Destiny Hunter In-Depth Guide

Destiny Hunter In-Depth Guide by HarleyTayy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpdzUj_AI6Y

Hello there,

Destiny has brought many different play styles through the 3 classes and their own subclasses, with melees to enhance close quarters, grenades for AoE and crowd control, and supers that give a satisfying overpowered feeling. Since I’ve had plenty of time to play with the hunter and experiment a bit I thought I’d shed lots of light on the class as well as it’s two subclasses, the precision elimination Gunslinger and the close-quarters-commanding Bladedancer.

Keep in mind I will NOT tell you which subclass to play. They’re both competent subclasses and it’s all about how you build towards your play style.

Gunslinger

Any hunter will be familiar with the starting subclass, Gunslinger. It’s abilities are (mostly) Solar-damage based and rely on skilled players to wield it well.

Melee: Throwing Knife To anyone that loved the tomahawk/throwing knife from CoD your ol’ reliable returns but with a twist. You’re not going to one-shot anything you throw it at unless you aim for the head (unless your foe is Vex, aim for the belly). However in the Crucible, everyone’s health is 200 and the knife crits for 158, so at least two (or three) good shots with a pulse rifle, scout rifle, or hand cannon might lower enemy players health enough to get that Stick Around (knife headshot) medal you want. I personally used two good shots with any pulse rifle but anyone can experiment with primary weapons to see what works for you.

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB : Your Throwing Knife should be treated as your execute for tough enemies and enemy players.

If you can consistently land headshots with your knife then Knife Juggler will give you opportunities to mow down mobs of enemies one by one and also allow room for other stats such as Discipline (Grenade) or Intellect (Super). You could also run Gambler’s Daggerand/or Incendiary Blade for additional damage for bosses.

Grenades The Incendiary Grenade acts like the frag grenade from CoD or Halo, except with a small burn on enemies caught in the explosion. It’s a semi-decent grenade, with the ability to point out your enemies behind cover thanks to the burn damage numbers. It can also easily kill weak enemies. However it lacks the crowd control of swarm and tripmine.

The Swarm Grenade is a good PvP grenade that’s used more for crowd-control than killing. The Grenade on impact splits into multiple seekers that on their own don’t do much damage but combined deal heavy damage. However, It won’t kill multiple enemies.

The Tripmine Grenade is an excellent grenade choice. It functions like the claymore from CoD but can be thrown and can stick to enemies for massive damage to even tougher enemies. It’s a great tool for mob entrances and for crowd control, and can be used in these many ways in Crucible. You can’t go wrong with this unless you throw it off the map.

The Super: Golden Gun Golden Gun is an interesting super. It requires prior activation unlike Fist of Havoc, Ward of Dawn, and Nova Bomb.

This super has the safest range of them all and comes with 3 bullets that deal high Solar damage. Unlike the other supers, it typically takes all 3 bullets to destroy your toughest of enemies. This is where all the criticism for Gunslinger comes in; in the vain of AOE and also for a lack of Orbs of Light. However, Keyhole and Combustion can give players the potential AoE output that players may want. I personally run Combustion for AoE and because the Intellect stat exists along with Orbs of Light, which makes Gunfighter less of a priority for me. This is one of the best PvP supers because it’s a guaranteed three kills for anyone with aim and enemies around, whereas Fist of Havoc and Nova Bomb are gone when used for one enemy player.

Gunslinger Weapon Buffs For every precision kill you get, Gunslinger’s Trance grants improved weapon stability while Chains of Woespeeds up reloading time. Both are excellent talents worth mentioning since they’re the only actual weapon-enhancing talents and since weapons are 80-90% gameplay.

Armor Choice? The exotic helmet called Achylophage Symbiote provides a fourth bullet for Golden Gun and grenade kills providing more super energy. It’s a great PvP and PvE helmet you won’t want to miss. Your helmet looks like a blue-tier helm but with Venom Symbiote (from Spiderman) on fire. Kinda cool to be honest.

Bladedancer

As long as you have any of your guardians at level 15, you unlock the Bladedancer subclass, with heavy Arc-damage and a close-quarters dominant play style.

Melee: Blink Strike On its own I found blink strike not very special save for just closing gaps; basically glorifying your melee. However, when I started unlocking the talents for blink strike it gained SOOO much more utility. Backstab and Vanish are great assets for sneaky one-shot kills and sneaky getaways, respectively.

Grenades The Flux Grenade is quite literally the Plasma Grenade from Halo, It’s a bright blue ball and you don’t want to hug it. It’s a fun grenade in PvP (and PvE because why not), but won’t do much for you in terms of crowd control. You can use it while cloaked by the way.

The Skip Grenade is copy pasta Swarm Grenade. See Gunslinger.

The Arcbolt Grenade is interesting and reminds me of the warlock’s Axion Bolt. It deals good damage and unleashes lightning bolts that seek nearby enemies in the area. It basically does Skip Grenade’s job better.

The Super: Arc Blade Arc Blade is a powerful close quarters super that requires prior activation but basically gives you souped up knife range and gives you A LOT of damage. It is a strong contender as best PvP super, because of how you can pursue the entire enemy team and just vaporize them. It basically does Fist of Havoc’s job and then some. Arc Blade is on a timer however (10-15 seconds) and you’re still mortal and need to get close for the kill. How you build Arc Blade is up to you though; you have options.Razor’s Edge gives range and 120º AoE while Showstopper gives short distance 360º AoE. Encore can boost your time limit andHungering Blade can give Arc Blade the health you may need for strong foes up close.

Invisibility, Blink, and Other Tricks Bladedancer at this time is the ONLY subclass to grant itself invisibility. Stalker is your best and simplest method of invisibility. Crouch, wait, and BAM your enemies won’t see you…Actually in the Crucible you’re still kinda visible, because of radars giving your position away and on top of that you have a blue outline that glows more the faster you go. Don’t get me wrong though; Invisibility is one of the best tricks Bladedancer has and makes them a valued medic when your fellow guardians are downed. Outside of the radar you’ll have a tough time being spotted, which makes Sniper Rifles highly valuable to the Bladedancer.

Blink is also a great talent, which replaces double jump, because of the mobility and use as an escape option. Keep in mind Blinking removes your invisibility. You can jump great distances to get from one capture zone to another in Control.

Finally Quickdraw is a good for a Blink Strike shotgun combo. You close in using Blink strike and then blast them with your ready shotgun. It’s almost like hitting them with the good ol’ One Two!

Armor Choice? Mask of the Third Man . It looks like a Hive Skull. Why don’t you have this by now? Agent of the Nine JUST had this. Anyway, it’s best perk is less super energy expended during Arc Blade, making Encore less of a priority (it’s still great though). It also increases melee speed, which is always good for melee fights.

Conclusion Hunter’s tools are many and give the class a good role on any fire team meant for Strikes, Crucible, and what other adventures you may go. Either way the Hunter class is never meant to be taken lightly. You wouldn’t want one hunting you and your team down.

Thank you VERY much if you read this far. If you have anything to add, feel free to reply.