Destiny 2: All Artifacts Ranked

Image Credit: Bungie

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My name is Adam Watkins. I am an English Literature and Media major who absolutely loves video games. Some of my favorites are Super Mario Bros. 3,... Read more

Reviewed by Brett Moss

Artifacts have always been important to Destiny 2, but the way they work has changed a lot. It used to be that you’d get one Artifact each season, with various mods available at each tier. The mods still work the same, but now we have access to 7 different Artifacts at once. No longer are we stuck with whatever mods Bungie randomly picks for a season, so we can finally make builds that don’t become useless after the season ends.

Let’s start out with the worst and climb to the best.

7. Encrypted Data Disk

Encrypted Data Disk Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Elemental Orbs (Arc): Arc weapon final blows have a chance to spawn an Arc Elemental Orb. Arc Orbs can be thrown or shot to create an Arc explosion that jolts targets it damages.
Kinetic Rupture: Kinetic weapon damage against a powerful combatant has a chance to create a Kinetic Rupture. Targeting this Rupture causes a damaging explosion that staggers combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions.
Sniper’s Meditation: Sniper Rifle hits grant stacking Sniper Rifle damage, stability, and reload bonuses for a short time. Heavy ammo Sniper Rifle hits count as more than one hit.
Sword Storm Combo: Performing three Sword light attacks followed by a heavy attack summons penumbral blades that surround you to damage and disorient combatants. Sword final blows extend the duration of these penumbral blades.
Void Infestation: Defeating a weakened target spawns a tracking projectile that weakens other targets.
Tazer Tag: Arc-powered melee hits jolt combatants and deal further damage for a short duration.

Encrypted Data Disk might be the worst Artifact, but it’s not really “bad.” The main reason it’s last is because its Tier 3 mods just aren’t very exciting, and the lower tier ones don’t do enough to make up for that. Elemental Orbs (Arc), Kinetic Rupture, and Tazer Tag are all pretty good, but not game-changing like I expect from Tier 3 Artifact mods. At lower tiers, I really like Counter Energy (gain energy when you or a fireteam member stuns a Champion) and Rapid Remedy (Heavy Machine Gun kills heal you). There just isn’t enough good synergy here overall, and the impact it makes on your build is far less than what I want. I could see using this for a niche Arc build, maybe Arc Titan to make use of Tazer Tag, but not much else.

6. Hunter’s Journal

Hunter's Journal Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Prismatic Transfer: When you cast your Super, each member of your fireteam with a Super type different than yours gains a bonus to weapon damage.
Argent Blade: While you have Armor Charge, dealing damage with a Sword consumes an Armor Charge and empowers your Sword for a short time, granting it bonus damage and energy charge rate.
Expanding Abyss: Void sources deal increased damage to weakened targets.
Shieldcrush: While you have Woven Mail, Frost Armor, or a Void Overshield, your melee recharges faster and deals increased damage. While you are amplified or radiant, your grenade recharge faster and deals increased damage.
Transference: Gain increased grenade and melee damage while transcendent. Weapon final blows while transcendent refund Light and Dark energy after Transcendence ends.
Sniper’s Meditation: Sniper Rifle hits grant stacking Sniper Rifle damage, stability, and reload bonuses for a short time. Heavy ammo Sniper Rifle hits count as more than one.
Shock and Awe: When you have an Arc or Prismatic subclass equipped, Arc final blows while you are amplified summon a burst of lightning that damages and jolts targets.

Hunter’s Journal is particularly good for Auto Rifle users, as Tiers 1 and 2 both have good mods for them. It also has Prismatic Transfer, which is one of the best Tier 3 Mods for general use. Where it falls short it just not having very many good Tier 3 mods to choose from. Prismatic Transfer is almost a must-have, and the other slot doesn’t have much competition. Expanding Abyss has potential for Void builds and Shock and Awe does for Arc builds, but they’re still not that exciting. Tier 3 Mods are supposed to be game-changing, and there’s just not enough of that here. There are good enough options for Solar builds here in Tiers 1 and 2 that it could work for a Auto Rifle heavy Solar build, so it’s not useless by any means.

