Delving into Destiny 2's endgame can be daunting if you're new. Running your first Grandmaster Nightfall or Master raid can be frustrating with one-tapping snipers and high-damage enemies. That's why most of your builds should have some form of damage resistance.

Reducing the damage you take in endgame content is vital to success, and damage resistance can even be used in PvP to lengthen the TTK of most meta weapons. In this guide, we'll go over what damage resistance is, how stacking resist works, and we'll cover every source of damage resistance currently available in Destiny 2.

Updated January 14, 2024, by Charles Burgar: Season of the Wish has nerfed a few sources of DR in Destiny 2, notably the Woven Mail buff for all Strand subclasses. All values that were changed in Season 23 are now up-to-date. Additionally, we've also done an extensive pass on all DR tables. They are now hidden in expandable tables, feature small images in each row, and now have header separators for easier navigation. More niche forms of DR—notably raid DR mods—were also added.

What Is Damage Resistance?

Damage resistance (otherwise known as "DR") is a mechanic that reduces incoming damage from certain sources. The more damage resistance you have, the less damage you'll take and the more likely you'll survive a gunfight. This mechanic is more prevalent in PvE activities than in the Crucible, but it's possible to get damage resistance against opposing Guardians.

Endgame Destiny 2 content is tuned around players having at least some form of damage resistance. Snipers one-shot players in Grandmaster Nightfalls, and most enemies deal absurd damage in Master-tier content. All it takes is a few armor mods to prevent yourself from getting one-shot by certain endgame foes. If you want to tackle Destiny's hardest PvE activities, you'll want some damage resistance in your build.

The Resist Buff Explained

This is an outdated buff effect that only a few Exotics use. You'll need to calculate your DR to get an accurate idea of how tanky you are (explained later in the guide).

While using certain damage resistance sources, you might come across the "Resist" buff on your HUD. This is meant to give an approximation of your character's current damage resistance, although it's not as reliable as you'd expect. Certain damage resistance sources (notably chest DR mods and the Resilience stat) do not display on your HUD. The buff is meant to notify you of more circumstantial DR sources that are active—notable examples including Whisper of Chains, Emergency Reinforcement, and The Stag Exotic for Warlocks.

Each Resist stack roughly equates to the following damage resistance values:

Resist x1 is currently only achievable by using the Emergency Reinforcement mod, granting 10% DR. Whisper of Chains also states it gives "Resist," yet that buff is far stronger in PvE.

Resist x2 appears on Renewal Grasps and The Stag, granting 25% DR.

Resist x3 is shown while Whisper of Chains is paired with either Renewal Grasps or The Stag in PvE content. This is supposed to represent a 40% DR buff, but some sources of "Resist x3" actually give 50% DR, hence why this buff name is unreliable.

Resist x4 notably appears while using Omnioculus, a Hunter Exotic that grants 50% damage resistance in PvE while invisible.

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Stacking Damage Resistance

In general, most sources of damage resistance grant anywhere from 10-50% damage resistance, some outliers notwithstanding. However, unlike most damage buffs, you can stack damage resistance. Multiple sources of damage resistance stack together multiplicatively, not additively. In simpler terms, you get diminishing returns from stacking multiple damage resistance sources.

A great example is the damage resistance category of mods on your chest armor. Each mod gives 15% damage resistance against a given damage type. Should you use two of the same mod (such as Concussive Dampener), you don't get 30%; you actually get 25% damage resistance. This is for two reasons:

1. Both mods are stacking multiplicatively.
2. Stacking the same mod twice will give diminishing returns.

So you're getting hit with diminishing returns twice in this case. However, if you stacked two different 15% DR sources, you'd get 27.5% damage resistance—slightly higher than stacking two of the same mod.

Calculating Damage Resistance

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Calculating your Guardian's damage resistance is quite easy. Subtract one from your damage resistance's percent value, and do this for every DR source. Once complete, multiply them together to get your true damage taken.

1 - ((1-X) * (1-Y) * (1-Z))...

Each variable represents your DR percentage from a certain source. For example, if we're using Emergency Reinforcement (10%) and two Concussive Dampener mods (25%), we'd calculate it as:

(1-10%) * (1-25%) = 0.675

For our DR value itself, subtract that value from one like so:

1 - 0.675 = 0.325

We take 67.5% of our initial damage, meaning we have 32.5% damage resistance.

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Damage Resistance Versus Reducing Enemy Damage

There are a few mods and weapon traits that reduce the damage output of certain enemies. Most players assume this is another form of damage resistance, but that's not quite accurate. Reducing an enemy's damage output is a separate modifier that is far stronger than stacking more damage resistance.

The best example of this behavior is the Renewal Grasps Exotic for Hunters. While equipped, Duskfield Grenades grant 25% DR to allies while reducing enemy damage output by 50%. Paired with the Whisper of Chains Fragment (40% DR), you'd have 65% damage reduction and take 50% less damage from that enemy.

