Destiny 2’s upcoming changes detailed ahead of the Lightfall expansion are mostly for gear and optimizing inventory management, but one change goes beyond this to affect enemies. Elemental shields are being modified so that corresponding damage types won’t be the only possible answer to countering these types of enemies, and a related activity modifier is being removed across all activities. These changes are a great improvement to help mitigateDestiny 2artificial restrictions placed on gear that is useful in certain activities.
Unlike anti-Champion gear, elemental shields and corresponding elemental damage weapons have been around since the launch of the game. Elemental shields are what motivated players to include Void, Solar, or Arc in their builds before concepts like status effects on weapons and major buildcrafting via mods were introduced and normalized. With the new changes to the enemy’s elemental shields and the removal of the Match Game modifier, builds andloadouts inDestiny 2are becoming a lot more accessible and unrestricted.
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Enemy Elemental Shields in Destiny 2
The Match Game modifier prevents players from dealing impactful damage to elemental shields without compatible elemental damage, and the modifier is being removed entirely as of the Lightfall expansion. Also, damage to elemental shields regardless of element compatibility will be boosted to 50%. The currently available activities that will be affected by the Match Game modifier being removed are Legend and Master difficulties for the Nightfall Strikes and Lost Sectors, as well as the Grandmaster Nightfall Strike. These changes to elemental shields will helpsolo players inDestiny 2, especially in Lost Sectors, where playing solo increases the amount and rarity of rewards for completion.
The changes to elemental shields significantly help players to rely less on using (and having) combinations of particular abilities and limited sets of weaponry. Similar reworks foranti-Champion gear inDestiny 2have been discussed at large in the community for some time now, with a lot of suggestions gaining popularity. Anti-Champion weaponry is also receiving an update in Lightfall, though not quite as liberating to players' builds as the changes to elemental shields. Also, the gear mod system is being overhauled and will be eliminating the inherent rarity of mods by making them all available as progression unlocks, instead of offering them through a randomly rotating shop inventory each week.
With how complicated the mod system ended up being, elemental shields were relatively far from a pressing issue, though it is a welcome improvement for the future state ofDestiny 2. Regardless of having the best of the best elemental weaponry, more players will soon be able to contribute effectively to damaging enemies, instead of waiting for teammates with designated elemental damage types to break shields. Especially since the shift toinfinite Primary ammo inDestiny 2, the variety of weapons with energy damage is as diverse as its ever been, and changes to elemental shields will influence players to use a wider selection of gear.
Elemental shield changes could potentially be making way for players to face new shield types, likeStrand coming in Lightfall. Allowing Guardians to break Strand shields also implies that the Darkness element could potentially become available on weapons in the future, although both of these concepts are purely speculation at this point. The main feature of the changes to elemental shields and the removal of the Match Game modifier remains that it promotes a grand deal of accessibility in buildcrafting by mitigating the restrictions that elemental damage types provided.
Overall, the change to elemental shields is a great step toward making the game more friendly to newcomers and casual players, alongside the outdated mod system that was a bit unwelcoming in its final state. Together with the new anti-Champion damage sources, overhauls to the mods, and Seasonal Artifact perks,Destiny 2is breaking down a lot of entry barriers that have previously forced player builds into molds oriented on a niche and rare set of viable options. Soon in theLightfall era ofDestiny 2, players will be able to make more stylized choices for which gear to bring into activities, based on preference instead of necessity.
Destiny 2is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The Lightfall expansion is set to launch on all platforms on February 28.
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