Destiny 2: Strand Subclass Guide | Unlock, Keywords, Aspects & Fragments

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Strand is finally here after well over a year of hype, so there’s no better time than now to learn its mechanics. Here, we’ll go over the main mechanics of Strand and the details of each subclass in Destiny 2.

For subclasses, we’ll discuss supers, aspects, and melee abilities! Grenades are the same for all classes, so we’ll talk about them on their own. Let’s get started with how to unlock Strand if you haven’t done so yet!

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How to Unlock Strand in Destiny 2

Unlocking Strand is simple. All you have to do is complete the Lightfall campaign on any difficulty. To unlock the associated Fragments and such, you’ll have to get them separately after the campaign.

At the Hall of Heroes in Neomuna, interact with the Pouka Pond to unlock the rest of the Strand subclass. Since Strand is associated with the new expansion, Lightfall is required to unlock and use Strand.

Just like with Stasis in Beyond Light, Strand must be unlocked separately on each character. The Fragments and Aspects must also be unlocked on each character that way, so you’re in for a bit of a grind if you want it on all three.

Strand Keywords & Phrases

Each subclass has a variety of unique phrases and keywords you’ll need to be aware of. For Strand, most of them are pretty simple to understand (thankfully). Here’s each Strand keyword that you need to know.

• Sever: Severed enemies do less damage.
• Suspend: Suspended enemies are lifted into the air and cannot move or use their abilities.
• Tangle: A green ball of Strand that can either be thrown at enemies or shot and blown up. They can be empowered by various fragments and abilities, and defeating any Strand-debuffed enemy will spawn one.
• Threadling: A Strand “creature” that seeks nearby enemies and explodes, dealing AOE damage.
• Unravel: A status effect that causes enemies to spawn a Tangle when killed. When damaged, unraveled enemies also spawn projectiles that seek and deal damage to other nearby enemies.
• Unraveling Rounds: A buff similar to Volatile Rounds. Unraveling Rounds shot from Strand weapons can stun Barrier Champions.
• Woven Mail: A status effect that reduces incoming non-precision damage.

Strand Grenades

All three classes have the same grenades, so we’ll cover them all here.

• Grapple: Use Strand to grapple through the air. While grappling and shortly thereafter, your melee deals AOE damage and unravels enemies.
• Shackle Grenade: Does AOE damage and suspends enemies.
• Threadling Grenade: Breaks into three Theadlings when thrown.

Titan Strand Subclass (Berserker)

Titan Super – Bladefury

Casting Bladefury spawns Strand blades on each hand, with both a light and heavy attack that can be used while roaming. The light attack is a slashing melee which severs enemies and deals more damage to suspended enemies. Each hit grants bonus attack speed and generates heavy attack energy.

The heavy attack is ranged and slings two seeking projectiles which will suspend targets hit. Using the heavy attack, then following up with light attacks is best since the light attacks benefit from the suspend debuff the heavy attack applies.

While roaming supers are usually confined just to PvP or ad-clear, Bladefury actually does serious DPS as well. Especially when compared to other roaming supers like Fists of Havoc and Stormcaller, it’s really quite good. However, it does still leave the caster vulnerable since they have to be within melee range.

Titan Aspects

• Into the Fray: Give Woven Mail to your allies by casting your super or destroying a Tangle. You also gain increased melee regeneration while Woven Mail is active.
• Drengr’s Lash: Casting your class ability sends a pulse forward on the ground that suspends enemies it hits.

Titan Melee

• Frenzied Blade: Dash forward to slash and sever targets. Severing a target reduces their damage output and causes them to spawn a Tangle when defeated.

Hunter Strand Subclass (Threadrunner)

Hunter Super – Silkstrike

Cast Silkstrike to create a rope dart made of Strand. It has both a light and heavy attack. The light attack swings the rope in front of the caster, dealing damage. The tip of the dart is where most of the damage comes from, as hitting enemies with that part does bonus damage. The heavy attack swings the rope around the caster and deals a lot of damage to everything around.

