It's no secret that Void Hunter is basically "Invisibility, The Class". Even stretching all the way back to Void 3.0 in Witch Queen, this was seen as the case. Maybe back then invisibility was more important, but now it's hardly that valued...or even hard to get!

I've made an attempt to give each aspect a valued purpose, granting the execution of their mechanic (the obtaining of invisibility) with an additional reward that can serve a purpose to loop back into the class.

Vanishing Step

• Dodging makes you invisible and briefly grants damage resistance. While invisible, gain increased class ability regeneration.

  • Dodge regeneration is +100% while invisible (References: Facet of Hope is 40-60%, Winter's Shroud is 300%).
  • Damage resistance is 50% for 5 seconds, identical to Winter's Shroud.

This aspect is a good engine starter for the rest of the aspects, but it falls flat on its own, being rather lacking of additional benefits. Seeing the buff to Winter's Shroud bring it back into the spotlight by granting damage resist after a dodge and regeneration of the dodge itself felt like a good guiding star.

Trapper's Ambush

• Your smoke bombs gain enhanced functionality and power. Smoke bombs make nearby allies invisible upon contact with a surface, and linger for unsuspecting victims. Once activated, deploy a large vision-obscuring smoke screen that shelters nearby allies in invisibility, while weakening and disorienting those who enter. Activate your charged melee bind to detonate a primed charge early, or activate Air Dodge to slam the ground and deploy a smoke screen immediately.

  • Thrown traps lasts up to 10 seconds before deploying a smoke screen. Smoke screen lasts 10 seconds.
  • Combatant AI cannot target through the smoke, they must acquire a new sightline or find a different route. Enemies cannot cannot target guardians behind or inside the smoke.
  • Invisibility constantly refreshes while in the smoke, allies will see clearly outside while enemies will be disoriented or obscured if inside. However, weapon fire from any party within will rapidly cause the cloud to dissipate. Abilities are exempt and do not dissipate the cloud.
  • Guardians cannot see into the smoke from the outside, but smoke will shimmer and sparkle with active effects if it is currently sheltering a player (nametag would be visible on an ally anyway). Enemy guardian shots or abilities fired into the smoke will also dissipate it, but with more effort (~300 HP). Smoke screens do not reduce enemy player movement speed.

Trapper's Ambush always felt like a jury-rigged scramble to combine two of the old void smoke bombs into one when Void 3.0 first came out. It never felt like a truly unique aspect providing a playstyle not already available, so this attempts to fix that. Smoke bombs now become the equivalent of common FPS "smoke grenades", blocking lines of sight while providing cover for allies. Ensuring that they do not obstruct regular gameplay, I was careful to strike a level of balance in PvP that allows the dissipation of clouds, but still allow an "ambush" fantasy that is not entirely uncounterable. The goal is a non-offense piece of shelter.

This also gives Nightstalkers more support in PvE through means other than granting invisibility, as now they can "block" enemy aggression entirely through means of throwable cover, and also create large weakening fields to trap wider groups. I imagine in the future an exotic could be released that grants this smoke screen the ability to heal over time as well, but that's a discussion for another day.

Stylish Executioner

• Defeating a weakened, suppressed, or volatile target grants Invisibility and Truesight. After performing a Stylish Execution, your next melee attack while invisible weakens targets.
  • Buff: Melees exiting invisibility are now classified as void-powered melees, similar to Offensive Bulwark, and work with mods and fragments.

No significant changes. Especially since the Destabilizing Rounds buff, this aspect remains as the most effective way to loop invisibility and rewards this loop with weakening bonus damage melees. In the interest to not give Prismatic any further power creep, and already feeling relatively satisfied with its fantasy, this aspect needs no further changes.

Except finally giving Nightstalkers a "void melee" other than smoke bombs. Though they could do with a different dedicated melee ability entirely, this should at least help close that gap until then.

On The Prowl

• Obtaining a Void Buff marks a target on the battlefield, prioritized by sightline, distance, and combatant rank. Defeating the target causes them to release a cloud of void smoke that disorients nearby foes, and grants health and invisibility to allies passing through. Successful hunts grant improved weapon performance and ability regeneration based on the strength of the enemy fell.

  • No longer marks Ultras, Champions, or Minibosses unless there are no other enemies within 20 meters. Maximum mark distance is still 40 meters, bosses still disqualified from any mark. Mark generally prioritizes close and weak enemies over tough and far enemies, but enemy rank is first criteria to be loosened. Sightline is always prioritized above all else.
  • Ability regeneration and weapon performance buffs now function similar to Sword Logic, where the strength and duration of these buffs scale up to x5 based on combatant tier. Continued successful hunts maintain weapon performance bonuses, but ability regeneration remains scaled based on each enemy defeated.
  • Health gained is similar to Controlled Demolition, 90 HP.
  • Pursuit now expires if a hunt is unsuccessful. Acts as a failsafe in PvE and provides balance for Crucible (30 seconds in PvE, 15 seconds in PvP).

Allowing this aspect to branch out from Invisibility and apply to any Void Verb feels like the most sensible direction, while still granting the ability to loop back into itself as needed. Seeing as how both other void classes have health-regenerating aspects, giving the ability to sustain yourself through the hunts with health regeneration also felt like the most logical step. Above all else though, the most significant buff this aspect could get would simply be fixing the consistency of seeing what's been marked and being able to act on the mark.

TL;DR

To summarize the goals of each change:

• Vanishing Step now acts as a self-sufficient engine to access the rest of the aspects, and much like Winter's Shroud, it can now viably stand on its own as more than just a dead weight dodge to begin the engine, but provide utility and resistance on its own.

• Trapper's Ambush provides a unique smoke-based fantasy that allows the Nightstalker Melee to provide team wide utility, enemy crowd control, and fulfill its name of being a true ambush tool. While maintaining its invisibility focus, it now provides alternative benefits other than its previous feedback loop.

• Stylish Executioner remains as the main utility to loop invisibility through weapon based combat, and though it does not need any significant adjustments, granting it the ability to trigger melee based fragments and mods will go a long way.

• On The Prowl can now be triggered outside of invisibility-based builds, granting Nightstalkers a much needed reprieve from the necessity of Invisibility. This aspect also becomes the sustain that the other two classes have, providing a way to hunt down targets, give allies health, and maintain successful bonuses for working in a pack. Hopefully, the enemy prioritization updates would put it into the realm of success as well.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to discuss below what you think or how you would adjust these suggestions.