If that was standard damage resistance, you'd have 77.5% DR. In-game, your effective damage resistance is actually higher at 88.75% because the enemy is dealing half as much damage, regardless of your DR.

If you have 50% DR, the 50% reduced damage from the enemy gives you an effective 75% DR. If you have 80% DR, halving an enemy's damage output would bump it up to 90%. That's why reducing enemy damage is so powerful and why sources of this effect are scarce. For the rest of this guide, we'll be separating the two sources to reflect their in-game effects as closely as possible.

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All Damage Resistance Sources

Since there's a wide array of damage resistance sources, we'll be splitting this section into multiple subsections, listing certain DR sources in unique tables. DR sources range from 10-50% on average, although certain Exotics, weapons, and subclass nodes can push this even further.

There are also a few more sources of DR we'd like to mention:

• Supers: Each Super in Destiny 2 (except Golden Gun in PvP) gives some amount of damage resistance—even one-and-done Supers.
• Finishers: While hard to test, Finishers seem to give around 60-65% damage resistance while in a finisher animation.
• Power Level: Being overleveled for an activity reduces the damage you take from enemies up to 25%, provided the activity doesn't limit your Power maximum.
  • Visit u/Bachmanetti's post for more information on this topic.

Resilience

Season of the Haunted has reworked the Resilience stat to grant damage resistance in PvE only; the damage resistance bonus does not affect the Crucible in any way. At 100 Resilience, you'll gain an additional 30% damage resistance. All DR values for each Resilience tier are listed below.

Resilience still grants bonus shields in PvE. This means that your effective health pool (EHP) is slightly higher than the DR listed below. DR gained through Resilience stacks multiplicatively with all other DR sources. Exceeding 100 Resilience grants no bonus damage resistance.

Damage Resistance Mods

General Damage Resistance Mods
	Name	Source	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Emergency Reinforcement	Chest Armor	10%	N/A
	Elemental DR Mods	Chest Armor	15% against that element	N/A
	Concussive Dampener	Chest Armor	15% against AoE attacks	N/A
	Melee Dampener	Chest Armor	15% against enemies within 4m of you	N/A
	Sniper Resistance	Chest Armor	15% against enemies over 30m from you	N/A
	Woven Mail	Strand Buff	45%	25% against bodyshots
	Stasis Overshield	Stasis Buff	50%	N/A
	Void Overshield	Void Buff	50%	N/A

Activity-Specific Damage Resistance Mods
	Name	Source	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Riven's Curse	Dreaming City Armor	-3% per stack (Dreaming City only)	N/A
	Taken Barrier	Last Wish Armor	20% for 10s after receiving damage from a Taken enemy (Last Wish only, doesn't stack)	N/A
	Dreambane Mod	Moon Armor	5% per stack against Nightmare bosses	N/A
	Resistant Tether	Garden of Salvation Armor	5% per stack while tethered (GoS only)	N/A
	Enhanced Resistant Tether	Garden of Salvation Armor	10% per stack while tethered (GoS only)	N/A
	Enhanced Suppressor Augment	Deep Stone Crypt Armor	10% per stack against powerful foes while you have the Suppressor Augment (DSC only)	N/A
	Old God's Boon	King's Fall Armor	10% per stack while carrying a relic (King's Fall only)	N/A
	Stoic When Panicked	Crota's End Armor	10% per stack while near a totem, plate, or carrying a Sword (Crota's End only)	N/A

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Weapons And Exotics

Weapons
	Name	Source	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Land Tank	Origin Trait	*5% per stack	N/A
	Arc Conductor	Riskrunner	50% (Arc only)	50% (Arc only)
	Flying Monster	The Manticore (Catalyst Perk)	50% while airborne	10% while airborne
	Evolution	Ruinous Effigy	80% while blocking with a Transmutation Sphere	10% while blocking with a Transmutation Sphere
	Blocking (Swords)	Swords	50-80%	50-80%
	Blocking (Glaives)	Glaives	97.5%	50% 30% against Primaries and melee attacks

*This DR is separate from the bonus Resilience Land Tank provides.

