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Destiny 2: Lightfalloverhauled how buildcrafting works. Besides getting access to Strand and some new Light subclass Fragments, the entire armor mod system has been streamlined to make buildcrafting easier than ever. If you’ve always wanted to create the ultimate PvE or PvP build in Destiny 2, now is the perfect time to jump in.
Understanding builds in Destiny 2 will require mastery of its new armor mods, including the Armor Charge system. This guide will showcase how to unlock armor mods as a newcomer, what armor mods do, how the Armor Charge system works, and we’ll showcase how every Armor Charge mod in Destiny 2 works.
Updated June 05, 2025, by Charles Burgar:The Final Shape added a new helmet mod for players to use: Flight Adjuster. This gives players a way to build into airborne effectiveness, useful for certain PvP builds. We’ve updated this guide to include information on how this mod works and how it stacks with itself.
Unlocking Armor Mods
If you’ve played Destiny 2 at any point before Lightfall, you’ll have every mod unlocked by default. Veteran players shouldskip to the next section.
New Lights will start Destiny 2 with a limited selection of usable armor mods.To unlock additional armor mods, you must increase your Guardian Rank.you may find your current Guardian rank in the ‘Journey’ tab in your inventory menu.
Inspecting your current rank will showcase a series of challenges you must complete to increase your rank. Some of these Triumphs unlock various armor mods as rewards.Reach Guardian Rank 6 and complete the ‘Threats and Surges’ R7 challenge to unlock every armor mod in the game.
Anyone who was grandfathered into Guardian Rank 6 won’t need to complete the “Threats and Surges” Triumph.
Installing Mods And Upgrading Your Armor
Armor mods are the bread and butter of most builds. It’s what enables your character to spawn Orbs of Power, enhance their finishers, increase their damage resistance, and generally improve ability uptime.From your inventory,hover over the right-hand side of the UI and select the ‘Mod Customization’ tab to see all of your armor mods.
This screen looks intimidating at first glance, but this menu mostly serves to give an overview of your build.Select any armor piece to check that item’s mod sockets.You should see four sockets. The first socket is aGeneral Mod Socket, allowing you to increase one of your armor’s core stats (explained in the next section).
The other three slots areArmor Mod Sockets. Each armor slot in Destiny 2—helmet, arms, chest, boots, and class item—has unique armor mods that greatly improve your ability uptime or weapon performance.
Hovering over a mod socket will showcase all of your options.Each mod you equip costs a set amount of energy capacity. For example, the Hands-On helmet mod costs three energy. This means you’ll need a helmet with three spare energy to socket this mod. If your armor doesn’t have enough spare energy, you’re able to either remove mods already installed on your armor piece or upgrade the armor itself.
Upgrading Your Armor
All armor in Destiny 2 can be upgraded to increase its energy capacity.In the same modding screen, hover over the “Energy” bar that’s above your mods. Selecting this will upgrade your armor at the cost of upgradematerials like GlimmerandLegendary Shards, later ranks requiring coveted Masterwork materials.
Armor can be upgraded a total of ten times.A fully upgraded armor piece is known as a Masterworked item, denoted by a gold border. Masterworked armor pieces have ten energy capacity and grant bonus stats to your character.
Armor Mod FAQ
What Armor Should I Upgrade?
That depends on a few factors.If you just need to upgrade an armor piece a couple of times, it’s almost always worth doing.The first few armor upgrades are quite cheap, costing a small sum of Glimmer and Legendary Shards.
Once it starts costing Enhancement Cores or Prisms, avoid upgrading the item unless it’s a high-stat armor piece or an Exotic.For more information on what makes an armor piece ‘good’ in Destiny, consult ourhigh-stat armor guide.
What Mods Are Worth Using?
Equip Resilience mods until you have 100 Resilience.This should be the main priority for any new player, as the Resilience stat drastically increases your survivability with each tier.
Once you have 100 Resilience, look into equippingammo finders in your helmet, Orb of Power generators on gloves, damage resistance mods on your chest, and ammo scavengers on your boots.
How Do I Get Upgrade Materials For My Armor?
Consult our hub pagefor guides on how to get every resource in Destiny 2.For armor, you’re looking for Glimmer, Legendary Shards, Enhancement Cores, Prisms, and Ascendant Shards.
Is There A Way To Make Modding Less Tedious?
Yes. Use Destiny 2’s loadout manager.you’re able to find it on the left-hand side of the inventory screen. Select any empty space to save a loadout for future use. Saved builds will immediately equip all weapons, armor pieces, armor mods, and subclass Aspects and Fragments tied to that configuration.Destiny Item Manageris also a handy tool for creating and saving loadouts.
