We've seen Void 3.0 and it's going to change Destiny 2 buildcrafting forever
The first of the Light subclass reworks already has me fantasising about powerful builds.
It's official: Destiny 2's grenades are universal now. Recently Bungie gave us a showcase of some of The Witch Queen's upcoming features, including a look at the Void 3.0 rework that's launching alongside the expansion for Season 16. And the big news for Guardians chasing grenade kill bounties is that you'll be able to equip any Void grenade in the game. Want some Axion Bolts for your Hunter? Sure thing. Want to rock Suppressors on your Warlock? Go for it.
Void 3.0 is the first part of Bungie's plan this year to move all of the Light subclasses over to the more modular system used for Stasis in Beyond Light. That means instead of having three 'trees' per subclass, each with fixed perks, the updated system lets you mix and match, enabling you to build towards a specific goal. And, much like with Stasis, all seven Void grenades will be equippable by every class.
To start, though, only your class's original grenade types will be unlocked. You'll be buying the others from Ikora, who presumably acts as the vendor for the new Void goodies—much like Elsie Bray did for Stasis. Bungie didn't say how much each unlock would cost, just that they don't want it to be a point of friction for players—good news for those of us who remember grinding out the Stasis unlocks on additional classes.
As with Stasis, the meat of the Void 3.0 rework is with the equippable Aspects and Fragments. Aspects are tied to your class; helping define its personality by offering unique interactions tied to what that element is about. You can equip two of them at once, and they form the backbone of your build.
In the demo, Bungie played as a Warlock, and so we got a chance to dig into the Aspects of that class.
Two will already be familiar to Voidwalker players. Chaos Accelerant lets you overcharge your grenades to deploy more deadly versions of their base effects. This was already present in the old top-tree Voidwalker ability suite, where Vortex grenades increased in size and duration, Axion Bolts generated an extra dart, and Scatter grenades would home in on enemies.
But the new Chaos Accelerant also works with one of the new (for Warlock) grenade types. With it equipped, overcharged Magnetic grenades will trigger a short-range Void blast. This sounds a lot like what used to be middle-tree Voidwalker's Handheld Supernova. And while it's not clear if the effect will be as powerful, by tying it to a specific, previously unavailable, grenade type it does sneakily nerf certain Exotic interactions like using Nothing Manacles to get two Scatter grenades that—under the old system—could be turned into Handheld Supernova charges.
Feed the Void is the other existing ability now retooled as an Aspect. This is what enables Devour builds, where defeating a target with a Void ability restores your health with each subsequent kill. This was already one of the strongest abilities in the Warlock kit, and the key to many a solo dungeon completion. The downside, under the old system, is that using it meant giving up the damage potential of the top-tree Voidwalker's 'Slowva' bomb super. Now, you can have both, which is already an exciting prospect.
Given that running Feed the Void and Chaos Accelerant together already sounds like an absurdly powerful upgrade over the old system, the pressure is on for the Warlock's third, new Aspect to earn a place in your build. Called Child of the Old Gods, it spawns a Void Soul when you cast your rift, who will fly over to the enemy you're shooting to apply damage and a weakness effect. Here's the key bit, though: while draining an enemy, the Void Soul will either give you grenade and melee energy if you're running healing rift, or health if you're running empowering rift. It's the latter that interests me more, and how it might pair with the new Exotic boots—announced in The Witch Queen's vidoc—that cause empowering rifts to heal you.
To summarise: you can pair Devour with a Void Soul that gives an additional health regen effect, with an exotic that lets your empowering rift heal you. And then you can still equip your Slowva bomb and the new Warlock Void melee, Pocket Singularity, which launches a tracking ball of energy that, when it detonates, pushes targets away and applies a 'volatile' effect—exploding them when they take damage. Which you can do a lot of, because you're in an empowering rift.
The great unknown of this system right now is the Fragments, which are class agnostic. There'll be a suite of these in the Void rework, and so far I've only seen a few with fairly minor effects: melee final blows granting grenade energy, lingering grenade effects getting increased duration, final blows giving super energy when surrounded by combatants. None of them sound like a game changer, but I expect them to function much like Stasis, where Fragments are often the difference between a decent build and something that sings through synergy with mods and Exotic effects.
Basically: there's every reason to be excited if you're a fan of Destiny 2's rapidly expanding buildcraft potential. Stasis's flexibility made it one of the most interesting subclasses in the game, even after the PvP nerfs. Based on what I've seen here, I doubt Void will become the go-to choice for group end-game content, at least for Warlocks—there's just too much utility in Solar's Well of Radiance, or Stasis's Bleak Watcher turret. But I do see it being the best option for difficult solo content—Master Lost Sectors, solo dungeon attempts and the new Legendary campaign. Especially as Season 16's artefact mods will be designed to highlight potential Void builds.
More than anything, this is a strong first showing for what the Light subclass rework could achieve—a suite of customisable options designed to enhance and expand the game's existing roles. It's a positive first step that, by the time the next expansion roles around, should greatly increase what our Guardians can do.