I think you just made Raga's point, though... (Destiny)

by Beorn , <End of Failed Timeline>, Monday, August 15, 2016, 15:39 (3115 days ago) @ red robber

I don't think so. They are very strong, and its nice to have some strong choices. So many nades in Destiny are complete crap. I wish they would level the playing field to give you real choices for nades.

It's a completely made-up measure, but let's consider the "lethality index" of all grenades across all subclasses in Destiny. On that list, you'd have horribly under-powered grenades (Hunter's Swarm Grenade, anyone?), and on the other end of the spectrum, you'd have the Titan's Lightning Grenade. Most other grenades are somewhere in the middle, and all grenades, given the right circumstances, can kill an opponent. The problem is that the Lightning Grenade, which is available to only one class, is absolutely overpowered compared to the rest of the field.

As you said, it's nice to have choices, but the problem is that Titans really don't have a choice if they want to be competitive. In Trials, any Striker Titan who doesn't pick Lightning Grenade is taking a deliberate handicap. And worst of all, Hunters and Warlocks don't have anything even close these days.

Note that when the game shipped, this power imbalance didn't exist. The Bladedancer's Arcbolt Grenade was very powerful, Gunslinger Tripmines were solid (and could even stick enemies!), and the Sunsinger's Firebolt Grenade was also very deadly*. All three of those have been nerfed into oblivion, however, leaving the Lightning Grenade alone at the top. The Nightstalker's Void Wall is a close contender, but even that got substantially muted a few months back.

And I agree with others that the AoE "cone" of the Lighting Grenade seems to be bugged and/or over-generous at times. I wish I had thought to record it, but I've definitely taken damage from a Lighting grenade that was stuck on the opposite side of a pillar, facing the opposite direction (i.e., the cone was facing away from me, but I must have been close enough to the source that it didn't matter). The AoE effect is not clearly defined, and the grenade does full damage (which is considerable) even at its most extreme range (which is also considerable), for its entire duration (considerable...).

The one and only counter to that grenade is that you can shoot its base to knock it out early, but the hitbox tends to be a little wonky, too, which doesn't help.

All that said, I don't think that Raga's video accurately captures the insanity of the Lightning grenade. I can certainly see how the grenade could penetrate that grating, and the other player may very well have been in direct line-of-sight anyway. That doesn't negate the argument, though, that the Lightning Grenade is stupidly overpowered.

*Important note about the Firebolt: You have to remember that a Warlock had to very specifically spec into both the Viking Funeral and Touch of Flame perks for their grenade to be considered "deadly." This meant completely giving up Radiant Will/Sunburst and Angel of Light/Gift of the Sun.