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Destiny 2is no stranger to MMO mechanics.
Raids, dungeons, gear stats, buffs, and debuffs are all core systems of Destiny 2.
Use these tips to obtain high-stat armor with excellent stat distributions.
In essence, players can increase their damage output through certain “buffs.”
These typically come from abilities.
Debuffs also increase your damage output by a considerable amount, but these behave a bit differently than buffs.
Add to that weapons perks and other damage multipliers, and you have yourself a somewhat complicated damage model.
What Are Buffs And Debuffs?
That’s becauseweapon damage perks stack multiplicatively with one another.
Weapons that can roll with two damage perks simultaneously are fairly rare, so think twice about dismantling them.
This behavior also applies to damage spec mods and character buffs.
The most common Empowering buff you’ll find isRadiant, a 20% damage increase found on Solar subclasses.
Most players obtain this buff through subclass Fragments such asEmber of Torches.
What confuses most players is how buff stacking works.
You’d deal 20% more damage.
Another player comes along and firesLumina, providing a 35% damage bonus.
You donotgain 55% damage here;only the strongest Empowering buff will benefit your character.
You are also using a Primary weapon with Frenzy, providing a 15% damage buff.
Both effects would multiply together to give you a 38% damage buff.
Weapon Surges
This section isnotreferencing the Surge modifiers found in endgame activities.
That’s a separate mechanic that stacks with everything mentioned in this article.
If you swap to a Solar weapon, Void Weapon Surge will cease to boost your damage.
Permeability and Osmosis weapons no longer benefit from multiple Weapon Surge types.
This was hotfixed during Season 23.
Most debuffs increase the damage an enemy takes by 15 or 30%.
But just like player buffs, this can vary based on the debuff source.
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We did not include damage perks that buff ability or melee damage (sorry, One-Two Punch).
These perksonlyaffect weapon damage.
The game will use whichever Surge bonus is higher.
This doesnotwork withLeviathan’s Breathor any Exotic traits.
This can stack up to ten times, providing a 450% damage bonus that stacks with other buffs.
Lucky Pants will enter a ten-second cooldown before this buff can be triggered again.
Due to the limited buff window, fast-firing Hand Cannons generally gain the most benefit from Lucky Pants.
Great weapon pairings includeMalfeasance,Crimson, Warden’s Law, and all 180 RPM Hand Cannons.
Unfortunately, this also affectsSunshot.
Mechaneer’s Tricksleevesgrant a 100% damage bonus to Sidearms while you’re critically wounded.
You must swap to the Sidearm while critically wounded for the buff to apply.
Tricksleeves last until your shields break and can buff all Sidearm types, includingForerunner.
Mechaneer’s Tricksleevs also works in PvP, albeit with a much lower damage bonus of 10%.
Which Buffs Stack?
Most character buffs in Destiny 2 do not stack with one another, but there are some exceptions.
We’ll only be listing debuffs currently usable.
Oppressive Darkness and other past seasonal Artifact mods that apply debuffs won’t be listed.
Sect of Forcewill mark an enemy target upon dealing sustained precision damage.
Marked targets receive 20% more damage from your allies, stacking with other debuffs.
Disruption Breakinflicts a powerful 50% debuff on enemy targets when their shields break, lasting five seconds.
This debuff only applies to Kinetic weapons, but it does stack with other debuffs.
It also works in PvP with the same 50% debuff.
All other debuff sources listed donotstack; the strongest debuff will take priority.
How Weaken Works
Void 3.0 has introduced theWeakenkeyword into Destiny 2, created specifically for Void subclasses.
In PvP, the effect of Weaken is halved, causing Guardians to take 7.5% more damage.
Well, at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.
Not all items in Destiny 2 follow this keyword logic.
Most of these effects come in the form ofKeywords, verbs that are used by certain subclass elements.
You might also find some utility effects provided by subclass Fragments.
