Damage types and subclasses (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Monday, July 28, 2014, 14:13 (3563 days ago)

As you may have noticed, each Guardian focus seems to be centered around a certain damage type. The Warlock's Voidwalker focus, for instance, is (duh) based around void damage. The six focuses we could see in the beta went as follows:

Warlock:

Voidwalker - Void
Sunsinger - Solar

Titan:

Striker - Arc
Defender - Void

Hunter:

Gunslinger - Solar
Bladedancer - Arc

As you can see, each guardian currently has a focus for two damage types, but not the third. This, combined with the fact that there appeared to be a third inventory slot, makes me think there's probably a third focus for each guardian which will fill in their (so far) missing damage type. I'm not convinced they'll necessarily be present at launch. The two existing focuses per class seem to have so much potential for tweaking and customizing on their own, and I could see a third focus maybe being part of a later expansion.

Alternatively, perhaps Bungie intends to keep it this way? The apparent third slot could just be something they were considering/experimenting with, which got cut but still had a remnant left over in the beta build. The fact that each guardian class is (currently) missing one of the three damage types means that no one character could ever have a focus on hand to deal with ALL possible damage output needs, thus possibly encouraging teamwork and planning to ensure that your fireteam has all the bases covered. That's going on the assumption (theorized by some around here) that resistances/susceptibility to different damage types will be significant in higher-difficulty activities like raids.

Thoughts? Which scenario do you think is more likely - is there going to be a third focus per class, or is it staying as-is? Is there a possibility I overlooked?