As a veteran Destiny 2 player with hundreds of hours wielding the arcane Strand subclass since its unveiling in Season of Defiance, I‘ve uncovered tips and tricks for fully utilizing the exotic new Forth Strand aspect.
Adding to your growing collection of Strand fragments, Forth Strand grants the entanglement melee ability, enabling unseen crowd control potential. It also enhances mobility for deadly slippery combat.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through:
- Obtaining the Forth Strand aspect quest
- Details on completing the Vex-infested Data Crawler mission
- Maximizing Forth Strand‘s unique melee and movement abilities
- Advanced ways to incorporate Forth Strand in your Guardian build
- Extra guidance to master Strand in Destiny 2
So unlace your strand-woven boots, Guardian. We have darkness-defying abilities to uncover.
Step 1: Navigating Neomuna‘s Networks
The glittering spires of Neomuna hide many secrets among the bustling city – including the knot keeping Forth Strand just out of reach. Here‘s how to untangle it:
Fast travel to Strider‘s Gate and make your way northeast. Seek out a Stitcher vendor named Nimbus, Cloud Strider operating near the central plaza warp gates (image below).
With the launch of Season of Defiance, Cloud Strider now offers the quest to find Forth Strand, but only once you‘ve honed your strand-weaving skills with the subclass‘s first three aspects.
Speaking to Cloud Strider
"Greetings, Guardian. I sense you are ready to unravel greater strand power and further cloudwalk across the slack."
Interact with Cloud Strider and he will present you an exotic quest named "Unveiled". The description reads:
"Strand calls out from beyond. Follow its resonance to weave yourself anew."
Upon accepting, you‘ll gain access to the Data Crawler mission – your ticket to the Forth Strand aspect.
Step 2: Data Mining the Vex Network
Launch directly into the Data Crawler mission from the Unveiled quest tab. Your goal is to infiltrate a Vex celestial network – but its mind has other plans.
Fighting through hostiles, you‘ll traverse across python-patrolled platforms and descend into a sinister underground maze. Navigate carefully! There is only one path leading to your prize.
Surviving the Vex Onslaught
You‘ll face a wide assortment of Vex adversaries, from Goblins to Minotaurs and swirling Hydra minds. I highly recommend bringing a Void energy weapon to pierce those tough rotating shields!
To clear rooms efficiently, use your equipped Strand abilities to sow chaos. The Spectral Binding aspect creates an anchor that tethers souls between targets. Landing ranged attacks on one causes splash damage to leap between them all!
Weaken groups from a distance before sweeping in. The Warp Strike melee from Edge of Action shreds clustered Vex nicely.
In the final arena, a relentless Descendant Hydra awaits. Keep your distance, avoid its scorching thermite attacks, and unload your heaviest firepower. Once felled, it drops a Strand-marked engram containing your prize!
Step 3: Claiming the Powerful Forth Strand Aspect
With the Vex Descendant defeated, approach the engram to finally unlock the Forth Strand aspect. Equip it immediately from your subclass screen.
You‘ll note its perks grant two major add-ons to your Strand abilities:
- Entanglement: Ensnare targets with strand anchors to tether their souls. A portion of damage inflicted is shared between victims.
- Twist of Fate: Press crouch while midair to teleport a short distance.
Now let‘s break down how to utilize these powerful talents in battle…
Mastering Forth Strand‘s Unique Abilities
The key draw of Forth Strand is its new melee attack – Entanglement:
Gathering strand fibers in your palm, send out an anchor that ensnares enemies in place. Their souls become tethered together through the anchor, causing them to redistribute incoming damage between one another.
In other words, it links their health bars! Anything you inflict on one target will splash out and weaken the group simultaneously.
This enables immense crowd control potential:
Entanglement completely shifts the tide against mobs of foes. Take on three, six, even ten+ enemies at once! Just focus fire on whoever you initially snare and watch health bars disintegrate across the pack.
