Destiny 2 Episode Heresy Artifact: All mods and best perks in Act 1

The artifact for Episode Heresy has been revealed, providing valuable insight into what Destiny 2’s next meta will look like, as well as the best perks and mods that you’ll want to be using.

Every episode introduces a new artifact that is typically the driving force behind a season’s meta. In Revenant, we saw the rise of Stasis builds and Grenade Launchers, with both being given perks that made them better than ever.

However, the arrival of Heresy Act 1 means there’s a whole set of new perks and a fresh meta that you’ll need to learn. To make sure your loadout isn’t being left behind, here’s all of the artifact mods in Episode Heresy and which ones are defining the meta this time around.

Episode Heresy artifact mods

Column 1

MOD	EFFECT
Unstoppable Fusion	Aiming down sights for a brief period with any Fusion Rifle you are wielding loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants.
Overload Machine Guns	Shots from Machine Guns you are wielding disrupt combatants, stunning them, delaying ability energy regeneration and exhausting them. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Machine Guns are always overcharged when that modifier is active. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
Piercing Sidearms	Your equipped Sidearms fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Sidearms are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
Anti-Barrier Sniper Rifle	Sniper Rifles you are wielding fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Sniper Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
Unstoppable Glaive	Glaives you wield fire a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Glaives are always overcharged when the modifier is active. This perk will be enabled when you equip a weapon of the appropriate archetype.

Column 2

MOD	EFFECT
Overclock and Load	While you are amplified or have Bolt Charge, Arc weapons gain increased handling and reload speed.
Deep Alchemy	Weapons with the Subjugation Origin Trait gain stability and reload speed for a short duration when hitting any target. These weapons are also overcharged when that modifier is active.
Volatile Marksman	Rapid Void weapon precision hits and rapid Void weapon final blows grant Volatile Rounds.   BOOST: Volatile detonations grant class ability energy.
Legend Incarnate	Weapons with the Timelost Magazine Origin Trait gain bonus damage; these weapons are also overcharged when that modifier is active.
Unraveling Orbs	Picking up an Orb of Power or a Tangle grants Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds.

Column 3

MOD	EFFECT
Hold the Line	While surrounded, Machine Guns and Glaives gain increased reload speed and stability; final blows heal you.
Dielectric	Defeating Arc debuffed targets grants Bolt Charge.   BOOST: Rapidly defeating Arc debuffed targets spawns an Orb of Power and heals a small portion of health.
King’s Vestige	Defeating powerful Taken loads your weapon with Taken energy. The next time you fire, launch 3 Taken seeker rounds that disrupt and exhaust targets. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
Disruptor Spike	Improves the effects of Exhaust and Sever, lowering a target’s damage output even further. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage. Exhaust is applied by disrupting combatants or by weapons with the Psychohack or Subjugation Origin Traits.
Photonic Flare	Defeating an exhausted or severed target with Arc damage releases a blinding burst. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage. Exhaust is applied by disrupting combatants or by weapons with the Psychohack or Subjugation Origin Traits.

Column 4

MOD	EFFECT
Dreadful Finisher	Defeating powerful combatants with your finisher spawns Special ammo for you and your allies; defeated Subjugators, Tormentors, or Champions spawn more ammo.
Maligned Harvest	Rapidly applying Volatile causes your next instance of Void weapon damage to create a weakening burst.
Flashover	When you gain maximum Bolt Charge, you also become amplified. Lightning bolts deal more damage.
Horde Shuttle	Damaging unraveled targets with a weapon occasionally spawns a Threadling.
No Bell	Rapid Glaive melee final blows grants Special ammo Glaives additional ammo. Blocking damage with Glaives increases their melee damage to targets.

Column 5

MOD	EFFECT
Particle Reconstruction	Dealing sustained damage with Fusion Rifles or Linear Fusion Rifles partially refills the magazine from reserves and grants them bonus damage for a short duration against that target.
Elemental Supercharger	Defeating exhausted or severed targets with weapons that match your Super element grants Super energy. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage. Exhaust is applied by disrupting combatants or by weapons with the Psychohack or Subjugation Origin Traits.
Heavy Ordnance Regeneration	Dealing sustained damage to targets with a Heavy Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher grants damage resistance and increases grenade and melee regeneration for a short duration.
Defibrillating Blast	Stunning a Champion grants maximum stacks of Bolt Charge. Triggers an Arc bolt that heals you and jolts combatants that it damages.
Void Flux	Defeating weakened targets with a Void weapon applies Volatile to nearby targets. Powerful targets increase the radius of the explosion.

Best artifact mods – Tablet of Ruin

MOD	COLUMN	WHY IT’S USEFUL
Piercing Sidearms	1	Applies to Rocket Sidearms, giving one of the most powerful archetypes the ability to stun Champions. In the case of Tinasha Mastery, you’ll even be able to stun both Barrier and Unstoppable if you have a Chill Clip roll.
Unstoppable Fusion	1	Synergizes extremely well with the new Exotic Fusion Rifle, with it even receiving a 25% damage buff in activities where the Overcharged Weapons modifier is active.
Volatile Marksman	2	Easy access to Volatile Rounds and this will stack with the buffed Destabilizing Rounds, allowing you to upkeep the effect with ease.
Unraveling Orbs	2	Incredibly strong on any Strand build that can produce lots of orbs. Effectively allows for infinite Unravelling Rounds, producing endless Tangles and allowing you to stun Barrier Champions.
Disruptor Spike	3	A passive bonus that will make you more durable when using either one of the new seasonal weapons or an LMG with Overload Machine Guns active. This should be very useful in more challenging content where sustain is key.
No Bell	4	This gives Glaives an additional utility purpose of producing ammo. You also receive a sizable damage boost after blocking, which partners well with Unstoppable Glaives to take down Champions without having to waste ammo.
Particle Reconstruction	5	If this stacks with DPS perks like Rewind Rounds, Linear Fusion Rifles are set to make their return, and Fusion Rifles will very likely be the best DPS option for special weapons.
Defibrillating Blast	5	Stunning a Champion activates Jolt, meaning they immediately lose a chunk of health and take ≈10% more damage from all sources. This is great for wiping out Champions in more challenging activities.
Void Flux	5	This provides additional add clear on any Void build that can inflict Weaken, which is most builds these days. Even easier, you can just use a weapon with Withering Gaze for the same effect.

The above recommendations are what we consider to be the strongest artifact mods for Episode Heresy that will apply to a wide range of builds or for most builds in a subclass.

Of course, other mods are still useful and should definitely be considered depending on what kind of loadout you are using. For example, a Super-focused Exotic like Celestial Nighthawk will benefit a lot from Elemental Supercharger, while a Warlock that spams grenades will favor Heavy Ordnance Regeneration.

The truth is that all 25 perks have their uses, it just depends on how you want to play. Just keep in mind that you can only select 12 perks in total, so you’ll want to use at least a few of the ones listed above to make sure you aren’t holding yourself back.

Also, to use all 12 perk slots, you’ll need to earn XP and progress through the Heresy Season Pass. It can take a little while to unlock everything, so you’ll want to focus on completing as many seasonal challenges as possible to speed up the process. The sooner you unlock these artifact mods, the more powerful you will be.

To further improve your build, check out the Best PvE Weapons, Best PvP weapons, and Best Exotic Weapons. Using these will let you dominate the sandbox regardless of what mode you prefer.