Destiny 2 finally makes its mod system Guardian-friendly. With Beyond Light, there are 4 major changes that the community has been loudly requesting for a year.
These 4 changes are coming: With the launch of the major expansion Beyond Light, Destiny 2 is significantly overhauling the mod system.
The mod system will receive these revisions starting November 10:
- The elemental affinity is removed for all armor mods related to weapons.
- All mods that can have an improved version will receive a buff: The normal mods will automatically be upgraded to the enhanced variant and will slightly increase energy consumption – This will render the previous enhanced mods redundant as they will become unnecessary.
- Raid armors will receive a 5th mod slot, which will only accommodate raid-specific mods. Additionally, some raid mods will be completely removed.
- A new “Combat Style Mod Version” will be available for new armors and all old exotics – Old armors will receive a uniform “Legacy Mod Version”. This version will include mods for mechanics like “Charged with Light” or “Wellspring Cells“, thus replacing the seasonal mod slot.
This marks the first time Bungie addresses profound changes in the DLC that do not concern the new Stasis element. MeinMMO explains why players have long desired these changes or what Bungie was thinking with the upcoming adjustments.
Players demand the removal of elemental affinity
This is the big mod problem: Since the introduction of the “Armor 2.0” system in October 2019, Guardians have been requesting the elimination of elemental affinity for mods. The promised freedom in armor customization led to the situation where players had to farm not just one good armor, but a total of 3.
Guardians needed a Solar, Void, and Arc version of all gear pieces.
Because mods for hand cannons only fit into Void armors. To effectively use your shotgun, you need Arc armors. Since Destiny always has you carrying 3 weapons, it is hard to balance all elements or switch loadouts.
The planned changes will finally ensure that the element of your armor no longer matters.
Two aspects you must also consider according to Bungie:
- “Charged with Light” mods that need a second elemental mod for a bonus effect activate when you wear a matching elemental mod on the same armor piece OR when you wear any other “Charged with Light” mod on any other armor piece.
- With Beyond Light, there will be more mods available per armor piece, which could lead to confusion.
This is why normal mods are being improved: According to Bungie, many players do not feel the effects of normal mods. Thus, reloading a weapon is not noticeably faster with the corresponding reload mod. Guardians therefore only equip the enhanced versions or double stack the mods.
Many Guardians will be pleased that they will receive uniformly better mods that even cost less than the current “Enhanced Mods” and are easier to find.
The only downside is the raid mods starting with Beyond Light
What is the deal with the raid changes? No Guardian would likely have any issues with an additional 5th mod slot. This allows you to use the visually appealing armors outside of the raid as well. When you then enter the endgame activity, you can equip specific mods.
But there is a “but” that might annoy some players: The 5th mod slot is only available on armors acquired after Beyond Light. Additionally, the “anti-mods” are being revamped or completely removed:
- Anti-Daedalus mods from “Last Wish” only work in that raid.
- Anti-Hive mods from the Leviathan Raid will disappear.
- Anti-Fallen raid mods from “Scourge of the Past” will also disappear.
In the future, Bungie aims to make raid mods more along the lines of the mods from “Garden of Salvation“, focusing on supporting raid mechanics rather than general effects.
This is why it’s frustrating: Recently, Bungie made the old raids significantly more relevant. Thus, some Guardians farmed several raid sets. But now, to use the 5th mod slot, they might have to discard those armors.
The removal of the “anti-mods” in most play areas might also irritate some Guardians. Since mods like “Darkness Weaponry” provided endless power ammo.
According to Destiny expert Datto, this is a good decision because these mods negatively affect many areas of the game. He says:
Weapon mods are one of the top 3 reasons why Gambit isn’t fun. They create many balance issues, and developers always have to keep in mind that some players have infinite power ammo.
Datto via YouTube
What do you think of the upcoming changes to the mod system? Especially the removal of elemental affinity, the free upgrade to the improved version, and more general slots for exotics are successful quality-of-life improvements. Or do the changes to the raid mods leave a bitter taste for you?
If exotic weapons could also get a slot for, for example, artifact mods, smiles would be guaranteed. Whether something like this will actually happen, we do not know. But we do know what new exotic toys await you in the fall DLC: Destiny 2 reveals 10 new exotics and they all look really exciting for Beyond Light
