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. They are said to be individuals who have been "touched" by the Darkness.[2] Saint-14 stated that they were tricky enemies that he had fought multiple times in the Infinite Forest.[3]
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. These come in a crown shape for Barrier Champions, double horn shape for Unstoppable Champions, and two circles around the head and torso for Overload Champions.
- Barrier Champions 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 dome shield that also heals up most of their lost health.
- Overload Champions not only have an advanced healing factor, but they also have increased ability regeneration, allowing them to use these abilities more frequently and aggressively.
- Unstoppable Champions have a severely high damage reduction and an immunity to staggering or stuns, and will use these resistances to allow them 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. They will stun the Champion temporarily and will notify all nearby players with a sound and a text prompt. 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 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 weapon mods 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 weapon mods 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 weapon mods 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
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. Strangely, they do not appear in the default mode of any Dungeon. 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 way to deal with all three Champions.
List of appearances
- Destiny 2
- Shadowkeep (First appearance)
- Beyond Light
- The Witch Queen
- Lightfall
Reference
- ^ Bungie (2019/10/01), Destiny: Console, They Were the Champions
- ^ Stem the Dark
- ^ Strickly Enforced