In the lore of the Destiny universe, it is quite easy to argue that Warlocks are the most powerful class when it comes to harnessing the Traveler's Light, but this does not always translate to the actual gameplay of Destiny 2 if you are not using the right playstyle or gear. This can be especially true at the highest levels of the game's PvP and PvE content, where using the best subclasses, weapons, armor, and strategies can be the difference between victory and defeat.
So in an effort to help you dominate the competition, we have decided to put together a list of 10 tips to help you pick the right exotics and strategies to become the most powerful Warlock in the game.
10 Ophidian Aspect
One of the most overlooked and underutilized phases of play in Destiny 2 is the time Guardians spend outside of their supers, which is often referred to as the neutral game. While this portion of gameplay is not as flashy as dropping a Nova Bomb on a group of enemies, but when players synergize their gear with their gun skill they can become quite potent in both in PvP and PvE.
This is where exotics like Ophidian Aspect come into play as these gauntlets improve weapon reload speed, weapon ready speed, and melee range, making them arguably the best neutral game exotic in Destiny 2. No matter which weapons or subclasses you prefer, equipping Ophidian Aspect will instantly make you more effective in all activities.
9 Do Not Underestimate The Power Of Rifts
Rifts are the Warlock specific class ability in Destiny 2, and they can be quite powerful in a variety of situations. Guardians can choose to either have their Rifts heal friendly players or boost the damage of themselves and allies standing inside of them.
Unfortunately, many new Warlocks that you will encounter during your time in Destiny 2 seem to only know how to use the ability out in the open as a reaction to a big burst of damage or a group of enemies. While this can work, you are also likely to be killed before the Rift animation has been completed. It is often much more effective to use the ability preemptively to lock down an area with boosted damage or secure a potentially dangerous revive with some well-placed healing.
8 Lunafaction Boots
On the subject of Rifts, if you get a lot of enjoyment out of using the Warlock class ability, you should consider making Lunafaction Boots your go to exotic. Lunafaction Boots improve all Rifts by automatically reloading the weapons of friendly Guardians standing inside of them, while also granting empowering rifts the ability to make all guns more effective at long ranges.
While the potency of this exotic might be more situational in PvP due to the often uncoordinated teams and general chaos found in the Crucible, in the closed-off combat spaces of PvE it is very easy to place an Empowering Rift onto your fireteam and let Lunafaction Boots turn you and your fellow Guardians into damage dealing machines.
7 Use Burst Glide Or Blink
Mastering the jump abilities of your class in Destiny 2 is a great way to improve your overall gameplay in all activities. Lucky for Warlocks, they have access to both Blink and burst glide, which can be great mobility tools for players depending on the situation.
The Voidwalker's Blink tends to be more effective in PvP situations as the quick movement of the jump ability's teleport can confuse opponents and let you get on top of enemies quickly, but in PvE platforming situations the cooldown and short distance of Blink can be hard to manage. Burst glide, on the other hand, is available on all Warlock subclasses and offers players a great deal of mobility and speed that can be used in most situations in Destiny 2, though it does lack the evasiveness of Blink.
6 Chromatic Fire
Chromatic Fire is a tremendous exotic for anyone who loves to see their enemies explode as it grants an elemental explosion of your selected subclass on kinetic weapon headshot kills. This makes the chest piece great for clearing out large groups targets in PvE or for setting up multi-kills on bunched together Guardians in the Crucible.
It is worth noting that Chromatic Fire is overall much more effective in these PvE situations because AI controlled enemies tend to stand near each other more often than other players, but it should not be underestimated in objective-based PvP modes where teams are forced to group up more.
5 Grenade Placement
In Destiny 2, Warlocks have access to some of the most powerful and effective grenades in the entire game. With options like Arcbolt, Firebolt, and Axion Bolt players can use grenades to easily set up offensive pushes or finish off low health opponents with the right placement.
When Bolts are thrown, they will quickly search for any nearby targets before locking on to them and shooting out at the selected enemy. So the ideal placement of these grenades is in contested choke points to weaken groups of opponents in a fight or next to an enemy that is hidden behind cover to force them to run or take damage.
4 Use Your Super To Shutdown Enemy Supers
One of the most unique aspects of Warlocks is that for PvP, every one of their subclasses has a super that is great at shutting down supers on the opposing team. This is especially important in the current Crucible meta where roaming supers are so dominant and can easily decide matches.
As for which subclass Attunements are best at this, either of Voidwalker's Nova Bombs are guaranteed to kill an enemy on a direct hit, Dawnblades can use the Well of Radiance to give themselves a massive health and damage boost to help gun down charging Guardians, and Chaos Reach will quickly melt anything caught in its path.
3 Starfire Protocol
If you are looking for a great all around Dawnblade exotic, you would be hard pressed to find one much better than the Starfire Protocol. The chest armor grants players an additional Fusion Grenade charge, recharges Fusion Grenades when doing empowered weapon damage, and Fusion Grenade kills grant Rift energy.
While it may initially seem limiting to have to use Fusions Grenades, they are quite useful in both PvE and PvP as they can stick to enemies and provide a quick burst of damage. Additionally, if you are running the Attunement of Grace, there is a great deal of synergy with the exotic as you will now be able to use your Divine Protection ability twice as often with the second grenade charge, and the empowering aspects of the skill tree will help you recharge your Fusions much faster.
2 Geomag Stabilizers
Continuing with subclass specific exotics, the Geomag Stabilizers are incredible for anyone looking to take their Stomcaller's Chaos Reach to the next level. These exotic boots will allow players to fill up their super bar when it is almost full by sprinting, and damaging enemies with Chaos Reach extends the ability's duration.
This means that Geomag Stabilizers are one of the best exotics for quickly melting a bosses health bar in PvE, and in PvP, you can get your super more often while also being able to use it for longer on enemies who are grouped up.
1 Astrocyte Verse
With the start of Season of Opulency in Destiny 2, Bungie has brought back the Astrocyte Verse from the first Destiny, and the improvements made to the helmet have turned the exotic into a must pick for Voidwalkers. Astrocyte Verse allows Blink users to travel further, use their jump ability more frequently, ready weapons out of Blink faster, and keep their radar up while Blinking.
Anyone who remembers the Blink shotgunning days of the original Destiny will immediately recognize the hyper-aggressive playstyle that this exotic helmet enables. Warlocks wearing Astrocyte Verse are very capable with close-range weapons as they can Blink towards a target to get the drop on them and before the enemy even knows where they are. The one downside to this exotic is that as previously stated it can be hard to use Blink in PvE, but the increased distance and more frequent use this helmet provides can help to make up for some of the jump ability's shortcomings.