It renders them helpless against even basic weapon attacks. I‘ve shredded elite ultras and boss encounters by chaining Entanglement anchors between adds and unloading on them. Give it a shot – it‘s immensely satisfying!
Optimal Entanglement Use
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Aim for Clusters – Ensure enemies are tightly grouped before using Entanglement for maximum carnage. Too separated and you limit splash damage spreading.
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Layer Debuffs – Combine Entanglement with other abilities that weaken, volatile, or suppress targets for exponential damage multiplication.
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Spam Heavy Attacks – Bring your most devastating AoE weapons. Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and machine guns will absolutely devastate packs once tethered.
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Re-Anchor Freely – There‘s no cooldown on Entanglement, so reapply anchors whenever they expire! Keep swarms locked down indefinitely.
Agile New Movement with Twist of Fate
While Entanglement steals the spotlight, Forth Strand also grants a slick new evasive ability – Twist of Fate:
By double-tapping crouch mid-air, instantly teleport a short distance forward. It adds crafty new movement options to avoid enemy fire or juke pursuers during intense engagements.
The amount of distance warped increases based on your midair momentum, so combine it with running leaps or when cloudrunning along the slack. Playing as a Hunter or Titan? Use additional movement abilities like dodge or Lift just before triggering Twist of Fate to surge even farther.
It takes practice to nail the timing, but once mastered you‘ll feel uncatchable. Between Twist and Entanglement, Forth Strand makes Strand subclasses incredibly hard to pin down!
Advanced Builds with Forth Strand
While excelling at add clearing and mobility, Forth Strand also enables some powerful ability synergies across all three Guardian classes. Here are some of my favorites:
Warlock – Chaos Reaper
- Aspects: Edge of Action, Forth Strand
- Melee/Grenade: Warp Strike, Entropic Siphon
- Exotic: Mantle of Battle Harmony
Warp Strike groups while charging Entanglement. Detonate grenades to empower weapons under Mantle, then eviscerate tethered enemies. Replenish grenade energy on kills to loop the combo.
Hunter – Pack Master
- Aspects: Edge of Initiative, Forth Strand
- Melee/Grenade: Snare Bomb, Ensnaring Bolt
- Exotic: Assassin‘s Cowl
Round up adds with Snare Bomb, dropping Entanglements between them. Headshot chained targets while invisible (thanks to Cowl) for easy flawless clears.
Titan – Soul Anchor
- Aspects: Edge of Action, Forth Strand
- Melee/Grenade: Warp Strike, Pulse Wave
- Exotic: Heart of Inmost Light
Buff ability regeneration with Heart. Alternate chaining Pulse Wave detonators and Entanglement anchors to vaporize rooms. Extend chaos with Warp Strike.
The combinations above all maximize target chaining with Forth Strand for complete demolition potential. But feel free to experiment with your own fun builds!
In Summary: A Key Step in Mastering Strand
Unlocking the Forth Strand aspect marks a key moment in understanding the true power behind wielding Strand. Its exotic abilities open new doors for harnessing souls to unleash mayhem between multiple targets simultaneously.
Internalize Entanglement‘s intricate crowd control and keep your opponents guessing with Twist of Fate‘s cunning mobilty. Together they make Strand subclasses nearly unstoppable engines of sheer damage potential.
As you continue to snare strand fragments, may Forth Strand serve you well, Guardian! Our crusade to defend humanity relies on fully mastering abilities the Void dares not dream. Let them tremble in the face of such power.
Furthering Your Journey into Strand
Have you woven soulfire from your palms? Does strandshift slide you between deaths? If not, pursue your next fragments and I‘ll gladly impart more lessons. Here are guides to continue unfurling Strand‘s mysteries:
- How to Get the Harmonic Commencement Strand Triumph Emblem
- Catching Cloudstrider Fish in the Cistern on Nessus
- Unlocking and Mastering Fishing in Destiny 2
Until next time, thank you for joining me on this journey further into Strand. May your slack stay tight and clear of soulsnaggers!
