What are Armor Charge mods in Destiny 2: Lightfall? – A Comprehensive Guide
Understanding the revamped modding system
Destiny 2: Lightfall has undergone a complete overhaul of its armor modding system. This has caused some confusion for veteran players, leaving them feeling underpowered and struggling to navigate the new interface. However, in reality, Bungie has streamlined the process to make build crafting easier than ever before. With the introduction of stored loadouts, players can now save up to six different loadouts for quick swapping depending on the activity and area.
Creating the perfect build for Hunters, Warlocks, or Titans has never been more accessible. Bungie announced that all Strand Fragments will be unlocked early, making it easier for players to create their ultimate Strand build. Previously, some of these fragments were scheduled to unlock on March 7, after the World’s First raid race. To optimize your build, you need to understand the new modding system, including the concept of Armor Charges.
Unlocking armor mods
If you’ve played Destiny before the release of Lightfall, you probably already have almost every mod unlocked. However, new players will start their Destiny 2 journey with a limited selection of mods. To unlock additional mods, you need to increase your Guardian Rank. You can do this by completing various challenges listed in the Journey tab. One of the challenges, called “Threats and Surges,” requires completing three Nightfalls with the currently active surge as your subclass. Completing this challenge will unlock every armor mod available.
Upgrading your armor
Armor mods offer various benefits to your Guardian, such as spawning Orbs of Power, increasing damage resistance, and improving ability uptime. To access the mod and build crafting screen, go to the Character screen and navigate to the right. At first glance, this screen may seem overwhelming, but it provides a comprehensive overview of your current build and the effects of the selected mods on your statistics. Here, you can also view the perks provided by your seasonal artifact.
When you select an armor piece, you’ll see its mod slots. Most armor pieces have four slots, except for raid gear and artifice armor, which have an additional slot. The first slot is a general socket that allows you to increase your primary statistics, such as intellect or mobility. The other three slots are specifically for Armor Mods, each offering unique enhancements to your abilities or weapon performance.
Equipping a mod consumes a certain amount of energy. You can increase the available energy by upgrading your armor pieces using materials. The maximum energy capacity is 10. Hover over the energy bar above the mods and long-press to upgrade it. Upgrading requires glimmer, legendary shards, enhancement cores, enhancement prisms, or ascendant shards, depending on the desired level. A fully upgraded piece of armor, known as “Masterworked,” is indicated by a gold border and provides additional bonus statistics to your Guardian.
Exploring Armor Charge
Armor Charge is the revamped version of Destiny 2’s previous Charged with Light mechanic. In the new system, Armor Charge is granted, consumed, and modified through the use of armor mods. By default, Armor Charge can stack up to three times and lasts as long as your Guardian remains alive. However, equipping specific mods can alter these mechanics. Whenever you pick up an Orb of Power while having any Armor Charge mods equipped, it will grant you one stack of Armor Charge.
Armor Charge mods are color-coded based on their function. Green mods provide stacks of Armor Charge when specific conditions are met. Yellow mods consume stacks of Armor Charge. Blue mods offer passive bonuses while you have Armor Charge, but these bonuses decay every ten seconds. If no blue mods are equipped, your Armor Charge stacks will not decay. Equipping multiple blue mods will not increase the rate at which your Armor Charge decays.
How to obtain Armor Charge
Orbs of Power are the primary source of Armor Charge. When you have mods equipped, picking up an Orb of Power will grant you one stack of Armor Charge. Mods such as “Stacks on Stacks” on leg armor can increase the number of Armor Charge stacks obtained. Additionally, mods like “Firepower,” “Heavy Handed,” or “Siphon” increase the frequency of spawning Orbs of Power. The “Empowered Finish” mod is also recommended for generating Armor Charge.
By default, you can hold up to three stacks of Armor Charge. However, equipping “Charge Up” mods on chest armor can expand this capacity. With three “Charge Up” mods, you can have up to six stacks of Armor Charge.
The best Armor Charge mods in the game currently include weapon surge mods for boots and kickstart mods for arms or class items. For PvP enthusiasts, Time Dilation and various Font mods are worth considering. Time Dilation prolongs the duration of Armor Charge, while Font mods enhance your Guardian’s statistics. Powerful Friends and Radiant Light, although they no longer provide increased statistics, still offer significant advantages.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is now available for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
