Stormcaller OverviewThe Stormcaller has barged into Destiny and is shaping up to make quite a splash.

This article will outline everything we know so far, going talent-by-talent to explain just how we think the Stormcaller is going to fare.

Stormcaller

Grenades

Lightning Grenade: The Striker Titan’s coveted and immensely powerful Grenade now is in the hands of the Warlock. We find this grenade to be one of the best in Destiny, and the Warlock is certainly poised to abuse it to its fullest potential.

Pulse Grenade: I guess the Striker is settling his debts or something. The Pulse Grenade will make another excellent addition to the Stormcaller class.

Deluge Grenade: Just like the other two subclasses, the Stormcaller gets one new grenade in the form of the Deluge Grenade. This calls down a localized storm of Arc damage in a relatively small area. It appears to be channeled in a few lightning bolts, so it’s possible the damage will be spread out, and not instantaneous. It also looks like it’ll be suited to PvE over PvP, ideal for wiping clusters of enemies at a time. In PvP, you’d have to catch one enemy in the full storm, likely motionless, in order to get the kill.

Super

Stormtrance: Pump the triggers and become a conduit of the elements; crackling energy will fry anyone who gets in your way. You’re then able to release short, deadly bursts of electricity from each hand into anyone nearby. Each stream can track and hit a separate target, so there’s plenty of love to go around.

In PvP it is not a one hit kill – you’ll have to be precise and smart with your bursts of energy. This is a little bit of a disappointment, but Stormtrance can be easily worked into multiple kills with the mobility the Stormcaller maintains while in his Super. In PvE, you’ll be grateful for the ability of the electricity to chain to nearby foes, so that the otherwise middling DPS quickly becomes too much to handle for your adversaries.

Landfall: Upon activating your super, you’ll summon a bolt of Lightning to strike where you stand, sending a powerful shockwave out around you that can give you some early breathing room. In PvP, this can function as a smaller version of the Titan’s Fist of Havoc, offering a nice panic option if you’re surrounded. In PvE, you can emerge unscathed from an overwhelming horde so you get to your Arc theatrics that much quicker. It’ll be interesting to see how much damage this Landfall bolt does, as it will mark the difference between an average perk or an amazing one.

Superconductor: Though not unlocked in the video, it apparently “doubles your lightning’s chaining capabilities.” Does it double the distance at which the lightning can strike? Does it double the amount of enemies that can be enveloped in the chain? Either way, if you’re looking to lock down multiple targets and/or deal more damage, it looks like Superconductor is the perk to beat. It’s certainly geared toward PvE, where preventing enemy fire while doing damage of your own is the primary goal.

Electric Glide: It’s all about the unpredictability. By depressing the left trigger, you can teleport a short distance. This perk screams “USE ME IN THE CRUCIBLE” where a short-distance blink is already one of the best strategies for throwing off your enemies. A Warlock is exposed when using Stormtrance, but with this ability, he or she can be made intangible for a crucial split-second in order to close the distance.

Melee

Thunderstrike: Much like Sunstrike, this is simply a short-range, elemental melee attack. Thankfully, the Warlock’s base melee range automatically makes this useful to an extent. You’ll do more damage than your basic melee, and do a little more on top of that to Arc-shielded enemies.

Chain Lightning: With this talent, your Thunderstrike will chain its damage to another nearby foe. Twice the power, twice the fun. While the extra damage is nice, the real appeal here is possibly staggering a second enemy for some Crowd Control potential. It won’t beat a Flame Shield, but with a Brawler modifier, it actually starts to become pretty appealing. You’ll see the best use of this in PvE, but on the rare occasion that you find yourself flanking two unaware PvP enemies, you might be able to land some serious hurt with that long-range slap.

