Some thoughts about the Destiny 2 update/ patch 2.1.4
While other classes and super skills in Destiny 2 have experienced some fantastic buffs, the Warlock’s only super-super, the nova warp, has been smashed down to the ground. But why?
How strong was the Nova Warp before the 2.1.4 update?
Introduced by Forsaken, the Super of the Spider does not only impress with its fantastic “neutral game” (or neutral game – how effective are the abilities in the normal game without the use of the Super), after all, the Nova Warp Warlock can put his grenade in one hand -Supernova converts and regenerates skills abilities life.
If that’s still not enough, you’ll enjoy the increased melee range. But even the super-ability itself was very strong, at least when you were traveling in the melting pot. In PvE, the Super was mostly used to eliminate hughe enemy groups. For strong bosses even the Nova Warp has not been the first choice of weapon.
A super-skill that lasts for minutes, kills life at Kills, and even goes through walls? Sure, why not? Even if all the team members hit the Warlock, the increased armor and life regeneration have turned this super ability into a real monster.
Who really wanted to counter the Nova Warp had two options: run away or play a hunter with a blazing fire. With other super-attacks you did not even need to try. Even a Titan with the code of the rocket could be fetched from its Superman animation at a stroke.
With the update 2.1.4 Bungie wanted to rebalance the Super. Unfortunately, that went terrific in the pants.
So Bungie wanted to customize the Nova Warp: In the TWAB blog from 11 January Bungie went into more detail on the changes that players can expect with the 2.1.4 update. A first taste of the changes to the Nova Warp was accompanied by the words
The above Nova Warp changes are small, but we believe that taken together they bring things to the right level – a level equal to the Supers we turned up.
It should therefore be “small” changes that should make the Nova Warp comparable to the super attacks that have now experienced a buff. The Patch Notes finally revealed the full extent of the Warlock drama:
- Nova Warp Super
- During charging, you move a little slower
- Charging consumes more energy
- Initial charge cost (each time you trigger the Super) increases by 60%
- Cost of sustained withdrawal (holding) increased by 60%
- Duration reduced by 6.8 seconds
- Super Damage Resistance reduced from 56% to 54%
- Damage to Guardians reduced by 27%
Not only was the duration of the super reduced by 7 seconds, the charging costs were massively increased. In addition, the movement speed was reduced.
Who tried the Super in the crucible, will find that the opponents can not only run away relatively easily, the Warlock consumed by the teleport too much super energy. As a result, in the worst case, the Super can only be triggered two or three times before the time runs out. The effectiveness of the super was therefore halved in the best case.
To top it all, Bungie has buffed almost every super with the 2.1.4 update, which makes the Nerf of the Nova Warp even more serious. In particular, the gunslinger hunter and the striker Titan have received fantastic buffs.
Since the Nova Warp has played little role even before the Nerf in the PvE, they should no longer use anyone. The neutral game is still strong, while the Super is useless.
In the community, the voices are louder, calling for a revision of the Nova Warp. While the damage reduction and the reduced armor are found to be “good”, the reduction in movement should be lifted and the charging costs reduced.
This would ensure that the Nova Warp would still be an alternative in the crucible. For the fight against aliens on the other hand, the talent tree would have to be balanced completely separately, a tightrope walk, with which Bungie experience, according suffers.
What do you think about the changes? Use the comments below!