Best Destiny 2 Armor Mods: PvP and PvE

Armor mods stay consistent season to season in Destiny 2 which makes it easy to create the best PvP and PvE builds. Armor Mods are the essential cherry on top of every Destiny 2 build — here are the best Armor Mods for PvP and PvE.

Related: 10 Best PvE weapons in Destiny 2, ranked

Best PvE Armor Mods in Destiny 2, ranked

Armor Mods are great in PvE. They are essential to creating Orbs of Power which give you more energy for your abilities and can trigger specific Fragments. They are also great for damage resistance, but the main thing is ability regeneration. Any Armor Mod in the S-tier, A-tier, or B-tier is great and the rest should by and large be ignored for PvE builds.

S-tier PvE Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Heavy Ammo Finder, Special Ammo Finder, Harmonic Siphon
• Arms – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Firepower, Heavy Handed
• Chest – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Concussive Dampener, Sniper Damage Resistance, Melee Damage Resistance
• Legs – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Recuperation, Innervation, Invigoration, Insulation, Weapon Surge
• Class Item – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Reaper, Bomber, Outreach

First and foremost, you need to have Resilience or Recovery Mods on all your armor pieces as these stats make you die less often. Resilience increases the amount of damage you can take and Recovery increases the rate at which you start healing.

From there, Heavy Ammo Finder and Special Ammo Finder are essential, especially in end-game content. These perks make it easier for you to find ammo. Harmonic Siphon (whenever you see “Harmonic” know that you can replace it with whatever element you want) is a must-have as well so you create Orbs of Power on weapon final blows.

Firepower generates Orbs of Power on grenade final blows and Heavy Handed does the same for melee. Choose whichever one you center your build on. Concussive Dampener, Sniper Damage Resistance, and Melee Damage Resistance cover all your bases to make you stronger against everything.

Legs have a lot of really important Armor Mods. Recuperation is really important because it grants you a chunk of health when you pick up Orbs of Power — it’s better than Better Already because that one is too slow.

Innervation, Invigoration, and Insulation are all amazing as, with the best PvE Armor Mods, there will be Orbs of Power everywhere. These Armor Mods grant specific ability cooldown reduction when you pick up Orbs of Power, so I recommend equipping whichever one focuses on the ability you’re building around. Any kind of Weapon Surge is really great in PvE as well to make that specific weapon type hit harder.

Reaper is amazing because it gives you a surefire way of generating Orbs of Power. Bomber and Outreach are amazing because they reduce the cooldown of grenade or melee — pick the one you’re building around.

A-tier PvE Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Dynamo
• Arms – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Grenade Kickstart, Melee Kickstart
• Chest – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Emergency Reinforcement
• Legs – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Absolution,
• Class Item – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Distribution, Utility Kickstart

If your Resilience and Recovery are already really high, you want to focus on grenade or melee, or you’re playing Hunter and want high Mobility to get your Dodge back faster, then go with the Discipline, Strength, or Mobility Mods.

Dynamo is a great Armor Mod as it’ll reduce the cooldowns of everything when you use your class ability near enemies. Grenade and Melee Kickstart are good options because they immediately give you energy when you fully use your grenades and/or melee, but only if you have Armor Charge from Orbs of Power.

Emergency Reinforcement works very similarly to Grenade and Melee Kickstart except it’s for health. When your shields are broken, you’ll get a damage resistance for a while if you have Armor Charge. Absolution is a good option as it reduces all your cooldowns when you pick up an Orb of Power. Utility Kickstart is the same thing as Grenade and Melee Kickstart but it’s for your class ability.

Related: Best Destiny 2 Strand Warlock build: PvP and PvE

B-tier PvE Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Ashes to Assets, Hands-On, Heavy Ammo Scout, Special Ammo Scout
• Arms – Bolstering Detonation, Focusing Strike
• Chest – Any elemental resistance mod
• Legs – Orbs of Restoration
• Class Item – Proximity Ward

Ashes to Assets and Hands-On are solid Armor Mods that grant Super energy upon grenade or melee kills. This can be really good for Super focused builds. Heavy and Special Ammo Scout are great for end-game PvE content because it ensures your allies get ammo as well.

