Destiny 2 developer Bungie released a hotfix last week in an attempt to fix some balance issues related to the new Stasis subclasses, specifically the Warlock "Shadebinder" subclass. However, after a week of feedback, it's clear that this hotfix has created more balance issues than it solved.
When Beyond Light dropped on November 10, it came with a shiny new toy for each class: Stasis subclasses. These ice based subclasses have proven incredibly popular with the player base, but as expected, they also came with some balance issues. Bungie took aim at these balance issues with Hotfix 3.0.0.3 in an attempt to curb problems in the PvP meta, but it appears to have backfired spectacularly, creating more significant balance issues that overflow into the Destiny 2 PvE sandbox and a steady flow of complaints from warlocks across the player base.
According to several Reddit posts, Warlocks (and even some Titans) are exceedingly unhappy with the nerf, but not just for the reasons you would expect. The nerf was so extreme, it has severely impacted the usability of Stasis in both PvP and PvE activities, to the point where many Warlocks can't justify using Stasis over Attunement of Chaos Nova, or even Well of Radiance.
These are the most noticeable changes: For PvE and PvP, Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock Melee) projectile speed was reduced by 20% and range reduced from 28 meters to 16 meters, and Winter's Wrath (Stasis Warlock Super) duration was reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds. For just PvP, Penumbral Blast's freeze duration was lowered from 4.75 seconds to just 1.35 seconds, and the Winter's Wrath heavy attack no longer even affects guardians unless they are encased in ice. Now here's the real kicker: Freeze abilities from Hunters still last their full pre-nerf duration, and Titan's Stasis abilities remain untouched.
Having felt the sting of the nerf myself, it's not hard to see why fans are upset about the balance changes. Bungie just gave us a new toy, and then smashed it on the ground in front of us in what could arguably be described as the most lop-sided balance change in Destiny franchise history. This change has caused a number of Warlocks to forgo the use of their broken new toy in favor of the tested and true subclasses of seasons past. The general sentiment of the Destiny community is the hope that Bungie will see this balancing error and correct it, but with their history of sticking to their nerf guns and no official statements from the Bungie community manager, it is unclear if it will ever be addressed.