Destiny 2: Beyond Light Hunter Revenant Subclass Guide

With the release of Destiny 2: Beyond Light, each of the existing three classes receive a brand new elemental subclass that revolve around using Stasis to freeze enemies in place. Dubbed the Behemoth, Revenant, and Shadebinder for the Titan, Hunter, and Warlock respectively, these new subclasses offer excellent crowd-control capabilities that can completely shut down groups of enemies with unparalleled efficiency. As an added bonus, frozen enemies can shatter after taking enough damage, releasing an additional blast of damage. Of course, the real question with the addition of the Stasis subclasses is whether or not they can hold a candle to the existing subclasses.

Destiny 2 Hunter Revenant Subclass Basics

By default, the Hunter's new Revenant subclass gives you access to the Silence and Squall Super ability and the Withering Blade melee ability. You also get to use Glacier grenades regardless of which class you are playing. As you do the post-main quest activities, you can obtain two more grenade variants and Stasis subclass modifiers. These modifiers, dubbed Aspects and Fragments, can further boost the capabilities of the respective subclass that you are equipping it to. When all is said and done, the Stasis subclasses should theoretically have the most powerful passive options available in Destiny 2, even if they are a bit specialized.

In any case, Silence and Squall is a rather interesting fire-and-forget Super where you throw two projectiles in quick succession upon casting. The first projectile instantly freezes enemies in a small area with Stasis while the second projectile spawns a tracking blizzard upon impact which can also apply Stasis. Technically speaking, you could use the dual projectile nature of Silence and Squall to Stasis two large groups of enemies, but the blizzard is the real damage dealer of the Super. It's definitely one of Destiny 2's more effective options when it comes to crowd control, especially when it comes to solo play because you don't need any follow-up damage for the Super to be effective. On the other hand, the blizzard doesn't really seem to have any tracking logic to it, so sometimes it'll chase targets that you don't want it to chase. 

Withering Blade is conceptually similar to the throwing knife from the Gunslinger subclass insofar that you use it to throw sharp objects at your enemies. That's where the similarities end though. From a practical standpoint, Withering Blade is superior in every way to the throwing knife simply because it's far easier to use. You get two charges of Withering Blade by default, which is great. Withering Blade also has a much flatter trajectory, much more forgiving hit registration (i.e. larger projectile), it applies slow on hit, and it can ricochet to hit multiple enemies with surprising frequency. Needless to say, an excellent choice if you want a no-frills melee ability that can secure kills at most ranges.

Hunter Revenant Subclass - Grenades

Glacier - Spawns a giant wall of ice on impact. Direct hits with the wall can Stasis enemies. Wall be destroyed to create a Stasis explosion.

The very first grenade that you get in Destiny 2: Beyond Light is the Glacier grenade. It's decidedly a little awkward to use as it doesn't behave like a grenade at all. However, it's a fine area denial/escape tool. You can use it offensively, but you're generally better off going after the quests to unlock the other grenades instead.

Duskfield - Creates a vortex around the area of impact. Enemies that stay in the vortex are slowed and eventually frozen.

The second grenade that you can get your hands on, the Duskfield grenade has much in common with the Vortex grenade from the Nightstalker subclass. The area of effect and duration of the Duskfield grenade is a little smaller than its more offensively oriented cousin, but it more than makes up for it in crowd-control capabilities. A reasonable choice for any Stasis subclass.

Coldsnap - Launches a bolt of Stasis energy at the nearest enemy on impact. If it hits, another Stasis bolt is spawned. 

The last grenade that you can get in Beyond Light is the Coldsnap grenade. When it comes to applying Stasis, it's hard to beat the Coldsnap grenade as it applies the effect almost instantaneously. Most enemies simply can't dodge it unless they can teleport or fly. The downside is that it's much harder to Stasis multiple enemies at once compared to the Duskfield, which is a tradeoff that shouldn't be taken lightly. However, this synergizes very well with some of the Fragments that require you to Stasis an enemy, making it a top choice for such builds.

Hunter Revenant Subclass - Fragments

The Stasis subclass Fragments are arguably the most interesting gameplay mechanic in Destiny 2: Beyond Light. To get these Fragments, you must grind through some agonizingly long and annoying quests, but the reward is probably worth it. Indeed, the Fragments let you specialize your subclass into an actual build, providing strong situational buffs at the potential cost of some stat points. The two that we will be interested in are the following:

Whisper of Hedrons - Applying Stasis grants a 25% damage buff to weapons for 10 seconds.

Whisper of Bonds - Killing a frozen enemy with a weapon grants Super energy. Note that the amount of Super energy gained appears to be based on the type of enemy being killed and the number of kills being chained off the Stasis explosion.

Destiny 2 Hunter Revenant Subclass Build

Grenade - Coldsnap preferred, Duskfield is also acceptable

Fragments - Whisper of Hedrons and Whisper of Bonds

Preferred Stats - Discipline preferred, Intellect if Discipline is not available

Designed to take full advantage of Destiny 2's newest gameplay mechanic, this basic build revolves around exploiting Coldsnap grenades and the Revenant's Silence and Squall Super to maximum effect. No Exotics are required, no particular gear is needed, this is designed to be a pure "neutral" game build. The idea is to use the Coldsnap grenades to apply Stasis on virtually any group of enemies that you see, focus an enemy down to get Super energy, and then rinse and repeat until you can cast Silence and Squall. Since Silence and Squall is a fire-and-forget Super (i.e. you can use your guns), you then have about 10 seconds where you can chase around the Stasis blizzard, mowing down whoever's frozen for a neat return in Super energy investment.

The tradeoff is that with both fragments in play, you're losing 10 points in each cooldown-related stat. It sounds like a lot, but Hunters can instantly recover the melee ability charge with a well-timed dodge anyways, and with a high enough Discipline, the loss is practically minimal due to diminishing stat investment returns. If you're concerned about the Intellect drop, keep in mind that you can get about 10% of your Super bar from a decent Coldsnap proc. Even if you can't find adds to pick on, you're not losing out on anything. Against large targets like named enemies, Coldsnap still applies Stasis, which means that you're getting the damage buff regardless. A 25% damage buff for 10 seconds with minimal cooldown investment is nothing to laugh at when you consider how the most common sources of damage buffs are support Supers.

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