The Titan class in Destiny is the most direct, dealing damage with brute force, utilizing heavy armor and mastery of Light for defense. They tend to act as the frontal force and are either all-out Assaulters or rock-solid defenders.
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Destiny Titan Class
The two specializations for the Titan class are Striker and Defender, both with emphasis on heavy damage and tanking abilities, but allowing two distinct styles of play (highly offensive or defensive). You’ll start off with the Striker specialization as a Titan and will unlock Defender at level 15.
Striker
The Striker specialization for Titans focuses on the powerful Arc Energy, which grants bonuses to melee strikes. Strikers excel at close-quarters combat and are best utilized in high-density, smaller maps, or during direct and tight PvE missions.
The two areas you want to maximize here are Strength and Intellect, which will allow you to deal crushing damage to enemies up close with your Fist of Havoc and Storm Fist abilities.
However, this does not mean that Strikers are one-trick ponies – if close-quarters isn’t a possibility, ensuring you have plenty of investment in Discipline allows you to make use of the plethora of different grenades to disrupt your foes and challenge them head-on.
Grenades
The three types of grenades the Striker specialization has available are Flashbang, Pulse Grenade, and Lightning Grenade.
Flashbang Grenade
The Flashbang grenade needs little introduction in the world of first-person shooters. Flashbangs will disrupt, blind, and confuse enemies that are affected by them, leaving them vulnerable to a full-on charge by you.
In addition, Flashbangs in Destiny also have a small blast radius that will damage enemies. The use of flashbangs is extremely effective in both PvP and PvE, and can be a lethal method of infiltration.
However, Majors and Ultras tend to shake off the blinding effect more quickly, and there is also a slight risk of blinding yourself when using these grenades. These grenades do 140 damage within a 7-meter radius.
Pulse Grenade
Pulse Grenades deal damage in a wide spherical region in short, multiple pulses.
Between the pulses, a player within the radius of the grenade is unaffected. These grenades are particularly useful for blocking off narrow passages, though their usage in open environments is not too productive.
Each grenade generates 4 pulses that deal mild damage that does not have any fall-off (the reduction of damage as you go further away from the blast epicenter).
Using these grenades in tight corridors and small maps is the best way to go. Each pulse deals 50 damage within a 5-meter radius.
Lightning Grenade
A form of a sticky grenade, the Lightning Grenade sticks to surfaces thrown at and emits charges of powerful arc bolts that deal high amounts of damage to nearby targets.
The lightning grenade deals the most damage out of the three but is also the hardest to throw accurately because of its sticky nature. Like the Pulse grenade, the Lightning grenade has no damage to fall off in its massive 12-meter radius and will pulse 4 times.
Moreover, the Lightning grenade tends to be a better choice for tighter maps and closed spaces and is not recommended for open areas because of its sticky aspect. Each pulse deals 100 damage in a 12-meter radius.
Abilities
The three core abilities for the Striker Titan are Lift, Fist of Havoc, and Storm Fist, with the other abilities complementing these three core skills.
Lift
The lifting ability is activated by jumping and then pressing the jump again. Basically, it is a double jump with a bit of ‘suspended time’ added at the end of the jump.
You could say that it is similar to the Warlock’s Glide ability, but Lift differentiates itself by being an impulsive boost rather than a smooth glide, allowing you to reach the higher ground easily.
It is definitely one of the more fundamental abilities that players will use.
Increased Height
Increased Height is basically a modification to Lift, upgrading it to reach even more height than you normally would with the ability.
Increased Control
Increased Control will give you better horizontal control after performing Lift.
Catapult
Catapult changes Lift into a more conventional double-jump and allows you to actually use it as a strafe. This can be very useful in both PvP and PvE if you tend to jump quite a bit to avoid enemy fire.
Fist of Havoc
Fist of Havoc is a massive ground smash ability that unleashes a large amount of Arc energy around you.
You can control your initial leap with your stick – if you are pushing forward, your character will leap forward and perform the powerful move, and if you are standing still he/she will simply execute it at that point.
First of Havoc has a large 4-minute cooldown, but it has a quick animation and can be executed fast, which makes it an extremely deadly ability. You’ll almost instantly kill enemies with this ability.
However, while performing the leap or charge in the animation, you are extremely vulnerable and need to keep in consideration the positioning of the enemies. It is actually highly possible for you to die midway if you direct FoH in the line of fire.
It’s best to practice this powerful ability to get used to the leap when you are moving about (which you will be doing most of the time). Once you do, you’ll be able to land FoH with accuracy and create devastation.
Aftermath
Aftermath is a modification to the Fist of Havoc and leaves a field for a short duration that deals damage to anyone inside it. The field has 4 pulses, each of 140 damage.
Death from Above
Death From Above will allow you to execute FoH from above enemies while in midair, landing on them and dealing lots of damage. If you are holding back on the stick or neutral on it, you will automatically jump down with DfA active and will execute FoH.