Armor Stats Explained
Excluding class items, all armor pieces in Destiny 2 increase six of your character’s core attributes: Mobility, Resilience, Recovery, Discipline, Intellect, and Strength.For every ten points you have in a given stat, the magnitude of that stat’s effect increases.For example, going from 20 to 30 Discipline lowers your grenade cooldown slightly, but going from 23 to 27 does not.
The table below showcases what every armor stat in Destiny 2 governs.
Mobility
Governs strafe speed, initial jump height, and the Hunter’s Dodge cooldown.
Resilience
Governs PvE damage resistance, total HP, flinch resistance, and the Titan’s Barricade cooldown.
Governs health regeneration delay and the Warlock’s Rift cooldown.
Strength
Governs melee ability cooldown.
If you’re interested in how exactly each stat affects ability cooldowns, consult ourDestiny 2 ability cooldowns guide.
Armor Charge Explained
Armor Charge is a rework of Destiny 2’s previous Charged with Light system.Armor Charge is a malleable buff that is granted, consumed, and modified through armor mods.By default, Armor Charge can stack up to three times and lasts until death. This changes once you start equipping mods.
While any Armor Charge mods are equipped, picking up an Orb of Power grants one stack of Armor Charge.
Similar to Charged with Light,Armor Charge mods are color-coded to denote their purpose, as described below:
Green
Grants stacks of Armor Charge when the listed condition is met.
Yellow
Consumes one, three, or all Armor Charge stacks when the listed condition is met.
Grants a passive bonus while Armor Charged.
Your Amor Charge stacks now decay once every 10 seconds.
Unless you have blue Armor Charge mods equipped, your Armor Charge stacks willnotdecay.For example, if you’re running a build that uses Grenade Kickstart and nothing else, your stacks will persist until you throw a grenade. Keep this in mind when deciding what you wish to spend your Armor Charge stacks on.
Stacking multiple blue Armor Charge mods willnotincrease your stack decay rate.For example, if you have six Font mods equipped and gain Armor Charge, you’ll gain all six passive benefits for ten seconds, the same as with a single mod. If you wish to extend your passive buff duration, you can use the Time Dilation mod found on class items.
Armor Charge FAQ
What’s The Best Way Of Getting Armor Charge?
Orbs of Power serve as your main source of Armor Charge.So long as you have Armor Charge mods equipped, picking up an Orb of Power will grant x1 Armor Charge. you’re able to buff this further with the Stacks on Stacks mod on leg armor.
Equip Firepower, Heavy Handed, or Siphon mods to easily spawn Orbs of Power for yourself and allies. As for mods that grant Armor Charge, we findEmpowered Finishto be quite useful.
How Many Armor Charge Stacks Can I Hold?
You may hold up to three Armor Charge stacks by default.You can increase this value by equipping Charge Up mods in your chest armor. With three Charge Up mods, you can hold up to six Armor Charge stacks.
Some Of My Favorite Mods Are Gone. How Do I Replicate X Effect?
Most iconic Combat Style mods got converted into Fragments and Armor Charge mods.Well of Life is now theEmber of MercyFragment on Solar, Reactive Pulse got split intoSpark of Instincton Arc and Proximity Ward on the class item. Firepower got merged into Grenade Kickstart. All damage mods got rolled into weapon surge mods on leg armor.
Grenade builds should spec for Grenade Kickstart, melee builds should use Melee Kickstart, and Stasis builds should rely on Elemental Charge and Stasis Shards to gain Armor Charge.If your build uses abilities with lengthy base cooldowns, consider using Font mods instead of Kickstart or flat cooldown reduction mods.
What Are The Best Armor Charge Mods?
For PvE, you can’t go wrong withWeapon Surge modson boots andKickstart modson arms and the class item. Weapon Surge mods are excellent for increasing your overall DPS in raids and other endgame activities. Kickstart mods help increase your ability uptime, letting you throw more grenades or use your melee ability more often.
For PvP, we recommendTime DilationandFontmods. Time Dilation makes your Armor Charge stats last longer, while Font mods greatly improve your stats while Armor Charged.Powerful FriendsandRadiant Lightmight not give stats anymore, but these are still powerful mods for getting Armor Charge in coordinated groups.
All Armor Mods Explained
This section will explain how every armor mod works in Destiny 2, including Armor Charge mods. Expand any of the subsections below to find any mods you’re interested in. Mods are separated based on slot and if they interact with the Armor Charge system.
All Armor Charge mods can be found in the “Armor Charge Mods” subsection, while all mods that don’t interact with Armor Charge can be found in their respective armor slot section. Mods are listed in alphabetical order.
Nearly all mods showcased below work inside the Crucible. We’ll make any mention if the mod doesn’t work or otherwise behaves differently in PvP environments. We also want to give credit to theDestiny Data Compendiumfor providing stat values for many of the mods covered in this section. For values missing from the compendium, we tested them ourselves.
