RNGesus blesses Destiny 2 with new expansive Armor 2.0 update

Bungie recently detailed some pretty big changes to Destiny 2's armor system, which is centered around a vast sea of RNG possibilities.

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Photo: Joseph Biwald, Bungie

Destiny 2's loot has come a long, long way. At the beginning, all the weapons and armors had fixed stats. Now with the game's upcoming Armor 2.0 update, there's a galaxy of potential rolls. Bungie is significantly overhauling the armor system with a massive level of customization, progression, and randomness to feed a bigger focus on RPG elements.

Every piece of armor will soon have three randomized points: stats (which now include old-school stats like intellect, discipline, strength, alongside mobility, resilience, and recovery), elemental affinities like solar, arc, and void , and a raw energy level. Players can boost up the energy level with crafting resources--a clever hook to keep you playing and engaged--but the elemental affinities and stats are fixed via RNG rolls. You can't change those.

The grind is about to get real.

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Mods will now require specific energy and elemental stats. The better the mod, the more energy your armor needs to have (enhanced modes require more). Certain mods also can't be equipped unless the armor has the appropriate element associated with it.

"Mods have both an Energy cost and an elemental affinity. In order for a mod to be equipped, your armor needs to have rolled the correct element and have enough Energy available (e.g., Hand Cannon Reloader costs three Void Energy to equip, so your armor must have rolled Void and have three Energy available in order to use it)," Destiny 2 director Luke Smith said in a recent update.

Here's a handy list of each elemental affinity and their requirements, courtesy of Forbes:

• Solar: Fusion Rifles, Auto Rifles, Rocket Launchers, Submachine Guns, Linear Fusion Rifles
• Arc: Pulse Rifles, Machine Guns, Shotguns, Swords, Bows
• Void: Scout Rifles, Hand Cannons, Sniper Rifles, Sidearms, Grenade Launchers

Mods can also be unsocketed from armor pieces without disappearing.

So basically you'll have to do a lot of playing to get that perfect piece of armor. It's kind of like Destiny 1's armor, but better because it can be personalized, customized, and augmented to fit your specific build. This kind of optimization is something that should fuel Destiny well into its long future of service gaming.

I personally find this to be a welcome change. Sure, I haven't played Destiny 2 in a long while thanks to the confusing nature of its content and feeling supremely out of the groove, but this could pull me back in. I absolutely love the idea of randomized gear stats, especially with a huge six-stat range, and I'm reminded from my early Diablo II days of gaming when grinding was part of the fun.

Destiny definitely needs more RPG elements and Armor 2.0 will be a huge motivator for engagement and replayability across all platforms.

Armor 2.0 will release alongside Destiny 2's big new Shadowkeep expansion on October 1, 2019 for $35.