, I thought it was a bit of a meme. The Final Shape brings the series’ decade-long storyline to a close with an epic showdown between the forces of good and evil, and as Bungie symbolically closes the book on Destiny 2 (if not literally, it remains to be seen), Prismatic feels like the studio’s way of telling players, “That’s all we’ve got for you. Here, take this, go nuts.”
On paper, Prismatic should break Destiny 2 in ways we’ve not yet imagined, and after testing it out the last couple of days, I still think it could. Each subclass has its own synergies and specialties that feel powerful and occasionally game-breaking on their own, but each of them is limited by the things theycan’tdo. Prismatic combines all three Light subclasses and both Darkness subclasses into one super subclass that can seemingly do it all. That’s not to mention Prismatic’s Transcendence ability, which increases your weapon damage, damage resistance, and ability regeneration. Balance be damned, let’s have some fun. This could be the end of the world, after all.
So far, Prismatic is every bit as fun as it sounds, but what really impresses me about it is that Bungie hasn’t simply turned off the lights, opened all the jail cells, and let the inmates take over the prison. There’s clearly been a lot of thought, careful consideration, and strategic rebalancing involved with the creation of Prismatic. It feels powerful and worthwhile, without completely pushing all of the other subclasses out of the game. It’s too soon to tell if Prismatic istoogood, but thankfully, it’s definitely not the going-out-of-business fire sale I was expecting.
That’s largely thanks to the limited selection of abilities and aspects. While you’re able to use abilities from every subclass, you can’t useanyability. Bungie has constructed each class’s Prismatic menu in a way that offers tons of customization options without it becoming a free-for-all. More options will come to Prismatic eventually, but for now, each damage type only has one option per ability.
That’s not to say the available combinations aren’t already incredibly strong. On my Hunter, I’m using a variation of the starting build, which comes with Stasis’ aspect Winter’s Shroud to freeze enemies around you when you dodge, and Void’s Stylish Executioner to turn invisible every time I defeat an enemy with an elemental debuff. Along with Arc’s melee ability Combination Blow, I can chain together a near-infinite dodge/punch combo that freezes surrounding enemies and turns me invisible after every punch.
Stylish Executioner works differently in Prismatic than it does in Void. While the Void version only procs when you defeat a Void-debuffed enemy, the Prismatic version procs when you defeat an enemy withanydebuff.
I’ve used a similar build in the Arc subclass for a long time, but the Stasis effects make this play style so much more powerful, while the intrinsic invisibility from Stylish Executioner means I don’t have to use Assassin’s Cowl to stay invisible anymore, freeing up my exotic slot for another power enhancer, like Liar’s Handshake.
I’m also using Grapple from Strand and Solar’s Golden Gun Super, which means I’m using abilities from all five subclasses in my build. Even though my combat loop is similar to ones I’ve used before, the novelty of combining different subclass abilities together still hasn’t worn off. Grappling into a crowd, turning invisible, freezing the survivors, then shattering them with an electrified punch feels incredible. It’s the most fun I’ve had in Destiny for a long time, and while these are abilities I’m very familiar with, combining them this way makes it feel like a whole new game.
It’s been difficult to adjust to at times, and some of the smaller differences are messing with my muscle memory. In the Strand subclass I use the Widow’s Silk aspect to give me a second Grapple, but that’s not available in Strand. I find myself trying to Grapple twice as often as I actually can just out of habit. In my Arc punch build, I rely on Lethal Current and Flow State to Jolt the targets and punch to make me Amplified so I can run around punching more people, but in Prismatic, I have to rely on my Stasis for my crowd control, and Grapple to help me get around quickly. It’s just different enough to make me focus more and think more deeply about moves I’ve learned to do automatically over the years. I feel like I’m learning how to play Destiny 2 all over again, and it’s so exciting.
