Since their introduction a few years back, Destiny 2 mods have undergone a number of changes in order to make the system better. The idea of giving players a way to customize their builds is a noble one, and by and large, the mod system works, but there are some areas where it can improve.
This week, Bungie confirmed some changes coming to Destiny 2's armor mods that should go a long way towards improving the system. Players that feel armor mods are too restrictive or that dislike how many of them are available should find that Bungie's updated approach for Beyond Light is a great step forward.
Mod Element Restrictions Removed
The biggest tweak to the Destiny 2 armor mod system is a removal of the elemental affinity for weapon-oriented mods. Currently, certan weapon mods are connected to certain elements (Arc, Void, and Solar), so players can only equip that mod if the armor piece is aligned with that element. In the Beyond Light expansion, the element will not be important and any weapon mod will be able to slot into any piece.
This change should go a long way towards removing the restrictive nature of Destiny 2 builds since players won't have to seek out Void armor for faster reloads on grenade launchers or Arc armor for heavy machine gun ammo finder. Every one of these mods from loader mods to ammo mods to targeting mods will be available for every type of armor.
Bungie acknowledged that this has been a major request from Destiny 2 players for quite some time but the concern was an overabundance of mod choices when in the inventory screen. It's unclear how this new system is getting around that concern, but it's a welcome change nonetheless.
No More Enhanced Mods in Destiny 2
The other big mod change for Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion is the deprecation of Enhanced Mods. Bungie is improving the viability of all mods to better match their Enhanced counterparts and then removing the Enhanced versions from the mod pool. Enhanced mods are a no-brainer when it comes to creating a Destiny 2 build, but only for those players lucky enough to have them. So rather than have that disparity between players, Bungie is making everything even. The one caveat to that, though, is that most mods will see their energy cost increase, but they will not “cost” as much as the deprecated Enhanced versions.
Bungie made this change in Destiny 2: Beyond Light because they heard enough feedback regarding the viability of Enhanced mods versus their regular counterparts. Enhanced hand cannon loader, for example, actually showed a noticeable increase in reload speed, while the basic version offered a slight improvement.
Now, players won't have to worry about farming Iron Banner for Enhanced mods, and can focus on fine-tuning their builds. And they will also be able to slot in a reload mod for two different weapon types, if they so choose.
New Mod Slots for Armor
Exotic armor pieces are also getting a mod slot that Bungie is calling "Combat Style." This mod slot will be added to exotics that players already have in their inventory and will be part of new Beyond Light/Season 12 armor and raid armor from Last Wish or Garden of Salvation. For Season 12, Bungie says that this slot will accept the Charged with Light and Warmind Cell mods from past seasons.
Non-sunset armor (anything from Seasons 8-11) will get its version of the Combat Style slot but it will be called Legacy. This armor mod slot will accept the aformentioned Charged and Warmind mods, as well as mods from the two raids, and Nightmare Hunt mods. Ideally, this approach should cut down on the pieces of armor that players need to hold onto to be equipped for certain endgame activities. After Beyond Light releases, it will only be a matter of swapping out mods.
Mod Slot Shakeup
Finally, Bungie only gave one example, but the developer did say that some mods will be moving around in order to make the build crafting a little more difficult for players. The devs want players to have to choose between two good mods, rather than going for the obvious, best-in-slot choice. All Bungie would say about that, though, is that it is moving Fast Ready perks to Arms armor.
Given how much the Destiny 2 community had been discussing mods over this season, it seemed likely that Bungie was going to make some changes. By and large, these changes make the mod system less restrictive and open up more choices for players. And alongside the changes to raid mods in Beyond Light, there will be a lot less of players feeling like they are missing out on certain mods.
Destiny 2 Beyond Light releases November 10, 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5 (on November 12), Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.