Helmet Mods
All helmet mods that don’t involve Armor Charge can be found in this section. These mods include Ammo Finders, Scouts, Ashes to Assets, Hands-On, Dynamo, Power Preservation, Siphons, and Targeting mods.
3 Energy
Effect
Weapon kills have an escalating chance of spawning Special/Heavy ammo. Ammo restored is equivalent to 33/67/100% of a standard ammo brick.
Primaries (especially Exotics) spawn ammo much more frequently. Does not work in PvP.
Stacks?
Yes (finder brick grants more ammo)
Equipping an Ammo Finder mod will cause your weapon final blows to spawn a Special or Heavy ammo brick upon defeating enough PvE combatants. The type of finder mod determines the ammo type that drops (Special or Heavy). Finder bricks grant 33% of the ammunition of a standard brick, although this can be increased by stacking multiple copies of this mod.
Despite the in-game description, ammo finders drop deterministically. Finder mods work on a point system that tallies up the number of weapon kills you’ve earned. Upon reaching 100 points, your next kill is guaranteed to drop a finder brick. The type of weapon you use determines how many points you’ll earn for each kill (shown below).Ability kills cannot trigger Ammo Finders; you must use a weapon to see any benefit.
Listed values are averages. Enemy rank (minor, major, boss) has no impact on kill requirements.
1.2%
1.75%
4.25%
5%
20 Kills
In essence, you’ll want to use Primary weapons to trigger Ammo Finders with any degree of frequency. Since the average points earned per Special and Heavy kill is so low,we do not recommend using Finder mods for double Special loadouts.Special Finisher is better suited for that playstyle. As with all ammo mods,Finders do not work inside the Crucible.
1 Energy
Bricks generated from Ammo Finders now spawn for allies, granting 33/67% ammo of a standard brick when grabbed.
Requires an Ammo Finder mod to function. Bricks only spawn for allies.
Yes (allies receive more ammo)
Ammo Scouts allow your Ammo Finders to benefit your teammates, acting as an alternative to Aeon Exotic gauntlets.When you generate an ammo brick from an Ammo Finder, a finder brick will spawn at your location for teammates to grab.
This brick seems to be equivalent to a standard Ammo Finder brick, restoring ammo equivalent to 33% of a standard brick. A second Ammo Scout mod will increase this ammo to 67% of a standard brick. Allies can further increase the ammo restored by equipping an Ammo Scavenger mod on their leg armor.
There is no limit to how many Scout bricks you’re able to generate.You must have an Ammo Finder mod equipped for Scout mods to function.Since Ammo Finder mods don’t work in PvP, Scout mods do nothing inside the Crucible.
Yes (increased effect)
Energy Scaling?
No
Ashes to Assets grants a small chunk of Super energy on grenade final blows, both in PvE and PvP.Any grenade that deals damage can trigger this ability, including Forerunner’s “The Rock” grenade and Strand’s Grapple ability.
If you have both Hands-On and Ashes to Assets in your loadout, grapple melee kills will trigger both mods but with severe diminishing returns; stacking two copies of the same mod will yield more Super energy. This mod doesnotrefund Super energy while in a roaming Super.
Exact Super returns for Ashes to Assets can be found below:
x1 Ashes
x2 Ashes
x3 Ashes
1.5%
2.3%
2.6%
3%
4.3%
4.8%
4.9%
7.1%
8%
3.5%
4.1%
With Dynamo equipped, using your class ability within 15 meters of an enemy will grant Super energy. The Super energy varies based on which class you’re playing.Warlocks receive the greatest Super returns, followed by Titans and Hunters.
The class ability itself has no impact on your Super returns, only the class you’re currently playing. For example, the Titan’s Thruster ability grants the same Super returns as a Bastion Barricade.
It’s also worth noting thatDynamo does not scale with enemy numbers or their rank.Dodging near a single Acolyte will grant the same energy as dodging near 20 Acolytes. Similarly, dodging near a single Acolyte will give the same energy as dodging near a Champion or boss unit.
Exact Super returns for using Dynamo can be found below.
From our testing, x2 and x3 Dynamo both seem to give the same Super returns. It’s unclear if this is intentional.
x1 Dynamo
x2 Dynamo
x3 Dynamo
2.6% (1.3%)
4% (2.5%)
3.2% (1.4%)
5% (3%)
5.1% (2.5%)
8.1% (4.8%)
Hands-On causes your powered melee final blows to restore a small chunk of Super energy, both in PvE and PvP. The tougher the enemy you kill, the more energy you’ll receive. Hands-On works for all melee abilities, including grapple melee—although the grapple melee will receive diminished Super returns if both Ashes to Assets and Hands-On are equipped. This mod doesnottrigger from Glaives, Swords, and roaming Supers.
