Destiny 2's Season of the Deep includes a new Artifact that greatly buffs the effectiveness of Arc, Void, and Strand. This season's Artifact offers some of Destiny 2's strongest passives yet, including the return of fan-favorites such as Lightning Strikes Twice and Counter Charge.
Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Strand
New perk options also give Void users access to constant Void Overshields, Strand users infinite Unraveling Rounds, and much more. This guide will cover all 25 Artifact passives tied to Season of the Deep, their effects, and how to unlock them. We'll also give an overview of how the Artifact system works for new and returning players. Here is every Artifact perk obtainable in Destiny 2's Season of the Deep.
Updated May 31, 2023, by Charles Burgar: Now that we've had time to experiment with the NPA Repulsion Artifact, we now have rough values for how each perk functions. We've updated this guide to include exact values for all 25 perks this season when applicable. This includes perks such as Amped Up, Supernova, Shock and Awe, and Lightning Strikes Twice.
Season Of The Deep Artifact Explained
Column One | Column Two | Column Three | Column Four | Column Five |
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Anti-Barrier Auto Rifle | Authorized Mods: Arc | Improved Unraveling | Strand Soldier | Conductive Cosmic Needle |
Unstoppable Hand Cannon | Authorized Mods: Void | Deeper Origins | Overcharged Armory | Shock And Awe |
Overload Scout Rifle | Authorized Mods: Strand | Unto The Breach | Protective Breach | Supernova |
Overload Trace Rifle | Authorized Mods: Melee | Electric Armor | Counter Charge | Squad Goals |
Unstoppable Glaive | Technicolor Siphon | Thunderous Retort | Amped Up | Lightning Strikes Twice |
Season of the Deep's Artifact is obtained after completing the introductory season mission and speaking with Sloane at the H.E.L.M. Once obtained, you can access the Artifact from your Guardian menu. You can select up to twelve passive bonuses at any given moment. Respeccing the Artifact is completely free and can be done on a per-mod basis. Earning XP will increase your Artifact level, letting you activate more passives while increasing your Guardian's Power Level for the given season.
Some mods on the Artifact will mention that they grant Overcharge to a particular weapon category. Overcharge is a buff present in endgame PvE activities that increases your damage by 25%. All Champion counters and the Overcharged Armory passives will grant Overcharged to their respective weapon types. This buff does not stack with activity Surges, but it does stack with weapon damage perks and player buffs like Radiant and weapon surge mods found on leg armor. Overcharge is present in Legendary Lost Sectors, Nightfalls, Master raids, and Master dungeons.
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Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Weapon Crafting
Column One
Anti-Barrier Auto Rifle | Your equipped Auto Rifles pierce Barrier Champion shields.
Additionally, Auto Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active. |
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Unstoppable Hand Cannon | Aiming down sights with a Hand Cannon for a short time loads an explosive payload, stunning Unstoppable Champions.
Additionally, Hand Cannons are always Overcharged when that modifier is active. |
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Overload Scout Rifle | Landing consecutive hits with a Scout Rifle will stun Overload Champions.
Additionally, Scout Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active. |
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Overload Trace Rifle | Landing consecutive hits with a Trace Rifle will stun Overload Champions.
Additionally, Trace Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active. |
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Unstoppable Glaive | Your equipped Glaives stagger combatants and stun Unstoppable Champions.
Additionally, Glaives are always Overcharged when that modifier is active. |
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Column One Perks Explained |
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Anti-Barrier Auto Rifle allows all Auto Rifles to damage Barrier Champion shields, stunning them when broken. Anti-Barrier counters also have the unlisted property of letting your weapons bypass invulnerable parts of fodder PvE enemies. This includes physical shields carried by Cabal Phalanxes and their Taken variants, Vex Hydra shields, and Hobgoblins actively regenerating their HP. Barrier rounds also provide a 20% damage bonus against Titan Barricades in the Crucible. Additionally, Auto Rifles are considered Overcharged in endgame PvE activities.
Overload Scout and Trace Rifles will give both weapon types Overload properties. Hitting the same target multiple times will disrupt them, delaying ability regeneration while lowering their damage output. Overload Champions are stunned by this effect, and standard PvE enemies will be unable to use special abilities. Disruption has a negligible effect in PvP and does not reduce a Guardian's damage output.
Unstoppable Hand Cannon and Glaive allow both weapon archetypes to stun Unstoppable Champions. Hand Cannons accomplish this by aiming down sights for a short time to load an explosive shot, while Glaives simply have to fire their projectile at a target. This explosive projectile deals no bonus damage, although it does inflict stagger on PvE enemies.
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Column Two
If you unlock one of these perks, be sure to reinstall your armor mods to receive the discount.
Authorized Mods: Arc | All Arc armor mods are significantly discounted. |
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Authorized Mods: Void | All Void armor mods are significantly discounted. |
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Authorized Mods: Strand | All Strand armor mods are significantly discounted. |
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Authorized Mods: Melee | All armor mods that affect melee abilities are significantly discounted. |
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Technicolor Siphon | Unlock additional armor mods that combine the effects of Strand Siphon and Arc Siphon. |
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Column Two Perks Explained |
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Authorized Mods reduce the cost of all associated mods to one energy. For example, Authorized Mods: Arc reduces the cost of all Arc-related mods to one point. This includes targeting mods, loaders, dexterity mods, reserve mods, scavengers, and holster mods. The melee variant discounts Hands-On, Heavy Handed, Impact Induction, and Momentum Transfer.
