Introduced in Destiny 2’s Shadowkeep expansion, Champions are enemies that provide an additional challenge to many PvE activities. Aside from being more difficult and powerful, these Champions also have unique abilities specific to them.

These unique abilities, while powerful in nature, also serve as a flaw to them. Allowing you to exploit it and create more beneficial outcomes for your encounters.

• Unstoppable Champion – Large health pool and immunity to stuns and staggering.
• Barrier Champion – Generates a barrier around itself. While in its barrier, it will heal most of its lost health.
• Overload Champion – Extremely high health pool and immunity to stuns and staggering. This Champion benefits from increased ability regeneration, allowing for more frequent and aggressive usage.

How to deal with Champions

With each new season, a new seasonal Artifact is granted. Leveling up this Artifact will allow you to use weapon mods specific to each Champion type to temporarily incapacitate them during your fight. Equippable on your arms, these weapon mods alternate every season, so you’ll be using different weaponry types to handle each type of Champion. With these weapon mods, you will be granted the effects unique to each champion.

• Unstoppable – After equipping a weapon that can take advantage of this mod, you must aim-down-sight (ADS) for a moment for the buff to activate it, causing your weapon to glow. When you have the buff fire at the Unstoppable Champion to stun and stagger them.
• Anti-Barrier – When a weapon is equipped that can utilize this mod, you will see a buff on the left-hand side of your screen. Simply fire at the barrier that has been generated until it goes down, and the Barrier Champion will be left stunned and staggered. Note that depending on which weapon is able to utilize this mod, it could take one shot to drop the shield or several, so ensure you have plenty of ammo just in case.
• Overload – After having a continuous, uninterrupted fire for a small amount of time with the appropriate weapon. The weapon will begin to glow, and you will see a buff appear on the left-hand side of the screen. When you see this buff fire at the Overload Champion to stun and stagger them. It should be noted that this Champion has a very aggressive healing factor, so ensure you take it out quickly after incapacitating it.

Exotic weapons

Even though exotics can take advantage of Champion mods by equipping them in the arm slot, some exotic weapons are available with these Champion mods baked into them, allowing you to potentially have three weapons with each mod making you prepared for everything thrown at you. The following exotics can take advantage of these mods.

• Eriana’s Vow (Hand Cannon) – Fires Anti Barrier rounds to stun Barrier Champions.
• Devil’s Ruin (Sidearm) – Charging then firing this weapon’s laser can stun Unstoppable Champions.
• Divinity (Trace Rifle) – Garden of Salvation Raid exotic. This weapon’s sustained damage can weaken and stun Overload Champions.
• Leviathan’s Breath (Combat Bow) – Firing this weapon will stun Unstoppable Champions with a heavy bolt.
• The Lament (Sword) – By revving the blade, you will increase your damage and gain shield piercing to your attacks, causing Barrier Champions to be stunned.

Note that the exotics mentioned above cannot double stack mod effects. What the exotic says it can do is all it can do.

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Collin Krause

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