Destiny 2 will be making a major change to weapon mods in the Shadowkeep expansion, no longer making mods consumables. But instead, like how armor mods will work under the new Armor 2.0 system, once a player has unlocked a mod, it will remain unlocked and can be slotted freely into any weapon without losing it.
With that in mind, Destiny 2 players will be able to more freely experiment with builds and synergy between their armor, weapons, and subclasses. This news has introduced a new pursuit into the game just weeks before Shadowkeep for any player who does not have a full collection of weapon mods.
In the interest of going into Shadowkeep prepared, players should acquaint themselves with every mod and what they do. Here are all the weapon mods currently available in the game before Shadowkeep launches and what they do:
- Backup Mag: Increases magazine
- Boss Spec: Increases damage against bosses and vehicles by 7.5%
- Counterbalance Stock: Reduces recoil by adding +15 Recoil
- Dragonfly Spec: Increases the radius and damage of Dragonfly
- Freehand Grip: Increases accuracy and ready speed while firing from the hip
- Icarus Grip: Improves accuracy while airborne
- Major Spec: Deals extra damage against powerful enemies by 7.5%
- Minor Spec: Deals extra damage against rank-and-file enemies by 7.5%
- Quick Access Sling: Swap weapons much faster for a short duration after emptying the magazine
- Radar Booster: Slightly increases the range at which radar detects enemies
- Radar Tuner: Radar immediately returns when you stop aiming down sights
- Rampage Spec: Increases duration of Rampage
- Sprint Grip: Temporarily increases the weapon's ready speed and aim down sights speed after sprinting
- Surrounded Spec: Increases the damage granted by Surrounded. Bonus damage lingers for a brief time when no longer surrounded by three or more enemies
- Taken Spec: Increased damage against Taken enemies by 10%
- Targeting Adjuster: This weapon gains better target acquisition
Again, players are only required to have one of these mods in their inventory, so any duplicates should absolutely be dismantled for Mod Components. The weapon mods in players inventory will automatically convert to the new weapon mod system with the launch of Shadowkeep. If players have a mod on a particular weapon but not in their inventory as a mod, it will not be unlocked. That mod will need to be reacquired or players will need to dismantle the weapon it is equipped on in order to add it back to their inventory.
While Bungie is not adding any kind of Weapon 2.0 system to the game anytime soon, this change to weapon mods should have a positive effect as players will be able to use their mods more often than they currently do. This change joins a number of changes to weapons, including an overall change to how weapons do damage, plus a number of buffs to weapons to account for that damage change.
While not yet revealed, there are likely to be a new collection of weapon mods added to the game in Shadowkeep. Bungie has slowly added more mods over time to the game through expansions like Forsaken and seasons such as Black Armory. New armor mods in connection to the new Garden of Salvation raid were spotted in a build of the game at PAX, so it's a logical assumption that weapon mods will accompany them. But players will find out for sure in just a few weeks when Shadowkeep launches.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.