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Destiny 2's season 16, the Season of the Risen, is already looking to be a very interesting season in terms of PvE. Void builds are emerging as the strongest so far, with their ability to deal insane damage and weaken and suppress targets.
The seasonal artifact mods further solidify the strongest PvE features this season: Elemental Well mods, Void builds and Glaives. Players who feel overwhelmed with all these new weapons and mods need not look further than this list of the best mods to unlock first. Keep in mind that Bungie now allows all 25 artifact mods to be unlocked this season in Destiny 2, so players won't need to constantly reset once they fully level their artifact.
10 Overload Rounds
This season's Overload anti-champion mod is for SMGs and Auto Rifles, which is fantastic given how players have a lot of new weapons for these two categories to experiment with. The Funnelweb secondary SMG for example has already emerged as a favorite among players.
While most anti-champion mods are by default useful and worth unlocking, the Overload Rounds artifact mod is at the top of the choices for including two options. Moreover, its only counterpart is the Overload Grenades mod, which requires players to run a Void build. The Overload Rounds mod is applicable to any subclass, hence its strength.
9 Rocket Launcher Scavenger
When it comes to the big DPS weapons this season, the Gjallarhorn and Sleeper Simulant have emerged as early favorites among players, with the Sleeper Simulant being much more accessible to players and fireteams without the 30th Anniversary DLC. Still, those who want to make use of the Gjally are in for a treat, as Wolf Pack Rounds and Pack Hunter are powerful buffs in the current meta.
The seasonal artifact enforces this with a simple Rocket Launcher Scavenger mod, which is definitely worth unlocking for players who have the Gjallarhorn.
8 Psionic Forging I
Origin traits are a new type of perk added into the game, and some of them are incredibly powerful. The Psionic Forging I artifact mod extends the duration of two great origin traits: Psychohack and Suros Synergy. Psychohack in particular will be useful in tougher PvE content, as weapons with this trait will lower a target's damage output.
Suros Synergy is a fantastic buff for any of the new Suros weapons. When reloading, Suros Synergy buffs the weapon's handling and reduces flinch, making it especially useful for the new Suros sniper, the Fugue-55, but will also work well with the Suros pulse rifle Syncopation-53.
7 Thermoshock Plating
With Protective Light nerfed, players will be looking for new ways to protect themselves, and the Thermoshock Plating artifact mod is perfect for that. A single piece of this mod will protect players against both Arc and Solar elemental damage, so it's a neat two-in-one armor mod.
It's easy to see this being used in endgame content as well, once players know what type of enemies they'll be facing and consequently what type of damage they'll need to protect themselves against. Multiple copies of this mod also stack, so players can go wild with it.
6 Font Of Might
Charged with Light mods have seen a significant nerf due to the rework of Masterworking weapons. Now, players must apply a special mod to be able to create Orbs of Power from their weapons, and Masterworking alone won't do that. This has consequently made Elemental Well mods more plausible.
The Font of Might artifact mod is a great place to start with Well mods. When players pick up an Elemental Well that matches their subclass, any weapons they use that also match that subclass will gain a damage boost. This pairs fantastically with Void builds in particular, and lets players pile on a ton of damage.
5 Psionic Forging II
The second Psionic Forging artifact mod buffs the Hakke Breach Armaments origin trait, as well as the Land Tank origin trait. Hakke's trait is a bit more niche, buffing damage of its weapons against vehicles, turrets, barricades, and Stasis crystals.
However, the Lank Tank origin trait, found on Season 16 weapons, is proving to be quite useful, especially in a meta where Protective Light will be far less powerful. Stacking up to 3 tiers thanks to this artifact mod, the Land Tank origin trait buffs a player's resilience and damage resistance whenever they score final blows. For tough PvE content, this is perfect.
4 Suppressing Glaive
Glaives are playing a major role in the meta of this season, and the Suppressing Glaive artifact mod ensures that. Enemies hit by the glaive become suppressed when this mod is active, and are therefore unable to use their abilities.
This is absolutely huge, even compared to last season's Particle Deconstruction nonsense. The Suppressing Glaive artifact mod alone solidifies the importance of glaives in Season 16, particularly against mini-bosses and champions in challenging PvE content.
3 Volatile Flow
The Volatile Flow artifact mod works well with the new Void 3.0 changes and encourages players to build powerful Void Elemental Well builds. When this mod is active, players can pick up Void Elemental wells, which will give them Volatile Rounds.
When shooting with Volatile Rounds is active, targets will explode and deal an area of effect damage. Pair this up with Font of Might, and players are looking at the ultimate ad-clearing Void build.
2 Suppression Mastery
Since suppression is the new, powerful effect players will be applying to enemies, it's no wonder there are multiple artifact mods that affect it this season. Suppression Mastery extends the effects of suppression, whether it's done with Void abilities or with the glaive.
It's a simple artifact mod, but a necessity and powerful regardless. Longer suppression time means more time for the players to actually kill the affected mini-boss or champion. Even against larger bosses, this could be a good strategy.
1 Suppressive Darkness
The ultimate mod for this season, the Suppressive Darkness artifact mod buffs the suppression status effect by also lowering the target's defenses. Affected enemies will also take more damage when affected by the suppression status effect.
This is insanely powerful against tough bosses in PvE and will most likely write the PvE meta for Season 16. However, note that it will be impossible to have this in combination with the Suppression Mastery artifact mod, so players will have to choose between a longer suppression time or shorter suppression time, but more damage.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.