It appears thatuncharged melee kills no longer trigger Hands-On, differing from its pre-Lightfall behavior. Uncharged melees that are currently buffed by subclass propertiescantrigger Hands-On, however, as these melee attacks technically count as powered melee abilities. Some examples include the Hunter’sCombination Blowand the Titan’sRoaring Flamesbuff.
Based on our testing, Super returns for Hands-On seem to be the same as Ashes to Assets in PvE. Crucible values are noticeably higher. Exact values are listed below:
x1 Hands-On
x2 Hands-On
x3 Hands-On
5.1%
In-Flight Compensator increases your character’s Airborne Effectiveness (AE), a weapon stat that dictates how much bullet deviation you experience while shooting from the air. The more of this stat you have, the more aim assist and initial accuracy you’ll experience while fighting from the air. Primary weapons see diminishing returns around 60 AE, while Special and Heavy weapons benefit up to 100.
Installing one mod increases your AE by +15, the same as the Icarus Dash mod on weapons. Stacking multiple copies of this mod adds bonus AE (+10 and +5), up to a maximum of +30 AE. This stacks with other sources of Airborne Effectiveness, but you cannot exceed 100 AE.
Super final blows spawn a miniature Orb of Power every two seconds, granting 2.5/3.75/4.37% Super energy.
Yes (Mini orbs grant more Super energy)
Power Preservation’s in-game description isn’t entirely accurate. What this mod actually does isit allows Supers to create Orbs of Power from kills once every two seconds.The strength of these Orbs of Power is roughly comparable to a Siphon mod, granting 2.5% Super energy when grabbed by your allies. Multiple copies of this mod scale the strength of these orbs,nothow often you can spawn them.
Defensive Supers (Well of Radiance and Ward of Dawn) donotgenerate more orbs.
This effectively makes roaming Supers the best for generating Orbs of Power. For example, a default Arc Staff Super can generate seven Orbs of Power. With this mod, it will spawn an additional, weaker Orb of Power whenever it lands a kill, no sooner than every two seconds.
This means if you can keep Arc Staff up for 30 seconds and land a kill every two seconds, you can theoretically spawn 22 Orbs of Power—seven from the base Super, and 15 from Power Preservation. Only allies may grab these orbs.
2 Energy (1 if Harmonic)
Double kills with certain weapons will spawn an Orb of Power, granting 2.5/3.75/4.37% Super energy.
Yes (stronger orbs)
With a weapon element that matches the Siphon mod, double kills will spawn miniature Orbs of Power for yourself and allies. This mod has a two-second cooldown before it can be triggered again. Stacking multiple copies of this mod will increase the Super energy gains from the generated orb. Harmonic Siphon will always match your currently equipped subclass element.
3 Energy (2 if Harmonic)
Element-matching weapons gain +5/8/10 aim assist, 15% accuracy, and ADS 25% faster.
Yes (increased aim assist)
Weapons that match the element of your equipped targeting mod will benefit from increased aim assist, tighter accuracy cones, and aim down sights faster. The ADS scalar stacks with your weapon’s handling stat alongside any ADS-related perks like Snapshot Sights. Stacking multiple copies of the same targeting mod improves the aim assist bonus,notthe accuracy and ADS scalars.
Harmonic Targeting works on any weapon that matches your currently equipped subclass element.
Arm Mods
All gauntlet mods that don’t involve Armor Charge can be found in this section. These mods include Firepower, Heavy Handed, Bolstering Detonation, Focusing Strike, Impact Induction, Momentum Transfer, Weapon Loaders, Dexterity mods, and Fastball.
Yes (base cooldown affects energy returns)
Dealing damage with your grenade will grant 12% class ability energy, reduced to 6% in the Crucible. Stacking multiple copies of this mod will increase the amount of class ability energy restored.Bolstering Detonation incurs a seven-second cooldown between activations.
Weapons that match the element of your equipped dexterity mod can be readied and stowed 20% faster than normal. This stacks with your weapon’s handling stat and related perks. If you’re using Harmonic Dexterity, weapons that match your currently equipped subclass element will receive this benefit.
Harmonic Dexterity mods buff weapons that match your currently equipped subclass element.
Fastball improves the travel time of your grenades in all game types, making your grenades land much closer to your reticle at medium distances. This doesnotspeed up the grenade throwing animation. Fastball has no effect on Strand’s Grapple ability.
Grenade kills generate an Orb of Power, granting 0.87/1.1/1.2% Super energy.
Yes (stronger orbs and shorter cooldown)
Kills with your grenade ability will create a small Orb of Power at the target’s location, granting 0.8% Super energy when collected. The Orb of Power is created for both you and your allies. Once used, Firepower incurs a ten-second cooldown before it can spawn another orb. Multiple copies of this mod decrease this cooldown.