Bolstering Detonation and Focusing Strike are good options to get your class ability back quickly. When you do damage with melee or grenades, you get class ability energy. If you’re going up against a specific enemy with a specific elemental attack, equip a specific elemental resistance Armor Mod.

Orbs of Restoration isn’t a bad option as it restores energy to the least charged ability upon picking up an Orb of Power. Proximity Ward isn’t bad either, even though I don’t particularly like Finishers, as it gives you an overshield when performing a Finisher.

Best PvP Armor Mods in Destiny 2, ranked

When making an amazing PvP build, you need to focus less on Orbs of Power and more on specific weapon-enhancing mods. Since you’ll get fewer kills in PvP, you’ll have fewer opportunities to make Orbs of Power and proc ability regeneration Armor Mods. Again, the S-tier, A-tier, and B-tier Armor Mods are all excellent and anything not included can basically be ignored.

S-tier PvP Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Harmonic Targeting
• Arms – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Harmonic Loader, Harmonic Dexterity
• Chest – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Unflinching Harmonic Aim, Harmonic Reserves
• Legs – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Harmonic Holster, Harmonic Scavenger, Recuperation
• Class Item – Resilience Mod, Recovery Mod, Reaper

As is the case with the best PvE Armor Mods, the best PvP Armor Mods you need to focus on are Resilience and Recovery. They don’t make as big of a difference in PvP, but they still matter.

All the S-tier PvP Armor Mods focus on increasing your weapon’s capabilities. As always, whenever you see Harmonic, feel free to replace it with an element of your choosing.

Harmonic Targeting is great as it makes your ADS and target acquisition faster. Harmonic Loader increases your reload speed which is very good. Harmonic Dexterity increases your ready and stow speed which is great if you’re rocking a Special weapon.

Unflinching Harmonic Aim is really great as you’ll flinch less while getting hit. Harmonic Reserves grants you more ammo. Harmonic Holster gradually reloads your weapon, Harmonic Scavenger grants bonus reserves when picking up ammo, and Recuperation is really solid to stay alive when you do find Orbs of Power.

Reaper is a must-have in PvP if you want to consistently create Orbs of Power. It’s not wise to rely too heavily on Orbs of Power in PvP because kills are a lot less common, but Reaper allows you to have a few Orbs of Power procced Armor Mods like Recuperation.

A-tier PvP Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Ashes to Assets, Hands-On
• Arms – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Momentum Transfer, Impact Induction
• Chest – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Melee Damage Resistance, Sniper Damage Resistance
• Legs – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Innervation, Invigoration, Insulation
• Class Item – Discipline Mod, Strength Mod, Mobility Mod, Distribution

Just like with the best PvE Armor Mods, go with Discipline, Strength, or Mobility if you want faster grenades and melee or if you want your Dodge back faster as a Hunter.

Though this doesn’t happen often, Ashes to Assets and Hands-On are great for getting Super energy on melee or grenade kills. Momentum Transfer and Impact Induction can be good if you’re using grenades and melee often because each Armor Mod grants grenade and melee energy opposite the ability.

The two most important damage reduction options for PvP are Melee Damage Resistance and Sniper Damage Resistance. They speak for themselves. Innervation, Invigoration, and Insulation aren’t bad Armor Mods for PvP especially if you have Reaper. Lastly, Distribution is a good pick because it reduces all your cooldowns when you use your class ability near enemies.

B-tier PvP Armor Mods in Destiny 2

• Helmet – Power Preservation
• Arms – Fastball
• Chest – Emergency Reinforcement
• Legs – Absolution
• Class Item – Bomber, Outreach

There aren’t a lot of great PvP Armor Perks left, but there are a few worth mentioning. Power Preservation can be a great option as it gives your allies more Orbs of Power after your Super. Fastball is pretty neat, too. With it, your grenades are thrown farther and faster.

Emergency Reinforcement isn’t amazing in PvP, but it could save your life if you have Armor Charge from Orbs of Power. Absolution is a good one to reduce all your cooldowns upon picking up an Orb of Power which is possible with Reaper. Lastly, Bomber and Outreach aren’t bad with Reaper since you get grenade and melee energy back after picking up an Orb of Power.

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