Destiny Melee Ability Ideas

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Armchair Game Design

Here are a few ideas for some new melee abilities for subclasses that currently only have 1 option. To start I focused on one for each class. No cooldown or specific damage numbers as those could be adjusted to make them competitive with other abilities.

Hunter: Nightstalker

Veiled Blade – Manifest a spectral blade to slash through multiple targets in front of you. Gain compounding bonus damage when flanking and invisible.

quick sketch of the destiny UI with a first-person perspective of a hunter swiping with a blade attack
Big purple knife go brrr

Nightstalkers currently only have smoke bomb which is very utility-focused. This one would be the damage option with some nice cleave damage, while also leaning into the rogue archetype to set up sneak attacks while camouflaged for a bit of playstyle variety. (how cool would it be if Spectral Blades was actually a good super in PvE, crazy right?)

Titan: Behemoth

Ice Block Bash – Hold [melee input] to lift a stasis crystal over your head and dash forward, releasing [melee input] to smash it down and freeze nearby targets. Gain stacks of frost armor while holding the crystal.

quick sketch of the destiny UI with a first-person perspective of a titan rushing forward holding a block of stasis crystal above their head
Needs a *bonk* sound effect when you slam it down

Shiver strike is a pretty fun movement tool, but this would be another thematic alternative that instead gives a bit of extra defense through frost armor. It would be a much shorter dash, that can be cut short to almost nothing just by tapping the melee input.It could even leave behind a full stasis crystal that can be used more precisely than the glacial grenade.

Plus it seems like a fun combo to be able to rush up, smash this over an enemy and shatter them, and then pick up a diamond lance and throw it at another enemy.

Warlock: Voidwalker

Null Hex – Hold [melee input] to target a spot on the ground, and release to raise a summoning circle that slightly pulls enemies into its radius and then fills with spikes, causing damage.

quick sketch of the destiny UI with a first-person perspective of a warlock raising their hand in front of them as a summoning circle is created on the ground in front of them
Warlocks and circles, name a more iconic duo

I actually like Pocket Singularity, but I hear often that it isn’t that impactful. This ability goes in the opposite direction, giving more AoE damage and drawing enemies in rather than pushing away. Obviously this is inspired by the spike circles that some Hive bosses put down on the ground, and would be a fun alternative that feels very space magic.

I could see this maybe suppressing enemies inside as well. That does sound a bit strong but there would be a decent windup animation which could help balance it. To my knowledge there is no ground targeted ability (except perhaps the exotic stasis grenade launcher, kinda), so not sure how that would fit into the sandbox but I think it could work.