What is Charged with Light in Destiny 2?

Destiny 2 has introduced a bunch of different mechanics over the years that significantly impact the build-crafting side of the game. Amongst these mechanics is the Charged with Light buff/mods which functions rather differently than the traditional mods in the game. We will get into the details of what is this Charged with Light and how it works in Destiny 2 in this article so read along.

Charged with Light acts like buff stacks in Destiny 2 that need to be first obtained by using any given mod that generates it (Green Mods) then these charges need to be utilized by other mods that consume these stacks (Yellow Mods) to provide a certain boost to a particular combat style.

There is way more to this whole mechanic and we urge you to scroll down to get a better understanding of these Charged with Light mods.

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What is Charged with Light?

Charged with Light comes from special Armor Mods under the Combat Style category. These mods are equippable in the last slot on your armor. By using these specific mods and meeting their respective conditions, the player either gains or consumes stacks of Charged with Light.

When you receive a stack of Charged with Light it will be displayed on the left side of the HUD like any other buff. Unlike a buff, these charges will only be spent once you have utilized the mods that consume a Charged with Light stack.

There are three types of mods that are used in this Charged with Light mechanic:

Mods with green icons give the player a stack of Charged with Light when their conditions are met. A maximum of 2 stacks of Charged with Light can be gained at any given time though it can be increased by using other mods.
Mods with yellow icons consume stacks of Charged with Light when their conditions are met, providing benefits to the player.
Mods with white icons have other effects related to this Charged with Light buff.

By default, you will be given some of these mods to choose from while others can be bought from Banshee-44, Ada-1, and other season-specific vendors. Subsequently, these mods will be on a random rotation daily so it is recommended that you buy them whenever you get the chance so that you may experiment with different kinds of builds. They cost 10,000 Glimmer each.

Charged with Light Example

To make this, even more, easier to understand let’s take an example of some mods and how they interact with each other.

Equipping this Swift Charge mod in your armor will give you the ability to gain Charged with Light stack by defeating multiple enemies with either Pulse Rifles, Sidearms, or Submachine Guns. Start using one of the guns mentioned in the mod and you will gain the charge.

Once you gain the stack it won’t go away until you utilize it and for that, you will be using the next mod.

Equipping this High-Energy Fire mod in your other armor piece will grant you the ability to deal 20% bonus weapon damage by consuming the stack you gained from the previous mod. This damage bonus will stay activated until you fully defeated an enemy which will also take away the stack.

As you can see the yellow mod’s ability feeds on the green mod’s ability to provide charges.

Equipping this Charged Up mod in one of your armor slots will give you the ability to gain an additional stack of Charged with Light increasing the total to 3.

These mods provide additional tertiary benefits to the Charged with Light mechanic.

You can get an understanding of how each type of mod works in conjunction with the whole mechanic. Therefore, you can mix and match different mods to suit your play style and also create some amazing builds that can be devastating.

Charged with Light Considerations

Let’s go over some points that you should keep in mind for Charged with Light:

As opposed to other mods systems, the Charged with Light mods also work in PvP mode.
The buff itself gained from a Green mod is useless and will only keep hovering over the screen until a Yellow mod utilizes it for some actual purpose.
The Charged with Light buff will stay active until you are dead, you end up fast traveling, or it gets used up by a Yellow mod.
The default stack you can carry is just 2 at a time. However, you can increase this number with some White mods.
Most Charged with Light mods are tied to a certain elemental affinity. Void armor accepts Void mods, Arc armor accepts Arc mods, and Solar armor accepts Solar mods. Universal mods (those without an elemental affinity) can be applied to any armor piece.
The elemental affinity provides other qualities to the mod:
- Solar: Multiple copies of the same Solar mod stack.
- Arc: Has a secondary effect that must be activated. Requires an Arc mod on the same armor piece or a second Arc Charged with Light mod on any armor piece.
- Void: These mods are cheap but reduce one stat by ten points.

Mods Used for Gaining Charged With Light (Green Mods)