Firepower and Heavy Handed both feature the lowest Super returns out of any Orb of Power generator. This mod is best suited for builds that utilize Armor Charge or orb mods found on leg armor, as every Orb of Power will grant x1 Armor Charge and trigger any equipped orb mods.
Damaging an enemy with any melee attack will grant class ability energy. Once this occurs, Focusing Strike will incur a seven-second cooldown before it can trigger again. Both charged and uncharged melee attacks trigger Focusing Strike, but Glaive and Sword attacks do not.
Melee ability kills generate an Orb of Power, granting 0.87/1.1/1.2% Super energy.
Defeating an enemy with your powered melee ability will spawn a miniature Orb of Power at the target’s location, granting 0.8% Super energy when grabbed. Both you and your allies receive an Orb of Power from Heavy Handed, making this great for Armor Charge builds. Heavy Handed may only spawn an Orb of Power once every ten seconds, reduced with each copy installed on your gloves.
Both Heavy Handed and Firepower feature the weakest Super returns out of any Orb of Power generator. We recommend using this mod for builds that benefit from Armor Charge or orb-related mods found on leg armor.
Impact Induction grants grenade energy whenever you deal melee damage, incurring a seven-second cooldown between activations. Both charged and uncharged melee attacks can trigger Impact Induction, but Glaives and Swords do not count.
Weapons gain +10/15/18 reload speed stat. These weapons also reload 15% faster.
Yes (increases reload speed stat)
Loader mods cause weapons that match the loader’s element type to reload much faster. This mod increases the reload speed stat on your weapons by +10, increased with multiple mod copies. Additionally, your weapons will also gain a 0.85x reload speed scalar, making your weapons reload 15% faster regardless of their reload speed stat. This scalar isnotaffected by multiple loader copies. Harmonic Loaders buff weapons that match your currently equipped subclass element.
Momentum Transfer grants melee ability energy upon dealing grenade damage, incurring a seven-second cooldown between activations. Any grenade that deals damage can trigger this perk, including Forerunner’s unique grenade.
Chest Mods
All chest armor mods that don’t use Armor Charge can be found here. These mods include Ammo Reserves, Unflinching mods, Concussive Dampener, Sniper and Melee Damage Resistance, and Elemental DR mods.
Inventory size is a hidden stat on all weapons that determines how much ammunition they can carry. You can view a weapon’s inventory size in API apps likeDestiny Item Manager. This stat varies wildly between weapon archetypes, so it’s tough to state exactly how much ammo this mod grants.
Generally, Rocket Launchers can hold an extra rocket, Machine Guns get roughly half a magazine of spare ammo, and Special weapons get three or four extra rounds. Harmonic Reserves will grant this reserve buff to any weapons that match your currently equipped subclass element.
Concussive Dampener causes all area-of-effect (AoE) attacks to deal less damage to you in PvE content. AoE attacks include anything with splash damage, including Explosive Shanks, Cursed Thrall, all explosive projectiles, and most environmental hazards.
Multiple copies of this mod stack with diminishing returns. Stacking Concussive Dampener with other DR sources will do so multiplicatively. For more information on this, consult ourdamage resistance guide.
No enemies deal Strand damage, so using Harmonic Resistance on a Strand subclass does nothing.
Elemental resistance mods provide damage resistance against PvE combatants that match your mod’s listed element. For example, Void Resistance causes you to take 15% less damage from Void attacks in PvE content. Enemy projectiles, AoE attacks, melee attacks, and even environmental hazards can be mitigated with these mods.
Stacking the same elemental mod does so with diminishing returns, while stacking different types of elemental DR mods will do so multiplicatively. Unlike other DR mods, stacking the same elemental DR mod three times grants no added benefit.
Lucent Blades greatly increases the charge rate stat on any Sword you have equipped, regardless of the Sword’s element. A sword’s guard energy is used for blocking and heavy attacks, so increasing a Sword’s charge rate can affect its DPS potential.
Glaives gain more guard energy from projectile hits instead, allowing them to block for longer. Both effects work in PvP and benefit compatible Exotics.
Take 15/25/35% less damage from enemies 4m or closer.
Melee damage resistance is deceptive in its description. Despite its name, melee damage resistance doesn’t only work on melee attacks.It reduces the damage you take from enemies within four meters of you.
Any attack made within this distance will be mitigated, including weapon projectiles, explosives, and melee attacks. Stacking this mod increases the DR bonus with diminishing returns. Melee Damage Resistance stacks multiplicatively with other DR sources.
Take 15/25/35% less damage from enemies 29m or further.
Similar to Melee Damage Resistance, Sniper Damage Resistance refers to engagement distance rather than specific enemy types.Any attacks initiated from 29 meters or further will be mitigated by Sniper Damage Resistance.This includes any type of attack, including weapon projectiles and explosives.