Shockwave
Shockwave is a modification to FoH that unleashes a devastating wave of energy along the ground. This shockwave is fatal to any kind of target in PvP, and deals huge damage to targets in PvE.
Shockwave is probably the best modifier ability for FoH as it can allow you to instantly kill foes from a good distance in both PvP and PvE.
Storm First
Storm Fist is quite similar to your conventional melee attack, except that it is Arc-charged and hits much harder than a conventional swing. The normal damage of Storm Fist is 110.
Overload
This ability is tied with Storm Fist and gives you a chance of executing a series of Storm Fist attacks in quick succession.
With this ability, there is a chance that with a successful Storm Fist attack its count-down will be reset. It’s not entirely reliable, but it can be extremely useful and very surprising for foes if it triggers.
Discharge
With Discharge available, Storm Fist will have a chance to deal an extra bit of AoE damage with every melee swing. This is quite useful when you are fighting clusters of closely knitted enemies in PvE, though much like Overload it is not entirely reliable.
Amplify
Amplify is one ability you will probably use a lot with Storm Fist because of its ties with Fist of Havoc. Whenever you kill any enemy with Storm Fist, the cooldown on FoH will be reduced thanks to the Amplify ability.
Note that this is only when enemies are killed, so you should be targeting foes that have already been weakened.
Ability Modifiers
Ability Mods come in two tiers and add different modifications to your core abilities.
Tier 1
Headstrong
This modifier will allow you to perform a larger forward leap when you execute Fist of Havoc, allowing you to take out enemies from a larger distance.
Aftershocks
Aftershocks will increase the durations or pulses of the Pulse Grenade, Lightning Grenade, and the Aftermath ability. This modifier will add one extra pulse to all of them.
Transfusion
Transfusion will return to health whenever you kill an enemy with Storm Fist. This can be combined quite well with the Amplify ability.
Tier 2
Unstoppable
With this modifier, you will have extra Armor while performing FoH and will extend the duration of the damage reduction while performing the ability.
Shoulder Charge
After sprinting for at least 2 seconds, you can activate your melee to unleash a powerful shoulder attack. This attack can be lethal in PvP, and deals a lot of damage to foes in PvE.
Juggernaut
After sprinting for 2 seconds, you will acquire a 95 health shield from this modifier ability. Note that this is not a full-body shield, but only a shield that appears in front of you; you are still exposed from the flanks while Juggernaut is active.
PASSIVES
Tier 1
Titan Codex I
+2 Armor, +2 Recovery
Titan Codex II
+2 Armor, +2 Agility
Titan Codex III
+2 Agility, +2 Recovery
Tier 2
Titan Codex IV
+2 Armor, +1 Agility, +2 Recovery
Titan Codex V
+5 Recovery
Titan Codex VI
+1 Armor, +4 Agility
Defender
The Defender specialization for the Titan class wields Void energy to create powerful shields and boost defensives.
While the Striker is a full frontal assaulter, the Defender is a tanking specialization that utilizes heavy defenses, allowing high endurance and the ability to take on multiple foes.
The Defender has some of the most important defensive abilities in the game and is critical for organized team play in both PvP and PvE. Without expert Defenders, your team will be too squishy and have no one who will withstand damage and yet still manage to provide excellent defenses to you.
The best stat to specialize in is Intellect, which will allow you to spam your powerful defensive Ward of Dawn ability, aiding your allies and denying foes they’re ranged offensive abilities.
You also want to focus on Strength to give a further boost to your defenses and utilization of Force Barrier.
Grenades
Magnetic Grenade
The Magnetic Grenade attaches to enemies and explodes twice. While other foes around the main target may get damaged, the grenade is best when sticking to the priority target or toughest target, dealing two large blasts that can be fatal.
This is the second of the three sticky grenades in Destiny, the first one being the Lightning Grenade.
The Magnetic Grenade deals 100 damage on its first explosion, and 80 on the second within a 5-meter radius. The target that the grenade sticks on takes 65 additional damage, making the overall damage dealt to it go up to 245.
Spike Grenade
Spike Grenades are quite identical to the Lightning Grenades used by the Striker specialization. The only differences are that the damage is Void-based and not Arc based, and the pulses are much more rapid and continuous.
The damage dealt can go up to 400, and the radius is 12 meters.
Suppressor Grenade
The Suppressor Grenade is an excellent defensive grenade that prevents enemies affected by it from using any ability. This grenade adds to the defensive and tanking attributes of the Defender specialization and is mighty useful in organized team-based PvP.
Although the suppressor effect is the main reason to use this grenade, it also tends to have good base damage to it. This grenade is excellent for infiltration and initiating fights, though one must be careful while using it as you can even suppress yourself if you are inside its blast radius.
The grenade deals 140 base damage and has a radius of 7 meters.
Abilities
The Defender’s three core abilities are Lift, Ward of Dawn, and Disintegrate, with the other abilities modifying or adding to the core ones.
Lift
The Defender’s Lift is almost exactly the same as the Striker’s.