Name	Cost	Affinity	Description
Blast Radius	3	Solar	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating multiple enemies with Grenade Launchers or Rocket Launchers.
Charge Harvester	3	Void	While you are not Charged with Light, any kill or assist has a small cumulative chance to cause you to become Charged with Light. -10 to the stat that governs your class ability recharge rate.
Elemental Charge	2	(any)	Become Charged with Light by picking up an Elemental Well. If the elemental well’s element type matches your subclass element, you gain 2 stacks of Charged with Light.
Empowered Finish	1	(any)	Become Charged with Light by finishing a combatant, consuming one-tenth of your Super energy.
Incinerating Light	3	Solar	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating multiple enemies with the explosion of a Warmind Cell.
Light from Darkness	3	Void	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating multiple enemies near a Warmind Cell using weapons or abilities.
Precisely Charged	1	Void	Become Charged with Light by getting multiple rapid precision final blows with Linear Fusion Rifles or Sniper Rifles. -10 Discipline.
Precision Charge	2	Void	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating combatants with precision kills from Bows, Hand Cannons, and Scout Rifles. -10 Strength.
Quick Charge	5	Arc	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating multiple enemies with Fusion Rifles or Shotguns. Greatly increases the ready speed of Fusion Rifles, Shotguns, Submachine Guns, and Swords.
Shield Break Charge	1	(any)	Become Charged with Light by breaking an enemy shield with the matching energy type.
Sustained Charge	4	Solar	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating combatants with Auto Rifles, Trace Rifles, or Machine Guns.
Swift Charge	5	Arc	Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating combatants with Pulse Rifles, Sidearms, or Submachine Guns. Defeating combatants with a Pulse Rifle grants a chance to drop Special ammo for your allies.
Taking Charge	3	(any)	Become Charged with Light by picking up Orbs of Light.
Warmind’s Light	3	Arc	Become Charged with Light by collecting a Warmind Cell.

Mods Used for Consuming Charged With Light (Yellow Mods)

Name	Cost	Affinity	Description
Argent Ordnance	5	Solar	While Charged with Light, dealing damage with a Rocket Launcher to a powerful combatant gives you a major increase to Rocket Launcher damage for a short time, consuming one stack of Charged with Light.
Energy Converter	4	Void	While Charged with Light, using your grenade attack grants you Super energy, consuming all stacks of Charged with Light. -10 Discipline.
Extra Reserves	3	Void	While Charged with Light, defeating combatants with Void damage grants a chance to drop Special ammo. This effect consumes all stacks of Charged with Light. The more stacks you have, the higher your chance of gaining the ammo drop. -10 Intellect.
High-Energy Fire	4	(any)	While Charged with Light, gain a bonus to weapon damage. Each defeated enemy consumes one stack of Charged with Light.
Heal Thyself	4	Solar	While Charged with Light, grenade final blows heal you and consume one stack of Charged with Light.
Heavy Handed	7	Arc	While Charged with Light, regain half of your melee energy when you use a charged melee ability, consuming one stack of Charged with Light. While surrounded by multiple enemies, defeating an enemy with a Fusion Rifle, Shotgun, Sidearm, or Submachine Gun adds ammo for that weapon to your reserves.
Firepower	4	Solar	While Charged with Light, regain a portion of your grenade energy when you use your grenade, consuming one stack of Charged with Light.
Kindling the Flame	2	Solar	While Charged with Light, reviving a downed Guardian gives you a burst of healing, consuming one stack of Charged with Light.
Lucent Blade	4	Arc	While Charged with Light, dealing damage with a Sword gives you bonus Sword damage for 5 seconds, consuming one stack of Charged with Light. Greatly increases the charge rate for your equipped Swords.
Protective Light	2	Void	While Charged with Light, you gain significant damage resistance against combatants when your shields are destroyed. This effect consumes all stacks of Charged with Light. The more stacks consumed, the longer the damage resistance lasts. -10 Strength.
Reactive Pulse	3	Arc	While Charged with Light, taking damage when surrounded by combatants allows you to emit a burst of damaging Arc energy, consuming one stack of Charged with Light. Gain a powerful overshield while performing your finisher.
Striking Light	5	Arc	While Charged with Light, defeating enemies with melee damage and Swords spawns 1 Orb of Light for your allies and consumes one stack of Charged with Light. Gain damage resistance against non-Guardian enemies while sprinting.
Surprise Attack	1	Void	While Charged with Light, reloading or readying a Sidearm will consume all stacks of Charged with Light and convert them into stacks of a major damage buff, which are depleted as you damage combatants with that Sidearm. -10 Intellect.

Other White Mods

Name	Cost	Affinity	Description
Charged Up	2	Solar	Allows for 1 additional stack of Charged with Light.
Powerful Friends	4	Arc	When you become Charged with Light, nearby allies also become Charged with Light, if they are not already. +20 Mobility.
Radiant Light	3	Arc	Casting your Super causes nearby allies to become Charged with Light. +20 Strength.
Stacks on Stacks	4	Void	Gain an extra stack of Charged with Light for every stack you gain. -10 Recovery.
Supercharged	5	Solar	You can have 2 additional stacks of Charged with Light, up to a maximum of 5.

The Charged with Light mod mechanic if properly understood and utilized in Destiny 2 then you are in for some amazingly deadly builds. You just need to find that perfect balance of generating Charged with Light stacks and unleashing them with devastating force.