Exotics
	Name	Class	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Wings Of Sacred Dawn	Warlock	15% while aiming midair	15% while aiming midair
	Contraverse Hold	Warlock	20% while overcharging a grenade	20% while overcharging a grenade
	The Stag	Warlock	25% while in a Rift	5% while in a Rift
	Renewal Grasps	Hunter	25% while in a Duskfield	5% while in a Duskfield
	St0mp-EE5	Hunter	30% while airborne	N/A
	Aeon Gauntlets (Sect of Vigor)	All Classes	40% for 10s after an ally is revived. 40% for 15s after an ally dies.	N/A
	Omnioculus	Hunter	50% while invisible	10% while invisible
	Stronghold	Titan	50% while blocking with a Sword (Stacks with Sword Guard DR)	10% while blocking with a Sword (Stacks with Sword Guard DR)
	Icefall Mantle	Titan	62.5% while Glacial Guard is active.	N/A
	Skull Of Dire Ahamkara	Warlock	75% while casting Nova Bomb	75% while casting Nova Bomb
	ACD/0 Feedback Fence	Titan	80% at x6 Armor Charge (Melee attacks only)	80% at x6 Armor Charge (Melee attacks only)

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Subclass Damage Resistance Sources

Subclass Aspects, Fragments, And Nodes
	Name	Subclass	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Freeze (Primaries Only)	Stasis Debuff	5%	50%
	Amplified	Arc Buff	15% while sprinting	N/A
	Juggernaut	Striker Titan	33% while sprinting	N/A
	Spark Of Resistance	Arc Fragment	25% while surrounded	7.5% while surrounded
	Whisper Of Chains	Stasis Fragment	40% while near Stasis	5% while near Stasis
	Weavewalk	Broodweaver Aspect	90% while in the Weave	90% while in the Weave
	Flow State	Arcstrider Aspect	97% while dodging and Amplified	32% while dodging and Amplified

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Super Damage Resistance

In PvP, Supers have a specific DR value assigned to them. In PvE, you gain an additional 60% DR that's multiplicative with the Super's PvP resistance. PvE values are assuming no other forms of DR are active.

Super Damage Resistance
	Super	Class	Resistance (PvE)	Resistance (PvP)
	Ward of Dawn	Titan	N/A	N/A
	Golden Gun	Hunter	60%	0%
	Deadshot Golden Gun (Knock 'Em Down)	Hunter	66%	15%
	Thundercrash	Titan	70%	25%
	Silkstrike	Hunter	78%	45%
	Glacial Quake	Titan	79%	47%
	Blade Barrage	Hunter	79.6%	49%
	Needlestorm	Warlock	79.6%	49%
	Nova Bomb	Warlock	79.6%	49%
	Well Of Radiance	Warlock	79.6%	49%
	Chaos Reach	Warlock	80%	50%
	Bladefury	Titan	80%	51%
	Daybreak	Warlock	80%	51%
	Nova Warp	Warlock	80%	51%
	Silence And Squall	Hunter	80%	51%
	Winter's Wrath	Warlock	80%	51%
	Hammer Of Sol	Titan	80%	51%
	Spectral Blades (Uncloaked)	Hunter	80%	52%
	Stormtrance	Warlock	81%	53%
	Burning Maul	Titan	81%	53%
	Fists Of Havoc	Titan	81%	53%
	Sentinel Shield	Titan	81%	53%
	Arc Staff	Hunter	81%	53%
	Gathering Storm	Hunter	81%	53%
	Shadowshot	Hunter	81%	53%
	Spectral Blades (Cloaked)	Hunter	82%	54.4%

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Reducing Enemy Damage Sources

Reducing Enemy Damage
	Name	Source	Damage Reduction (PvE)	Damage Reduction (PvP)
	Psychohack	Origin Trait	10%	10%
	Overload	Artifact Mod	25%	0%
	Sever	Strand Debuff	40%	10%
	Renewal Grasps	Hunter Exotic	50% while in a Duskfield	20% while in a Duskfield

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Damage Resistance From Power Level

More graphs and information on this topic can be found in u/Bachmanetti's r/raidsecrets post discussing damage resistance.

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Damage Resistance FAQ

Does Resilience Give Damage Resistance?

Yes, it does. Season of the Haunted added a DR rating to all Resilience tiers, reducing the damage you take against combatants in PvE. Resilience's DR bonus does not affect PvP in any way, although the bonus shields from this stat still impact PvP. At 100 Resilience, you'll take 30% less damage from PvE enemies, stacking multiplicatively with any other DR sources you have active.

Is There A Damage Resistance Cap?

No. Multiple damage resistance sources stack multiplicatively, meaning each added DR source gets less and less effective. This makes it nearly impossible to achieve damage immunity solely through perks and Resilience, although blocking with a Glaive in PvE can get you very close to 100% DR.

What Is The Best Damage Resistance Source?

For PvE, spec for Resilience and use chest DR mods. The former gives 30% damage resistance against all damage types, and your chest can equip three DR mods at once. The Emergency Reinforcement mod can give an additional 10% damage resistance for a short time while active, although you'll need a way to gain Armor Charge. Check out our armor mods guide to learn how Armor Charge works.

For PvP, use your Super. Almost every Super in Destiny 2 gives damage resistance while active, making it a little easier to push the enemy and land a few kills. For a more passive form of DR, the Hunter's Omnioculus Exotic, the Sentinel Titan's overshield (this technically gives EHP but is worth mentioning), and the Warlock's Stag Exotic are worth using.

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