[Top 5] Destiny 2 Best AoE Classes That Are Powerful

Updated:

11 Dec 2023

In the grand scheme of things, focusing a build on Area-of-Effect can sometimes seem like a counterintuitive choice. After all, the majority of your problems are going to come in the form of one (or just a handful) of strong enemies wherein having a more focused subclass would deal more damage. Truth is though, while Bungie likes to up the difficulty by introducing more powerful enemies, they also prefer to often take the easy route of just bombarding Guardians with an almost unstoppable wave of smaller opponents.

It’s in situations like this that AoE is going to be so much more preferred. Using subclasses that specialize in killing multiple enemies over a large area can take a lot of weight off your shoulders and allow you to focus your weapon fire on the more menacing opponents.

1. Voidwalker (Vortex)

Voidwalker harnessing Vortex

Since Season 19, Bungie has buffed the Vortex of Voidwalker’s Novabomb to insane levels. With the recent buffs, Vortex travels considerably faster and the pull of its vortex ability is significantly stronger than before. While not affecting large opponents/bosses, the pull grabs smaller opponents from anywhere in the battlefield and slowly withers them away until death.

The true beauty of Voidwalker for AoE also comes in the form of Child of the Old Gods. This is an aspect that can be equipped, and it causes a Void Soul to form anytime that a Rift is cast down. This Void Soul flies to any opponent you shoot at and drains the life out of your opponents, granting you devour as it kills foes. Voidwalker offers numerous builds, especially when we include the abilities of its grenades and long range, explosive melee. When it comes to AoE, no other subclass in the current game comes anywhere close to Voidwalker.

What Makes Voidwalker Powerful for AoE

Numerous abilities that cause AoE Damage
Incredibly strong pull in its Vortex Novabomb
Void Soul travels huge distances to attack and kill multiple opponents in its radius

Choose Voidwalker if

You like the ability to cover multiple areas of the battlefield.
AoE is your primary method of attack, and can take advantage of having a super, melee, and grenade that work incredibly in those departments
You find yourself constantly at low health and can benefit from the Devour perk to deal you restoration

2. Nightstalker

Nightstalker unleashing hell

Nightstalker is, in a lot of ways, just like gravity. Namely, it is arguably an incredibly strong force, but equally a very weak force. This is to say that the Tether powers of Nightstalker cover an insane amount of area with a debilitating amount of debuff, but Tether itself does not kill opponents.

It is possible to shoot an arrow directly at an opponent and kill them through that, but the AoE of the tether only latches on to opponents, making them 30% more susceptible to damage and also drastically slows down their movement speed. The hold on Tether is very large, and if you’re okay with having to focus fire, using Nightstalker is a no-brainer. Debuff is the general theme with this subclass, as the aspects also add weakness to opponents through the melee and numerous grenades available. In an attempt to counter the lack of ability to kill with the Tether, the Tether super recharges minutes faster than the other Nightstalker super, Spectral blades.

What Makes Nightstalker Powerful for AoE

Powerful debuff that lets you melt through opponents of all types
Tether has incredible range that can grab onto ads and Guardians, stopping all dead in their tracks and hazing their vision
Low recharge time means you can fire your shots far more often than other supers, letting you enjoy its abilities

Choose Nightstalker if

You trust the strength of your weapons and like to rely on them
Opponents move just a little too fast for you and slowing them down is your primary goal
Your armor stats have low intellect, taking it an excruciatingly long time to get a super normally

3. Stormcaller

Stormcaller frying their opponents

While Void Subclasses are great for trapping enemies and slowly draining their life force, Arc Subclasses are kings in damaging multiple enemies at once. The reason for this is because all 3 Arc Subclasses utilize the chaining ability, wherein lightning caused by ability damage jumps from one opponent to another, often causing lethal damage. No other Subclass does this better than the Warlock Stormcaller.

