A new season and the Lightfall expansion in Destiny 2 means that players have access to a brand-new set of seasonal artifact mods. However, with the game now having entered the era of Lightfall, artifact mods don't quite function the same as before. Players can now have 12 artifact mods active at a time and can reset their artifact at no cost at any given time. Moreover, seasonal mods no longer need to be slotted in but will be passively active.
This has made buildcrafting simpler overall, with a bit more leeway for players to toy around with armor mods. As for Season of Defiance and its selection of mods, there's a clear preference for Strand with the new subclass out, as well as Solar and Void subclasses. Here's which artifact mods for season 20 of Destiny 2 are worth unlocking first.
10 Authorized Mods: Strand, Solar & Void
This entry combines three different mods called Authorized Mods. There's one for Strand, Solar, and Void mods this season, and lowers the cost of these mods when buildcrafting and slotting them into armor pieces.
Given how incredibly good Solar and Void are, these two are must-picks, with Solar being excellent for Warlocks and Titans and Void working the best for Hunters. Of course, the Strand one is great as well for any players looking to make a dedicated Strand build—though the exact power of Strand remains to be seen until all fragments are available in the game.
9 Authorized Mods: Grenades
This Authorized Mods mod is a bit different, as it doesn't focus on a specific subclass but rather on an ability. Grenades are a key part of various builds, so players who plan on building around them should pick this one up.
With this mod active, any armor mods that deal with grenades will have a discounted energy cost. In particular, Warlocks will benefit from this, as Warlocks tend to be the grenadiers of the Destiny 2 sandbox.
8 Multi-Siphon Mods
The Multi-Siphon mod is the only artifact pick-up that must be slotted in because it unlocks two additional helmet mods for players: Solar/Strand Dual Siphon and Void/Strand Dual Siphon. Siphon mods allow players to create Orbs of Power by scoring rapid kills on the correct weapon element type. And since Orbs of Power are needed to collect Armor Charge, which activates all mods these days, this is a very powerful pick-up from the artifact.
Moreover, since players won't be using just Strand to do damage, these Multi-Siphon mods are pretty much a must-have for just about any Strand build out there in Season of Defiance.
7 Volatile Flow
A fan-favorite has returned this season. Volatile Flow has returned with vengeance, but this time, it can be activated by picking up an Orb of Power to gain the Volatile Rounds buff on Void weapons.
Given that Void is still strong and one of the key subclasses this season, there's no reason not to pick this one up. Pair it with SMGs like the Funnelweb and classic Void 3.0 builds, and players can once more enjoy the meta of Season of the Risen in the year 2023.
6 Bricks From Beyond
Lucent Finisher may be gone, but fear not, because this season's heavy ammo artifact mod is an interesting one. Bricks From Beyond lets players have a chance at generating heavy ammo for themselves and their allies when defeating powerful combatants with Void weapons.
Given how important heavy ammo is in most endgame PVE activities, this should be a no-brainer for most players who plan on engaging in raids, dungeons, and the like in season 20. The only downside is that it requires a Void weapon specifically.
5 Allied Unraveling
Now on to some Strand. While the exact power and potential of Strand remain a mystery for now until all fragments are made available after the raid, it's likely that Bungie has ensured that Strand will be incredibly strong this season by default. These artifact mods will only increase that.
Allied Unraveling encourages players to get rapid final blows with Strand weapons, which will activate the Unraveling Rounds buff for them. If allies are nearby, this buff has an extended duration, making it fantastic for most PVE content.
4 Threaded Blast
Continuing with mods that encourage players to use Strand weapons, the Threaded Blast mod increases the explosion size of destroying a Strand with a Strand weapon. This is wonderful for ad-clearing, which Strand is already showing a lot of promise in.
While destroying Tangles by default does create a small blast, having a bigger one with increased damage as well is going to be a cornerstone in many Strand builds. Pick this up, if making a powerful Strand build is a priority.
3 Rain Of Firebolts
An interesting detail in the artifact this season is Bungie's attempt at pushing people to use Firebolt grenades. These grenades haven't seen much meta use in the past year, and because of that, it makes sense that they would need artifact mods to push them back to the forefront—at least for season 20's duration.
Rain of Firebolts automatically gives players two Firebolt grenade charges whenever they have Firebolt grenades equipped. With all the other grenade and Solar mods available this season, there's some real potential for Solar builds here that feature double Firebolt grenades. On that note, a special mention goes to the Flare Up mod in the artifact that buffs the amount of scorch stacks Firebolt grenades make and also spawns a Firesprite from any Firebolt kills.
2 Void Weapon Channeling
For any major Void builds out there, the Void Weapon Channeling is a great boost of damage to Void weapons. It works particularly well with Gyrfalcon's Hauberk builds for Hunters, but can also be used in various Voidwalker builds for Warlocks.
Getting Void weapon kills while at least one Void ability is fully charged will basically grant players a damage buff to their Void weapons. The more fully charged abilities players have, the more damage their weapons gain.
1 Prismatic Transfer
Easily the most interesting artifact mod this season is the Prismatic Transfer mod. When players cast their Super, any allies on a different subclass will gain a general weapon damage boost. Needless to say, this one will likely be one of the key mods for endgame PVE activities, where players will run different subclasses depending on their role.
For example, Hunters using a Tether to weaken a boss will provide a damage boost to a Warlock using a Well of Radiance to support their team. It's a mod that will help the team overall, but not one that should be underestimated.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.