Getting to the next level of PvP

Hey hey, the short answer is that all classes have stuff going for them and have multiple viable competitive options. I will go into alot more detail below. Keep in mind I have no clue what is available in Shadowkeep and this is going off of the current meta.

Titan is currently very strong due to several of its subclasses having very good neutral game perks in addition to extremely strong, versatile supers. It also incredibly strong due to its access to One Eyed Mask, which completely outclasses every other Exotic armor in the game currently. If you don't know what it does, it basically let's you see the person who damages you through walls for 8 seconds. If you kill them while they are "marked", you get your health back plus an overshield and receive a slight damage buff. Combined with thier strong subclasses and the ability to put up barricades to claim zones and heavy, they are very strong in Competitive right now. Also, if you are on PC, you are able to Titan skate, which allows for significantly faster horizontal movement. This is particularly strong if you decide to use Dunemarchers over OEM (most people still just run OEM) Titans biggest drawback is thier mobility. While relatively fast on the ground, they can't get a high mobility stat without chipping too much into their recovery or using mobility mods. Running mobility armor helps, but the more mobility you have, the slower you skate (PC), so there is a trade-off. Their jump does not give them much in air manuverability. With these two downsides, Titans have significantly less strafe speed and mid air potential, making both shotgunning and sniping more difficult.

Best Titan Subclasses: Bottom Tree Striker, Middle Tree Striker, Top Tree Sentinel, Bottom Tree Sentinel

Best Titan Exotics: One Eyed Mask, Dunemarchers

Warlock is very similar to Titan. Very strong subclass options. They have access to Dawnblade, the fastest roaming super in the game, Top Tree Stormcaller, which comes with a nasty neutral game focused on Arcbolt grenades and has one of the best combo roaming/shutdown supers in the game, and Mid Tree Voidwalker, which has a decent super and access to both Astrocyte Verse and Contraverse Hold. In addition, Transversive Steps are an amazing movement exotic that also gives you access to reloads. Warlocks can also skate on PC, and with Transversive Steps, have the fastest horizontal movement in the game. They also have a very solid class ability with the Rift. Healing Rift is amazing for anchoring angles and forcing the enemy to land more shots to kill. Warlocks also by default have high recovery, which is extremely strong. The biggest problems with Warlock are mostly due to mid air movement. They struggle to get any real height without using a supoptimal jump option, and they can't rapidly change direction mid air as well as Hunter. While they do have strong Exotics, they are often outclassed by One Eyed Mask and the best Hunter options. Overall, Warlocks have strong subclasses and strong synergies, and are kind of the middle ground between mobile Hunters and OEM Titans.

Best Warlock Subclasses: Bottom Tree Dawnblade, Top Tree Stormcaller, Top Tree Dawnblade, Middle Tree Voidwalker

Best Warlock Exotics: Transversive Steps, Astrocyte Verse (Voidwalker), Contraverse Hold (Middle Tree Voidwalker)

Hunter is exceptionally good mainly due to its mobility. In addition to having a very high base mobility, it has access to the Dodge class ability and the best jump in the game. While Titan and Warlock float or glide through the air, Hunter is able to rapidly change position with a single button press, allowing Hunter's to have the best possible in-air capabilities. Hunter also has a fantastic selection of strong Neutral game Exotics in Stompees, Dragon's Shadow, and Frostees. With this comes some subclasses with average to above average neutral game and two roaming supers that not only excel at securing kills, but also at shutting down supers. Spectral Blades has absolutely amazing speed with the Jump + Light Attack combo, along with the potential one shot any super combo with Light Attack + Heavy Attack. This combo can even be used midair, and it's length allows it to function both as a shutdown and as a teamwipe tool. Bottom Tree Arcstrider is slower than Spectral, but is significantly tankier as it has infinite 40% damage resistance dodges that do not cost super energy. While it also has a one shot combo (Light + Light + Heavy), it isn't really effective against aerial supers like Dawnblade and Sunbreaker. However, against ground based roaming supers like Striker and Spectral Blades, it can absolutely delete these supers before they are within attack range. This combo also one shots guardians inside of a Ward of Dawn or a Middle Tree Dawnblade Well. Bottom Tree Arcstrider also has one of the best neutral game setups in the entire game. In addition to these two options, Blade Barrage is hands down the best, most consistent shutdown super currently in Crucible. Hunter's main downsides are it's lack of absurdly lengthy supers (Bottom Tree Striker/Bottom Tree Dawnblade) and it's lack of health regeneration. It also requires some paragon mods to make certain dodge-based builds work. Overall, Hunter has too tier movement and is currently the number 1 choice for high level tournament/scrim play due to the Exotic restrictions placed on the other two classes.

