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While confusing, Charged with Light is one of the most powerful mechanics in Destiny 2. Those that can wrap their head around this strange mechanic can create some of the most powerful and versatile builds in the game.
Gaining constant damage resistance, health on grenade kills, Super energy, and damage buffs are just a few things that Charged with Light can provide. For those willing to learn, we'll give a comprehensive breakdown of what exactly Charged with Light is and how to make use of it.
If you're only interested in what each mod does, check out our guide detailing the effects of every Charged with Light mod.
Updated January 26th, 2022, by Charles Burgar: While Charged with Light hasn't seen any changes during Year 4, buildcrafting is becoming more and more important with each season. To help you prepare for the Witch Queen and beyond, we've made some slight tweaks to this guide to make it easier to read and navigate. Everything you need to know about Charged with Light can be found below.
What Is Charged With Light?
Charged with Light is a unique buff that can be obtained and manipulated through Combat Style armor mods. Unlike other Combat Style mechanics, Charged with Light does nothing on its own. All benefits received from Charged with Light are solely dependent on your armor mods.
There are three types of Charged with Light mods:
- Charge Generators (Green): These mods give you stacks of Charged with Light.
- Charge Consumers (Yellow): These mods convert your Charged with Light stacks into powerful boons.
- Modifiers (White): These mods tweak how you obtain and consume Charged with Light stacks.
To get any use out of Charged with Light, you'll need mods that give and consume Charged with Light stacks. While it sounds complicated on the surface, these mods are fairly simple to use and make your Guardian significantly stronger. Unlike the other two Combat Style mechanics—Warmind Cells and Elemental Wells—Charged with Light mods work in PvP.
How Charged With Light Works
Here is a brief rundown of how Charged with Light works:
|
Effect |
Nothing on its own. Buff effects are solely dependent on your armor mods. |
|---|---|
|
Duration |
Until they're spent or you die. |
|
Maximum Stacks |
x2; can be increased with mods. |
Charged With Light Buffs Explained
Charged with Light is a malleable buff that grants effects based on which armor mods you've equipped. Potential buff effects include 20% increased weapon damage, 50% damage resistance after your shields break, the ability to generate Special ammo with Void damage, and much more.
Obtaining Charged With Light Stacks
For your buff mods to work, you'll need stacks of Charged with Light. Certain Combat Style mods will grant Charged with Light stacks upon doing something. Most of these mods ask for multikills with a certain weapon family, although there are a few exceptions.
Unless otherwise noted, every mod that grants Charged with Light stacks will only give you one stack. You can have as many of these mods equipped as you have Combat Style mod slots, although you must have a buff-consuming mod on your armor for these mods to work.
All Combat Style mods that grant Charged with Light stacks have a green icon.
Consuming Charged With Light Stacks
What good is a buff when it doesn't do anything? For your Charged with Light stacks to give any sort of benefit, you're going to need mods that consume Charged with Light stacks. These mods will say as much in their description. Some common mods in this category include:
- High-Energy Fire: Provides a 20% weapon damage buff while Charged with Light. Consumes a stack for every kill.
- Firepower: Throwing your grenade refunds 15% energy, consuming one stack of Charged with Light.
- Heavy Handed: Using your melee ability will refund 50% energy, consuming one stack of Charged with Light. Its secondary bonus grants ammo to Fusion Rifles and Shotguns when you defeat PvE enemies while surrounded.
All Combat Style mods that consume Charged with Light stacks have a yellow icon.
Elemental Affinities
Most Charged with Light mods are tied to a certain elemental affinity. A mod's affinity determines what armor can accept that mod. 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.
A mod's elemental affinity also dictates certain qualities about that mod:
|
Affinity |
Quality |
|---|---|
|
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 CwL mod on any armor piece. |
|
Void |
These mods are cheap but reduce one stat by ten points. |
This rule only applies to Charged with Light mods; Warmind Cell and Elemental Well mods do not follow this behavior.
How To Obtain Charged With Light Mods
The only way to obtain Charged with Light mods is to buy them from Ada-1 in the Tower. She can sell up to two random Combat Style mods every day for 10,000 Glimmer. Check her stock daily to make sure you're expanding your Combat Style mod collection.
Charged With Light FAQ
Since Charged with Light has many moving parts, it'd be best to clarify a few details surrounding this mechanic before moving forward.
Does Charged With Light Work In PvP?
Yes! Charged with Light is the only Combat Style mechanic that works in PvP. Some of the mods, such as High-Energy Fire, are absurdly strong in PvP and worth using.
Does Charged With Light Expire?
No. You'll only lose Charged with Light stacks if you consume them, die, or the next round of a PvP match begins.
Can Charged With Light Give Me Multiple Buff Effects?
