Destiny 2 Lightfall Strand Subclass overview: Keywords, how to unlock, Aspects and Fragments explained

The Destiny 2: Lightfall DLC expansion welcomed the Strand subclass, so here’s everything you need to know about Bungie’s latest subclass in the sci-fi shooter including Aspects and Fragments, as well as how to unlock it. 

Destiny 2’s newest expansion Lightfall sends Guardians to Neomuna to fight Calus and his Shadow Legions. With a whole new location, enemies, and a brand new raid to fight through, Guardians need some serious firepower if they’ve got any chances of taking down Calus in the game.

Luckily Bungie has released a new subclass for Guardians to experiment with in the form of Strand. Following the debut of Stasis in Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Strand is the second darkness subclass we’ve received. 

Strand released with new keywords, as well as Aspects and Fragments so that players can experiment with different builds. Here’s everything we currently know about the Strand subclasses. 

Contents

• How to unlock Strand in Destiny 2: Lightfall
• Strand Keywords
  • Keywords
  • Debuffs
  • Buffs
  • Threadlings
• Grappling
• Grenades
• Titan Berserker
• Hunter Threadrunner
• Warlock Broodweaver
• Fragments
• Season of the Deep Third Aspect Unlock

How to unlock Strand in Destiny 2: Lightfall

To get your hands on the Strand subclass permanently in Destiny 2: Lightfall, you simply need to finish Lightfall’s campaign and it will become completely accessible from that point onwards.

You’ll get hands-on with Strand throughout Lightfall’s extensive campaign and in various missions, but once you’ve wrapped up all that the main missions that Lightfall has to offer, Strand will become yours.

Strand Keywords

Action Keywords

Like Stasis and the reworked Light 3.0 subclasses, Bungie has assigned various keywords that represent Strand. These keywords are generally debuffs or buffs that can be applied to Guardians and enemies and will affect how the subclass plays and feels. 

Bungie has revealed 3 keywords that are specific to Strand, that are neither buffs nor debuffs, and refer to using Strand itself.

• Weaving – Weaving refers to when the Guardian creates an object using Strand.
• Unravel – Unravel refers to when a Guardian has defeated an enemy currently affected by Strand, effectively “disconnecting them from the Weave”. 
• Tangle – A tangle is made when an enemy affected with Strand has been defeated, this tangle is essentially a big bungle of Strand, which can be shot at to explode or thrown at enemies. 

Strand Debuffs

Alongside this, Bungie has released 3 debuffs that also work with Strand. These are Suspend, Unravel, and Sever.

• Suspend – Suspend is exactly what you think it is, it “suspends” an enemy off the ground, causing them to be briefly disabled. In PvP, Suspend will work similarly, but will not disable the enemy Guardian, instead it will briefly slow instead of disable. 
• Unravel – Attacking any enemy affected with Unravel will cause bursts of threads to come out and attack nearby enemies. When these enemies are hit, they will also become Unravelled.
• Sever – Sever is a debuff that essentially causes the enemy affected to deal less damage, as they’ve been Severed from the material world. 

Strand Buffs

Strand has one major buff released with it – Woven Mail. It allows Guardians to protect themselves with a mesh of Strand material. This gives a damage reduction bonus in both PvE and PvP, however, it will not affect melee or headshot damage in PvP.

Threadlings

Threadlings are a new form of minion added into Lightfall, and allow Guardians to send out little Strand matter minions that will seek out enemies and explode on them.

Grappling

Easily one of the most exciting things with the Strand subclass is the ability for Guardians to grapple. 

Strand allows Guardians to weave a hook of Strand matter, which can be used on anchor points, as well as thin air which makes for some fantastic mobility options. Players can melee at the end of a Grapple which will deal bonus damage, unravel an enemy, and also propel them backward.

Grappling is tied to the player’s grenade ability, meaning players either need to forsake their grenade or go without the insane horizontal and vertical mobility.

Grenades

There are two other grenades available in Strand aside from Grapple, these being the Threadling Grenade and the Shackle Grenade.

• Threadling Grenade – Threadling Grenade splits into projectiles which will weave Threadlings on impact. 
• Shackle Grenade – The Shackle Grenade detonates a suspending blast to nearby enemies, and then sends out secondary smaller projectiles to suspend any enemy nearby.

Titan Berserkers

Strand Titans can fully immerse themselves in the fantasy of being a huge hulking mass, being able to dash in and take down foes, unfazed and unbothered by their defenses. 

Titans can equip themselves with Strand arm blades, which make them a devastating up close and personal class.

Titan Abilities

Titans have received the Berserker Strand Subclass, which is primarily focused on charging with melee strikes. They can wield two Strand blades as they dash around the map, tearing enemies asunder. 

Bungie revealed the melee ability for the Berserker Titan, which is Frenzied Blade. Frenzied Blade allows a Titan to dash forward and slash enemies with their blades, applying Sever. Frenzied Blade can hold up to three charges, so Titans can use it in quick succession to dash from enemy to enemy. 

Titan has also had its Strand super revealed. Bladefury is a roaming super that works similarly to Frenzied Blade, in which the light attack will become a supercharged version of Frenzied Blade which increases the attack speed of the next attack. Light attacks will charge up energy for the Super’s heavy attack, which causes the Titan to hurl out projectiles that seek toward enemies, damaging and suspending them on impact. 

Titan Aspects

Titans have two new aspects for the Strand subclass thanks to Lightfall. These are Into the Fray, and Drengr’s Lash. 

