Unlocking the Secrets to Farming High-Rank Armor

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Creating an ideal Destiny 2 build takes dedication and time. You’ll need to gather the right weapons, Exotics, mods, and armor to maximize your effectiveness. Among all these components, acquiring high-stat armor is often the most challenging and luck-based part of the process.

Armor that boasts good stats, high totals, and appropriate mods can significantly enhance your build. Some players can mod their armor to achieve a stat total of 100, but you need a solid piece to start with. This guide explores what high-stat armor is, how to obtain it, and the top farming methods currently available.

What Is High-Stat Armor?

High-stat armor is any armor piece that has a total stat value of 60 or higher. While this is the official in-game definition, many players consider high-stat armor to be pieces with a stat total of 64 or more that exhibit "spiky" stat distributions—where points are concentrated in a few key stats.

All armor in Destiny 2 (excluding class items) drops with randomized stats, which include the following six categories:

Mobility: Affects strafing speed, initial jump height, and Hunter’s dodge cooldown.
Resilience: Influences damage resistance in PvE, total health, flinch resistance, and Titan’s barricade cooldown.
Recovery: Determines health regeneration delay and Warlock’s Rift cooldown.
Discipline: Governs grenade ability cooldown.
Intellect: Regulates the Super ability cooldown.
Strength: Controls melee ability cooldown.

When armor drops, each stat will randomly receive points within the range of 48-68 for a total. Some Exotics can go up to a stat total of 70 based on previous expansions, especially those released before Shadowkeep.

Understanding Armor Stat Distribution

When armor pieces drop, the game divides the stats into two pools:

Pool One: Mobility, Resilience, Recovery
Pool Two: Discipline, Intellect, Strength

The total stat points are distributed approximately equally among these pools. For instance, an armor piece with a total of 60 may have around 30 points in Pool One and 30 points in Pool Two.

Stats are assigned through stat plugs, which are predetermined sets of values for each pool. Each armor piece rolls with four plugs, two from each stat pool.

It’s crucial to remember that armor stat rolls are not completely random. You can influence the outcome by engaging in specific activities and using particular Ghost Shell mods.

If you’re fortunate, an armor drop may include a stat bias, meaning it has a lot of points in certain stats like Resilience or Strength. This is often more important for builds than having high stat totals alone.

Some general rules to keep in mind about armor drops are:

No stat can roll lower than 2 or higher than 30 (with some exceptions for Exotics made before Shadowkeep).
Stats are distributed roughly in half between the two pools.
Armor sources that encourage specific stat drops will typically have spiky stat plugs, with many Exotics featuring intrinsic stat plugs.

Obtaining High-Stat Armor Sources

Each piece of armor you earn carries a small chance of being high-stat. Here are primary sources to acquire high-stat armor, which are defined as having 60+ total stats:

Source	Limit	Notes
Weekly Milestones	1 per milestone per week
Raids	1 per encounter per week	Allows purchases on subsequent clears; specific stat biases available.
Pit of Heresy (Zulmak)	1 per week	Guaranteed to have +16 in two stats.
Dungeons	None	Not always high-stat; Master drops Artifice gear for more bonuses.
Seasonal Engrams (H.E.L.M.)	None	Moderate chance for spiky stats, compatible with Ghost armorer mods.
Dares of Eternity (Legendary)	None	Guarantees +16 in two stats but has a low drop rate.
Weekly Campaign Missions	None	Higher difficulties increase chances of high-stat armor dropping.
The Wellspring (Master)	None	Must be on Master difficulty for better drop chance.
Empire Hunts	None	Must be of Hero difficulty or higher for increased drop rates.
Trials of Osiris	None	High-stat armor from Flawless runs and focused trials engrams.
Master Lost Sectors	None

Using Ghost Armorer Mods

You can also utilize Ghost Shell mods to promote armor pieces with certain stat biases. If you’re focusing on getting armor with specific distributions, equip relevant Armorer mods in your Ghost Shell prior to engaging in activities.

An important caveat: If you are farming in an activity that rolls for stats in the same pool as your active Armorer mod, it may not apply.

Best Practices for High-Stat Armor Farming

Here are some effective methods to streamline your high-stat armor acquisition:

Pit of Heresy (During Pinnacle Weeks): Considered the best when the dungeon is active. Each time you defeat Zulmak, you are guaranteed a piece of high-stat armor with pre-determined stats.
Focusing Seasonal Engrams: Utilize vendors at the H.E.L.M. for quality seasonal armor with high-stat distributions.
Master Raids: Weekly Master raids drop armor with specific stat biases, significantly improving your chances of getting what you want.
Legendary Lost Sectors: Focus on specific Lost Sectors for high-stat Exotic armor, ensuring a challenge sufficient to cover your needs.
Rahool’s Exotic Focusing: Use this option for targeted farming of specific Exotics.

Determining Which Stats to Prioritize

The most important stats vary based on your build and whether you play PvE or PvP. Typically, Resilience is key for PvE, Recovery is essential for PvP, and Discipline is valuable in all modes. Each has unique advantages for different builds.

Stat	Uses
Mobility	Useful for Hunters; others generally avoid it.
Resilience	Key for Titans in PvE to reduce incoming damage.
Recovery	Crucial for Warlocks in PvP for faster health regeneration.
Discipline	Important for builds heavily depending on grenades.
Intellect	Mainly a dump stat, with some exceptions.
Strength	Typically not a focus, as most abilities regenerate adequately.