Quick Links
Destiny 2's Season of the Plunder launched with a major rework for all Arc subclasses. Following the Void and Solar reworks from past seasons, Arc has been retooled with new abilities, the Aspects and Fragments system, and new keywords. Described by Bungie as the "Hold W" spec, Arc is the ultimate choice for aggressive players and Guardians that thrive on speed.
Hunters have gotten a new Super, Warlocks have a new slide melee attack, and Titans can make grounded dashes with a new class ability. Old favorites from the original Destiny are back, and Bungie has thrown in a few surprises that make Arc 3.0 one of the strongest elements in the game. This guide will cover how Arc works, its keywords, and we'll showcase all Aspects and Fragments.
Updated September 16, 2022, by Charles Burgar: Arc 3.0 has been out for a few weeks now. The last four Fragments have been unlocked, Tempest Strike got some balance changes, and players have learned just how strong Voltshot is. We've updated this article with information on the four Fragments not available at launch, and we've updated our Aspects section to reflect balance changes and new findings. We also updated the Amplified keyword section to better explain what it does (with exact values for how much faster it makes you). Credit to the Destiny Data Compendium spreadsheet for exact PvP and animation scalar values.
What Is Arc 3.0?
Arc 3.0 is an overhaul of all Arc subclasses in Destiny 2, including the Hunter Arcstrider, Titan Striker, and Warlock Stormcaller. All Arc subclasses now use the Aspects and Fragments system introduced with Stasis in Beyond Light, allowing players to select two Aspects and various Fragments to create a build.
Most features from Arc 2.0 have been carried over to the new system. All classes have at least two melee abilities, two Supers, and access to all Arc grenades. This also means that some classes got new abilities with Arc 3.0, such as Hunters getting the new Gathering Storm Super. Overall, this is a major buff to all Arc subclasses and makes them more viable in endgame PvE and PvP content.
New Arc 3.0 Abilities And Features
- Hunters have a new Arc Super: Gathering Storm. Throw your Arc Staff like a spear, creating a field of Arc energy wherever it lands. Blink is also available as an Arcstrider, replacing your jump ability.
- Blink has been buffed across the board (even for Voidwalkers).
- Titans have a new class ability that acts as a short dash, behaving similarly to Icarus Dash or the original Destiny's Twilight Garrison Exotic. A new melee, Thunderclap, allows you to charge a hard-hitting punch. One of their Aspects allows them to improve the strength of some Arc grenades.
- Thunderclap can one-shot Guardians in PvP while fully charged up to 15m away.
- Warlocks have a new sliding melee attack that acts as a short-range teleport, releasing a series of lightning bolts at the end of the animation. Ionic Blink and Landfall are now baked into Stormtrance by default, and Arc Souls can achieve Getaway Artist's fire rate if you're Amplified (explained later).
Unlocking Arc 3.0
Arc 3.0 is unlocked by default for veteran players. Logging in during Season of the Plunder will automatically grant all Arc Aspects and most Fragments. Some Fragments are currently locked and will become available sometime later in the season.
To unlock all Arc 3.0's abilities, speak to Ikora Rey at the Tower. She sells Aspects, Fragments, and grenade abilities for all subclasses. Each item costs a small Glimmer fee.
Arc Keywords Explained
Unlike previous subclass reworks, Arc 3.0 doesn't have many keywords. There is one core buff and two debuffs with this subclass, all of which are fairly easy to understand. Let's go over what they mean.
Arc 3.0 Keywords
- Amplified: You move faster, slide further, and have increased weapon handling.
- Ionic Trace: A bolt of pure Arc energy that travels along the ground, seeking towards its creator. When picked up, Ionic Traces grant ability energy.
- Blind: Combatants are disoriented and unable to shoot. Guardians temporarily lose their HUD and suffer from distorted audio.
- Jolt: Jolted targets periodically release chain lightning to nearby targets when damaged.
