[quote]Before all the hunters come for me with pitchforks—yes, I’m a Warlock main.[/quote] We have torches too. [quote] Why are Hunters consistently the majority in Trials—often making up around 50% of the player base? [/quote] More people main Hunters than other classes. [quote]Why are there more Void Hunters alone than all Warlocks or Titans in Trials? And it's even more skewed in Comp. [/quote] The vast majority of people play Hunter which received a new void aspect that pairs well with a recent exotic rework. This combination is potent and something should be done about how it interacts with specific weapons. The exotic, aspect, and certain hip fire weapons are too spicy. This came on the heels of nerfs to Prismatic and Strand. Stasis is only used in Mayhem. [quote]We just came out of a Prismatic Hunter-heavy meta, and now we’ve landed straight into an invis-smoke-heavy Void Hunter meta. Why?[/quote] Because we collectively decided we didn't want to be in a Knockout Diamond Lance Meta. That we shouldn't be in a free Arc Titan meta like the one before that. In the Prismatic Hunter meta with the boring wombo combos, Solar and Void Warlocks had similar winrates to Prismatic Hunter in Trials. Even if they had significantly less usage. [quote]Why is high-end PvP (Trials and Comp) always dominated by Hunters?[/quote] Dominated in terms of numbers? More people chose Hunter. Perhaps you should ask Hunters why they chose Hunter or why they play on Void? [quote]What is it about the Hunter subclasses that makes them consistently rise to the top?[/quote] In usage? We have nice cloaks. There are Warlocks and Titans that perform just as well at the top. Most Titan and Warlocks can't seem to make and play into a functioning build unless it's explicitly laid out for them by a YouTuber cause they refuse to read. Even fewer still learn their class well enough to see its potential. While Hunter Jump allows for an easier barrier to entry, likely having been exposed to a double jump elsewhere... Warlocks and Titans are quite strong. Just niche play styles. [quote]How can a subclass with only -blam!-% pick rate end up representing over 30% of PvP usage?[/quote] The combination of RDM rework with Invis allows for too much invis uptime. This was not possible before. The new stat boosts on the exotic eliminate the weakness of some guns and enhance the strength of weapons that benefit from hipfire. [quote]Why does each new subclass we create still lead to another Hunter-dominated meta? (Looking at you, Prismatic.) [/quote] They actively made Titan class too strong on multiple fronts when their largest demographic is Hunter. This hardly moved the percentages towards Titan from Hunter, but it did reduce Warlock numbers and pissed off a bunch of Hunters. Then they rolled back or changed some of these buffs. You are conveniently leaving that out of your timeline. [quote]How long does each meta last, and what have we actually done to respond to it? [/quote] Some longer than others. [quote]When should we step in with major balance shifts, and when should we gradually bring outliers back in line?[/quote] When design choices force a specific play style with such an otherwise large list of options. [quote]If Hunters are exactly where we want them to be, were these outliers intentional—and if so, where are the equivalent options for Warlocks and Titans?[/quote] Hunters who are running Void with the new Aspect coupled with something like Redrix or Last Word are quite strong. I suspect if we received 3 different aspects and multiple exotics at once, we'd see greater build diversity. We didn't. We got a new void aspect that benefits for the EDM rework. The class itself is fine. This combination of things creates an outlier set of builds that should be looked into to see how their interactions may be adjusted. Solar and Void Warlock are very powerful. Stasis would be use more of everyone wasn't sitting back with pulses, scouts, and 120s. Stasis, Prismatic, and Arc Titan are all strong too. [quote]And most importantly, what can we do moving forward? Should we build in more flexibility or keep pushing toward stronger, clear-cut meta choices?[/quote] We should be careful about making requests that swing the pendulum too far. Describe things in actionable steps. Recognize that the way the game is structured, sbmm may prevent much of the community from seeing what any one particular class is actually capable of. [quote]None of this is meant to be rhetorical. The PvP Strike Team really needs to consider how subclass balance and exotic buffs shape the meta over time—because if players can see broken builds coming from a mile away, why can’t the devs? I just want a healthier, more diverse sandbox. That’s it.[/quote] I concur. I too would like a healthier more diverse sandbox. Once Redrix is nerfed and LW usage subsides we should have it. We should see greater build diversity with the addition of new aspects, melees, and exotics. Rather than knee jerk nerfs or buffs to try and shift the mob that will run to what ever the next new meta is.