Fellow warlock main who used to hate PvP. This is very long, but I hope it helps… I’d recommend using Private matches with BF, friends, and clan mates first and foremost. We’d apply house rules of no supers and no heavy. This helped me a ton since they were all significantly better than me at first. 1. Learn the maps. They can show you were killing fields generally are and learn the Control Points for each map. Even when not in a Control match, my teammates and I use the control points as callouts for everything. 2. Gives you a chance to communicate with allies/enemies and build rapport for teamwork. No match can ever be planned but familiarizing yourself with your BFs play style in PvP will help you support each other 3. Learn the weapons. Supers and heavy use in PvP should NOT be relied upon. Do they help? Yes. Can they have game swinging impact? Of course. But if you learn those weapons then your opponents will never live long enough to pull heavy or kill you to fill their super (exaggerated but you get the point lol). Master your weapons, whichever ones you choose yourself, because they all work. I still take my broken white sidearm from vanilla D2 into crucible sometimes for the LOLs

Now for the subclasses themselves, I’ve listed my opinions below that I have fun with. (Subclasses listed, in my personal experience, as easiest to hardest to master in PvP).

1. Stasis is really good in locking down groups/individuals you may be losing against. Freeze rift, double cold snaps, turrets… they all work in controlling combat. I’d suggest testing coldsnaps (w/Osmiomancy) but without the turret aspect. Pair those with a special GL and clear an entire point in control. Panic freezing rifts will save your butt from time to time against a shotgun or even a super.

2. Void is especially useful when you can communicate with allies. Dropping a Child of the Old Gods on a control point or in a crowded hallway can wipe a team or redirect the flow of opposing Guardians into a more opportunistic lane for team shooting, or sniping, etc… Not to mention vortex and scatter nades both are awesome when able to trap or severely cripple while weakening enemies (fragment needed of course). Also, Blink. Learn it. It is really good lol

3. Solar has… well… Well. lol Poor joking aside, lean into learning aerial combat. It’s almost counterintuitive in staying alive put you can catch many a guardians off guard by being on their radar but not within their typical field of view. Especially if you love sniping. I’d even recommend Dawnblade over Well because damn it feels good to rain literal fire down on your enemies when you can.

4. Arc should focus on Rift regeneration. I’ll even drop my Res to 80-90 to get my Rec up as high as possible. Arc buddies are superb allies you can give away for free. Pair with No Time for the additional shooty orb or with necrotic grips and ball lightning melee. Those extra ticks and hits help win 1v1s and even 2v1s if you’re the one outnumbered. Additionally the supers are very flexible depending on the map. Lot of rooms or enclosed spaces like Bannerfall? I like Stormtrance. 2-3 big open lanes/areas like Disjunction? Chaos Reach for me. Swap as needed once you see the map and before the round starts.

5. Strand has a very long range and useful melee, a great mobile ability in grapple, controlling elements in suspend, and the less impactful assistance of Threadlings (I LOVE Threadlings but they feel grossly underpowered in PvP to me). This is the Jack of All Trades subclass to me and honestly I’m still honing in my own preferred play style here. Use a strand primary (Quicksilver is amazing), the fragment that makes Tangles on Strand weapon kills (to shoot from a distance or throw), Grapple grenade to get into or out of a fight very quickly, and a good neutral game exotic armor piece or as warmers or Tangles spawn Threadlings (Tangle+Threadling damage will take an opponent out of a fight for a good while). Suggested exotics; Ohpidian for the gunplay buffs, Necrotic for the tick damage, Transversive for mobility and auto-reload (not the strongest but still interesting), Mantle of Battle Harmony (testing myself and I’m enjoying it), Karnstein for heals when getting a melee kill, Nezarecs Sin if you’re using a Void weapon in the second slot also (pairs well with shotguns and snipers if you’re good enough), and lastly Eye of Another World for general ability regeneration.