If a sniper unit is closer than 29 meters to you, it willnothave its damage reduced. Stacking multiple copies of this mod will increase its DR value with diminishing returns. Stacking this mod with other DR sources will do so multiplicatively.
Unflinching mods cause your weapons to experience less flinch while taking damage, similar to perks like No Distractions and Perfect Float. Flinch itself refers to the violent movement of your reticle while taking damage. It pushes your reticle off target if you’re aiming at the enemy. Conversely, flinch pushes your reticletowardsthe target if your aim is off. This mod mitigates the magnitude of this flinch.
Stacking multiple sources of flinch will do so multiplicatively. Sources of flinch resistance include the stability stat, Resilience stat, certain perks, Rally Barricades, and various origin traits. YouTuber Coolguy hasan excellent video that covers nearly every source of flinchfor those interested.
Leg Mods
All leg armor mods that don’t use Armor Charge can be found here. These mods include all Orb of Power energy mods (Absolution, Innervation, Insulation, Invigoration, and Orbs of Restoration) alongside Better Already, Recuperation, Ammo Scavengers, and Holster mods.
Orbs of Power grant 5/7.5/10% grenade, melee, and class ability energy when collected.
Absolution causes all Orbs of Power you collect to grant additional grenade, melee, and class ability energy. All orb types will grant the same amount of ability energy. Absolution has no cooldown and can be stacked multiple times.
Scavenger mods cause all ammo bricks you find to restore more ammunition. By default, ammo bricks restore roughly 25-33% of your ammo reserves with Ammo Finder bricks providing less. Scavenger mods cause those bricks to give roughly 3-5% more of your total reserves as ammo from these bricks. While that sounds small on paper, this allows Rocket Launchers to collect 1-2 more rockets, Machine Guns to scavenge another magazine, and Special weapons can grab another 3-4 rounds.
Since this mod works based on ammo reserves, equipping Reserve mods on your chest does impact how much ammo Scavengers can grant.
Better Already causes your health and shields to immediately start regenerating upon collecting an Orb of Power. The strength of the orb does not matter, and the regeneration speed is affected by your Recovery stat. Taking any damage will end Better Already’s health regeneration effect. Despite the in-game description,Better Already gives no measurable benefits when stacked.
Weapons that match the holster mod’s listed element will automatically reload while holstered, similar to how Envious Assassin works. Holstered weapons are reloaded in chunks every couple of seconds. This continues until the weapon’s magazine is full, your reserves run out, or you swap to the weapon prematurely. Unlike Ambitious and Envious Assassin, there is no audio queue for when this perk triggers.
It’s worth noting thatHolster mods do not work on Rocket Launchers, Breech-Loaded GLs, Bows, and other single-shot weapons.The only exception to this is Parasite.
Picking up any Orb of Power will restore a small chunk of grenade energy, enhanced with multiple copies of this mod. The strength of the orb you collect has no bearing on the energy received from Innervation.
Insulation grants a small chunk of class ability energy when collecting an Orb of Power. The strength of the orb has no impact on the class ability energy received. Insulation features the worst energy returns out of any orb-related mod and is generally not recommended for most builds. Class ability returns are the same for all classes across all game types.
Picking up an Orb of Power will restore a small chunk of melee ability energy. The strength of the orb has no bearing on the energy restored by Invigoration.
2 Energy
Orbs of Power grant 10/13/15% energy to the least-charged ability when collected.
Collecting an Orb of Power will cause your least-charged ability—grenade, melee, or class ability—to receive a small chunk of energy. The strength of the orb and the ability it’s recharging have no impact on Orb of Restoration’s energy returns. Orbs of Restoration doesnotgrant Super energy if your core abilities are charged.
Collecting an Orb of Power will restore 70 HP immediately. Despite the description, this mod can restore your shields if your HP is already full. What’s also misleading is the in-game subsection stating this mod stacks.Recuperation doesnotstack.
As a point of reference, Guardians at T10 Resilience have 200 total HP and shields. You can expect to restore just over a third of your HP and/or shields each time you grab an Orb of Power with Recuperation equipped. As with other orb-related mods, the strength of the orb you collect has no impact on the HP restored.
Class Item Mods
All armor mods that socket into the class item (capes, bonds, and marks) that don’t use Armor Charge can be found here. These mods include Bomber, Outreach, Distribution, Reaper, and Proximity Ward.
Bomber causes your class ability to restore a chunk of your grenade energy when used. The amount of energy restored depends on your class ability’s base cooldown.The longer the ability’s base cooldown is, the less energy Bomber will grant.This mod’s effectiveness is halved inside the Crucible.
While near a target, using your class ability restores 4/6/7% ability energy and 2/3/4% Super energy.
Distribution is effectively Dynamo combined with Bomber, Outreach, and the first part of Utility Kickstart. Using your class ability within 15 meters of an enemy will cause you to gain a large portion of ability energy. Ability energy refers to your grenade, melee, and class abilities. Distribution also stacks additively with other energy sources.