Yes, albeit the appropriate amount of Charged with Light stacks will be consumed for each effect. Be sure you're gaining enough Charged with Light stacks to take advantage of multiple buff effects.
Do Charged With Light Mods Stack?
Only Solar mods stack. Void, Arc, and universal mods do not.
What Armor Can Equip These Mods?
All Legendary and Exotic armor with a Combat Style mod slot (fourth mod slot) can equip Charged with Light mods.
For a detailed explanation of each Combat Style mod, check out our Combat Style mod guide.
Why Are Some Mod Icons Colored?
The color of a Charged with Light mod determines what it does:
|
Green |
Grants Charged with Light stacks. |
|---|---|
|
Yellow |
Consumes Charged with Light stacks. |
|
White |
Alters the way you earn or consume Charged with Light stacks. Warmind Cell and Elemental Well mods also use white icons. |
All Charged With Light Mods
There are 28 Charged with Light mods that be used to create the perfect build. Covering all of them here would be information overload for most players. If you're interested in how every mod functions, check out our Combat Style mod guide detailing how all 28 mods work.
Charged With Light Builds
Since Charged with Light works in PvP environments, quite a few PvP builds utilize this mechanic. We'll cover three powerful build setups that should make this system much easier to understand. It'll also give you an idea of just how powerful these mods can be when used properly.
PvE - Infinite Ammo
Are you a fan of Shotguns or Fusion Rifles? Do you hate using Primary weapons? This build is right up your alley. Thanks to the Heavy Handed mod, you'll be able to use two Special weapons simultaneously and not run into ammo issues.
Mods
|
Mod Name |
Description |
Secondary Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Heavy Handed |
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 combatants, defeating a combatant with a Fusion Rifle, Shotgun, Sidearm, or Submachine Gun adds ammo for that weapon to your reserves. |
|
Quick Charge |
Become Charged with Light by rapidly defeating multiple combatants with Fusion Rifles or Shotguns. |
Greatly increases the ready speed of Fusion Rifles, Shotguns, Submachine Guns, and Swords. |
The next three mods aren't needed, but they're handy for this build:
|
Mod Name |
Description |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Taking Charge |
Become Charged with Light by picking up Orbs of Power. |
Orbs of Power from helmet mods count. |
|
Stacks on Stacks |
Gain an extra stack of Charged with Light for every stack you gain. |
Orbs of Power grant x2 Charged with Light |
|
High-Energy Fire |
While Charged with Light, gain a bonus to weapon damage. Each defeated combatant consumes one stack of Charged with Light. |
Grants a 20% damage buff for all weapons. |
Since Quick Charge is such a good source of Charged with Light stacks, you can get away with using two mods that consume your stacks. Heavy Handed will give you an incredibly short melee cooldown, and High-Energy Fire will give you the firepower needed to melt majors and bosses quickly.
When paired with ammo finder and the Special Ammo Finisher mod, the absurd ammo generation allows you to use Shotguns and Fusion Rifles as if they were Primary weapons. It isn't viable for Grandmaster content or anything demanding, but this build is surprisingly fun in most PvE content. If you have a means of healing yourself, very few enemies will stand a chance against you.
PvP - Charged With High-Energy Fire
Do you want to maintain a 20% damage buff for all of your weapons in PvP? Interested in giving your entire team a 20% damage buff after casting your Super? This build can do both.
Mods
|
Mod Name |
Description |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
High-Energy Fire |
While Charged with Light, gain a bonus to weapon damage. Each defeated combatant consumes one stack of Charged with Light. |
Grants a 20% damage buff for all weapons. |
|
Taking Charge |
Become Charged with Light by picking up Orbs of Power. |
Orbs of Power from Masterworked weapons count. |
|
Charge Harvester |
While you are not Charged with Light, any kill or assist has a small cumulative chance to cause you to become Charged with Light. |
While equipped, -10 to the stat that governs your class ability recharge rate |
The next two mods make this build even better:
|
Mod Name |
Description |
Secondary Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Powerful Friends |
When you become Charged with Light, nearby allies also become Charged with Light, if they are not already. |
+20 Mobility |
|
Radiant Light |
Casting your Super causes nearby allies to become Charged with Light. |
+20 Strength |
Additionally, you can also replace any mod you don't like with Stacks on Stacks to make High-Energy Fire active more often.
There's no weird gameplay loop here: kill enemies to gain a 20% damage buff occasionally. Kills while you have Charged with Light will also help you gain Charged with Light, allowing you to continue the cycle. The neutral game bonuses from Powerful Friends and Radiant Light also make this build desirable in Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner.
If your fireteam is also running this build, everyone in your team will gain Charged with Light whenever someone casts their Super or become Charged with Light, allowing you to give everyone a 20% damage boost just by casting your Super. Needless to say, that can swing entire rounds in your team's favor.