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Destiny 2: Beyond Light introduced a fourth damage type for Guardians to wield. Stasis is the first time we've seen a new subclass element in Destiny 2, and it also serves as our introduction to wielding the Darkness itself.
Destiny's version of ice serves as the game's main crowd control spec, allowing you to freeze targets in place or generate cover. It fills a unique roll in the sandbox that none of your Light subclasses can. This guide will go over what Stasis is, how to unlock it, and we'll give a deep dive into how this element works for all subclasses.
What Is Stasis?
Stasis is a Darkness subclass that specializes in crowd control. Your Guardian wields a series of ice-themed powers that can slow targets, freeze them in place for a short time, and even shatter enemies for massive damage. Stasis is also the only subclass that allows you to create physical objects, blocking pathways or creating platforms through the use of Stasis crystals.
Similar to the Light subclasses, Stasis has a series of keywords that form its core gameplay loop. Hunters are adept at slowing targets. Warlocks can freeze enemies in solid Stasis with ease, and Titans are the best at creating Stasis crystals and shattering them. In gameplay terms, Stasis is Destiny 2's dedicated crowd control class that rewards intelligent ability usage with devastating explosions and excellent survivability.
Unlocking Stasis
You must own the Beyond Light expansion to unlock Stasis.
All Stasis subclasses are unlocked by completing the Beyond Light campaign and various quests from the Exo Stranger. Completing the campaign for Beyond Light will unlock the base subclass, but you'll need to complete various quests to unlock the rest of your Stasis kit, as shown below:
- Unlocking Additional Stasis Abilities: Complete the "Born in Darkness" quests from the Exo Stranger.
- Unlocking Aspects: Complete the various Aspect quests from the Exo Stranger.
- Unlocking Fragments: Complete the weekly bounties sold by the Exo Stranger.
We have an in-depth Aspects guide that covers how to obtain all four Stasis Aspects for your character. For Fragments, speak to the Exo Stranger upon completing the Beyond Light campaign. She will have a collection of bounties in her inventory. You may purchase and complete two of them each week. Each bounty you complete allows you to unlock a Fragment of your choice. Bounty completions and Stasis unlocks are tied to your account, not individual characters.
Stasis Keywords Explained
Stasis is an inverted version of Solar, ranging from its functionality to keywords. All Stasis users have access to three core debuffs and two buffs. This subclass also has access to overshields through a Fragment, although Stasis overshields behave differently from Void overshields. We'll explain further at the very end of the guide.
Stasis Buff Keywords
- Stasis Crystal: A crystal of solidified Stasis matter. Upon creation, freezes nearby combatants and slows nearby players. Crystals can be destroyed, dealing damage in an area.
- Stasis Shard: A small shard of Stasis matter that can be collected to restore melee energy.
Stasis Debuff Keywords
- Slow: The target has slowed movement, slowed ability regeneration, and reduced weapon performance. Slowed combatants have difficulty firing accurately. After accumulating enough Slow stacks, the target is frozen.
- Freeze: The target is trapped in Stasis matter and is unable to move. After taking additional damage while frozen, the target shatters.
- Shatter: When a frozen target is shattered, they take damage and deal damage in an area around them.
Stasis Crystals Explained
Stasis Shards Explained
Slow Explained
Freeze Explained
Shatter Explained
All Sources Of Slow
Currently, just about every source of Slow originates from a Stasis subclass ability. While Ager's Scepter can Slow targets in Will Given Form, it freezes targets so quickly that it hardly matters. The Bombardiers can technically slow targets, yet the debuff inflicted is something else entirely and doesn't synergize with the Slow keyword at all. For now, we'll only be listing Slows provided by abilities.
| Ability | Slow Stacks (PvE) | Slow Stacks (PvP) |
|---|---|---|
| Glacier Grenade | N/A | 60 |
| Duskfield Grenade | Impact: 20 | Impact: 10 |
| Field: 10 per second | Field: 5 per second | |
| Bleak Watcher (Warlock) | 40 | 10 |
| Silence & Squall (Hunter) | 40 per second | 40 per second |
| Touch Of Winter (Hunter) | 40 | 40 |
| Shiver Strike (Titan) | 50 | 50 |
| Withering Blade (Hunter) | 60 | 40 |
Hunter Stasis Aspects
Titan Stasis Aspects
Warlock Stasis Aspects
All Stasis Fragments
This section covers how Stasis Fragments work, not which ones are the best. If you're looking for which Fragments are worth using, check out our Stasis Fragments tier list.