Aspects are major modifications Guardians can have to alter how their abilities and subclass function. 

• Into the Fray – Into the Fray allows for titans to grant themselves and their allies the Woven Mail buff when destroying a Tangle. Alongside this, this aspect will also increase melee the Titan’s ability regeneration whilst having the Woven Mail buff. 
• Drengr’s Lash – Drengr’s Lash allows a Titan to launch forward a powerful ripple in reality when using their class ability, which will suspend any enemies caught in the blast. 

Hunter Threadrunners

Strand Hunters can unleash their full speed and mobility to unleash havoc on their enemies. Threadrunners, as they’re called, will be able to use their new rope dart weapon and attack enemies from mid-air. 

Hunter Abilities

Threadrunner Hunters have gained a melee ability called Threaded Spike. Threaded Spike sees the Hunter throw out a rope dart that will bounce between enemies, applying Sever and damaging them. 

When returning to the Hunter, it’ll also return melee energy for each enemy hit, and a well-timed melee will allow the Hunter to catch the dart, further increasing the melee energy gained. 

Hunter’s super for Strand is titled Silkstrike, which when activated allows players to grapple through the world in a third-person view. While doing so they’re able to throw out their rope dart to strike down on enemies. 

This super allows for Hunters to grapple more often, and comes with both a light and heavy attack. The light attack is a more basic strike, which can be used consecutively in the air and on the ground. This strike deals more damage based on if the enemy was hit by the end of the dart rope, and will also cause enemies to explode when defeated with it.

Whereas the heavy attack is a radial attack that causes them to swing the rope dart around them, damaging anyone nearby. The heavy attack can also be used in the air or on the ground.

Hunter Aspects

Hunters, like Titans, have two Aspects available to them as a result of Lightfall. These Aspects work in tandem with the Hunter’s mobility and primarily focus on their grappling capabilities. The Hunter strand Aspects are Ensnaring Slam and Widow’s Silk.

• Ensnaring Slam – Ensnaring Slam allows Hunters to slam down to the ground while in the air, suspending any nearby enemies. 
• Widow’s Silk – Widow’s Silk grant’s an additional grenade charge. When a Hunter grapples, it’ll create a grapple Tangle when it latches. This will fully refund grenade energy when being grappled, allowing Hunters to chain their grapples together. These grapple Tangles can also be used by the Hunter’s team, making it a great utility aspect for team play. 

Warlock Broodweaver

Strand Warlocks are all about the little minions, known as Threadlings. Threadlings are little minions made of Strand matter, which will run forward and seek enemies to explode on. All classes have access to Threadlings, however, Warlock is the only class that can store them and have them Perch onto the Warlock. 

Warlock Abilities

Warlocks have also gained a new melee ability alongside the other classes in the form of Arcane Needle. Like other Warlock melees, Arcane Needle is a projectile that will track onto targets, dealing high damage and unraveling them. Warlocks will be able to cast three Arcane Needles in quick succession. 

Warlocks Strand super is called Needlestorm, which will cause the Warlock to rain down Strand matter in the form of spikes. These spikes will stick and explode on enemies or will turn into Threadlings that will chase and explode onto them. 

Warlock Aspects

Warlocks have received two Strand aspects like other classes in Lightfall and revolve around gaining and utilizing Threadlings. The Warlock strand aspects are Weaver’s Call and Mindspun Invocation.

• Weaver’s Call – Upon casting their Rift, the Warlock will weave three Threadling eggs. These Threadling eggs will hatch into Threadlings once they hit a surface, with any Perched Threadlings also being converted. 
• Mindspun Invocation – This aspect enhances Warlock’s Grenades:
  • Grapple – When executing a grapple melee, the Warlock will weave three Threadling eggs from the enemy.
  • Threadling Grenade – The Warlock can consume their Threadling Grenade to generate a set of Perched Threadlings. 
  • Shackle Grenade – The Warlock can consume their Shackle Grenade to gain a buff, which will create a suspending detonation each time an enemy is defeated.

Fragments

Fragments are minor buffs granted to Guardians that can be equipped by all classes in Destiny 2: Lightfall and these are small customizable options that can be equipped to further synergize with your build.

Here is every Fragment available for the Strand subclass in Destiny 2: 

• Thread of Ascent: Activating your grenade ability reloads your equipped weapon and grants bonus airborne effectivenes and handling for a short duration
• Thread of Binding: Super final blows emit a suspending burst from the target
• Thread of Continuity: Suspend, Unravel and sever effects applied to targets have increased duration
• Thread of Evolution: Threadlings travel farther and deal additional damage
• Thread of Finality: Finisher final blows create Threadlings
• Thread of Fury: Damaging targets with a Tangle grants melee energy
• Thread of Generation: Dealing damage generates grenade energy
• Thread of Isolation: Landing rapid precision hits emits a severing burst from the target
• Thread of Mind: Defeating suspended targets grants class ability energy
• Thread of Propagation: Powered melee final blows grant your Stand weapons Unraveling  Rounds
• Thread of Rebirth: Strand weapon final blows have a chance to create a Threadling
• Thread of Transmutation: While you have Woven Mail, weapon final blows create a Tangle
• Thread of Warding: Picking up and Orb of Power grants Woven Mail
• Thread of Wisdom: Defeating suspended targets with precision of final blows creates an Orb of Power

That wraps up everything Destiny 2 players need to know about the Strand subclass, so here are a bunch of other useful guides to flesh out your Destiny experience even more:

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