Perhaps it must be no shock for a game with patch notes which may run to north of 9,000 phrases that impactful modifications nonetheless slip via the cracks solely to be later found. Which is what’s taking place straight away in Destiny 2, where gamers have discovered they will change into virtually unkillable tanks by cranking their ‘Resilience’ stat to the max.
Previously, Resilience was thought-about a complete dumpster stat. In PvE, it was solely helpful on the Titan class to be able to cost the barricade capability quicker, in any other case offering virtually no significant additional survivability. But as a part of the Solar 3.0 modifications that Bungie rolled with Season of the Haunted, Resilience was reworked considerably.
Amidst the huge swathe of modifications listed within the May 24 update 4.1.0 notes was this: “Resilience: Now grants increased incoming flinch resistance and damage resistance vs. PVE combatants.”
What nobody anticipated was how a lot of a slab of resistance Bungie was speaking about. Try a whopping 40% to all inbound injury from AI enemies, supplied you are prepared to go all-in and spec 100 Resilience.
(Note that this injury resistance would not apply in PvP, however the anti-flinch does.)
Crucially, this injury resistance impact doesn’t scale linearly, and is closely weighted in direction of the highest of the curve. Or in different phrases, until you’ll be able to hit at the least 70 Resilience, it is virtually not price bothering in any respect, because the testing by reddit consumer kaloryth illustrates:
Resilience stat
Damage resistance %
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
8
6
14
7
20
8
26
9
32
10
40
In any remotely difficult content material, the impact is instantly noticeable. I discovered myself surviving all types of engagements that might usually have killed me, and infrequently with a considerable chunk of health remaining. And for reference, 40% injury resistance is similar quantity that the outdated Protective Light mod granted earlier than it was nerfed into atoms. You actually really feel the profit.
I used to be so impressed, that I’ve painstakingly re-specced most of my favorite builds to have 90+ Resilience. That course of was made tougher by the actual fact I’ve been routinely sharding armor with excessive Reslience for years now. Luckily, because of the excellent instrument that’s D2 Armor Picker, which allows you to exactly specify what stat tiers you are attempting to hit, then tells you what armor and mods to make use of, I used to be nonetheless typically capable of attain the cap. I strongly advocate constructing at the least one excessive resilience set for raids and Grandmaster Nightfalls.
The ultimate column of the Season of the Haunted artifact is filled with juicy mods for Solar subclasses. (Image credit score: Bungie)
Compounding our newfound tankiness additional, Season of the Haunted delivered a number of different potent therapeutic choices. Most notable is the Classy Restoration mod on the ultimate column of the Season Artifact. It reads: “Activating your Solar class abilities grants you Restoration.” The ‘Restoration’ impact regenerates health and shields over time, and—crucially—is not interrupted by taking injury.
It’s particularly sturdy on Gunslinger Hunter, as a result of the dodge capability already has a low cooldown and also you wish to be utilizing it as typically as potential anyway. You can simply have Restoration x2 up virtually consistently. I additionally prefer it so much on the present Starfire Protocol Warlock construct, which entails spamming Fusion Grenades that explode twice utilizing the Touch of Flame side, so as to run an Empowering Rift that additionally triggers therapeutic.
The buff granted by Classy Restoration is definitely ‘Restoration x2’, which you do not must be a maths whizz to know is double the essential model. In reality, it is the identical buff that the just lately reworked Titan unique helmet Lorely Splendor provides. No shock, then, {that a} Sunbreaker carrying that hat and likewise operating 100 Resilience is the tankiest construct within the game straight away, because of fixed Barricade/Sunspot spam.
Despite being reworked twice, the Lorely Splendor titan unique helmet stays as highly effective as it’s beautiful trying. (Image credit score: Bungie)
If you wish to spec even tougher into not dying, additionally contemplate the brand new therapeutic grenades, and the Well of Life mod which triggers one other type of health regen when selecting up photo voltaic wells.
Reminder: When you are useless your DPS drops to precisely zero.
At this level it’s possible you’ll be considering, hey, I’m healed now, please cease therapeutic me. I can not, in truth, be extra wholesome. And you would be right, insofar as we have definitely by no means had it so good in the case of health mods and talents. But as somebody smarter than me as soon as famous, while you’re useless your DPS drops to precisely zero. It actually cannot be overstated how a lot not dying must be valued in endgame PvE content material. My favorite teammates are those who’re nonetheless shooting.
One aspect notice: Presumably to mitigate the newfound worth of Resilience, Bungie additionally nerfed (unannounced) the quantity of harm resistance granted by chest mods. These now confer 15% injury resistance, versus 25% for a single mod. Again, I feel the philosophy right here is that the developer desires you to actually decide to constructing into injury resistance, somewhat than simply slapping on a few low cost mods and calling it finished.
All that mentioned, I do suppose the Resilience change is so impactful—particularly because the injury discount is energetic consistently—that I would not be shocked if it will get toned down in a future update. For now, benefit from the face rolling.
