History of Armor Charge

Overview

Armor Charge is a gear-mod system introduced with Lightfall in March 2023. Bungie merged the former Charged with Light and Elemental Wells armor-mod systems into it. In Bungie’s original description, equipping an Armor Charge mod enabled the system, and collecting an Orb of Power granted one stack.

Behavior

At launch, Guardians could hold three stacks by default, or up to six with Charged Up mods. Some mods spent stacks when triggered; others granted passive benefits while stacks remained and caused them to decay over time. Those stack counts and triggers describe the launch-era system and can change with sandbox updates.

Sources

• Bungie: Destiny 2 Update 7.0.0.1 — Bungie documents the merger and initial stack rules.
• Bungie: Buildcrafting Evolved — Bungie details orb generation, caps, decay, stack spending, and finishers.