Destiny 2: Lightfall: Verglas Curve VFX
This bow creates and leaves behind unique Stasis Arrows, the first unique arrow model in quite a while
Upon killing a combatant or other Guardian, you gain a stack of Hail Barrage, imbuing your central arrow with Stasis energy.
Hail Barrage arrows become inactive while aiming down sights, preventing their use. However, this allows you to chain additional kills to gain additional Hail Barrage arrows.
Hail Barrage Arrows will freeze on contact with a Combatant, or if they impact a surface area, instantly create a Stasis Crystal.
Killing additional Combatants charges up the outer crystals with Stasis Energy, allowing for additional Hail Barrage arrows to be stored and used.
The outer crystals glow when imbued with Stasis Energy, signaling to both you and foes the impending barrage.
Drawing back the bow while having more than one ready Hail Barrage arrow transforms the outer crystals into additional Hail Barrage arrows, for a maximum of 5 launched at a time.
The outer crystals will disappear if aiming down sights while drawn.
Five Hail Barrage arrows can block off a section of the map or freeze a grouping of combatants.
The arrows also have a unique contrail, denoting their special properties.
Hail Barrage arrows can be aimed to create crystals afar while freezing combatants closer to you.
Arrows can also be rapidly chained and released for massive shatter damage potential.
Heritance of the Thaw - Inspection Screen
Verglas Curve - Inspection Screen
Various concepts for VFX by Tobias Kwan that were used in development of the Hail Barrage arrows and overall visual language
Promotional composition by Drex Rowe
https://www.artstation.com/drexler_rowe
Verglas Curve is a new weapon debuting as the Season Pass Exotic in Destiny 2: Season of Defiance.
Our first ever Exotic Stasis bow, it charges and fires unique Stasis arrows that detonate into Stasis crystals or outright freezes combatants on contact. I wanted to play heavily into the trope of the "Anime Archer" and give the outer arrows more of a magical "manifested" vibe than the central one. To do this required a lot of heavy shader work as well as some unique math which changes a few things about the visibility of the arrows based on whether you were viewing them from the first person camera or the third person one. This, combined with the incredible supporting efforts from Concept, Animation, Hard-Surface, and Sound Design made working on this bow a blast, and I hope players enjoy using it as much as I did making it.
Special Thanks:
Mark Flieg: Rewards VFX Lead
https://www.artstation.com/mfliegjr
Tobias Kwan: Concept Art
https://www.artstation.com/tobiaskwan
Ricky Oh: Hard-Surface
https://www.artstation.com/rickyoh
Matt Lichy: Hard-Surface Support
https://www.artstation.com/mlichy911
AJ Novak: Sound Design
Drexler Rowe: Composition
https://www.artstation.com/drexler_rowe
And to everyone else at Bungie who helped support me and contributed to this wonderful world. "Teams are stronger than heroes".