Here’s how the new Artifact mods work in Destiny 2, including Anti-Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable mods.
Shadowkeep brought a lot of new stuff, including a brand new item called the Seasonal Artifact. For Season of the Undying, that artifact is called The Gate Lord’s Eye and is basically the discarded remains of a Vex Gate Lord’s ocular sensor. However, despite being a little banged up, The Gate Lord’s Eye still has a lot of power left in it which you can use to smite your enemies.
You get the Seasonal Artifact once you rank up to rank 7 in the new Seasonal battle pass system. Then you’ll start unlocking abilities in your newfound artifact by gaining experience, either by killing things or completing quests and bounties.
Within The Gate Lord’s Eye are the weapon and armor mods in question, those being the Anti-Barrier mods, Overload mods, and Unstoppable mods. You get access to them once you’ve gotten to the second tier of your artifact’s abilities and then have to spend one of your artifact's 12 points to unlock that specific mod.
Anti-Barrier, Overload, And Unstoppable Mods Explained
Besides imparting special abilities onto their respective weapons (more on that later), these mods are necessary to take down specific enemies that show up in Nightfall: The Ordeal or Vex Offensive missions. These are enemies are new special Champions that will be immune to damage unless it’s coming from a weapon that bears the appropriate mod. Anti-Barrier mods take down Barrier Champions, Overload mods take down Overload Champions, and Unstoppable mods take down Unstoppable Champions.
You’ll want to have at least one weapon of each mod type in order to take down these new Champion enemies. In fact, you won’t even be able to do Nightfall: The Ordeal unless your fireteam has at least one weapon equipped with each mod. However, each mod also applies a special bonus that makes them useful even when dealing with regular enemies.
Anti-Barrier Rounds are good at piercing enemy shields and damaging the delicate flesh (or robot circuits) beneath. Overload Rounds cause Disruption, an enemy debuff that delays ability regeneration and lowers damage output. Unstoppable Rounds can cause a powerful explosion that staggers unshielded enemies when aiming down the sights.
You can get Anti-Barrier rounds on Auto Rifles, Submachine Guns, or Hand Cannons. Overload Rounds are available for Auto Rifles, Submachine Guns, or Bows, while Unstoppable Rounds can only be applied to Hand Cannons. This means that Auto Rifles and Submachine Guns are the most versatile weapon type with respect to the new artifact mods, but a good Hand Cannon is necessary for the Unstoppable mod.
Other mods at higher tiers of the artifact can make use of these mods too. In the 4th tier, Disruptor Spike improves the effects of disruption, while Ballistic Combo will provide melee energy on final blows performed with shield-piercing Anti-Barrier weapons. Watch for these mods at the fourth and final tiers to see what interesting combos you can make or to enhance your build.