When Destiny 2 developer Bungie revealed its Armor 2.0 system coming with Shadowkeep in October, most of the features seemed like steps in the right direction for the franchise. However, there was one element that had players confused, if not concerned that it might sour the system’s overall appeal.
During the Armor 2.0 stream, Bungie revealed that weapon loader mods (like Hand Cannon loader or Sidearm Loader) would be locked to specific elements. So if players wanted Hand Cannon Loader they would need to get the Void version of that armor piece.
For a system that is supposed to be about allowing Destiny 2 players freedom, the limitation was frustrating. Thankfully, game director Luke Smith has jumped in to clear the confusion and confirm that there is a solution.
According to Smith, there will be generic weapon loader mods available for the Armor 2.0 system. Like what’s currently available in Destiny 2, these mods will impact a larger weapon group (like small arms, for example) and offer the same impact that a specific reload mod does. However, the tradeoff is that these general mods carry a higher energy cost and therefore limit the amount of total mods that the player can use.
This thread is about reloader mods (and also mods more generally in Armor this Fall):
In Part II, I talked about Hand Cannon mods which can be socketed into Void Armor for 3 Energy.
I should've also discussed that there are general mods like Small Arms Loader
These general mods--which provide the exact same effect as Hand Cannon reloader (but also affects other small arms weapons)--cost 4-5 energy (depending on the mod) and do not have an elemental affinity associated with them.
These general mods -- of which there are 11 -- are unlocked for everyone automatically, so you can start to tinker right away.
Basically, when when you want to specialize your weapon, it requires matching your armor's energy type.
And then you get an energy discount on socketing the mod.
Smith’s clarification should help ease the concern that Destiny 2 players had after the Armor 2.0 stream. Yes, the limitation still exists around certain weapon loader mods being tied to certain elemental affinities, but there are mods that boost reload that have no limitations. The only difference is those mods carry a higher cost.
Without having used the Armor 2.0 system first hand, it’s hard to know how much of an issue customizing builds will be. We don’t know how easy it is going to be to acquire the best mods (from pinnacle activities) and we don’t know if there are any other limitations that Bungie has yet to announce.
But the good news is that Bungie had an answer for player concerns even before a piece of Destiny 2 content or feature released. In the Activision days, Bungie did a lot of reacting to feedback instead of anticipating a response. Now, the developer seems to have answers for questions ahead of time.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.