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There's been a lot of confusion surrounding supers (especially Spectral Blades) and their exact stats, so I've compiled a list and provided my own analysis.
Super Damage Resistance
All super damage resistances tested with no masterwork (old y1 armor), used melee, but tested with other weapons to ensure % is correct. All numbers have a margin of error of ~1% because damage and health is in decimals, but can't be seen in game.
| Super | % Damage Resistance |
|---|---|
| Spectral Blades (invisible) | 60% |
| Spectral Blades (visible) | 62% |
| Arcstrider | 60% |
| Arcstrider (Bottom tree, dodging) | 70% |
| Golden Gun | 0% |
| Blade Barrage | 54% |
| Sentinel | 60% |
| Fist of Havoc | 60% |
| Thundercrash | 54% |
| Hammer of Sol | 56% |
| Burning Maul | 60% |
| Nova Warp | 54% |
| Nova Bomb | 54% |
| Nova Bomb (Skull of Dire Ahamkara) | 71% |
| Stormcaller | 60% |
| Chaos Reach | 40% |
| Dawnblade | 56% |
All damage resistance provided by abilities or masterwork armor actually are multiplicative and not additive. This post showing the damage resistances with 4 MW armor pieces is correct:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CruciblePlaybook/comments/ahqsm1/super_damage_reduction_numbers/
So, if Spectral blades has 60% damage resistance, they take 40% of damage. Assuming an attack would normally do 100 damage, while in super, it would do 40 damage. If you want to check the reduced damage from 4 masterwork armor, which is 20% more damage resistance, or 80% of damage taken, you would multiple 40 damage by 80%. This gives you 32 damage, or 32% damage taken, which comes out to 68% damage resistance, agreeing with the above referenced post, but showing that MW armor is NOT additive, but multiplicative.
If you count in the MW armor (4 pieces), the max possible damage resistance any super can achieve is 77% damage resistance, or 23% of damage taken. This spot belongs to a Skull of Dire Ahamkara Nova Bomb user. The second spot belongs to Bottom Tree Arcstrider with 75% DR with 4 MW armor pieces. In addition to have 75% DR, dodging breaks aim assist and also changes the hit box, making this the hardest super to kill. Third place goes to Spectral Blades, as they will have 70% damage reduction, or 30% of damage taken, while invisible and while having 4 MW armor pieces.
In addition, I also discovered that MW Armor does not apply when supers fight each other. Supers ignore each others MW Armor and their attacks are only affected by whatever the super's damage resistance is (plus innate ability damage resistances).
Analysis
The damage resistance of each super is directly related to whether it is a close-range or long-range roaming super, or if it is a single-use super. Close-range roaming supers have the highest damage resistance, while long-range roaming supers have less damage resistance. One-use supers have the lowest resistance. The exceptions are Chaos Reach and Golden Gun. Chaos Reach is a combination of a roaming and one-shot, and it has lower than average damage resistance. Golden Gun has no damage resistance because it can 1-shot anyone from anywhere on the map (but with MW armor, you can give Golden Gun some damage resistance, up to ~20%). Nova Warp is also strange, as it has 54% damage resistance, which is similar to one-time-use supers. This is a result of the nerf, and I think Nova Warp should be reverted back to the same damage resistance as other close-range roaming supers.
Super Duration (Roaming)
I tested the duration of roaming supers when they are not attacking, and when they are attacking. I didn't test every light or heavy attack combo, as I mainly wanted to get a sense of how much energy each super used when attacking. When attacking, I spammed whatever attack it is I indicated in parenthesis (if they have multiple attacks). Some subclasses, like Stormcaller, only have 1 attack, so I didn't list anything in parenthesis.