Stasis has 14 Fragments for Guardians to experiment with. All Stasis subclasses have access to all 14 Fragments, although unlocking these Fragments is time-gated. Each week, the Exo Stranger will let you purchase two unique Stasis bounties. Complete them, and you'll be able to purchase two Stasis Fragments of your choice. Stasis bounties and Fragment unlocks are account-bound, meaning it will take at least seven weeks to unlock every Stasis Fragment.
Whisper Of Hedrons
Whisper of Hedrons: Dramatically increases weapon stability, weapon aim assist, Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery after freezing a target with Stasis. -10 Strength.
Freezing a target grants the following buffs for the next 12 seconds:
- +60 Mobility (+30 in PvP)
- +60 Resilience (+30 in PvP)
- +60 Recovery (+30 in PvP)
- Increased weapon stability
- Increased weapon aim assist
- +20 Airborne Effectiveness
This Fragment works in PvE and PvP. The stat bumps for your weapon's stability and aim assist are difficult to quantify, but the stat increase is certainly noticeable. As with all other stat-increasing effects, exceeding 100 in a given armor stat does not grant additional benefits. Be sure your Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery are at 40 or above to get the most use out of Hedrons.
Whisper Of Fissures
Whisper of Fissures: Increases the damage and size of the burst of Stasis when you destroy a Stasis crystal or defeat a frozen target.
Whisper of Fissures makes all Stasis shatters much more powerful. It grants the following buffs:
- PvE: Increases shatter blast radius to ten meters. Shatter damage is dramatically increased.
- PvP: Increases shatter blast radius to eight meters. Shatter damage is increased by eight points.
It's hard to quantify the damage increase to shatters in PvE, but it is substantial and makes shattering Stasis crystals a viable method of killing red bar enemies in Master-tier content. In PvP, each source of shatter will deal eight more points of damage. This is only useful if you're playing a Revenant Hunter, as it allows Glacier Grenades buffed with Touch of Winter to one-shot an enemy Guardian who's in the epicenter of your grenade.
Whisper Of Refraction
Whisper of Refraction: Defeating slowed or frozen targets grants you class ability energy.
Slowed targets grant around 10% class ability energy when slain. Tougher foes and enemy Guardians grant additional energy. Shatter damage does not trigger this Fragment. The Revenant's Withering Blade melee also does not refund class ability energy if it instantly kills the target. Whisper of Refraction works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Durance
Whisper of Durance: Slow from your abilities lasts longer. For those abilities that linger, their duration will also increase. +10 Strength.
Whisper of Durance extends the duration of the Slow debuff and all persisting Stasis abilities. Slows last for 2 seconds longer in PvE and 0.5 seconds longer in PvP—extending your slow duration to 4.5 seconds in PvE and 2 seconds in PvP.
Persisting abilities last for two seconds longer in PvE and PvP—excluding Bleak Watcher turrets, which last for five more seconds. Duskfield Grenades, Bleak Watcher Turrets, and the Silence and Squall tornado are all affected by Whisper of Durance. Stasis crystals are not affected by Whisper of Durance.
Whisper Of Bonds
Whisper of Bonds: Defeating frozen targets grants you Super Energy. -10 Discipline and Intellect.
Frozen targets grant an additional 2.5% Super energy when slain. This bonus stacks with perks like Thresh and the standard amount of Super energy you receive from kills. Intellect does not affect the amount of energy you receive. Whisper of Bonds works in PvE and PvP.
One notable synergy with Whisper of Bonds is Ager's Scepter, an Exotic Trace Rifle that consumes your Super energy while its alt-fire is active. With Whisper of Bonds, defeating frozen targets with this gun will refund a portion of your Super energy, allowing you to maintain Will Given Form for a much longer duration.
Whisper Of Shards
Whisper of Shards: Shattering a Stasis crystal temporarily boosts your grenade recharge rate. Shattering additional Stasis crystals increases the duration of this benefit. +10 Resilience.
