With Season 11 came a new armor mod in Destiny 2 that allows you to create really powerful pistol builds. The sidearms become so strong that some power weapons could take a note from them.
This is what the mod is about: With Season 11, a new armor mod was introduced – Surprise Attack. This was recently made available as a daily rotating mod via the Prism Converter.
Although the offer has changed by now, there’s no need to worry: if you haven’t got the mod yet, it will return. The mod is an absolute must-have for anyone who enjoys using pistols.
Even if you have neglected this weapon type so far, it might be worth taking a look. Some pistols can reach heavy weapon DPS values with builds around the new mod – and that’s as a primary weapon.
In short: You should not miss out on the Surprise Attack mod for the price of 3 mod components.
What can the Surprise Attack mod do? When you are charged with Light, all stacks of “Charged with Light” are consumed when reloading or preparing a pistol and converted into significant damage buff stacks for the pistol (Charged Magazine).
For each stack of “Charged with Light,” you receive 5 charged shots for the magazine – so with 3x “Charged with Light,” you get 15 Super Shots. The buff “Charged Magazine” or “Charged Shots” is consumed only when you deal damage to enemies with it. If you miss, only the ammo decreases. The buff stacks remain intact.
What exactly makes the mod so powerful? In short: pistols deal double damage per buff stack. This buff is not registered as a normal buff but rather as a pistol perk by the game. This means you can stack this damage buff with other buffs or debuffs, further increasing the damage.
Additionally, you can combine this mod with other mods to further enhance its effectiveness. Ultimately, builds are possible that allow you to achieve power weapon DPS values with a pistol, such as the exotic “Devil’s Ruin.”
These mods are also recommended for pistol builds: To effectively use the Surprise Attack mod, you need to be charged with Light, which can also be done through appropriate armor mods. Recommended are, among others:
- Fast Charge: Get charged with Light by defeating several enemies quickly with pulse rifles, pistols, or submachine guns
- Charge Siphon: Get charged with Light by picking up Light Orbs (for example, from masterwork weapons or after using your super)
- Stacked: Gain an additional stack of “Charged with Light” for every stack you receive
- Overload: You can receive 2 additional stacks of “Charged with Light” – up to a maximum of 5
The combination of these mods makes nearly every pistol a true monster. Most pistols will easily outperform almost any special weapon and make this weapon type, often neglected by many Guardians, shine in a whole new light. Red bars drop with a single shot, majors and mini-bosses are brought to their knees in no time.
A sample build for the Hunter: If you want to hold a real killer pistol in your hands, try the following build:
- Combine the mentioned mods with the exotic Hunter gauntlets Mechanic Trick Sleeves. These increase the handling and reload speed of pistols. If you are critically wounded and switch to a pistol, it also deals more damage.
- As a weapon, take the exotic pistol “Devil’s Ruin”. With this combination, you can achieve up to 63,000 DPS – the level of some of the currently best power weapons.
You can also feel free to experiment with other weapons or Guardian classes. Even without special builds, pistols become really strong and useful just through the Surprise Attack mod combined with light-charging mods.
By the way, even this would have been hard to believe until recently: An old exotic is now suddenly among the super weapons of Season 11
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