As I'm sure you're aware, Bungie officially revealed the Taken King expansion yesterday with an official E3 trailer. In the trailer, we got some glimpses into the three new subclasses that will be coming with the Expansion. Shortly afterwards, Bungie updated their website to include information about the Expansion, which includes a brief look at each of the new subclasses. Finally, earlier today Bungie released a ViDoc about the Taken King that has even more information. I've compiled all the information we know, combined with some of my own speculations, to give a comprehensive overview of the new subclasses and their supers. I will be updating this post as more information is revealed. So let's just get to it.
Hunter
Nightstalker
"Draw from the Void. Light the way.”
All Hunters master the frontier, but none claim territory quite like a
Nightstalker. Shadowshot binding may seem more merciful than gun or
blade… until the feeding frenzy begins.
Select Abilities:
Super: Shadowshot:
Tether a large group of foes to a Void Anchor, slowing and suppressing them for your Fireteam.
Voidwall Grenade:
Grenade explosion creates a horizontal wall of burning Void Light.
Smoke:
Throw Smoke to slow and disorient those within its cloud.
Shadestep:
Gain an evade to avoid damage.
Nightstalker is the new Void Hunter subclass. This class will finally bring a support subclass to the Hunter, which has previously been missing. This will be the first subclass besides Defender to feature support and utility grenades. The Smoke grenade should be especially useful as a support and tactical grenade, especially in PvP environments. Shadestep is also a unique ability, and means that Nightstalker will be the second Hunter subclass to gain a tactical evade (the other being Blink), making Hunt the only class with such abilities.
The super ability for this class is called Shadowshot. This super is support oriented and appears to be especially useful in both PvE and PvP. It seems as though it has a call-in animation, but some clips seem to disprove that. This super allows the user to fire a bow at nearby enemies. The result shot does both damage, tethers enemies so they can't move and suppresses them. It is unclear at this point if this super only allows for one shot, as there is a clip where it appears as though it allows for at least two shots. Regardless of the number of shots, it looks highly effective and its definitely an interesting new addition to the existing supers.
Warlock
Stormcaller
“Harmony within, hurricane without.”
Stormcallers directly manipulate Arc energy, focusing body and mind to
channel and chain the lightning. Their enemies are given fair warning—
flee from battle, or face the storm.
Select Abilities:
Super: Stormtrance:
Chain Arc Lightning from your hands.
Storm Grenade:
This grenade calls down a localized lightning storm.
Thunderstrike:
Deliver an electrocuting melee strike at extended range.
Perpetual Charge:
Getting a grenade kill recharges your melee. Getting a melee kill recharges your grenade.
The new Stormcaller subclass is the highly anticipated Arc Warlock subclass. This basically gives any Warlock the ability to turn into their own Sith Lord from Star Wars. This is another damage-oriented subclass for the Warlock (which now makes the Warlock the only class with three of those) and seems to be fairly powerful (though hopefully still balanced). The Storm Grenade sounds pretty impressive, though I'm not sure we've seen that in action yet, and it will be interesting to see if it is still able to function properly in enclosed spaces, or if Bungie plans on introducing outdoor-only grenades. The Thunderstrike melee ability also sounds very interesting. I think it is safe to assume that it may have an Arc DoT, and hopefully its "extended" range isn't too drastic.
But enough with that, the Super is all we care about. This is where this subclass really shines, in my opinion. Stormtrance has a call-in animation that bathes the Warlock in bolts of lightning. After the Super is activated, you will be able to hover across the ground in any direction and release bolts of lightning at nearby enemies. You can hold the burst of lightning in durations of your choosing, shocking your enemies as little or as much as you like. The Super energy bar works similar to that of Arc Blade. While shooting your enemies with lightning, the bar decreases and when you're not, the bar still decreases, but at a slower rate.
Titan
Sunbreaker
"Forge the fury of undying suns."
Incendiary siege engines of war, Sunbreaker Titans hammer and shatter their enemy’s ranks from afar, raining cleansing fire down
upon fortified defensive positions.
Select Abilities:
Super: Hammer of Sol:
Summon a flaming hammer and wreak destruction down upon your enemies.
Thermite Grenade:
Grenade explosion sends a line of fire toward your target.
Sunstrike:
Ignite your enemies with a heavy solar strike.
Fire Keeper:
Hammer of Sol lasts longer and you gain an overshield while standing near a Sunspot.
Sunbreaker is the new Solar Titan subclass. This is probably the most controversial class right now. Titans desperately need a good, close quarters PvP subclass (since after all, they are supposed to be the CQC class) and it is not entirely clear right now if this will live up to that. In terms of abilities, what we know so far seems to suggest that it might be a step in the right direction. Sunstrike, the melee ability, sounds as though it may burn enemies who are hit on impact. Whether there will be other perks to give the user an overshield (like a Sunsinger) or any other bonuses is currently unknown. The amount of range it has is also currently unknown. Thermite Grenade sounds like a very deadly grenade, but we have yet to see it in action.
Of course, the most important part of this class is the Super, Hammer of Sol. From what we've seen so far, it has a call-in animation like all of the other new Supers. The Super seems highly reminiscent of Arc Blade and shares what appears to be some similar features. To start with, you seem to be able to rapidly slash in a specific direction, much like Arc Blade. From the E3 trailer we can see that the Hammer of Sol can be both thrown and used as a melee. It is not currently known whether these are two abilities that must be used interchangeably (e.g. two hammer throws or four hammer melees) or if these are different abilities that are set to different buttons (like Arc Blades various right trigger abilities). It is also unknown whether or not a Titan will get damage resistance while using this Super. Only time will tell. One of the classes perks, Fire Keeper is a boost to Hammer of Sol, but this only works near a Sunspot, and currently we have no information on what exactly that is.