As with most energy mods, your class ability’s base cooldown dictates how much energy Distribution grants. The longer the cooldown, the less energy you’ll receive from this mod.
As with Bomber, Outreach causes you to gain a chunk of melee energy upon using your class ability. Your class ability’s base cooldown determines how much energy you receive. The longer your ability’s base cooldown, the less energy you’ll receive.
Performing a finisher will grant you a temporary overshield that has roughly 200 HP, effectively doubling your HP. Finishers also grant 60% damage resistance while in the animation, sothis mod effectively makes you unkillable while performing a finisher.
This overshield drops roughly one second after the finisher animation is complete. Proximity Wardacts as another layer of HP and doesnotremoveVoid OvershieldsorStasis Overshieldsactive on your character.
After using your class ability, your next weapon kill will spawn an Orb of Power, granting 0.87/1.1/1.2% Super energy.
Using your class ability will cause your next weapon kill to spawn an Orb of Power at the slain target’s corpse. This Orb of Power can be grabbed by both you and your allies, restoring a small chunk of Super energy when grabbed. Any weapon kill can spawn this orb, regardless of element.Any class ability can trigger Reaper, including those provided by subclass Aspects.
As with Firepower and Heavy Handed, Reaper incurs a short cooldown on activation before it can be used again. This cooldown may be decreased by equipping multiple copies of Reaper on your class item. Bear in mind thatonce you trigger Reaper, you must kill an enemy within ten seconds or no orb will spawn.
Armor Charge Mods
All mods that interact with the Armor Charge mechanic are listed in this section. Unless otherwise listed, all of these mods work inside the Crucible. While any Armor Charge mod is equipped, picking up an Orb of Power will also grant x1 Armor Charge, up to a maximum of x3 Armor Charge stacks.
Each Charged Up mod equipped increases your Armor Charge carrying capacity by one.With one mod, you can carry up to four Armor Charge stacks, increased to five and six with additional Charged Up mods.
Subclass pickups have an escalating chance to grant x1 Armor Charge
Yes (fewer pickups required)
Elemental Charge allows you to gain Armor Charge by collecting subclass pickups. These pickups include Solar’s Firesprites, Arc’s Ionic Traces, Void Breaches, Stasis Shards, and Strand’s Tangles.Not every subclass gives the same chance of Armor Charge.Stasis Shards give the least progress towards an Armor Charge stack while Tangles grant the most.
Stacking multiple copies of this mod will reduce the average number of pickups required to gain Armor Charge, as shown below. Elemental Charge doesnothave a cooldown between activations.
Strand Tangles must be destroyed through weapon damage to trigger Elemental Charge. Throwing a Tangle to destroy it doesnotcount.
4
3
2
1
Yes (longer duration)
Emergency Reinforcement is the same as Protective Light from older seasons.When your shields break, you gain 10% additional damage resistance for the next six seconds,consuming all Armor Charge stacks in the process. You’ll need at least x3 Armor Charge for this mod to activate.Emergency Reinforcement stacks multiplicatively with other DR sourcesand isnotaffected by Time Dilation.
The duration of Emergency Reinforcement is determined by two things: Armor Charge stacks and mod duplicates. Both effects will scale your duration by three seconds per additional mod equipped or Armor Charge consumed.To achieve the maximum duration of 12 seconds, you’ll need to use either x3 Emergency Reinforcement, consume x5 Armor Charge, or a combination of the two.The table below showcases these exact breakpoints. Emergency Reinforcement cannot last longer than 12 seconds, regardless of your mod configuration.
1-3 Energy
Ability:Restores 75% ability energy for 3 Armor Charge. Additional charges consumed grant +10% each.
Empowered:Grants x1 Armor Charge if you have no charges.
Special:Generates a Special ammo brick for you and your allies.
Destiny 2’s loadout manager struggles to swap Finisher mods if they’re socketed in different slots. Keep your finisher mods in the same socket across all builds to ensure they work with in-game loadouts.
Finisher mods behave identically to pre-Lightfall.Finisher mods require three Armor Charge to function, consuming all stacks to provide some benefit.Ability-related finisher mods will consume additional Armor Charge stacks, granting even more ability energy than usual.You may only equip one finisher mod at a time.You cannot perform finishers on enemy Guardians in PvP, meaning these mods do not work in the Crucible.
Yes (stronger effect)
Font mods provide +30 to the listed stat while you have Armor Charge, decaying every ten seconds.Additional Font mods stack to provide additional stats, up to a cap of +60 stats with three copies.
As with other stat-boosting effects in Destiny 2,you cannot exceed 100 stats with these mods equipped.Equipping different types of Font mods willnothasten Armor Charge decay. You can extend how long these Font buffs last by using the Time Dilation mod. Font mods are unaffected by your ability’s base cooldown, unlike most energy-generating mods.