Increased Height
Increased Height is basically a modification to Lift, upgrading it to reach even more height than you normally would with the ability.
Increased Control
Increased Control will give you better horizontal control after performing Lift.
Catapult
Catapult changes Lift into a more conventional double-jump and allows you to actually use it as a strafe.
Ward of Dawn
The Defender’s premier ability comes in the form of Ward of Dawn, which may be the strongest defensive ability in the game. This powerful ability shields you and your team in a large semi-spherical shield of Void that protects you from all incoming fire for 30 seconds.
When blocking damage, the shield will generate Orbs of Light. The more damage absorbed by the shield, the more orbs are created.
The ward only prevents the movement of bullets (both enemy bullets and yours), but you are free to pass in and out of it as you, please. This allows for excellent hit-and-run tactics for 30 seconds, allowing you to roll out, shoot, then roll back into cover and recuperate.
Because of its versatility, the Ward of Dawn is an excellent ability for all kinds of organized team-based play, be it PvP or PvE.
However, the shield isn’t indestructible in PvP, as enemy super-moves can disrupt it quite easily. You can also be attacked from melee hits as the ward does not prevent the movement of any player, be it enemy or friendly.
Armor of Light
The Armor of Light ability further adds to the Ward of Dawn, making it an even more powerful defensive skill as it gives all friendlies inside the ward a regenerative shield.
It allows you to duck in and out freely without much worry, and those foolish enough to enter inside the Ward to melee attack you will almost certainly lose out because of the added shield from this ability.
Blessing of Light
Blessing of Light will grant you and your allies a temporary shield, but only after you pass out of the Ward of Dawn.
The great thing about this shield is that even after it is destroyed or finished (lasts 10 seconds), you can simply step back into the ward and it will come back. This is once again very useful for the guerilla tactics that come with the powerful Ward of Dawn ability.
Weapons of Light
Weapons of Light is similar to the BoL, except that instead of granting a shield after passing through the ward, you are granted additional weapon damage.
You will get a 25% damage boost for 10 seconds, and though not everyone inside the shield will use it, those offensive-minded Strikers or even the heavy Defenders themselves can utilize this boost, coming out of the shield and quickly doing away with the hostile enemies in front of you.
Disintegrate
Disintegrate is a powerful melee strike that grants the Defender a 75-health Force Barrier lasting for 15 seconds. This is an excellent tanking ability that comes in handy primarily in PvE, though it can have its uses in organized team-based PvP.
The barrier is granted instantly and can be used to unleash a terrifying offensive from your end as it gives you a massive advantage over enemies who are exposed and without a shield.
As long as you don’t fall victim to any of their super-moves, it is unlikely that they’ll be able to fend off an ultra-durable defender with a Force Barrier up.
War Machine
This powerful ability further adds to Disintegrate; whenever your Force Barrier is active, your weapons will be ready and reload much faster, making you an even bigger offensive threat as a walking, fast tank.
It will also push your sprint reload time to an incredible limit as well, which can also come in handy if you want to get away from an enemy.
Unbreakable
The Unbreakable ability will complement your Force Barrier by making it charge very fast, especially when you aren’t taking it far. It will take under a second to completely replenish your barrier, allowing you to chain kills quickly and making you highly resilient.
Gift of Light
In order to make the Force Barrier even more powerful and to further cement the central importance of the Defender in team-based games, the Gift of Light will give you the ability to generate Orbs of Light whenever you perform melee kills while the Force Barrier is active.
With Gift of Light, you can go around punching people with your near-impenetrable shields and generate plenty of orbs.
Ability Modifiers
Tier 1
Bastion
This modifier will increase the duration of Ward of Dawn by 15 seconds, making the ward last for a total of 45 seconds. The modifier also extends Blessings, Armor, and Weapons of Light to this time.
Relentless
Relentless will further boost your Force Barrier to a value of 95 health.
Gift of the Void
With this modifier, you will generate additional Orbs of Light as the Ward of Dawn takes enemy fire.
Tier 2
Untouchable
This modifier will reduce the cool-down time of the Ward of Dawn ability by a full 30 seconds, allowing you to use the ability much more frequently. If this is combined with Bastion, you’ll have an insane amount of uptime for the Ward of Dawn.
Iron Harvest
This ability allows you to deal with Orbs of Light for your allies whenever you kill while using Heavy Weapons.
Illuminated
Illuminated will greatly increase the bonus effects of Blessing of Light and Weapons of Light. Blessing of Light will be buffed to 95 health shield, while Weapon of Light will be buffed to 35% additional damage.
PASSIVES
Tier 1
Titan Codex I
+2 Armor, +2 Recovery
Titan Codex II
+2 Armor, +2 Agility
Titan Codex III
+2 Agility, +2 Recovery
Tier 2
Titan Codex IV
+2 Armor, +1 Agility, +2 Recovery
Titan Codex V
+5 Recovery
Titan Codex VI
+1 Armor, +4 Agility
