Stats Guide

Your character's armor stats are one of the most important aspects of this game. They dictate your movement, health regeneration speed, damage resistance, and ability cooldowns. Stats are put on a tiered scale and range from 0 - 100. Tier 1 is 10 - 19, Tier 2 is 20 - 29, and so on and so forth. Tier 10 has the fastest cooldown times, while Tier 1 has the longest cooldown times. Any stats beyond 100 provide no additional benefits. Four of the five Armor pieces a Guardian can obtain are rolled with random stats (class items do not roll with stats). Putting materials into the Armor masterworks it, increasing all stats by 2. Putting General Armor Mods into the Armor also raises Armor stats. All stats are based on passive recovery and not active recovery, like dealing damage or killing combatants.

While you can't manipulate your Armor stats perfectly, you can influence them to help gain a bonus to a stat of your choice. Click on your Ghost Shell to apply the Stat Armorer that you need, and any newly earned Armor has a minimum of 10 points in that specific stat. You are more likely to drop a piece of Armor with higher values of that stat.

Another way to acquire high stat Armor is to "farm" for Artifice Armor (to "farm" something is to repeat an activity or encounter for multiple runs for the possibility of earning better loot. This vernacular is used commonly in the Destiny 2 space). Artifice Armor gives you a bonus slot to equip an additional stat mod. The only ways to acquire Artifice Armor currently is to compete in Competitive PvP or complete encounters in Master Dungeons.

Some Exotic Armor also affects your stats by means of an intrinsic trait that directly affects abilities, grenades, or melees. They inherently affect them by adding a second charge, decreasing the charge time, or giving you abilities when you use other abilities. For example, Osmiomancy Gloves give you an additional charge to a specific grenade when equipped, as well as a faster recharge time. While the stats and traits do not combine, it can be a great way to substitute a low stat. Starting with the release of The Final Shape (June 4, 2024), you can spend Exotic Ciphers to give your Exotic Armor an Artifice slot, meaning you can have two stat mod slots on an Exotic Armor piece!

Simply put, stats determine your build. In general, you want your rolls high in the stats that are necessary for your build to work. For example, a Gyrfalcon Void Hunter Build utilizes grenades to get kills faster - cutting down combatants quickly means keeping Devour active. So in that example, having a high stat tier in Discipline is something that you should have.

Tier 10 resilience is recommended by default for PvE content. Tier 10 Resilience grants a 30% Damage Resist. Some stats are tied directly to a class. Hunters look for higher rolls in Mobility, to decrease the cooldown period on their dodge. Titans focus on Resilience to get their barricades back faster, and Warlocks focus on Recovery to get their rifts more quickly.

Between class abilities and specific builds, you are mainly looking to prioritize three stats at a time, if possible. That's not to say the others are not important, but they are not as vital to the build or the class. You can also offset some stats with mods. For example, you're on Hunter and you have prioritized Mobility and Resilience. However, you really need to have your grenade back as often as possible for the build. You can equip mods which help even out lower stat tiers. For example, Bomber lets you bring back your grenade faster simply by using your class ability!

Stats in Destiny 2 are important to both the class you are playing on as well as the build you are using. They can determine how quickly you recharge your abilities, how resistant you are to incoming damage, and much more. It's vital to know what you are looking for in your Armor and how to improve those stats.

Written by: ShieldMaiden

Reviewed by: Northwar, SquirrelyDan