Amplified Explained
Amplified is an Arc buff that grants +50 Mobility, increases sprint speed, slide distance, jump height, and grants improved weapon handling for 15 seconds. Amplified can be activated upon landing four rapid Arc kills against red bar combatants, tougher foes granting more progress.
Your overall movement is overall enhanced while Amplified. You slide 33% further—on par with St0mp-EE5 and Transversive Steps—and gain +50 Mobility, causing you to jump higher and strafe faster. Remember that Mobility does not affect sprint speed or your class-related jump.
Sprinting for a few seconds while Amplified will activate a superspeed buff that increases your sprint speed by 12.5%, increases the slide distance buff from 33% to 50%, and you jump twice as high. These effects do not stack with Exotics or other sources of increased sprint speed/slide distance. Additionally, superspeed gives you 15% damage resistance against combatants in PvE; it does not provide any DR in the Crucible.
As for your weapons, Amplified gives your weapons a +40 handling bonus with a slight animation scalar of 0.96x (as showcased in the Destiny Data Compendium). In other words, your weapons swap substantially faster if you aren't already at 100 handling, although weapons at capped handling will still notice a small bonus.
Notable sources of Amplified include Arc multikills and the Spark of Volts Fragment.
Ionic Traces Explained
Ionic Traces are bolts of energy that track to your location, granting 12.5% ability energy when grabbed (15% for your class ability). Traces only spawn for their creator and aggressively track to their location, curving around corners and other surfaces. Ionic Traces are grounded and cannot float. Notable sources of Ionic Traces include the Warlock's Electrostatic Mind Aspect, the Coldheart Exotic Trace Rifle, and the Spark of Discharge Fragment.
Blind Explained
Blind is an Arc debuff that disorients your enemies. This effect differs in PvE and PvP:
- PvE: Combatants are unable to attack while blinded.
- PvP: Your screen flashes white, audio becomes distorted, and your HUD is temporarily disabled.
By default, Blind lasts for 10 seconds in PvE and 1.5-2 seconds in PvP. Notable sources of Blind include Flashbang Grenades and the Hunter's Disorienting Blow.
Jolt Explained
Jolt is an Arc debuff that releases chain lightning to nearby targets. In PvP, dealing 50 damage to a jolted Guardian releases chain lightning to all nearby foes within 12.5 meters, dealing 50 damage to each target. Jolt deals immense damage in PvE, killing most fodder enemies while dealing respectable damage to majors. Nearby targets do not have to be jolted to be hit by this effect. Jolted lightning attacks can only trigger once per second, and lightning respects line-of-sight; jolt chains do not bypass cover or Titan Barricades.
Hunter Arc Aspects
Titan Arc Aspects
Warlock Arc Aspects
All Arc Fragments
As with all other subclasses, Arc has 14 Fragments for players to experiment with. All classes can use any Arc Fragment they wish, although your Fragment limit will be determined by which Aspects you have equipped. Remember, you can only have two Aspects equipped at a time. Fragments can also alter your Guardian's stats while equipped.
Spark Of Beacons
Spark of Beacons: While you are amplified, your Arc Special weapon final blows create a blinding explosion.
Defeating a target with an Arc Special weapon will cause them to explode, inflicting Blind to nearby targets for a couple of seconds. The explosion is comparable to a Chain Reaction explosion, and this works on all Arc Special weapons—including GLs, Glaive projectiles, and even the chain lightning effect from Trinity Ghoul. This Fragment does not have a cooldown.
Spark Of Resistance[double check]
Spark of Resistance: While surrounded by combatants, you are more resistant to incoming damage. +10 Strength.
Despite the description, Spark of Resistance works in PvP, the values for both modes being quite different:
- PvE: While 2+ enemies are within 15 meters of you, take 25% reduced damage.
- PvP: While 3+ enemies are within 15 meters of you, take 10% reduced damage.
The DR provided by Spark of Resistance stacks multiplicatively with other DR sources. . This Fragment's buff persists for just over a second once you are no longer surrounded.