| Super | Duration (without attacking) |
|---|---|
| Spectral Blades (invisible) | 27 seconds |
| Spectral Blades (visible) | 18 seconds |
| Arcstrider | 16.5 seconds |
| Golden Gun | 11 seconds |
| Sentinel | 17.5 seconds |
| Fist of Havoc | 18.5 seconds |
| Hammer of Sol | 21 seconds |
| Hammer of Sol (Sunspots) | 27 seconds |
| Burning Maul | 21.5 seconds |
| Nova Warp | 19 seconds |
| Stormcaller | 16 seconds |
| Stormcaller (Transcendence) | 21 seconds |
| Dawnblade | 24 seconds |
| Super | Duration (attacking) |
|---|---|
| Spectral Blades (Light Attack) | 16 seconds |
| Spectral Blades (Heavy Attack) | 10 seconds |
| Arcstrider (Light Attack) | 12 seconds |
| Sentinel (Light Attack) | 11 seconds |
| Fist of Havoc (Light Attack) | 11 seconds |
| Hammer of Sol | 9 seconds |
| Hammer of Sol (Sunspots) | 12 seconds |
| Burning Maul (Light Attack) | 9 seconds |
| Burning Maul (Heavy attack) | 12 seconds |
| Nova Warp (Uncharged Blasts) | 9.5 seconds |
| Nova Warp (Charged Blasts) | 12 seconds |
| Nova Warp (Teleport) | 9 seconds |
| Stormcaller | 13.5 seconds |
| Stormcaller (Transcendence) | 17.5 seconds |
| Dawnblade | 8.5 seconds |
In addition to testing their durations, I also tested the lunge range of most supers. The average range is about 10m, with Spectral Blades having the shortest lunge range (9m on light attack, 10m on heavy attack). Compared to a similar super, Arcstrider has 10m on the light attack, and 12m on the heavy attack. Another interesting thing to note is that Arcstrider also has the potential to one-shot supers with a light-heavy combo. There is no need to use the full light, light, heavy combo (Palm Blast), as using one light attack and one heavy attack does the same damage as Spectral's Light, Heavy combo. The difference between the two is, Spectral's has shorter range, but is faster, while Arcstrider's has longer range, but is slower.
Finally, the running speed of all roaming supers is the same, but most of the time, people don't run and instead use a different method depending on the super.
Analysis
While the duration of the various supers seem to vary, the energy used for attacking (and thus, the duration of each super while attacking) appears to based on the range capabilities of the supers. Spectral Blades has the longest duration when spamming light attacks because it uses the last energy, but it has the shortest attack range of any super. However, Spectral's heavy attack consumes quite a bit of energy. Meanwhile, Dawnblade and Hammer of Sol can last just as long as Spectral Blades without attacking, but they consume more energy per attack because their attacks are ranged. In addition to being ranged, their attacks provide other benefits, such as Dawnblade increasing its duration off super kills.
The few outliers are Golden Gun, which naturally has a short duration that is not affected by attacking, Nova Warp, and Burning Maul. In the case of Burning Maul, spamming light attacks actually reduces the duration faster than spamming heavy attacks. This doesn't make any sense, so I would advocate for significantly reducing the energy used on light attacks while using Burning Maul. Nova Warp is also suffering because of its nerf. I think that slightly reducing energy used when using any ability on Nova Warp would help the super since it is too weak. It also did not need the damage nerf (unable to one-shot other supers) when almost every super can 1-shot or do a quick 2-combo to kill other supers. In the current sandbox, it would be fine for Nova Warp to 1-shot other supers with charged blast, seeing as just about every other super can 1-shot or 2-shot faster than a Nova Warp can charge its blast.
So would I consider any supers too good, and in need of adjustment?
No, I don't think any specific supers are too good, and in need of adjustment, but I do think there are a few supers that are too weak and need to be buffed. However, I do think supers overall should be adjusted. To first address why I don't think any super is too good, the most common complaints I hear are about Spectral Blades, such as:
- The duration of Spectral Blades is too long
The duration of Spectral Blades without attacking is similar to some other supers, some of those being ranged. A ranged super having a similar duration to Spectral Blades is huge, because Spectral Blades cannot kill you from 30m away. Also, heavy attacks on Spectral drain a significant amount of energy, so going back to invisible, where duration is longer, is quite costly for the super (unless you run Gwisin, which I will get to).