5. NPA Repulsion Regulator

NPA Repulsion Regulator Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Conductive Cosmic Needle: Targets affected by Strand debuffs take increased damage from Arc and Void abilities.
Shock and Awe: Arc final blows while you are amplified summon a burst of lightning that damages and jolts targets.
Supernova: Picking up a Void Breach causes your next source of Void damage to create a large weakening pulse.
Squad Goals: Performing a finisher while you are or have Amplified, Woven Mail, or Devour grants that buff to nearby allies.
Lightning Strikes Twice: After throwing an Arc grenade, gain increased grenade recharge for a short time. Arc final blows extend the duration of this benefit.
Passive Aggressive Guard: Receive less damage from combatants that are close to you while you are wielding a Glaive.
Void Weapon Channeling: You gain a temporary bonus to Void weapon damage after you defeat a target with a Void weapon while at least one of your Void abilities is fully charged. This damage bonus increases based on the number of fully charged Void abilities you have.

The NPA Repulsion Regulator really stands out as great for Void builds. Between Supernova and Void Weapon Channeling in T3, as well as lower-tier mods like Volatile Flow (gives Void weapons Volatile after picking up an Orb of Power) and Protective Breach (gives a small amount of Overshield when you pick up a Void Breach) give you tons of options. There are also good options for Strand builds here, and quite a few for Glaives. I’d highly recommend this Artifact for anyone on a Void build, or especially a Void Glaive build (which are pretty good).

4. Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel

Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Brain Freeze: Frozen combatants become surrounded by chilling fog, which slows combatants that aren’t already.
Supernova: Picking up a Void Breach causes your next source of Void damage to create a large weakening pulse.
Conductive Cosmic Crystal: Your Arc and Void abilities deal bonus damage to targets that are affected by a Stasis debuff.
Served Cold: Picking up a Stasis Shard grants you class ability energy. Picking up a Void Breach grants you melee energy.
Kinetic Impacts: Sustained damage with a Grenade Launcher increases the reload speed of Grenade Launchers and triggers a damaging Kinetic shockwave. This shockwave can stun Unstoppable Champions.
Arc Compounding: Arc sources deal increased damage to Blind targets.
Old God’s Rite: After picking up a Void Breach, dealing damage with a Void weapon creates a rain of seeking projectiles.

Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel is really good for Void and Stasis builds, as it has a really strong combination of both that largely pushes towards Prismatic builds so you can utilize both sides. Tiers 1 and 2 have quite a few good mods for Stasis like Wind Chill, Crystalline Converter, and Hail the Storm, and there are several good mods for Void as well like Void Renewal and Power from Pain. If you like blowing apart ads with various Void-infused mods while surviving for what feels like forever thanks to Stasis, this is the Artifact for you. The best T3 mods here are Supernova and Served Cold, as they have incredible synergy. That being said, Brain Freeze and Conductive Cosmic Crystal are also strong.

3. Queensfoil Censer

Queensfoil Censer Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Horde Shuttle: Damaging unraveled targets with a weapon occasionally spawns a Threadling. Threadlings sever targets they damage.
Hail the Storm: Shattering frozen targets and Stasis crystals deals increased damage. Shattering Stasis crystals releases shards of ice that damage and slow targets.
Rays of Precision: While radiant, Solar precision final blows cause combatants to ignite.
Solo Operative: While you are the only member of your fireteam, precision weapon final blows increase weapon damage until you are defeated.
Argent Ordnance: Firing a Rocket Launcher consumes a stack of Armor Charge, granting increased damage and reload speed until you reload or stow your Rocket Launcher.
Frigid Glare: While Frost Armor is active, Stasis precision final blows cause combatants to release a freezing burst.
To Shreds: Dealing sustained damage to severed targets unravels them. Defeating a severed target creates a hotspot of Strand energy, granting Woven Mail to nearby allies for a short duration.

Queensfoil Censer is excellent if you’re looking for Solar mods and/or Rocket Launcher mods. This Artifact is powerful enough that it makes Rocket Launchers a genuinely good option for the first time in a while, which is great since they’re so fun to use. Argent Ordnance increases your Rocket damage and reload speed, while lower-tier perks like Blast Radius and Perpetual Destruction provide enough utility to make a full Rocket-based build viable. The abundance of Solar mods here makes this a great Artifact for support Warlocks, as staying Radiant and buffing allies is easy with mods like Heart of the Flame and Kindling Trigger. This Artifact also has Solo Operative, which is the best mod for any solo content. Without a doubt, you have to have it if you’re trying solo dungeons, Lost Sectors, or anything similar.

