New gameplay footage and design details dropped for Destiny 2’s Titan Sentinel subclass, showing off its new Super and multiple functionalities. Instead of making the Sentinel a slow tank that lacks maneuverability, Bungie strayed away from that archetype, creating the new class as one with both mobile offensive and defensive capabilities.
You can get the first looks at Destiny 2’s Titan Sentinel subclass in the IGN First video below:
As stated earlier, the Destiny 2 developers wanted to take their new Titan class in a different direction from the traditional bulky and sluggish meat-shield. “In Destiny 1, your guard was more impeding on your motion,” Bungie’s senior sandbox designer Claude Jerome stated in the video above. “You couldn’t move very fast, you couldn’t lift. And now we just kind of said, since his Super is all about guarding, his guard isn’t going to impede most of his motion.”
To do that, the Sentinel’s Super has mechanics to influence more fluid gameplay. When you activate your Super, you are equipped with a Void shield, but you can still deal plenty of damage. “You’re the vanguard,” Jerome said. “You’re the aggressor that starts the fight. Just toss the shield in from the other room.”
Aside from the shield toss, you can perform a Shield Bash to smash into enemies, which is the replacement for Destiny’s original Shoulder Charge. But you can also create a defensive bubble for your team in lieu of summoning your shield.
If you press and hold the buttons to activate your Super, you’ll form a large defensive bubble around you, called the Ward of Dawn. Destiny 2’s reveal trailer showcased the Ward of Dawn as the city was first under attack.
It’s important to note, however, that you are not locked in place as you create the bubble. You can still fight after you activate it.
In addition, Bungie also improved the bubble significantly. Instead of wondering how long your shield is going to last, there are now visual cues that will tell you how much health the bubble has left.
“The communication of the health of the bubble was one of the most important things, rather than the length of the bubble,” Bungie senior effects artist David Samuel explained. “You start off with a nice pristine bubble and its got these particles swirling around it, but as it’s getting damaged, it starts to really deteriorate. Holes start forming on it, and all the little particles going around it start getting agitated, you can really see like ‘oh, this thing is about to go down.'”
You can get your first looks at Destiny 2 and the Titan Sentinel subclass during the beta, which begins on July 18 for PlayStation 4 and July 19 for Xbox One.