- Spectral blades uses too little energy when attacking
Spectral blades has the shortest range of any super in the game. Consider that the duration it lasts when spamming attacks is, at most, a few seconds longer than other supers, and its duration while spamming light attacks would be the same duration as Arcstrider spamming their dodge to close this distance (while having the highest %DR of any roaming super in the game!) Also consider that, those other classes are not confined to close-range attacks. Arcstrider lasts 12 seconds when spamming attack, so yes, it uses more energy. But the Arcstrider has more range, combo attacks, can dodge for damage resistance, block to completely negate damage, and gain increased damage [to 1 shot other supers] from dodging/blocking. Sentinel also only lasts 11 seconds when attacking, but can also block, or use a ranged attack that tracks people *aggressively (*instagib the whole team from around 2 corners? Yes please). Fist of Havoc, bottom tree, also has a shorter duration when attacking, but getting kills regenerates your health AND restores some super energy. Burning Maul last 12 seconds when spamming heavy attack, but one-shots any super with its heavy attack, and the attack is also ranged and aggressively tracks enemies. The energy used is proportional to the range of the super's attacks, and what other abilities they have. Spectral has the shortest range but fastest attack, and not much else besides being invisible and has wallhacks, but we'll get to that.
- Spectral Blades is too fast
Spectral is quite fast, but as the super with the least range, it makes no sense making it slower than other supers. It would be terrible if Spectral Blades had the shortest range and had slow or even normal speed attacks (using Arcstrider as sort of a baseline) attacks. Even if we decreased the speed at which Spectral attacked and reduced the momentum/lunge, it would basically be a worse Arcstrider, because in 16 seconds, Arcstrider can spam dodge, achieve the highest %DR for a roaming super, and close the distance! A good example of a slow Spectral is pre-buff Forsaken Spectral. It was very difficult to get kills because the lunge range was too short, had bad hit detection, and stealth mode was more of a hindrance since it announced your presence to the map. It still had the fastest attacks though, which they actually reduced already when buffing the range on the super.
- Spectral Blades is too tanky
Spectral blades, has, at best, 2% more dr than other close-range roaming supers. Consider that you are running into a lot of highly skilled Spectral players that are also running MW armor, while the average PvP player probably doesn't run any MW armor. Some players have asked to remove the super's armor; this would only be a viable suggestion if Spectral Blades was completely invisible, since currently, the invisibility on Spectral is a joke since it is so easy to detect. Another possible suggestion would be to given significantly lower armor when visible, but significantly higher armor while invisible (to combat swipe-swipe-swipe-swipe) and enforce the stealthy playstyle, but I think the complaints about Spectral being tanky are just a result of all supers being tanky. We'll get to that.
- Invisibility and Wall hacks are too strong
Invisibility and Wall hacks are what make this super unique. It doesn't have a ranged attack, can't block, and can't heal. It can't increase duration without an exotic. It can only do a light and a heavy attack. The super is quite similar to Arcblade from D1, sinbce in D1, Arcblade could go invisible on activation, and go back to invisible at any point during the super, but could also be used with no super notification like in D2, was far more stealthy than Spectral Blades while invisible, could heal on kills, and could close the distance with Blink or its increased sprint speed, making Spectral just a worse version of Arcblade that happens to have wallhacks.
A common complaint with Invisibility is many say they are unaware of it because the super doesn't show up on radar and is undetectable. While being as polite as possible, I will say this depends on skill level. I have never heard an above average or higher player tell me Spectral is hard to detect. It makes a loud screeching noise that is directional, so you know which direction to look. The super itself is not invisible; it has a purple fog surrounding it, is outlined in purple, and leave a purple slime trail behind it. The best advice one can give is, use your ears, as Spectral Blade's invisibility is far worse than Arcblade's invisibility in D1 (and many players adapted to a stronger invisibility by using audio cues and player movement prediction to determine the location of the invisible Arcblade).