Stormcaller has numerous aspects and fragments that grant the Jolting ability. This allows for damage to jump from one ad to another. And when you pair the Jolt with the insanely far-reaching melee of Stormcaller, you can send an attack towards a distant group of enemies, just to watch them all die as lightning bounces around killing them. When pairing the Stormcaller super with an exotic armor piece like Stormdancer’s Brace, any kill you get while in your super adds super energy and continues to let you chain your kills. The lightning coming out of Stormcallers is unmatched in Arc Subclasses, and grants powerful AoE damage.

What Makes Stormcaller Powerful for AoE

Incredible lightning chain capabilities to clear rooms
Far range melee lets you activate Jolting and chaining kills on enemies from a considerable distance
Fantastic exotic armor pieces bring out the best of Stormcaller and tend to focus on improving its AoE effect

Choose Stormcaller if

You like to be mobile on the battlefield, shooting first before taking the time to look who’s attacking
Attacking once with something like a melee hit, then letting that chain into multiple kills is something that sparks your interest
You like to get the most out of your supers and, despite wanting AoE, still largely enjoy the roaming variant of Supers

4. Arc Strider

Strider taking cover

Since Arc 3.0, the Hunter’s Arc Strider has quickly risen the ranks of subclasses to be one of the most competitive in the PvE and PvP scene. More specifically, for AoE, the Gathering Storm super is an almost annoyingly good option that deals insane damage in, albeit a small area. Gathering Storm works by taking the Arc Staff and throwing it into the ground, acting as a sort of tesla coil that electrifies opponents nearby.

Like I said before, it’s important to note that the range provided by Gathering Storm is significantly smaller than the AoE range of other supers like Novabomb. Where it really shines though is in the damage output, being able to kill Guardians and high-level opponents in no time. It’s for this reason that I would suggest Arc Strider be treated as aPvP AoE subclass, unlike the other subclasses which shine in the PvE scene. Also worth mentioning is Hunters do unfortunately suffer from a lack of great exotics that are indeed Arc themed, with only ¼ pieces being Arc. On top of that, the ones that are arc tend to benefit the grenades as opposed to the super. It’s certainly a difficult subclass to use for AoE, but for the intent of small areas like zones in Control, it just might prove to be the best available one.

What Makes Arc Strider Powerful for AoE

AoE damage is incredibly lethal, even to Guardians.
The staff itself can be thrown incredible distances to cover zones or hallways
Arc Strider also enjoys all the benefits of Jolt that are offered in other Arc Subclasses like Stormcaller

Choose Arc Strider if

You primarily play in the Crucible
You prioritize damage in your AoE, rather than the size of the area
You would like a super where you can drop it once and run, letting it do the work for you

5. Sunbreaker

Sunbreaker basking in the Light

For the most part in this tier list, we have focused on Void and Arc Subclasses, and there is a very good reason for that. Solar subclasses simply do not offer many good AoE abilities. From the Well of Dawnblades to the shots of a Gunslinger, most Solar subclasses tend to enjoy focusing their energy on either healing the team or putting all that punch into one spot. If you like fire though, and want nothing more than to deal insane AoE damage, Sunbreaker might just be the build for you.

Right out of the box, Sunbreaker doesn't do much, if any, AoE damage. But, if your paired it with the aspects Roaring Flame and Sol Invictus, as well as the fragments Ember of Singeing, Ember of Ashes, and most importantly Ember of Combustion, now you have an AoE build that can rival that of the Arc and Void kind. By putting together this exact loadout, your super kills create sunspots which extend your supers duration. WIth the fragments then adding scorch and ignite, the fire can spread to other opponents causing them to combust. To be more specific, Ignite causes an explosion which can spread Scorch, which is when opponents actually burn to death.

What Makes Sunbreaker Powerful for AoE

The combination of explosion and burning is a powerful tool that stands apart from similar AoE builds
While needing more active attack than Arc or Void, the debuffs granted by Sunbreaker are considerable can take down even the strongest of foes
Sunbreaker doesn't sacrifice strong point damage for enemies like bosses or champions.

Choose Sunbreaker if

You like to dabble in AoE, rather than dedicate yourself to it in its entirety
You want to be able to do AoE on ads, but still have your super cause strong damage against bosses
You like to be active and feel as though you earned your kills, taking it into your own hands rather than leaving it to the mechanics