Understanding your armor and knowing how to get the most out of it, is one of the most important things to know about Destiny 2. This guide is meant to help you understand how to maximize the benefits and save you some time. Hopefully, after reading this guide, you can better understand armor, also which armor you should keep, and which armor to upgrade or not.
ARMOR STATS
There are six Armor Attribute Stats that players need to manage:
- Mobility: increases your sprint and strafe speed.
- Resilience: increases your shield damage resistance.
- Recovery: increases your health and shield regeneration rate.
- Discipline: reduces your Grenade Ability cooldown.
- Intellect: reduces your Super Ability cooldown.
- Strength: reduces your Melee Ability cooldown.
Each class of Guardian also has a Utility Ability cooldown that is governed by a particular Attribute Stat. Those are as follows:
- Mobility: reduces Hunter Dodge Utility Ability cooldown.
- Resilience: reduces Titan Barricade Utility Ability cooldown.
- Recovery: reduces Warlock Rift Utility Ability cooldown.
ARMOR STAT TIERS
The bonuses you receive are based on your Total Attribute Stat Tier, not the individual stats. The higher the Total Attribute Stat, the higher the Tier. It is possible to get over a 100 Total Attribute Stat, or even a 120 Stat, but you cannot exceed Tier 10. See the Tier ranks below:
- Tier 0: 0-9
- Tier 1: 10-19
- Tier 2: 20-29
- Tier 3: 30-39
- Tier 4: 40-49
- Tier 5: 50-59
- Tier 6: 60-69
- Tier 7: 70-79
- Tier 8: 80-89
- Tier 9: 90-99
- Tier 10: 100+
NOTE: Wasted Stat Points
Because of the Tier based system, which is based on only getting credit for multiples of 10, it is easy to waste Stat Points, or in other words, have unused Stat Points. Say for example, you have a total of 57 Intellect, then you have 7 wasted points, because you only get credit for 50(remember, only multiples of 10). This should be avoided as much as possible, but not completely avoidable in most cases.
So when you pick your Armor Pieces, it is best if the stats are in multiples of 5, as in: 5,10,15,20,25 and so on. This way, you won't waste Stat Points when you add up all your Armor Pieces. Even if your total Stat ends in 5, we can remedy this with Armor Mod.
If you plan on Masterworking your Armor(and you should), then you can also save pieces of Armor with Stats that are: 3,8,13,18, and 23; because when you Masterwork your Armor Piece, you get +2 to each Stat. So 3,8,13,18, and 23 becomes: 5,10,15,20, and 25 respectively.
ARMOR MASTERWORK
You can fully Masterwork your Armor which will basically give you a +2 to each Stat on that particular Armor Piece, for a total of +12. Additionally, each Armor Level gives your Armor Piece more Elemental Energy, allowing you to equip more Armor Mods to it.
Legendary Armor Level Upgrade Cost:
- Level 2: 500 Glimmer, and 1 Legendary Shard.
- Level 3: 500 Glimmer, and 1 Legendary Shard.
- Level 4: 500 Glimmer, and 2 Legendary Shards.
- Level 5: 1000 Glimmer, and 2 Legendary Shards.
- Level 6: 1000 Glimmer, 3 Legendary Shards, and 2 Enhancement Core.
- Level 7: 2500 Glimmer, 3 Legendary Shards, and 2 Enhancement Cores.
- Level 8: 3000 Glimmer, 4 Legendary Shards, and 1 Enhancement Prism.
- Level 9: 3000 Glimmer, 4 Legendary Shards, and 2 Enhancement Prisms.
- Level 10: 4000 Glimmer, 5 Legendary Shards, and 1 Ascendant Shard.
Exotic Armor Level Upgrade Cost:
- Level 2: 500 Glimmer, and 1 Legendary Shard.
- Level 3: 1000 Glimmer, and 2 Legendary Shards.
- Level 4: 1000 Glimmer, and 2 Legendary Shards.
- Level 5: 2500 Glimmer, and 3 Legendary Shards.
- Level 6: 3000 Glimmer, 3 Legendary Shards, and 2 Enhancement Core.
- Level 7: 3000 Glimmer, 4 Legendary Shards, and 3 Enhancement Cores.
