Destiny 2: Hunter Nightstalker guide – Abilities, skill tree, super, passives
Here's everything you need to know about the Hunter Nightstalker in Destiny 2.
Our Hunter Nightstalker guide contains all of the subclass’s abilities, passive abilities, grenades, dodges and other upgrades.
Hunters in Destiny 2 can be likened to acrobatic ninjas, able to outmaneuver and outgun their opponents with deft dodges and devastating headshots. Although all of these subclasses remain similar to that of the first game, many of them have had quite a few tweaks which give them extra tools to excel on the battlefield.
We’ve been playing the Nightstalker a great deal and it’s come to be one of our favourite subclasses in the game. It’s a subclass fine tuned for both PVE and PVP, with skills that can mess with enemies and make them easy pickings. To help you make the most of its strengths, we’ve put together a guide that’ll aid you on the battlefield.
Editor’s UPDATE #2: At the top of this page we’ve highlighted our favourite Nightstalker build
When you’ve finished brushing up on the Hunter Nightstalker, why not get a head start on the other subclasses by reading our Destiny 2 Subclass guide? It’s got all the latest information on every character class that we currently know about!
Our favourite build
When we login to play our Hunter, there’s only one build we turn to for PVE activities, and that’s our Way of the Trapper + Orpheus Rig combo.
It works so well because Orpheus Rig recharges your Super bar with every enemy that’s caught in your Shadowshot’s tether, while Way of the Trapper’s Shadowshot has extended tether range. Hit a whole mob of enemies with your Super and you’ve got a high chance that it’ll be usable again immediately after the fight.
There’s nothing better than hitting a whole group of enemies with your Shadowshot and watching your Super bar shoot right back up again. This also means you’ll be generating tonnes of Orbs of Light for your team whenever a large group of enemies appears – who said Hunters weren’t useful?
Essential Tips and Tricks
Below we’ve listed some key bits of info which’ll help you out tremendously when playing Nightstalker.
- If you’re heading into PVP, consider going with the Way of the Trapper skill tree. The Snare Bomb ability is a disruptive dream which slows and disorients enemies who are caught in its blast. What’s more, it’s not even tied to your grenade slot, so you’ve effectively got one for support and one for damage.
- Throw the Snare Bomb down at your feet in PVE and it’ll make you go invisible for short period. This is fantastic for any activity that requires you to “hack” or “activate” something as you can simply slip past any enemies and interact with the object under their noses without taking any damage.
- Don’t hesitate to choose the Nightstalker subclass when going into a Raid or Strike activity. Your tethers are an excellent damage booster and can generate tons of Orbs for your team.
- As your Super will tether an enemy, hold them in place and increase the damage they receive, use it as a support ability in PVP. Wait for an enemy who relies on melee to pop their Super and activate yours to hold them in place!
- If you’re in a Public Event, Strike or Raid make sure you use your Super on a crowd of enemies. This will maximise the number of Orbs you generate, in turn, helping your allies recharge their Supers incredibly fast.
Our most popular Destiny 2 guides:
- 1. Guide – Destiny 2 Guide
- 2. Crucible – Destiny 2 Crucible PVP guide
- 3. Beta – Destiny 2 Beta guide
- 4. Subclasses – Destiny 2 Subclass guide
- 5. Strikes – Destiny 2 Strike guides
Super Ability: Shadowshot
- Tether a large group of foes to a Void Anchor, slowing and silencing them for your fireteam.
Way of the Trapper
These are passive class abilities.
- Snare Bomb: Throw a smoke bomb trap from a distance with this Melee Ability. The smoke bomb sticks to surfaces and detonates when enemies are near, slowing and disorienting them.
- Keen Scout: Sprint and sneak faster, and gain an enhanced tracker. Tethered enemies are marked for easy tracking.
- Deadfall: The Void Anchors fired from Shadowshot become traps and wait for prey. Void Anchors have increased range and last longer.
- Vanishing Step: Dodging makes you vanish from sight for a short time.
Way of the Pathfinder
- Vanish in Smoke: Throw a smoke bomb explosive from a distance with this Melee Ability. The smoke bomb creates a cloud that makes you and nearby allies invisible.
- Lockdown: Grenade and smoke effects last twice as long, allowing for strong territorial control and increased damage potential.
- Heart of the Pack: Killing tethered enemies creates Orbs of Light and increases Mobility, Recovery, and Resilience for you and nearby allies.
- Moebius Quiver: Fire Shadowshot multiple times in rapid succession. Shadowshot deals massive damage against tethered enemies.
Grenades
- Swarm Grenade: A grenade that detonates on impact, releasing multiple drones that seek nearby enemies.
- Incendiary Grenade: A grenade whose explosion catches enemies on fire.
- Tripmine Grenade: An explosive grenade that sticks to surfaces and detonates when enemies pass through its laser trigger.
Dodges
Two types of dodge tied to the Hunter class.
- Gambler’s Dodge: Dodging (double tapping circle) near enemies generates Melee energy.
- Marksman’s Dodge: Automatically reload your equipped weapon when Dodging.
Jumps
- High Jump: While airborne, jump a second time to reach greater heights.
- Strafe Jump: While airborne, jump a second time with strong directional control.
- Triple Jump: While airborne, sustain your air control with a second or third jump.
That’s all we have on the Hunter Nightstalker so far, but we’ll make sure to refine this guide when more information comes our way – keep this page bookmarked for more!