Best Hunter Subclasses: Middle Tree Nightstalker (particularly if you are sniping), Bottom Tree Arcstrider, Middle Tree Gunslinger, Top Tree Nightstalker (more of a fringe pick), Top Tree Gunslinger (solid but more flashy than actually effective), **

**In addition to the above, Bottom Tree Nightstalker, which previously was literally the worst PvP subclass in the game, got some pretty substantial buffs, so this may also be a decent pick, we will have to see

Best Hunter Exotics: Stompees, Frostees, Dragon's Shadow, Wormhusk Crown, Gemini Jester (IMO Wormhusk and Gemini don't really have enough value to warrant using over the other 3 currently, will have to see if something changes)

Hope this helps!

Assuming you are on PC and M&K, the top tier loadout options for high level comp in order of strength would be:

150/140 RPM Hand Cannons or Last Word w/ Shotgun or Sniper

Aggressive, Rapid Fire, High Impact, or Adaptive Pulse Rifle w/ Shotgun or Backup Plan Erentil

Mapping Erentil w/ 150/140 RPM Hand Cannons or Last Word

Recluse w/ Mountaintop or a Sniper

More specific choices:

140 RPM Hand Cannons:

Kinetic: Ace of Spades, Austringer, Better Devils

Energy: Kindled Orchid

150 RPM Hand Cannons:

Kinetic: Thorn, Spare Rations

Energy: Sunshot (w/ Catalyst preferably), Waking Vigil

Shotguns:

Kinetic: Imperial Decree (best), Dust Rock Blues, Parcel of Stardust

Energy: Mindbenders Ambition (best), Retold Tale

140 RPM (Rapid Fire) Snipers:

Kinetic: Supremacy w/ Snapshot (best), Alone as a God

Energy: Curated Twilight Oath (best), Persuader w/ Snapshot, Randomly rolled Twilight Oath w/ Fluted Barrel, Handling Masterwork, and Opening Shot

90 RPM (Adaptive) Snipers:

Kinetic: Tranquility w/ Snapshot, Long Shadow w/ Snapshot, Frigid Jackal

Energy: Beloved (best stats), Long Goodbye, Sole Survivor, Fate Cries Foul

72 RPM (Aggressive) Snipers:

Kinetic: Revoker, Bite of the Fox, Silicon Neuroma

Energy: Tatara's Gaze, Veleda-D

Aggressive Frame Pulse Rifles:

Kinetic: Go Figure, Blast Furnace

Energy: Right Side of Wrong, whatever the new raid one is called

Rapid Fire Frame Pulse Rifles:

Kinetic: I don't actually know of a randomly rolled Legendary in this slot, if you have it, the Year 1 Lincoln Green is pretty good, energy options are way better though

Energy: Horrors Least, Claws of the Wolf

High Impact Pulse Rifles:

Kinetic: Redrix's Broadsword, Eyestein-D

Energy: No clue if there is an energy option

Adaptive Frame Pulse Rifles:

Kinetic: Bygones

Energy: Last Perdition

Other weapons that don't go into these categories:

Kinetic: Last Word, Mountaintop

Energy: Recluse, Lord of Wolves, Erentil FR4

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Hey, I do my best to help players improve thier skills. 95% of the time, this happens through private match coaching. Unfortunately, I am unable to play comp with most of the people I work with because my account is at too high of a glory rank that it ends up being less helpful to the player. However, I am more than happy to do my best to help you improve your game in private matches. My goal is more to help people improve overall within the Crucible by teaching them what they need to know to succeed, rather than just carrying people to thier pinnacle weapons.

If you want to do some private match coaching, feel free to shoot me a DM on Discord at Cqrbon#0001. Always happy to work with players of all skill levels!