- Level 8: 4000 Glimmer, 4 Legendary Shards, and 2 Enhancement Prism.
- Level 9: 3000 Glimmer, 5 Legendary Shards, and 3 Enhancement Prisms.
- Level 10: 4000 Glimmer, 5 Legendary Shards, and 3 Ascendant Shards.
ARMOR MODS
There is no single best system for managing your Armor Mods. What you want equipped will depend on what particular content you are currently playing, and your play style. Although, there are mods to make note of.
All mods from the seasonal Artifact, especially the Champion Mods. You will need Champion Mods to stun Champions most higher level or end game content.
Some Mods increase or decrease your Attribute Stat. For example, the Protective Light Mod decreases your Strength Attribute by -10, and the Powerful Friends Mod can increase your Mobility Attribute by +20, and Radiant Light increases your Strength Attribute by +20.
TIP: make sure you visit Banshee-14 and Ada-1 at the Tower everyday and purchase any Armor Mods that you do not have. If you find yourself short of Mod Components to purchase those Armor Mods, simply go to your Collections, reacquire Rare Swords(the ones with blue backgrounds), and then dismantle them. You should receive a Mod Component about every 10 dismantles.
ARMOR ELEMENTS
Your Armor Element determines which Mods you can equip, as most Mods can only be equipped to specific Armor Elements. Armor Elements can be changed and is more expensive to do so the higher the level of the Armor Piece.
ARMOR ORNAMENTS
These can be applied to your Armor to make it look completely different. You can turn any Legendary Armor Piece into a Legendary Armor Ornament with a Synthweave. This allows you to make any Legendary Armor look like any other Legendary Armor that you have ever collected. You can only earn 10 Synthweave from doing Ada-1 Threader Bounties per season. Otherwise, you will have to purchase them from the Eververse Store.
To get Synthweave, you must first earn 150 Synthstrand from killing enemies(there is a 2 minute cool down between drops). Next, use the 150 Synthstrand to purchase Ada-1 Threader Bounties that give 100 Synthcord. Next, use the Loom Machine to convert 100 Synthcord to 1 Synthweave. Then, use your Synthweave in the Transmog system located below your Character View in the Menu called "Appearance Customization", just above your finisher/emote selections and to the right of your ship/vehicle selections.
NOTE: only Exotic Armor Ornaments work with certain Exotic Armor Pieces. Legendary andor Rare Armor Ornaments work with any Legendary Armor.
GETTING THE BEST VALUE OUT OF YOUR ARMOR
Typically, Legendary Armor Total Stat can range from 52-68, and Exotic Armor Pieces ranging from 56-72. However, having the highest Total Stat isn't always what's best. The best route is actually Armor Pieces with high Stat placement(attribute spikes).
You should strive for two Stat Attributes with a total of 100. This can be done more easily than you think, it just takes a little bit of time and grinding. Just pick two Stat Attributes that best serve your play style, then save all Armor Pieces you get with 20 or 25 in both of those Stat Attributes. If you plan to Masterwork the Armor(and you should), then also save all pieces that have 18 or 23 Stats in both of those Attributes that you picked. Eventually, you'll get the right armor to have two Attribute Stats with 100.
It is possible to get a triple or even quadruple 100 Stat, but it is too complicated to explain here. Just focus on getting double 100 Stats, and from there you can figure out on your own how to improve it with Mods and Subclass Abilities.
There Are Ways To Speed This Process Along:
Start with a Ghost Mod that makes all Armor drop with a particular Attribute Stat a minimum of 10 points or higher. You can also focus Umbral Engrams in the same manner at the Prismatic Recaster. Although, instead of using an Attribute Focused Umbral Engram and Ghost Attribute Mod for the same Attribute, use it for two different Attributes. For example, use a Strength Focused Umbral Engram while having a Discipline Ghost Mod equipped to receive an Armor Piece with a minimum of 10 or higher Stat in both Discipline and Strength.
In addition, be sure to open Prime Engrams, Iron Banner Engrams, Trials Engrams, and run the Prophecy Dungeon repeatedly with your Ghost Attribute Mod equipped for higher Total Stat Armor Pieces.