Technicolor Siphon adds a unique Siphon mod to helmets, combining Strand and Arc Siphon together into a single mod. Technicolor Siphon costs three energy to equip. Stacking this mod increases the potency of any Orbs of Power created by this mod.
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Column Three
Improved Unraveling | Increases the amount of damage dealt by unraveling a target. |
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Deeper Origins | Greatly improves the benefits provided by the Unsated Hunger, Nanotech Tracer Rounds, Harmonic Resonance, and Noble Deeds origin traits. |
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Unto The Breach | With a Void subclass equipped, defeating a Void-debuffed target creates a Void Breach. |
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Electric Armor | With an Arc subclass equipped, the Amplified buff lasts for 20 seconds. |
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Thunderous Retort | Arc Supers deals 25% more damage when cast while critically wounded or Amplified. Lasts until the end of the Super. |
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Column Three Perks Explained |
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Improved Unraveling buffs the damage of Unravel projectiles by roughly 10%, although the net DPS increase you can expect is negligible at best. Most builds can skip using this perk entirely.
Defiant Armory increases the potency of the Unsated Hunger, Nanotech Tracer Rounds, Harmonic Resonance, and Noble Deeds origin traits. Unsated Hunger gives more energy, Nanotech Tracer Rounds deal 20% more damage, Harmonic Resonance is twice as powerful, and Noble Deeds gives a stronger buff.
Unto The Breach works the same as the Echo of Cessation Fragment but for all Void debuffs. Defeating a target that's Volatile, Suppressed, or Weakened will spawn a Void Breach at the target's corpse. Grabbing the breach will restore class ability energy. This perk has a five-second cooldown between activations.
Electric Armor causes the Amplified buff to last five more seconds while you're on an Arc subclass. Amplified normally lasts for 15 seconds, so this passive makes it last 20 seconds.
Thunderous Retort buffs all Arc Supers while you're critically wounded or Amplified. When either condition is met, your Arc Supers will deal 30% more damage. This works for both roaming and instant-cast Supers.
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Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Arc 3.0
Column Four
Strand Soldier | With a Strand subclass equipped, gaining Woven Mail also grants Unraveling Rounds to your Strand weapons. |
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Overcharged Armory | Weapons with Unsated Hunger, Nanotech Tracer Rounds, Harmonic Resonance, and Noble Deeds are Overcharged. |
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Protective Breach | Picking up a Void Breach grants Void Overshields. |
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Counter Charge | Stunning a Champion grants x1 Armor Charge. |
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Amped Up | While Amplified, gain damage resistance. |
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Column Four Perks Explained |
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Strand Soldier grants Unraveling Rounds for eight seconds whenever you gain Woven Mail. Bear in mind that you'll need a Strand subclass for this passive to work, and you'll need a Strand weapon to benefit from Unraveling Rounds.
Overcharged Armory grants the Overcharge buff to any guns introduced this season alongside most Lightfall weapons. Overcharged weapons deal 25% more damage in Legend and Master-tier PvE content.
Protective Breach grants ten seconds of Void Overshield whenever you collect a Void Breach. Breaches created through Void Fragments or the Unto the Breach Artifact passive can proc this effect. Protective Breach is affected by Echo of Persistence and does not have a cooldown.
Counter Charge grants one stack of Armor Charge upon stunning a Champion in any PvE content. This can be modified with Stacks on Stacks to grant x2 Armor Charge stacks. You can also use Powerful Friends to give Armor Charge to allies upon stunning a Champion, a useful tool for triggering surge mods on leg armor.
Amped Up grants 35% damage resistance while Amplified, stacking multiplicatively with other DR sources. In PvP, this value is reduced to 10%.
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Column Five
Conductive Cosmic Needle | Targets affected by Strand debuffs take increased damage from Arc and Void abilities. |
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Shock And Awe | Arc final blows while Amplified summon a burst of lightning that damages and Jolts targets. |
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Supernova | Picking up a Void Breach causes your next source of Void damage to create a large Weakening pulse. |
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Squad Goals | Finishers provide your allies subclass keywords depending on your currently equipped subclass element. |
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Lightning Strikes Twice | Throwing an Arc grenade improves grenade regeneration for a short time. Arc kills extend the timer. |
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Column Five Perks Explained |
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Conductive Cosmic Needle causes targets affected by Suspend, Unravel, or Sever to take 5% damage from Arc and Void abilities. This works in both PvE and PvP.
Shock and Awe causes Arc kills while Amplified to release a bolt of lightning, similar to Thunderlord and Cloudstrike.The damage is comparable to a Storm Grenade's lightning bolt, Jolting the target on hit. This can trigger on any source of Arc damage, including weapons, abilities, Supers, and Aspects like Arc Soul. Shock and Awe has a five-second cooldown between activations.
Supernova behaves identically to Felwinter's Helm. Grabbing a Void Breach will grant the Supernova buff for the next ten seconds. Dealing any type of Void damage with this buff active will cause a target to release a five-meter explosion, inflicting a 15% Weaken onto the initial target and everything inside the blast radius. This effect does not have a cooldown.
Squad Goals provides a buff to nearby allies when you perform finishers. The subclass you have equipped determines the buff. Strand finishers grant Woven Mail to Strand users, Arc finishers grant Amplified to Arc users, and Void finishers grant Devour to Void users. You must have these buffs active upon performing the finisher for your allies to receive these keywords.
Lightning Strikes Twice grants a grenade regeneration buff whenever you throw an Arc grenade, similar to how Heart of Inmost Light works. This passive provides a 150% grenade regeneration boost for 5 seconds, increased by 3 seconds for every Arc kill you land. This buff cannot last longer than 20 seconds.
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