Destroying an ally or enemy's Stasis crystal grants a five-second grenade regeneration buff. While active, your grenade recharges 200% faster in PvE and 100% faster in PvP. Destroying multiple Stasis crystals will extend the duration of this buff by five seconds per crystal destroyed, although the timer cannot exceed ten seconds. Shattering a frozen target does not grant this buff; only crystals count. Whisper of Shards works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Chains
Whisper of Chains: While you are near frozen targets or a friendly Stasis crystal, you take reduced damage from targets. +10 Recovery.
Standing near a Stasis crystal or frozen enemy grants a 40% damage resistance (DR) buff, stacking multiplicatively with other DR sources. In PvP, this value is reduced to 15%. The range of Whisper of Chains is about ten meters. The second you walk too far from a crystal or the source shatters, you lose the DR buff.
Glacier Grenades, all Hunter grenades with Touch of Winter, Headstone crystals, Behemoth's crystals, and frozen enemies work with Whisper of Chains.
Whisper Of Torment
Whisper of Torment: You gain grenade energy each time you take damage from targets.
Once per second, taking damage from an enemy will grant ~5% grenade energy. Whisper of Torment does not grant additional energy from multiple damage sources. This Fragment works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Fractures
Whisper of Fractures: Your melee energy recharges faster when you are near two or more targets. -10 Discipline.
Standing near two targets will grant ~2.5% melee energy per second, stacking with your passive Strength cooldown. Additional enemies will increase the amount of energy received, capping out at five enemies granting 10% melee energy per second. Whisper of Fractures works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Impetus
Whisper of Impetus: Damaging targets with a Stasis melee reloads your stowed weapons and grants you a temporary boost to weapon ready speed.
Hitting an enemy with your charged melee will grant a buff called Nimble Arsenal for five seconds. While active, all weapons will gain 100 handling. All of your weapons will also be reloaded from reserves when you receive the Nimble Arsenal buff, even your currently equipped weapon. You cannot refresh Nimble Arsenal while it is active, and the auto-reloading property of Impetus cannot be triggered while Nimble Arsenal is active. Whisper of Impetus works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Conduction
Whisper of Conduction: Nearby Stasis shards track to your position. +10 Resilience and Intellect.
Stasis shards near your character will drift towards your Guardian's location. Unlike the Seeking Wells mod for Elemental Wells, Whisper of Conduction works for all Stasis shards, not just your own. Shards also float above the ground, meaning they can't get stuck on stairs or corners. Whisper of Conduction does not work if you are invisible. This Fragment works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Rending
Whisper of Rending: Kinetic weapons do increased damage to Stasis crystals and frozen targets.
Whisper of Rending's in-game description isn't quite accurate. All Primary weapons that reside in the Kinetic slot deal 43% more damage to frozen targets and 100% more damage to Stasis crystals. This distinction is important, as it means Stasis Primary weapons work with Whisper of Rending. Kinetic Special weapons do not deal additional damage with this Fragment. Whisper of Rending works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Hunger
Whisper of Hunger: Increases the melee energy gained from picking up Stasis shards. -10 Mobility and Recovery.
Stasis shards grant double the melee energy when grabbed. Most shards grant 10% melee energy, so this Fragment will make your shards grant a minimum of 20% melee energy. Whisper of Hunger does not affect the overshield provided by Whisper of Rime. Whisper of Hunger works in PvE and PvP.
Whisper Of Rime
Whisper of Rime: Collecting a Stasis shards grants a small amount of overshield, which falls off after 10 seconds. Collecting additional shards adds to the overshield and refreshes the timer.
Grabbing a Stasis shard will grant a small amount of overshield, covering your health bar with a light blue color. All damage you take must break your overshields before it can damage your character. Whisper of Rime can grant up to a 100-point overshield, lasting ten seconds. Grabbing a Stasis shard strengthens the shield and refreshes the timer. Should you not have full health and shields, Whisper of Rime will heal you instead. This Fragment works in PvE and PvP.
This is not a Void overshield. Despite the in-game keyword description, Whisper of Rime is a unique overshield buff that overrides the Void Overshield buff. This type of overshield provides no additional damage resistance.
