Champion

An Unstoppable Ogre.

"Champions of what? A lofty title won't protect them from you."

— Zavala.

Champions are special miniboss type enemies introduced in the Shadowkeep expansion of Destiny 2. They are guaranteed to appear in Heroic or higher difficulty content, such as Nightfalls or elected Lost Sectors, seasonal activities, raids starting from Garden of Salvation onwards, and rarely in other activities.

Overview

Champions come in three varieties; Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable. A given enemy race has a Champion for two of the three types, and can be easily identified by red, tendril-like growths and dark coloration.

• Barrier Champions have growths in a crown shape. They behave much like their normal counterparts would until they are at one third of their health. When damaged to one third, they will create an impenetrable, reflective dome shield that also heals up most of their lost health, and fire with increased speed while within its confines.
• Overload Champions have growths in a double circle shape, one around the head and one around the torso. They not only have an advanced healing factor, regenerating damage even while being shot at repeatedly, but they also have increased ability regeneration, allowing them to use their innate abilities more frequently and aggressively.
• Unstoppable Champions have growths in a double horn shape. They have a severely high damage reduction and an immunity to staggering or stuns, and will use these resistances to aggressively assail their opponents in close range. They are the only Champions that are unable to regenerate health.

Each type of Champion has a corresponding type of player weapon or ability that can be used to counter their special attribute. Hitting a Champion with the appropriate effect will stun it, and will notify all nearby players with a sound and a text prompt. A stunned Champion's growths will go dark, and it will stop moving for a while. It will start moving and responding to attacks soon, but will take normal damage and be incapable of using its Champion special ability until the Darkness growths regain their red hue, after a brief white flash.

Anti-Champion capability can be most easily acquired through the current Seasonal Artifact with unlockable weapon mods and class ability mods equipped on armor. Some Exotic items and subclass keywords also have intrinsic Anti-Champion capabilities, such as the Wish-Ender bow, the Lucky Raspberry used by Hunters, and the Suspend Strand effect. A weapon can only deal with a specific Champion type when firing its bullets. A weapon will prioritize its innate anti-Champion capabilities, then use the selected anti-Champion mod, and then make use of possible subclass verbs. Some Exotic weapons may pull double duty under the right circumstances. For example, Conditional Finality will stun Unstoppables with its Freezing and Ignitions, while its direct shots will pierce Barriers if under the effect of Radiant, as long as there is no "Unstoppable" or "Overload" artifact mod active for the player's Shotgun.

• Anti-Barrier effects are the only way to damage a Barrier Champion's shield using their shield-piercing effect. They will also bypass defenses such as those utilized by Phalanxes and Hydras and deal extra damage to Titan Barricades in PvP modes. Anti-barrier weapons will generally always be active. Weapons imbued with the Radiant effect, Unraveling Rounds on Strand weapons, and Volatile Rounds on Void weapons temporarily have Anti-Barrier capabilities.
• Anti-Overload effects require concentrated fire to disable Overload Champion abilities in a process referred to as disruption. They will also decrease the damage output and ability use of other enemies and delay PvP opponent ability regeneration. Overload abilities take effect immediately. Overload weapons will generally activate after rapidly firing the weapon. Slow, Jolt, and Suppression effects have Anti-Overload capabilities.
• Anti-Unstoppable effects are the only thing that can stagger Unstoppable Champions and remove their damage reduction. They will also stagger other unshielded enemies, possibly making them flinch with every hit, and sometimes produce an explosive effect capable of splash damage, but otherwise increase damage. Unstoppable weapons will generally activate after aiming down sights for a brief period. Shatter, Suspend, Blind, and Ignition effects have Anti-Unstoppable capabilities.

• 

  Barrier Symbol

• 

  Overload Symbol

• 

  Unstoppable Symbol

List of Champions

Cabal Barrier Colossus Barrier Conquest Keymaster Scytale Unstoppable Incendior Ruffian Unstoppable War Beast Keymaster Fallen Barrier Servitor Overload Captain Saboteur Hive Barrier Knight Envoy of Savathûn Unstoppable Ogre Scytale

Scorn Overload Chieftain Dread Devourer Unstoppable Abomination Taken Overload Taken Hobgoblin Savathûn's Marionette Unstoppable Taken Phalanx Resonant Glyphkeeper Savathûn's Marionette Scytale Vex Barrier Hobgoblin Scytale Overload Minotaur Devotee of the Witness Scytale

Trivia

• These enemies appear to be imbued with Darkness-derived powers, indicated by the red-black tendrils and aura rising from their shoulders.
  • These enemies emit a dark gas from its body, similar to Qodron, and the Eschaton Mind, Imminent Mind, and Primeval Mind.
• The Scorn never had any champions until Season of the Lost.
• Champions normally appear in end-game or high-level content such as Nightfall, Raids Legend and Master Lost Sectors, Master difficulty Dungeons, or certain Story or Exotic missions. Champions can be found Patrolling the private areas of the Moon, such as the Circle of Bones, with three areas chosen weekly among all possible. They cannot be found patrolling anywhere else in the game thus far.
• Despite not possessing the actual capability to stun the champion, Freeze and Suspend are capable of preventing Barrier Champions from activating their shield ability.
  • This subsequently makes Stasis the only subclass with a way to deal with all three Champion types.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2
  • Shadowkeep (First appearance)
    • Season of the Undying
    • Season of Dawn
    • Season of the Worthy
    • Season of Arrivals
  • Beyond Light
    • Season of the Hunt
    • Season of the Chosen
    • Season of the Splicer
    • Season of the Lost
  • The Witch Queen
    • Season of the Risen
    • Season of the Haunted
    • Season of Plunder
    • Season of the Seraph
  • Lightfall
    • Season of Defiance
    • Season of the Deep
    • Season of the Witch
    • Season of the Wish
    • Into the Light
  • The Final Shape
    • Episode: Echoes
    • Episode: Revenant