Tips On Dealing Damage In Destiny 2

Dealing with high damage is one of the skills that is necessary to success in Destiny 2, especially in Raid-based content. While it may seem simple on the surface, there is often more than what meets the eye when it comes to being an efficient damage dealer against bosses and general enemies.

At higher difficulties, dealing more damage is, obviously, incredibly helpful. More damage allows players to neutralize high-priority targets faster, kill general adds faster, and simply feel stronger in Destiny 2. This article will provide five tips to optimize damage and how players can top the DPS charts in their next Raid.

5 Kinetic Damage Bonus

Kinetics Deal More Damage Than Elemental Weapons

• Kinetic Weapons deal 10-15% more damage depending on ammo type
• Damage buff means Kinetic Weapons are good for DPS rotations
• Kinetic Weapons miss out on elemental-based perks

Kinetic weapons (weapons without an element) deal more damage than weapons with an elemental affinity. This is great, as some Kinetic Weapons are already incredibly powerful, but losing out on an element can be frustrating if players opt for the bonus damage. This is mainly because certain elemental perks, like Incandescent, Voltshot, and Repulsor Brace, are all excellent perks and cannot roll on Kinetic Weapons.

The bonus isn’t negligible, either. For Primary ammo-based weapons, Kinetics will deal 10% more damage. For Special weapons, this ramps up to a 15% bonus for Kinetics. This is a part of why weapons like Heritage and Succession from Deep Stone Crypt feel so powerful. Incorporating a hard-hitting Kinetic Special weapon into DPS loadouts is an excellent choice and can increase a player’s total damage by a noticeable margin.

4 Buff And Debuff Stacking

Only Some Buffs And Debuffs Can Be Stacked

• Debuffs do not stack, and the highest will take precedence, except for world-based modifiers like encounter mechanics which stack with everything.
• Global buffs do not stack, with the highest taking precedence. These include abilities, buffs from Exotics like Lumina, and Solar-based Buffs
• Surge Sources do not stack
• Weapon perks, Exotic intrinsics that apply straight to the weapon, and world modifiers stack with everything

Dealing damage isn’t always about having the best Exotics on hand, but it’s also about knowing what buffs and debuffs stack in order to obtain the highest possible buff and debuff percentages available to kill a boss. Debuffs are pretty simple, with the only two potential factors being activity modifiers and global debuffs. The highest debuff always takes precedence; for example, Tractor Cannon, at 30%, takes precedence over Divinity at 15%. These debuffs will not stack.

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Buffs are more complicated. Global buffs like Solar-based buffs, abilities, Exotics, and certain artifact mods will not stack, and the highest takes precedence. Weapon Surges cannot be stacked with other sources of a Surge bonus. For example, Foetracer’s 25% damage bonus does not stack with the 22% bonus from Surge Mods. On top of this, specific damage sources stack with everything. Weapon mods, certain Artifact Mods, Weapon perks, and Exotics that provide a direct weapon buff, like Momento Mori on Ace of Spades or Impetus on Merciless, stack with everything listed.

3 Damage Rotations

Including Multiple Weapons Will Always Deal More Damage

• Including multiple weapons will let players deal more damage
• Learning swap timings and certain strategies like canceling reloads will increase DPS
• Using the meta-damage rotations is best for optimal damage

One of the best ways to deal maximum damage is to use a powerful DPS loadout. These loadouts don’t just include a single weapon or a certain Exotic armor piece, but instead, they make use of every single weapon slot available to optimize damage to the maximum. This can be a difficult skill to master as switching between multiple weapons can be confusing, and some players may find it easier to just lay on the trigger of a Machine Gun. However, rest assured that it is not difficult and will improve one’s abilities as a player.

Izanagi’s Burden is the go-to swap weapon for damage as it deals incredible burst damage, and can be reloaded before swapping to a Heavy weapon to deal major damage. Typically, all rotations involve starting on a Special weapon, and then moving to a Heavy Weapon. A remarkably easy rotation uses Witherhoard and Cataclysmic, with players sticking the boss with Witherhoard, emptying their Cataclysmic magazine, and repeating the process.

2 Perk And Artifact Mod Features

Knowing Perk Breakpoints And Features Is Important

• The seasonal Artifact often includes mods that require some consideration
• Weapon mods are free damage bonuses
• Reaching optimal magazine sizes for certain perks increases the damage

One of the more niche, but obvious tips, is to become more knowledgeable about the true functions of certain perks and how to best take advantage of them. Oftentimes, the seasonal Artifact will have mods that require some consideration as to how to best use them. On top of this, knowing the use cases for certain Weapon mods is also key, and ensuring that Boss Spec is on damage-dealing weapons is vital.

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With perks, there are important breakpoints to consider. Perks like Triple Tap and Fourth Time’s the Charm can gain an extra bullet or two if the magazine is able to reach a certain point. Attempting to make Triple Tap Snipers reach five or seven bullets in a magazine or Fourth Time’s the Charm reaching 6 shots will allow an additional 4 bullets. Learning the exact numbers of perks is also incredibly helpful to know what perks are best for damage.

1 Armor Mods

• Seasonal Mods aren’t the only powerful mods available
• Dexterity, Loader, Scavenger, and Reserves mods are all excellent for improving damage
• Weapon Surge Mods increase elemental damage
• Dexterity and Loader mods in particular improve DPS potential.

While the seasonal Artifact mods are often incredibly powerful, especially in the final column, it’s important to remember simple armor mods. This doesn’t just include the Armor Charge mod system with Weapon Surges or any other build-crafting mods but also the basic Dexterity, Loader, Scavenger, and Reserves mods.

Each of the base mods can facilitate increased damage, especially Loader and Dexterity mods. Given that the main way to deal with optimal DPS is through the use of multiple weapons, equipping dexterity mods to improve swap speed will allow players to deal damage much faster. Reserve and Scavenger mods are also brilliant as they can be quickly swapped to when gaining ammo.