Destiny 2 New Solar 3.0 Abilities

A guide on the new Solar Abilities in the latest update of Destiny 2.

By Dave Acuñaon
Destiny 2 Solar 3.0 cover

The newest Season of the Haunted has introduced new Destiny 2 Solar 3.0 abilities available for Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans.

These new Destiny 2 Solar 3.0 abilities are a rework of the Solar class of the Guardians. With this rework, Guardians using the Solar subclass will see new abilities that they can add into combat.

In this guide, we will be looking into the newest Solar subclass abilities in this latest update.

Destiny 2 Hunter – Gunslinger Solar 3.0 Abilities

Gunslingers have a new abilities called Acrobat’s Dodge and Lightweight Knife.

  • Acrobat’s Dodge: (Class Ability) Dodge to perform an acrobatic leap. Upon landing, make yourself and nearby enemies radiant. Base cooldown: 1:22.

Radiant is a reworked buff that basically gives Guardians increased damage to foes.

  • Lightweight Knife: (Solar Melee) Quickly throw a knife that deals moderate damage. Precision hits with this knife make you radiant for a short duration. Base cooldown: 1:30.
Acrobat’s Dodge.

Other changes to the Gunslinger abilities include:

  • Blade Barrage: 
    • Increased consistency of tracking strength. 
    • Knives can now track targets more predictably at very close and very far ranges.
    • Increased PVE damage vs. PVE combatants by 25%.
  • Knife Trick: 
    • Now applies 20 Scorch stacks per knife rather than a generic Solar burn effect. 
  • Weighted Throwing Knife: 
    • Now refunds your class ability on precision kill rather than itself. 
    • Now causes Scorched targets to Ignite on hit.

As for the Super Ability, Golden Gun:

  • Split Golden Gun into two separate variants, Deadshot and Marksman: 
    • Deadshot (6-shot variant):
      • Now deals increased damage while Radiant. 
      • Now refunds a Golden Gun round when you cause a target to Ignite while your Super is active, rather than on any kill. 
    • Marksman (3-shot variant): 
      • Now deals increased damage while Radiant. 
      • Now over-penetrates targets by default. 
Lightweight Knife.

Destiny 2 Warlock – Dawnblade Solar 3.0 Abilities

Dawnblades have a new abilities called Phoenix Dive and Incinerator Snap.

  • Phoenix Dive: (Class Ability) Dive to the ground and create a burst of Solar Light that cures nearby allies. While Heat Rises is active, you gain restoration while diving and scorch targets upon landing. Base cooldown: 1:22.

Cure is basically immediate healing while Restoration is healing over time that cannot be interrupted by taking damage.

  • Incinerator Snap: (Solar Melee) Snap your fingers to create a fan of burning sparks that explode and scorch targets. Base cooldown: 1:30.
Incinerator Snap.

Other changes to the Dawnblade abilities include:

  • Well of Radiance: 
    • No longer provides an overshield to players standing in the Well. 
    • Now damage resistance has increased vs. damage from combatants, player abilities, and Special and Heavy weapon damage to partially offset the loss in raw HP. 
  • Celestial Fire: 
    • Tracking effectiveness increased at longer ranges. 
    • Reduced damage of each individual projectile from 35hp to 30hp. 
    • Damage scalar increased against PVE combatants by 25%.

As for the Super Ability, Daybreak:

  • Now sends out a streak of flames on impact as default behavior. 

Destiny 2 Titan – Sunbreaker Solar 3.0 Abilities

Sunbreakers did not get any new abilities, but rather the existing abilities got updated.

Here are the changes to some of the Sunbreaker abilities (based from the changelog):

  • Burning Maul: 
    • Increased initial light attack lunge distance. 
    • After landing ten light attack hits, now automatically spawns a Heavy attack cyclone at the target’s location. 
  • Hammer Strike: 
    • No longer weakens targets. 
    • Now applies 40 Scorch stacks to the primary target hit by Hammer Strike and deals damage to targets behind them. If the primary target is killed by a Hammer Strike direct impact, they automatically Ignite. 
  • Throwing Hammer: 
    • Now applies Cure (in addition to refunding the melee cost) when picked up if the Hammer struck a target. 
    • Deprecated the Mortar Blast melee ability and the Explosive Pyre and Tempered Metal subclass node perks. 
Throwing Hammer.

As for the Super Ability, Hammer of Sol:

  • Now shatters into explosive secondary projectiles as default behavior. 

Destiny 2 New Solar Grenades

The Season of the Haunted update also now allows all classes to have access to all Solar Grenades, plus a new type of grenade called Healing Grenade is added.

  • Healing Grenade: Releases a wave of benevolent Solar Light on impact with targets or the environment that Cures allies and creates a blessing that grants Restoration on pickup. Tracks to allies in its flight path. 

A new standardized debuff called Scorch has now been added to most Solar abilities, as well as grenades, as seen from the following:

  • Solar Grenade: 
    • Now applies 20 Scorch stacks to targets on initial detonation and 14 Scorch stacks per second to targets in the lingering damage volume instead of a generic Solar burn effect. 
    • Base cooldown increased from 105s to 121s. 
  • Tripmine Grenade: 
    • Now applies 40 Scorch stacks to targets caught in the blast. 
  • Firebolt Grenade: 
    • Now applies 20 Scorch stacks to targets hit by secondary seekers. 
  • Fusion Grenade: 
    • Now applies 40 Scorch stacks targets caught in the blast.
  • Incendiary Grenade: 
    • Now applies 60 Scorch stacks to targets caught in the blast, rather than applying a generic Solar burn effect. 
  • Thermite Grenade: 
    • Now applies 10 Scorch stacks to targets hit by each wave. 
  • Swarm Grenade: 
    • Now applies 5 Scorch stacks to targets caught in each drone’s detonation. 
Gunpowder Gamble.

In general, the new Destiny 2 Solar 3.0 abilities are shifting their focus away from just damage reduction and instead concentrating on the sun’s dual nature as a source of both healing and damage. For instance, healing grenades are now available to all classes in Solar 3.0, which means that the healing role can now be filled by more than just Warlocks.

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Check out this video by SayWallahBruh showcasing all the new Solar Abilities in Destiny 2: