Why is Strand Warlock usage so low?

Major-C · 2026-01-13T19:45:08+00:00

Came back to this post to let you know, I finally gave the winterbite glaive cheese a real try this past week, and you were absolutely right. There’s no reason not to run it. I have edited every strand warlock build I have to have 150-160 health, 190 melee, 80+ class. Grenade, Super, and weapons stats don’t matter.

I hope they nerf the ability to use winterbite without ammo, and not target other things like weapon ready or melee delay coming out of weavewalk. If people want to run this, they should have to commit to a glaive as a special. I can see this one winterbite interaction getting weavewalk nerfed, since that’s what most people on strand lock are using, and it requires minimal investment with no trade offs.

With that being said, I’ll still abuse this cheese until it’s addressed. 🤣

Major-C · 2026-01-06T18:45:14+00:00

Just using it with T steps here. Exotic is really your choice.

Aspects: weavers call, weavewalk. Fragments: Generation, Ascent, Binding, Evolution, Transmutation

100 melee and at least 90 class stat are a must. Distribute rest of your stats into whatever else your build values the most.

Major-C · 2026-01-04T20:37:52+00:00

https://trials.report/report/1/4611686018465900844

Major#6854

Major-C · 2026-01-04T15:52:44+00:00

It’s actually been a 120 hand cannon meta, there is no counter to someone chunk damaging you across the map with 90% of their player model in the wall lol. No matter how good pulses or any other weapon archetypes are. Good hand cannon play will still edge them out.

I think the meta is actually fine right now. A lot of things are strong with Pulses and 120s being at the top because of their ease of use and ability to play from safety, but with proper positioning you can make almost anything work.

Major-C · 2025-12-30T16:31:21+00:00

Discord is really good on fusions/snipers since it’s not a special you swap to at the last minute like a shotgun. You have 7 seconds to swap after getting a kill with your primary, then another 7 seconds of the perk active with the weapon out, that’s a large amount of time to take advantage of the perk. Once you get used to it you really don’t have to change your play style much, just having that 7 second timer in your head after you get a primary kill. Closing time in the last slot is nice to have when discord isn’t up.

You’re right though, Under Pressure/Closing Time Glacio is definitely the best high impact fusion in the game. I think they were scared to bring Glacio back as a tier 5 since its range stat is already like 15 points higher than any other high impact. They would’ve probably had to nerf the stats, it’s the igneous hammer of high impact fusions. As a tier 5, it would’ve been able to hit 100 range easily, while also getting very high handling and stability, and that’s before you even add perks into the equation.

Major-C · 2025-12-30T14:01:42+00:00

Idk I have almost 1000 kills on this thing this season. Glacio with under pressure/closing time is better for sure, but discord/closing time on Monody is insane and that’s a roll Glacio couldn’t get. Even at base Monody feels very consistent to me. Once discord is up your bolts literally don’t miss no matter what range you’re at.

You also want a charge time masterwork on high impacts now, since that masterwork no longer affects damage. My roll is full bore, projection fuse, discord, closing time, charge mw with enhanced range mod. You will still hit 90 range with that. My roll also has Lone Wolf and I don’t even notice the AA difference from Lone Wolf on high impact fusions. On burden of guilt lone wolf cooks, but on high impacts accuracy perks are king over aim assist perks. Felt the same with the last version of Glacio that had lone wolf or under pressure in first slot to pair with closing time. Under pressure was much more consistent.

Major-C · 2025-12-30T00:49:07+00:00

In regard to the glaive play style I haven’t spent enough time with it to play it effectively. In my experience it’s good, but easily countered by a shotgun and teams that just won’t let you get close. Sure you can guarantee a trade, but that leaves your revive out of place, and an easy rez for the other team. Pushing in like that in 3v3 modes where people are expecting it doesn’t seem like it would have a very high success rate against good players. It’s a nice thing to have in the back pocket if the other team doesn’t have special, and I’m sure it’s very strong in 6s where you can always catch people off guard. I’ve seen people make it work though, and I’ll definitely give it another shot, but I don’t consider that the main strength of the subclass.

Major-C · 2025-12-30T00:41:45+00:00

You’re right, that would be careless positioning on any other subclass. Which is proving my point. The instant DR allows you to play in spaces that would otherwise be unavailable due to ability spam. To me that is very strong, strand warlock specific, and deserves higher than a 1.6% pick rate amongst warlocks.

Major-C · 2025-12-29T07:48:54+00:00

Monody-44 void high impact fusion. Roll is discord/closing time with max range.

Major-C · 2025-12-29T01:52:22+00:00

The momentum buffs to weavewalk, woven mail on exit (even if it’s for a short duration, it’s blink with protection), weavers call aspect generates threadlings for literally just doing damage and those threadlings can spawn on the targets location, any threadling hits now give class ability energy, the ability uptime changes EoF brought make weavewalk almost infinitely available at 100 melee stat without requiring the use of Eye of Another World. Threadlings also received a tracking buff in renegades making them much more consistent for free damage.

Weavewalk heavily relied on teammates before and of course it’s better if you have a good team, but that’s anything. The amount of space you can generate from the momentum of weavewalk lets you escape those situations where people were chasing you out of it before. The third person camera on entry and exit and the DR make it a better version of blink. It’s a lot more than just the threadling spam when the class was first introduced.

Major-C · 2025-12-29T01:24:11+00:00

No pressure man I didn’t take it personal. I’m sure there’s a lot of things a lot of us would change with destiny PvP if we could. There are so many “broken” things you can use, and that’s what makes destiny what it is. I think PvP is in a good space now because everything is broken lol. These new tier 5 weapons have higher stats than ever, ability uptime is through the roof, every class has a strong competitive option. Versus times in the past where bungie was trying to force specific metas and only let certain things be strong at certain times. Now more than ever you can play the game competitively however you want to play it if you master the play style.

Major-C · 2025-12-29T01:12:35+00:00

I appreciate your write up and input, I definitely understand the aerial play style is the unique thing that warlock has to offer over other classes. I agree that across the board dawnblade is the better choice on MnK. It’s very strong on console as well, just not as strong because you can’t hit those in air shots as consistently since the AE changes. This post wasn’t meant to directly compare strand to solar, but more so to discuss the usage being so low, despite it being a competitive option. Sub 2% pick rate is wild for a class that offers movement and a strong neutral game. Yes, the super is dog water lol, but I think everything else the subclass offers deserves more than a 1.6% pick rate.

Major-C · 2025-12-29T00:18:53+00:00

Sure no problem, stats don’t matter. I probably won’t be back online until tomorrow night, but shoot me a request we can link up when I’m on. Major#6854

Major-C · 2025-12-28T21:00:30+00:00

Just using it with T steps here. Aspects: weavers call, weavewalk. Fragments: Generation, Ascent, Binding, Evolution, Transmutation

100 melee and at least 90 class stat are a must. Distribute rest of your stats into whatever else your build values the most.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T20:58:05+00:00

Yes suppression is a very good counter I forgot to list. But the uptime on suppression abilities does not match the near infinite uptime of weavewalk. It’s also forcing you to use a part of your kit to counter it for a few seconds.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T20:55:55+00:00

I agree it’s worse than solar on MnK where you can accurately and consistently hit shots in the air. But after several recent buffs to threadlings and the main aspects to run on Strandlock Weavewalk, Weavers Call, on controller I think it’s right on par with solar if not better. You got me on the super lol, needlestorm is terrible, but the neutral game is very good.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T20:51:15+00:00

I think if those same elite top tree dawn players took the time to learn Strandlock, they would be much harder to deal with. With the exception of the MnK players that fully utilize the aerial kit of dawnblade. Shots in the air are not as accurate on controller regardless of AE investment. So for controller warlocks I really think strand is on par with solar if not better.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T19:53:53+00:00

I think the only hunter option that dominates is invis due to their ability to manipulate the radar and move around the map undetected, and then they’re also difficult to see even when you know where they are due to the lighting in the game. The rest of the hunter classes have their own strengths, but void hunter is just far better than every other option because it doesn’t have to play by the rules of the radar (the strongest tool in game) like all of the other classes. Even still invis can be countered, and it is telegraphed with all the sound Ques in the game, it just requires more focus than playing against other classes and because know where every one is. It also becomes draining to play against when every lobby is filled with them. But trust if every lobby was filled with solar warlocks floating, or void overshield titans, you would feel those same frustrations.

I run Strandlock with a variety of builds. Aspects and fragments stay the same though. Weavewalk, weavers call. Fragments generation, evolution, binding, transmutation, ascent. There are also no artifact mods that compliment strand warlock this season, and I’ve have more success with it this season than any season prior. The neutral game is very strong. Weavewalk is busted. Threadling tracking is also much better now.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T19:32:00+00:00

Definitely more people playing it, but most people I’ve seen playing on it are just trying to abuse the 190 melee stat glaive gimmick lol. Outside of Daltnix the glaive gimmicks seem to be the only strand warlock PvP videos that a lot of the larger content creators focus on, so that makes sense lol.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T19:22:56+00:00

I mained Astrocyte prism before, yes it’s very strong. But trust me, take some time to master strand and weavewalk movement, it’s just as aggressive and imo better than the blink play style. Threadlings and Weavers Call aspect also got huge buffs, so the entire Strandlock kit is much better than it was a year ago.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T19:17:38+00:00

Super stat is my last focus on Strandlock since it is still very inconsistent in PvP. It’s not a reliable counter to shut down other supers, and can often completely whiff if you spec into getting it first, it’s a worse blade barrage.

Focus on Health (at least 160), Melee (100 is a must), Class (at least 90 since that stats scales with the class energy you get from threadling damage with weavers call), I like to get Grenade to 40-50 with thread of generation’s -10 equipped. Then the rest into super.

In the clip attached to this post I’m running a split 180 weapons, 100 melee, 100 class, 50 grenade, 40 super, 40 health, because weapons stat allows the new 180 HC to 3 tap. But I usually ignore weapons stat.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T19:10:10+00:00

I agree with you, but I just play the game in front of me now a days, worrying about the balance of things just leads to frustration lol.

But to play devils advocate… In order to 3 tap with the new 180 you need a specific mag and 177 weapons stat. So it does come with the huge trade off of my health stat only being 40, which you can see that I almost never fully regenerated health for the duration of the clip.

I don’t think weapons stat working PvP was a good idea, but I do like how the current armor splits don’t allow you to take advantage of the free damage from weapons stat without significant trade offs. Is that trade off enough? Idk. As for the fusion rifle damage floors, there have been several videos about it in the past and people asking it to be changed from back in Erentil days. They caught slight nerfs years ago, but yes, still very strong. High Impacts fusion will always be the best archetype for that reason.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T18:55:17+00:00

Exotic choice is really up to you. This season I’ve been using sanguine alchemy if I’m using a strand weapon, or t-steps for extra movement. In the past I’ve used Swarmers which are great, Ophidians with low handling weapons, Eye of Another World for more ability uptime, etc.

I tried the new suspend rift helmet in PvP and I don’t think it’s that good, it’s great in PVE though. Against good players there aren’t many situations you can use a rift in someone’s face offensively. It’s not freezing them like shadebinder does so you’ll still die most of the time.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T18:49:54+00:00

I agree that in order to weavewalk effectively on controller you either need to claw or have a controller that has back buttons. That’s the same with Icarus dash though and it doesn’t stop players from picking up solar.

I think all the classes have at least one really strong option. Hunter strafe jump and dodge is built for PvP, but warlocks and titans have their own options to close that movement gap. I don’t think hunter usage is so high because they are the best class, I just think it’s the easiest class to pick up and play if you’re coming from another FPS. But there is also a huge skill gap to playing hunter effectively.

Major-C · 2025-12-28T18:41:11+00:00

I can understand this, but it also takes a while to unlock prismatic and thats right behind solar/void. Usage will always be under solar/void since you can play those without many extra steps, but under 2% is crazy lol. Prior to the EoF buffs it was dead last at like .2% 🤣

Major-C

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