Destiny 2 Beyond Light update 3.0.0.3 nerfs Stasis abilities: patch notes

Brad Norton
Destiny 2 gameplay

Beyond Light introduced Stasis to Destiny 2 but just over a week later, the powerful new subclass has already been scaled back ahead of the incoming Raid Race.

One of the major selling points of the latest Destiny expansion was the addition of an all-new elemental power. When the series first kicked off in 2014, Solar, Void, and Arc were the only damage types in the game. A fourth finally being added into the mix was a huge deal, though the community was quick to uncover some downsides of Stasis in the first few days.

From frustrating PvP freeze abilities to outright broken damage output in PvE activities, the introduction of Stasis hasn’t been the smoothest experience. Rather than waiting to fix every issue at once, however, Bungie has already rushed out a lightning-fast hotfix. Primarily to nip some game-breaking issues in the bud before the Deep Stone Crypt Raid goes live on November 21.

From an assortment of ability nerfs to various exploits and bug fixes, here’s everything there is to know about the 3.0.0.3 hotfix in Destiny 2.

“It’s not often that an entirely new subclass makes its entrance into the ecosystem of Destiny 2,” Bungie reminded us in the latest TWAB blog post. “We’ve heard it’s a ton of fun to use, but certain aspects of this new subclass can be frustrating to go up against.”

As a result, various abilities have been scaled back quite significantly, none more so than the problematic Warlock powers. “Our goal here is to do some early tuning to rein Shadebinders back in while still maintaining their overall efficacy and power fantasy.”

First up, you’ll notice that players will be able to break out of Stasis quicker than before. A 20HP damage dropoff should free you from the ice much faster. Additionally, a number of Warlock abilities will be weaker on the whole. Penumbral blast is now slower and comes with a reduced range. While Winter’s Wraith is now six seconds shorter than before.

You may have noticed some viral videos soon after the release of Beyond Light. A number of players went back to earlier Raid bosses to test the lethality of new Stasis abilities, essentially breaking the game in their tests.

Bungie has “worked at a lightning pace to develop” the new hotfix. This means the upcoming Raid Race won’t be tarnished by absurd cheese strats and instant boss kills. 

For PvP specifically, Cold Snap has been drastically overhauled as the freeze duration will now last just 1.35 seconds, opposed to 4.75 seconds. The same applies to Ice Flare Bolts and Penumbral Blast.

“When it comes to crafting new abilities, we believe the risk of shipping something a little hot is better than playing it safe and shipping something that doesn’t get you excited.” Excitement for PvP in particular, was quickly minimized those this hotfix should address the biggest complaints.

Destiny 2 gameplay
With The next Raid Race on the horizon, you can expect this hotifx to shut down any exploit attempts.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more significant changes down the line as well. While the devs were quick to get this hotfix out ahead of the Raid, more is still yet to be done,

“This will not be the last change to Stasis this Season,” Bungie confirmed. The full patch notes for the 3.0.0.3 hotfix can be seen below.

COMBAT

WEAPONS

  • Fixed an issue where the Coriolis Force Fusion Rifle was getting more ammo than intended from ammo bricks.
  • Fixed an issue where the Witherhoard damage debuff wasn’t being removed properly.
      • Witherhoard has now been re-enabled.

 ABILITIES

Stasis  
  • Fixed exploits with the Warlock Shadebinder Super.
  • Stasis breakout damage reduced (110->90hp).
      • Adjusted the curve that reduces breakout damage using Resilience.
      • Increased the damage reduction effect Resilience has so that higher tiers of Resilience are more valuable.
      • Caps out at 90 Resilience.
  • Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) projectile speed reduced by 20%.
  • Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) range reduced (was 28m now 16m).
  • Winter’s Wrath (Stasis Warlock Super) duration reduced (was 30s now 24s).
  • Winter’s Wrath light attack (Stasis Warlock Super) cost reduced (was 5% per burst, now 4.5% per burst).
  • Cold Snap seeker speed reduced by 23%.
Against Guardians:  
  • Cold Snap freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
  • Ice Flare Bolts freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
  • Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
  • Winter’s Wrath heavy attack (Stasis Warlock Super) no longer affects players who are not encased.

GAMEPLAY AND INVESTMENT

REWARDS

  • Fixed an issue where Pinnacle rewards were not dropping at the correct Power.
  • Fixed an issue where several repeatable bounties were providing more XP than intended.

ACTIVITIES

  • Fixed an issue on Exodus Crash where the Spider Tank wasn’t spawning.
      • Exodus Crash has been re-enabled.

GENERAL

  • Fixed an issue that was causing ARUGULA errors.
  • Fixed an issue where Fragment pursuits were purchasable with a full inventory.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com