The latest patch for Destiny 2, The Final Shape, includes a change implemented by Bungie which has extended the cooldown for Facet of Command. This alteration has had a significant impact on the Fragment’s effectiveness in the sandbox.
Initially, the Facet of Command had no cooldown, allowing for the activation of the Prismatic Fragment’s effects at any time. However, following the June 18 update, there is now an 11-second cooldown period between uses, preventing Guardians from triggering its effects during this time.
The benefits of Facet of Command include reloading your equipped weapons and improving weapon stability, aim assist, and airborne effectiveness by freezing or suppressing a target. Additionally, defeating frozen or suppressed targets results in the creation of a Stasis Shard or Void Breach.
Despite not being a dominant force in the PvE Meta, players of Destiny 2 have still utilized Facet of Command in order to take advantage of the unique combinations it offers. One notable example is its ability to significantly enhance the effectiveness of Twin Tail Fox, a typically overlooked Exotic weapon that gains automatic reloads whenever its Void projectile suppresses an enemy.
Despite its power in certain builds, Facet of Command was ultimately nerfed due to its interaction with specific Stasis abilities. This included both Silence & Squall and Bleak Watcher triggering the Fragment, resulting in the ability to completely avoid reloading. This proved to be particularly advantageous when using popular weapons such as Rocket Launchers or Heavy Grenade Launchers against bosses.
After being nerfed, it is difficult to justify using Facet of Command. In Destiny, 11 seconds is a significantly long cooldown, especially when compared to Fragments such as Thread of Ascent and Whisper of Impetus which have much shorter cooldowns.
The community echoed this sentiment, with highly upvoted replies in a Reddit thread (https://new.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1dj026e/facet_of_commands_cooldown_is_11_seconds/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) discussing the nerf and describing the alteration as “utterly disappointing”and “unwarranted.”
The majority of Guardians agree that Facet of Command was excessively nerfed and that a shorter cooldown of 4-6 seconds would have been more appropriate. This reduced cooldown would have still mitigated problematic interactions, while also preserving the Fragment’s ability to enhance some of Destiny 2’s less favored weapons.
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