Spark Of Momentum
Spark of Momentum: Sliding over ammo bricks reloads your equipped weapon and grants a small amount of melee energy.
There's not much to explain here. Sliding over any ammo brick will reload your current weapon from reserves and grant about 10% melee energy.
Spark Of Shock
Spark of Shock: Your Arc grenades jolt targets. -10 Discipline.
Damaging targets with your Arc grenades will inflict a four-second Jolt debuff on them, causing subsequent damage to chain lightning to nearby targets. Grenades that hit multiple times—notably Skip Grenades—refresh Jolt's debuff duration.
Spark Of Ions
Spark of Ions: Defeating a jolted target creates an Ionic Trace.
Defeating any target affected by the Jolt debuff will spawn an Ionic Trace for yourself, granting 12.5% ability energy when grabbed. The source of the Jolt debuff doesn't matter, making this a fantastic pairing with the Voltshot perk and Spark of Shock. This Fragment does not have a cooldown.
Spark Of Discharge
Spark of Discharge: Arc weapon final blows have a chance to create an Ionic Trace.
This Fragment's description is misleading. Defeating three PvE combatants or two Guardians will spawn an Ionic Trace; the spawn rate isn't random. Any Arc weapon can trigger this Fragment, even Osmosis weapons. Spark of Discharge does not have a cooldown.
Spark Of Frequency
Spark of Frequency: Melee hits greatly increase your reload speed for a short duration.
Hitting a target with your melee grants the Lightning Weave buff for the next five seconds, granting +100 reload speed stat with a 0.8x scalar. Both uncharged and charged melee hits can trigger this Fragment, and this effect may be refreshed at any time.
Spark Of Focus
Spark of Focus: After sprinting for a short time, your class ability regeneration is increased. -10 to the stat that governs your class ability cooldown.
Sprinting for over a second will grant the Focused Breathing buff, causing your class ability to recharge 150% faster. This effect is halved in PvP and stacks with cooldown reduction effects.
Spark Of Recharge
Spark of Recharge: While critically wounded, your melee and grenade energy regenerate more quickly.
While your shields are broken, your melee and grenade abilities will recharge substantially faster, about 400% faster than usual. This effect persists until your shields start to regenerate or recover shields.
Spark Of Magnitude
Spark of Magnitude: Your lingering Arc grenades (Lightning Grenade, Pulse Grenade, and Storm Grenade) have extended duration.
Persisting Arc grenades last 50% longer with Spark of Magnitude, similar to Void's Echo of Remnants Fragment. Affected grenades include Lightning Grenade, Pulse Grenade, and Storm Grenade.
Spark Of Amplitude
Spark of Amplitude: Rapidly defeating targets while you are amplified creates an Orb of Power.
Similar to Solar's Ember of Wonder Fragment, Spark of Amplitude spawns an Orb of Power on a double kill while Amplified, granting the same Super energy as a Siphon mod. This Fragment has a ten-second cooldown.
Spark Of Feedback
Spark of Feedback: Taking melee damage briefly increases your outgoing melee damage.
Taking melee damage from an enemy grants the Feedback buff for the next four seconds, increasing the damage of your next melee hit by 75%. This effect stacks with other melee damage buffs and does not have a cooldown.
Spark Of Volts
Spark of Volts: Finishers make you amplified. +10 Recovery.
Finishing a combatant grants a 15-second Amplified buff. Performing another finisher before Amplified expires will reset your timer. There's no cooldown to this Fragment. Since it only procs on Finishers, this Fragment only grants +10 Recovery in PvP.
Spark Of Brilliance
Spark of Brilliance: Defeating a blinded target with precision damage creates a blinding explosion. +10 Intellect.
The blinding explosion from Spark of Brilliance is the same as Spark of Beacons, effectively the same as Chain Reaction. Since this Fragment doesn't have a cooldown, it's possible to chain Spark of Brilliance across multiple targets if they're in close proximity. All weapon precision kills can trigger Spark of Brilliance, not just Arc weapons.