2. Implement of Curiosity

Tier 3 Mods:

Radiant Shrapnel: Dealing sustained weapon damage while Radiant or defeating a scorched combatant with a weapon causes the target to release Solar projectiles that deal damage and scorch on impact.
Shieldcrush: While you have Woven Mail, Frost Armor, or a Void Overshield, your melee recharges faster and deals increased damage. While you are amplified or radiant, your grenade recharge faster and deals increased damage.
Elemental Overdrive: Picking up an Elemental pickup or Tangle grants increased damage to weapons of the same element.
Tangled Web: Creating a Tangle by defeating a Strand debuffed target suspends nearby combatants.
Frigid Glare: While Frost Armor is active, Stasis precision final blows cause combatants to release a freezing burst.
Iron Lord’s Vigor: While wielding a Sword, you take decreased damage. Rapid final blows grant ammo to the wielder.
Argent Quiver: Reloading a bow consumes one stack of Armor Charge, granting increased damage and reload speed for your next 3 shots or until you stow your Bow.

Implement of Curiosity is great since it has a good balance of mods which support all kinds of playstyles, from Solar-based ad-clear warriors utilizing Radiant Shrapnel to bow masters with Argent Quiver. The lower tiers are quite varied, as they have several good Stasis mods which help with survivability, as well as more aggressive mods like Cauterized Darkness and Shoulder to Shoulder which prioritize team-based gameplay. There’s not much that this Artifact doesn’t have an answer for, so it’s a good one to use in most types of content.

1. Tablet of Ruin

Tablet of Ruin Artifact — Image Credit: Bungie

Tier 3 Mods:

Particle Reconstruction: Dealing sustained damage with Fusion Rifles or Linear Fusion Rifles partially refills the magazine from reserves and grants them bonus damage for a short duration against their target.
Elemental Supercharger: Defeating exhausted or severed targets with weapons that match your Super element grants Super energy.
Heavy Ordnance Regeneration: Dealing sustained damage to targets with a Heavy Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher grants damage resistance and increases grenade and melee regeneration for a short duration. While active, defeating powerful combatants disorients nearby rank-and-file combatants.
Defibrillating Blast: Stunning a Champion grants maximum stacks of Bolt Charge. Damaging targets with Bolt Charge bolts jolts them and heals you.
Void Flux: Defeating weakened targets with a Void weapon applies Volatile to nearby targets. Powerful targets increase the radius of the explosion.
Limit Break: Casting a Super while you are critically wounded or have a elemental buff matching your Super element grants a period of increased Super damage.
To Shreds: Dealing sustained damage to severed targets unravels them. Defeating a severed target creates a hotspot of Strand energy, granting Woven Mail to nearby allies for a short duration

Tablet of Ruin is the best Artifact in Destiny 2, as it has the best T3 mods and a great selection at lower tiers. Particle Reconstruction is my favorite T3 mod at the moment, as it massively buffs Fusion Rifles across the board. It’s great for boss DPS and taking out major enemies, and it can be used with both Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles, so you get two weapons at once to use the buffs with. It also has Heavy Ordnance Regeneration which makes Heavy Machine Guns much better and Limit Break to buff super abilities. At lower tiers, I love Gold From Lead for more heavy ammo, Harsh Refraction to make Trace Rifles more viable, and Volatile Marksman to give all your Void weapons Volatile Rounds. You can get by just using this Artifact and never have any trouble. All that being said, I really just wish they gave us Breech and Clear back, to be honest.

Time to rank all 7 artifacts from worst to best.

7. Encrypted Data Disk

6. Hunter’s Journal

5. NPA Repulsion Regulator

4. Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel

3. Queensfoil Censer

2. Implement of Curiosity

1. Tablet of Ruin

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Destiny 2: All Artifacts Ranked

Time to rank all 7 artifacts from worst to best.

7. Encrypted Data Disk

6. Hunter’s Journal

5. NPA Repulsion Regulator

4. Slayer Baron Apothecary Satchel

3. Queensfoil Censer

2. Implement of Curiosity

1. Tablet of Ruin

Destiny 2 Navigation

Visit the HGG Shop, Traveler?

Join the Discussion

Destiny 2: Revisiting the Sol System – Returning and New Players Guide (2026 and Onward)

Destiny 2: Sparrow Racing League – All Triumphs and Rewards

Destiny 2: Solstice Event 2025 Guide

Destiny 2: Rite of the Nine Weapons Guide

Destiny 2: Rite of the Nine Event Guide

Destiny 2: Best Items to Buy from Xur (2025)