Arms and Class Item
Refunds 16-45% ability energy on use. Half as effective in PvP.
Consumes all Armor Charge stacks on use, granting additional energy per stack.
Kickstart mods refund a portion of your ability energy when your ability energy is fully expended. The mod checks if the energy isspent,notif the ability is used. This is an important distinction as it meansyou can trigger Kickstart mods from subclass Aspects(Consecration, Ensnaring Slam, et cetera).
Ability Energy Scalars
Kickstart mod energy is also determined by your ability’s base cooldown. The longer the cooldown, the less energy you’ll receive from your Kickstart mods. This is unaffected by armor stats.
Exact energy returns are determined on an ability-by-ability basis. Scalar values for each ability may be found in ourability cooldowns guide.
Using your ability will only refund a portion of your ability energy if you have Armor Charge stacks.Duplicate Kickstart mods behave identically to additional Armor Charge stacks.As for energy returns, there are serious diminishing returns as you invest in this mod.Generally,you’ll see optimal returns with six Armor Charge stacks.
The table below showcases the exact energy return values you may expect with Kickstart and Armor Charge investment. Bear in mind thatthese values are halved inside the Crucible.
x1 Kickstart
x2 Kickstart
x3 Kickstart
Using your class ability collects all Orbs of Power within 10/15/20 meters.
Yes (increased range)
Powerful Attraction causes your class ability to automatically collect every Orb of Power near your position.This triggers immediately upon expending your class ability energy, including unique class abilities found on subclass Aspects or Exotics.
The base radius is 10 meters, increased to 15 and 20 meters with each additional copy of Powerful Attraction you install. For reference, the Threat Detector perk and the Gambler’s Dodge ability have a base radius of 20 meters. We highly recommend using at least two copies of this mod for consistent results.
Orbs you pickup will grant their full Super energy and trigger any Orb of Power effects on your armor or subclass. For example, those using Recuperation will immediately heal themselves upon using a class ability, provided there’s an Orb of Power nearby. Picking up multiple orbs this way will trigger your orb-related mods and subclass Fragments multiple times.
Picking up Orbs of Power grants x1 Armor Charge to nearby allies.
Allies near you gain x1 Armor Charge whenever you grab an Orb of Power.A full fireteam using this mod can easily maintain Armor Charge stacks in all content. This Armor Charge cannot exceed your current Armor Charge cap.
Casting your Super will grant x1 Armor Charge to all nearby allies.If they’re using a different subclass element than you, they will gain twice as many stacks. Pair this with Well of Radiance to easily trigger weapon surge mods during a DPS phase.
4 Energy
Breaking a shield with a weapon that matches its element grants x1 Armor Charge.
This mod does nothing inside the Crucible.
Breaking a shield that has the same elemental affinity as your weapon will grant x1 Armor Charge.For example, breaking a Solar shield with a Solar weapon will trigger this perk, but using an Arc weapon to break a Solar shield will not. Osmosis weapons can also trigger this perk if your subclass element matches the shield type. Stacks on Stacks works with this mod, granting x2 Armor Charge upon breaking a matching shield.
Despite the in-game description, Stacks on Stacks works onallsources of Armor Charge, not just Orbs of Power.Whenever you gain Armor Charge, you’ll gain an additional stack of Armor Charge.Mods like Empowering Finish, Radiant Light, and Shield Break Charge work with Stacks on Stacks. This added Armor Charge stack cannot bypass your Armor Charge carrying capacity.
Time Dilation extends the duration of Armor Charge stacks while you have passive (blue) Armor Charge mods equipped.A single mod extends the decay rate by five seconds. Stacking this mod three times will double your Armor Charge duration.If you aren’t using passive Armor Charge mods, this mod does nothing.Time Dilation doesnotextend the duration of Emergency Reinforcement.
+11/17/22% weapon damage while Armor Charged. Reduced to +3/4.5/5.5% in PvP.
Surge mods stack with empowering buffs (Radiant, Weapons of Light, etc.) and weapon damage perks.
While Armor Charged, surge mods grant a damage increase to weapons that match the listed element. For example, Arc Weapon Surge buffs the damage of all Arc weapons while you have Armor Charge. You donotneed to have a matching subclass equipped for surge mods to function.
Weapon Surge mods stack with other buffs and weapon perks, notably Radiant and Weapons of Light. Stacking this mod increases the strength of the damage bonus, granting 11%, 17%, and 22% for each surge mod equipped—reduced to 3%, 4.5%, and 5.5% inside the Crucible.
Surge mods cause your Armor Charge to decay every ten seconds.To increase the uptime of this buff, consider using the Time Dilation mod and Stacks on Stacks mod.