Tempestuous: What was once just another entry in your word-of-the-day calendar is now the Stormcaller’s best friend for PvP. Extra range for the Warlock melee! The Titans and their T-Rex arms are grumbling discontentedly in the corner while the kings of Space Magic can smack you to death from further and further out. Without any extra bonuses on Thunderstrike, extra range won’t do you much good in PvE, but in PvP you’ll be able to pull off the shotty-beatdown combo from ranges you’ve previously only dreamed about.

Rising Storm: Thunderstrike hits charge your Super, Ability, and Melee energy. Basically, your melee can help you get the other good stuff back that much quicker. It’s best for PvE where you’ll always have a target close-at-hand to take advantage of it, but also would be a viable PvP selection if your playstyle leads you to melee often.

Passive

Rain Check: If you enjoy the Purifier Robes, you may find Rain Check to be an interesting option for your Stormcaller. It provides the same disorienting debuff to enemies surrounding you, but unfortunately can only be proc’d by a teammate, as the Stormcaller possesses no innate self-resurrection ability. For this reason, we are not particularly excited for Rain Check.

Uninsulated: Basically the ACD/O Feedback Fence’s signature perk is mimicked here, causing shock damage to all enemies who choose to melee a Stormcaller. If it’s a strong, flat amount of damage with a built-in stagger, it could be of some use. But if it’s proportional to the strength of the melee, you’re not likely to see a lot of utility here. At the very least, Uninsulated is poised to provide a little extra Armor – not bad at all.

Inclement Weather: Grenade kills will charge your melee, while melee kills will charge your grenade. Great for PvE/PvP, this is essentially a better version of the Serpent’s Tail and Serpent’s Mouth duo. It would free you up to seek Energy Projection, Inverse Shadow, and Quintessence Transfer to round out your build, and would synergize well with Rising Storm.

Class

Gathering Storm: Stormtrance charges faster when allies are in close proximity. When Stormtrance is active, nearby enemies take damage. You also gain some Agility.

The usefulness of this perk all comes down to the potency of its buff to Stormtrance’s cooldown, and the definition of “close proximity.” In PvE, your fireteam is often bunched up and is encouraged to do so in content like the Prison of Elders. PvP PUGs may not be as ideal, but the Trials of Osiris is a different story entirely.

If the buff to the CD is noticeable, expect your Stormcaller friends and enemies to have their Super up in record time, which will be an obvious advantage in a game mode where early leads can snowball quickly. Even if you aren’t able to take advantage of its CD, you’ll also do perpetual damage to any enemy nearby. Again, depending on the degree to which this damage is scaled, this could be mediocre or quite powerful.

Greased Lightning: Enemies damaged by your grenades chain deadly lightning to other nearby enemies.

No, not the car from Grease, but every bit as cool. Lightning Grenades will be able to benefit from this perk extensively, with each pulse of energy not only doing initial damage to anyone in its path, but sending ancillary waves of Arc damage to finish off stragglers or guarantee a stagger.

Like Gathering Storm, this jumps out as a winning choice for both PvE and PvP. In the former, you’ll have an increase to your DPS when using your grenades, and in the latter, you may be able to get Grenade kills on higher HP victims, especially when they unwisely group up. While you won’t be able to get the same duration on Lightning Grenades as Strikers, the chain damage might quickly make up for it.

Wellspring: When cast with full grenade and Thunderstrike energy, Stormtrance restores your health to full and drains slower.

Choosing this means you’ll have to be actively conscious of your CDs on both your Grenade and your Melee. This talent offers no benefits if you don’t try to actively time your Stormtrance uses appropriately, and as such will be difficult to master. You don’t want to withhold your Arc abilities like Deluge Grenades and Thunderstrike, but you also don’t want to put your Super use on hold waiting for them to recharge.

If you do manage to find a rhythm, you’ll get a full bar of health and a longer duration of Stormtrance for your trouble. This benefit will be well worth the frustration in all content, healing you up and giving you the maximum amount of time with which to scour the battlefield for victims. If you don’t feel you’re up to having to worry about balancing these cooldowns, you can take comfort in knowing that both Greased Lightning and Gathering Storm are worthy alternatives.