We finally got details on Armor 2.0 in Bungie’s Destiny 2 livestream today. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing and just want the highlights, I’ve got them for you — as well some of my thoughts on the new system — right here.
More Destiny 2:
- Is It Too Late (Or Too Early) To Get Back Into Destiny 2?
- Destiny 2 Moments of Triumph Guide
- Emperor Calus Dialogue That Becomes Increasingly Unclear if He’s Talking About Fighting or Sex
Destiny 2 Armor 2.0 Mods
Right now in Destiny 2, mods are consumable items. Each piece of equipment has a slot for a mod, and once slotted the mod is destroyed — unless you dismantle the equipment it’s attached to. That’s all changing with Armor 2.0.
Under the new system, mods will be permanent unlocks. That is, once you find a mod, you’ve got access to it forever. You’ll get mods from World Engrams, Gunsmith packages, and in some endgame activities. Finally, Banshee-44 is useful again!
Unlike the current way of doing things where each piece of equipment has a set number of slots, Armor 2.0 will use an energy system. Essentially, each armor piece can have up to 10 points (when fully masterworked) and each mod requires a certain number of points to slot. As you might expect, those mods which provide the most powerful effects demand more points.
Socketing mods will cost Glimmer, but they can be inserted and removed freely. Oh, and the Glimmer cap is being increased to 250,000. Armor energy can be upgraded using Glimmer, Legendary Shards, and a new currency called Ascendant Shards.
Destiny 2 Armor 2.0 Elemental Types
An additional complication to the system comes in the form of elemental types. Now, armor pieces will each be assigned an elemental type just like Energy and Power weapons. You can only use mods on armor pieces with the corresponding elemental type. It’s unclear whether these types will provide bonuses or whether this is simply a new grind.
I’m reserving judgement on this until we get more information, but it does sound like it might be some busywork to extend the endgame for high-level players. You might find a great mod, but realize it doesn’t match your favorite armor. So, time to hunt for the correct elemental type.
What Happens to My Old Armor in Armor 2.0?
The kind of strange thing about Armor 2.0 is that it’s not replacing the existing armor and mod system. All your old pieces will remain untouched. So that’s good news for players who have fully masterworked armor with their favorite perks, but it’s kind of an awkward half-measure.
I get it — Bungie is in a weird spot running Destiny 2. They’ve got to balance the demands of longtime players with keeping things fresh and interesting to bring in new ones. And I guess this kind of does that. If you don’t want to engage with the new stuff, you don’t have to. But here’s the kicker — if you’ve already got a full set of Opulent Armor, for example, you’re going to have to run the Menagerie all over again to get the 2.0 version of it.
This puts armor in kind of a weird spot in Collections. Once you do unlock the 2.0 pieces, you’ll be able to pull them out of there. But for the time being, Collections is still pretty much useless, with the exception that Exotic armors will convert to 2.0 once the new system launches.
There’s good news, though: all of the Year 1 equipment is returning to vendors, which means players who missed out on it — like me — will be able to grab the 2.0 versions.
What Else Should I Know About Armor 2.0 in Destiny 2?
Like Bungie discussed back in July, Eververse armor is becoming Universal Ornaments, which can be attached to any piece of armor — except Exotics — to overwrite its appearance.
The Destiny stats Intellect, Discipline, and Strength are returning. These determine the cooldown rates of your Class, Grenade, and Melee abilities, respectively, and will be measured on a 0-100 scale. For each 10 points put into a stat through armor and mods, you’ll get a bonus.
Ammo finders are becoming specific to each weapon. They’re being tweaked to be more useful, and the ammo bricks they generate will be visually distinguished from normal ones so you can tell that they’re working.
Players who unlock a full set of Majestic Solstice armor can pick up the armor 2.0 version from Banshee-44 on October 1.
And that’s about it! The new season will also bring some quality of life upgrades, and we don’t have all the details yet. But I’m optimistic about the whole thing. Bungie has been talking about leaning into more of an RPG direction for a while now, and this focus on ease of customizability over RNG drops is a great step towards that. We’ll have more information on Armor 2.0 and Shadowkeep as the October 1 release date comes closer.