That just leaves Wall hacks, which is the only other unique thing about the super, which I don't consider too strong. Why? We have access to a radar, auditory queues, and just general gameplaying knowledge that, as you improve, you get better at telling where other players are without seeing them. Removing wallhacks on the super barely hinders a skilled player's usage of Spectral Blades because they don't need wall hacks to determine the enemy's position. Without invisibility and wall hacks, the super would be terrible and and quite plain; basically, a nerfed version of Arcblade and a worse version of Arcstrider.
- Gwisin makes it last forever
This is a separate issue, which means Gwisin needs to be balanced. Balancing a super around an exotic is a terrible design choice. I do think Gwisin needs to be reworked, because it completely removes the penalty for going invisible (large energy drain on heavy attack).
- Spectral Blades deals too much damage
As the super with the lowest range, what do you want it to do? It can pull off those attacks quickly, but it has to get relatively close to you. Almost every other super can outrange it. If you are letting a Spectral get close enough to deal its lethal combo, then you need to think of a different gameplan that preys on the weakness of Spectral: range.
Also, its light attack does the same damage as other super light attacks, like Arcstrider. The heavy attack also does the same damage as Arcstrider's heavy attack, and I believe Sentinel's in-air bash does more. The key here being, Spectral does the same damage at a shorter range but faster, while other supers do the same damage from a longer range but with slower attacks.
- Spectral Blades has the highest pick rate, KD, etc in the game, which proves that it is OP
Spectral Blades is a Hunter subclass, and for as long as I can remember, Hunters have always been played more than every other class (and had highest win rate, KD, etc). Even when Hunter supers sucked at the beginning of Forsaken, everyone played Hunters more because of their neutral game. While I don't think Spectral Blades is OP or too good, I do think Hunter's base neutral game (jump and dodge) is far better than every other class. I don't think nerfing jump or dodge is right here though; I think buffing the base neutral game of the other classes' is the correct way to go here.
Solutions
Instead, I feel there's quite a few things about the other supers that needs to be buffed. Nova Warp, for example, needs a buff in almost all categories. It was overnerfed. Burning Maul needs to use less energy when using the light attack. I wouldn't mind seeing a slight reduction in energy usage when attacking with ranged supers like Dawnblade and Hammer of Sol, since they only have that one ranged attack. Bring it up so they can get off at least one more attack, bringing their attack duration up to ~10 seconds. I also think slightly increasing the base duration of Stormcaller, Arcstrider, and Sentinel by about ~2 seconds, and increasing the duration of Golden gun by 1-2 seconds would also greatly help those supers as they are on the lower end compared to the average.
I also think there needs to be a reduction in damage resistance across all supers. Super damage resistance in D2 is much higher than it was in D1; I believe the super resistance was around 50%, max, but I could be wrong as my memory on that is a bit foggy. I would say reduce the base damage resistance of close range roaming supers to about 45-50%, so with MW armor and any abilities, the max you can get would be closer to 60%. For long-range roaming supers, the base could be 40-45%, and for one-time use supers, I believe they should also sit somewhere in between 40-50% because they are designed to be shutdown supers, and not shut down by other supers. Golden Gun would stay at 0% damage resistance, and Chaos Reach could sit somewhere between 30-40%, but greatly improve the ability to see targets (perhaps, highlight targets that are on your screen while in your super?). With a reduction in damage resistance, and possible tweaking to weapons, some things that should be possible are:
- Sniping a super in the head should kill them with an Adaptive or High Impact sniper.
- Two or three (depending on archetype) shotgun shots should put down a super. Also a shotgun + melee, depending on archetype.