Since you can use this super for more focused damage or just to destroy everything around you, it’ll have some use in every kind of content. It might not be the best at any one thing, but it’s not the worst at any either.

Hunter Aspects

• Widow’s Silk: Gain an additional grenade charge. Grappling leaves behind a Grapple Tangle, which can be grappled to without consuming a grenade charge.
• Ensnaring Slam: Using your air move consumes your class ability energy and causes you to dive quickly to the ground and suspend nearby targets. Class ability cooldown is is increased when using this ability.

Hunter Melee

• Threaded Spike: Throw a rope dart that deals damage and severs enemies. The dart returns to its caster at the end and refunds melee energy based on how many enemies it hit. You can press your melee key to catch the dart as it returns and gain bonus refunded melee energy.

Warlock Strand Subclass (Broodweaver)

Warlock Super – Needlestorm

Needlestorm fires a barrage of Strand-infused needles that track onto enemies. The needles weave into enemies, then summon a wave of Threadlings to wipe out everything nearby. Threadlings that do not find a target will return and perch on the caster, and they will attack the next enemy the caster damages with a weapon or melee ability. In addition to the Threadlings, the needles themselves to quite a bit of damage as well.

You can use this super for either ad-clear or a burst of damage. It’s probably not going to be the highest DPS super in the game, but it might have utility in high-level content due to how strong Threadlings could be for some builds.

Warlock Aspects

• Weaver’s Call: Casting Rift spawns three Threadlings and deploys your perched Threadlings.
• Mindspun Invocation: Grapple, Shackle Grenade, and Threadling Grenade are improved. Grapple spawns three Threadlings. Shackle Grenade can be consumed to grant Weaver’s Trance (final blows while active cause a suspending detonation). Threadling Grenade can be consumed to give yourself five perched Threadlings.

Warlock Melee

• Arcane Needle: Throw one or more Strand needles at an enemy. The needles will unravel enemies hit. You can store up to three charges, and all three can be used rapidly.

All Strand Fragments in Destiny 2

As always, Strand includes fragments which you can purchase with in-game materials (Strand Meditations) at the Pouka Pond, after completing the campaign. You’ll have to unlock each fragment on each class separately. This makes the process an annoying grind, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Here’s each Strand fragment in Destiny 2, along with their in-game descriptions and stat bonus/negations.

• Thread of Mind: Defeating suspended targets grants class ability energy.
• Thread of Fury: Damaging targets with a Tangle grants melee energy. (-10 Strength)
• Thread of Ascent: Activating your grenade ability reloads your equipped weapon and grants bonus airborne effectiveness and handling for a short duration. (+10 Mobility)
• Thread of Finality: Finisher final blows create Threadlings. (+10 Recovery)
• Thread of Warding: Picking up an Orb of Power grants Woven Mail. (-10 Resilience)
• Thread of Wisdom: Defeating suspended targets with precision final blows creates an orb of power.
• Thread of Rebirth: Strand weapon final blows have a chance to create a Threadling.
• Thread of Transmutation: While you have Woven Mail, weapon final blows create a Tangle. (+10 Strength)
• Thread of Propagation: Powered melee final blows grant your Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds.
• Thread of Evolution: Threadlings travel farther and deal additional damage. (+10 Intellect)
• Thread of Isolation: Landing rapid precision hits emits a severing burst from the target.
• Thread of Binding: Super final blows emit a suspending burst from the target. (+10 Resilience)
• Thread of Generation: Dealing damage generates grenade energy. (-10 Discipline)
• Thread of Continuity: Suspend, unravel, and sever effects applied to targets have increased duration. (+10 Strength)

Strand Fragments Breakdown (Chart)

Join the High Ground!

Thanks for checking out our intro guide for the new Strand subclasses in Destiny 2! If you have any questions or want us to cover something more in-depth, let us know in the comments below.

Be sure to check out our other Destiny 2 articles, and as always, make sure to keep the high ground. Good luck out there Guardians!