Stasis has fundamentally changed Destiny 2's PvE and PvP sandboxes. Crowd control and AoE damage are more apparent than ever before in both environments, resulting in many players either taking the game slower or embracing the carnage that the Darkness encourages.
Not every player has gotten used to Stasis, however. Some mechanics tied to Stasis are either not explained or seem counter-intuitive. Conversely, there are a few methods for countering Stasis that aren't made clear by in-game tips. From grenade hopping to applying pressure to enemy Guardians, here are five tips for embracing Stasis and five ways to counter it.
10 Using Stasis: Punish Aggressive Enemies
One of the strongest aspects of using Stasis is its ability to freeze opponents dead in their tracks. This can be useful in PvE when a Vex Minotaur or Hive Knight won't stop pursuing you. You can also freeze Vex Wyverns or other dangerous enemies to give yourself some breathing room. Of course, Stasis really shows its fangs in PvP.
Shotgun rushers and aggressive players can be stopped mid-slide with Stasis. These players use nothing but their radar to dictate their next move, so pressure them into attacking by closing the gap to light up their radar. Once you get close, get a clear line of sight on the enemy and wait. After a few seconds, they should push you with a Shotgun in hand. Freeze them for a free kill. Stasis is easily the strongest counter to Shotgun-aping in Destiny 2 currently. Use Stasis to force Primary gunfights and dictate the flow of combat.
9 Countering Stasis: Spec For Resilience
Resilience governs the damage you take from breaking free from Stasis. Similar to Recovery, the damage you take is exponentially less the more resilience you have. The damage reduction caps out at 90 resilience, causing Stasis breakouts to deal around 5% of your total health. This won't change how fast you can break out of Stasis, but those that are frequently killed after breaking free might want to throw a few resilience Mods onto their armor.
8 Using Stasis: Master Glacier Grenades
Glacier Grenades are the most versatile grenades the Destiny franchise has seen thus far. A wall of Stasis crystals can be used to create cover or to shatter targets, but the usefulness of this grenade type reaches much further than that.
Throwing a Glacier Grenade under your feet creates a massive amount of vertical momentum for your character, which can be extremely beneficial for Behemoth Titans or Revenant Hunters. With the Whisper of Shards Fragment, you can also turn these crystals into sources of grenade energy. Aim your Shatterdive or Cryoclasm slide near the edge of the wall to leave one crystal alive, allowing you to destroy it later for additional grenade energy. Finally, you can use these grenades to generate horizontal platforms that open new sightlines in PvP maps.
7 Countering Stasis: Fight From A Further Distance
Most Stasis abilities have a small radius to apply their effect. Grenades have travel time, the Warlock's Penumbral Blast can only reach 22 meters, and the Hunter's Winter's Shroud Aspect only activates if you're within Shotgun distance. Hunter Shurikens and the Titan's Shiver Strike can both be used at incredible ranges, yet both can be countered by maintaining distance. Use Hand Cannons, Pulse Rifles, Sniper Rifles, or even Scout Rifles to take Stasis players down before they can close the gap and freeze you.
6 Using Stasis: Use Ability-Enhancing Exotics
Ability-enhancing Exotics have become much stronger in Beyond Light thanks to their synergy with Stasis. Hunters can use Fr0st-EE5 to gain a multiplicative buff to their ability regeneration that's around 25%, stacking with Whisper of Shards to grant eight-second grenade cooldowns. Titans can use Heart of Inmost Light and Glacier Grenades to generate grenade and melee energy by sliding into their grenade. Warlocks can get a ton of mileage out of Monte Carlo and Traveler's Chosen. Whether you focus on PvE or PvP activities, keep these Exotics in mind when you use Stasis.
5 Countering Stasis: Manipulate The Enemy's Radar
Quite a few Stasis players will use their abilities as a setup for an easy kill. You can bait them into using their abilities by simply manipulating their radar.
Whenever an opponent is using Stasis, try to get close to them without making line-of-sight. Push towards their location, light up their radar with your position, then immediately double back. The enemy will either panic throw a grenade or chase you. Engaging in a duel under these circumstances will make winning much easier. If the enemy gets used to this tactic, crouch instead of running away to hide from the radar—giving you a clear opportunity to Shotgun them when they run towards you. Either way, apply pressure by getting near an opponent to force a reaction.
4 Using Stasis: Stay Mobile
Mobility is your greatest tool in Destiny 2. In PvE, properly utilizing jumps and strafing can let you avoid sniper shots and enemy projectiles. In PvP, being able to quickly reposition is enough to throw most opponents off.
Stasis takes this to a whole new level by giving you additional means of moving around the battlefield. Titans can use their melee to fling themselves around the map, Hunters can dive towards the ground at any time, and Warlocks can use Glacier Grenades to launch themselves into the skybox. When you pair these tools with good movement, you become nigh-impossible to kill inside of PvE and PvP.
3 Countering Stasis: Use Your Class Ability
Stasis has made class abilities more important than ever before. Some of the most annoying aspects of Stasis can be countered by simply using your class ability.
Hunter dodges disable all ability tracking while you're in the animation, meaning that the likes of Coldsnap Grenades and the Warlock's Penumbral Blast projectiles will stop tracking you after you dodge. Titan Barricades can also absorb and downright redirect Stasis projectiles, causing Coldsnap fissures to crawl up the Barricade before disappearing. Finally, Warlock Rifts can make recovering from a Stasis breakout easy thanks to the Healing Rift's regeneration effect. If you know an enemy is going to peak a corner and freeze you, throw down an Empowering Rift and use an Aggressive-Frame Sniper Rifle to one-tap them to the body.
2 Using Stasis: Class-Specific Tips
Since each Stasis Subclass has unique Aspects and abilities, some of the best tips relating to Stasis rely on capitalizing on your unique abilities. Here are a few tips for each Stasis Subclass:
Revenant Hunters:
- Shatterdive right as you throw a Glacier Grenade to instantly detonate it. Enemies can't react fast enough to escape the blast radius, so long as you're using the Whisper of Shards Fragment.
- While Winter's Shroud is equipped, dodging and throwing a Withering Blade at a target will instantly freeze them. This works exceptionally well when you have Gambler's Dodge equipped.
Behemoth Titans:
- Throw a Glacier Grenade at your feet before using Shivering Strike to gain more distance.
- Dunemarchers pairs well with this Subclass, further enhancing your slide distance while making Shivering Strike chain lightning to targets. If an enemy is frozen, this arc damage can shatter targets.
Shadebinder Warlocks:
- Vesper of Radius instantly shatters targets when you create a Rift. This can lead to absurd AoE damage in PvE.
- The Iceflare Bolts Aspect has a hidden perk that grants 15% grenade energy every time you kill a frozen target. This effect stacks with Demolitionist and Wellspring. Pair this Aspect with Whisper of Shards for non-stop grenades.
1 Countering Stasis: Commit To A Strategy
Countering Stasis is difficult to do when you don't commit to a strategy. Beyond Light's PvP meta has shifted towards either playing hyper-aggressive or conservatively. Both strategies are viable in their own ways, but trying to do both at the same time will end in disaster. Pushing players with little thought is death against a Stasis-wielding opponent. Playing from a distance will also test your patience and make you want to push, again causing you to be punished by a Stasis player. Do not hesitate in your strategy and stick with it. Make the Stasis player bend to your playstyle, not the other way around.