Another concern was the current state of super cooldowns in D2. The super cooldown in D1 with max intellect (which almost everyone I knew ran) was 3 min and 55 seconds, which isn't too different with 5 super mods, which is 3 min and 32 seconds, at the cost of not using any other mods that could reduce the cooldowns of your other abilities. While I don't think getting this many supers (about 3-4 per match) is oppressive, the above recommendation to reduce super resistance across the board should help combat supers.
Hit detection needs to be improved for all melee based supers in a similar fashion to how Spectral Blades was buffed. Sentinel and Fist of Havoc have terrible hit detection on their melees in super, so I feel that improving their hit detection would drastically improve the strength of the super.
Finally I think the neutral game of Titans and Warlocks needs a buff. Hunters excel at being evasive and moving from area to area quickly, which shows through their base abilities of double jump and dodge. The other two classes need better passives or reworks to their subclasses to help emphasis their role and make them stronger.
For Titans, their description has always been the immovable Wall, or unstoppable Object. Their abilities help them somewhat be a Wall and control an area, such as through the Barrier and health regen/overshield, and also somewhat help them be aggressors with increased melee range and also the health regen/overshield, but I don't feel like those passives are strong enough. Titans cannot escape like Hunters, so they need some way to hold their ground, or be able to chase if someone is running away. Some things I would like to see as a buff to Titans would be:
- Titan skating from D1 (not whatever you would call that which got nerfed from PC D2). As an unstoppable object, Titans should excel at moving in a straight line very quickly. This comes at the downside of being unable to change direction quickly, but is a fair trade-off.
- Quicker barrier casting and more barrier health, so Titans can be a wall and hold down zones more effectively.
- Faster health regen and stronger overshield from perks that provide health regen and overshield. While Hunters can be offensive and defensive by being evasive (jumping and dodging around everywhere), Titans should excel offensively and defensively by being able to regenerate health and overshields quickly since they cannot simply jump out of your FOV when in a tight spot. The health regen and overshield capabilities of OEM should honestly have been standard on Titans without the Exotic, because currently OEM simply allows Titans to compete with Hunters. I like that there are some health regenerating and overshield perks on some Titan subclasses, but I think they should be stronger (health regen should provide some instant health gain + regeneration, overshield should be more tanky).
For Warlocks, their description has always been the masters of the arcane. Thus, I feel like their abilities should be the strongest in the game and have the fastest regeneration, at the trade-off that they are slow. They do have some interesting abilities, but none of powerful and Warlocks are currently the weakest subclass in the game. Playing a Warlock should make you feel like a space wizard, but right now you just feel like floating papier-mâché. Some changes I'd like to see for Warlocks are:
- Increased melee speed, range, or power. Right now, Warlocks have the same base melee range as other classes, but slower melee speed, which makes them the worst class to be in a CQC fight since they can neither gain verticalality quickly or melee fast enough before they get two-shot-melee'd by another class. Because of their inherent slowness, I would advocate for a return to D1 Warlock melee range (about 7m) as the base for all Warlock melees. This would be the same melee range as Titan with Synthoceps/Knockout or top tree Arcstrider after dodging.
- Increased power on Rifts. I feel like Healing Rift's overshield is still quite weak (although it could just be because NF/Luna's 3 taps regardless of the Rift's overshield), and Empowering Rift is kind of meh, considering some Titan abilities allow you to get the same effects by sliding or getting a kill. Empowering Rift should grant a kill bonus similar to Kill Clip, and Healing Rift should heal faster and provide a stronger overshield.
- Improved ability regeneration. This would be more a tweak to all the Warlock subclasses, but Warlock's should have more passive perks (or if they already have them, increase the efficiency) at which they regenerate ability energy.
- Improved ability power. The Nova Warp subclass neutral game is actually a perfect example of how strong I think all Warlock subclasses should be. The melee and grenade ability are very strong, and recharge each other. The super was very powerful (and was overnerfed and needs to get a buff).
- Undo the nerf to Blink. Bring it back to how good it was in D1Y1. At the moment, on Voidwalkers get it anyways, and there are already good counters to Blink (slide under the Blinker, Jump above the Blinker).