Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion overhauled the Armor Charge system, burying the old Elemental Wells and Charged With Light and creating something new out of their ashes. The overhauled buildcrafting maintains some elements of their predecessor, mostly with established mods and the Armor Charge system.
Armor Charge works similarly to Charged With Light, where players can gather stacks of Armor Charge with some mods, then use other mods to consume those stacks and gain a beneficial effect. The Armor Charge system also adds decaying mods, which grant you a benefit as long as they last—borrowing a page straight out of Elemental Wells’ playbook.
Despite the familiarity, veterans and newcomers alike could find the new system overwhelming, especially due to how many moving parts it has. It’s a mix of Charged With Light’s primer mods with basic old mods and even Orbs of Power as a trigger. Because of that, the system can be confusing at first—especially if you’re eager to jump into an activity or a certain neon-inspired campaign.
Here is our selection of basic Armor Charge mods that will get your feet wet in the system without being too overbearing or costly.
Basic Armor Charge mods to equip in Destiny 2 Lightfall
If you want to buy into the Armor Charge system, you’ll need ways to generate Orbs of Power, which you can do through specific mods. It’s vital to have a Siphon mod on your helmet because they’ll be the most reliable way of creating Orbs of Power. Pick the Siphon mod that matches the elements for your favorite weapon or subclass and you can start tinkering with the system.
Some Armor Charge mods don’t require you to have any Armor Charge buffs, but they will have more of an impact if you do. That’s the case for the refurbished Kickstart mods, for instance. In the pre-Lightfall sandbox, they’d only grant you some amount of energy back. With Armor Charge, however, they’ll grant you an extra amount of ability energy if you have Armor Charge, consuming stacks of it for the bonus.
Basic Armor Charge mods for grenade builds in Destiny 2 Lightfall
For Grenade-based builds, you can slot in at least one Siphon mod on your helmet to start making Orbs of Power. Ashes To Assets can be helpful to grab Super energy on each grenade kill, but you can also add in a different Siphon mod for more Orbs of Power. This should make for a constant stream of Orbs of Power to give you Armor Charge mods. But if you’re looking for more ammo, Finder mods are also an option.
In your arms, go with at least one copy of Grenade Kickstart, which will refund you some grenade energy after you use your grenade (you read that right). You can equip it with the new Firepower to make Orbs on grenade kills or double down on Kickstart mods for an improved effect. Now that these slots aren’t saved for Champion mods, there’s plenty of opportunity to spice things up a bit here.
On your legs, you can roll with Invigoration to get some grenade energy whenever you pick up an Orb of Power and/or use Orbs of Restoration for some energy to your ability with the least amount of charge.
The Class item allows you to run double Bomber, giving you some grenade energy every time you use your class ability. This loops back quickly, especially if you have any Exotic that allows you to combine those effects more easily. Warlocks’ Starfire Protocol, for instance, grants Rift energy on grenade kill, while Titans’ Heart of Inmost Light allows players to get extra ability regen.
Basic Armor Charge mods to run for melee builds in Destiny 2 Lightfall
Melee-oriented characters can take similar mods as grenade builds, though with minor changes. Again, the Siphon mod is essential here, but you can swap Ashes to Assets for Hands On to gain Super energy on melee kills. For the arms, go with Melee Kickstart, and you can use Heavy Handed for more Orb generation or equip Focusing Strike and Impact Induction for easier looping into other abilities.
Your legs should have Invigoration instead of Innervation for grenade energy when picking up an Orb of Power, and you can even pair it with Absolution if you have the mod space. On the Class item, go with Outreach (if you’re not running Gambler’s Dodge on Hunter), or you can use Distribution. Reaper isn’t a bad choice here either, since Orbs of Power are so essential to the loop.
