GM Guide: Armor
Stats
Grandmaster Ordeals are the PVE content where your Masterworked armor can be fully utilised to its potential. Ten energy lets you slot in more and better mods, while the stat boost helps with ability cooldowns. High-stat (60+) armor with spikes in at least 2 stats (RNG) can be obtained from multiple sources now - Pit dungeon boss, Iron Banner, Deep Stone Crypt raid, Master empire hunts, Prime engrams, etc.
Unlike general PVE content, stats like Recovery do not matter a lot for GM ordeals. Contest mode, nightfall modifiers and your subclass will determine the optimal stats to run.
Resilience, which is often ignored, is now actually worth investing in, because higher tiers can let you tank some one-shot abilities. 40 resilience is the minimum recommended and 60 the max, if you want to survive one-shot snipers. Under 40 you will find yourself dying way too often to red bar enemies and splash damage attacks.
Hunters should always spec high Mobility for dodge cooldown. Void and Stasis subclasses have strong grenades so Discipline is also a good investment.
Example - 90 MOB 50 RES 70 REC 70 DIS 50 INT 20 STR
Titans should spec Intellect because Banner Shield, Bubble and Thundercrash rely on super energy. The difference between 90 and 100 Intellect is minimal (4 seconds).
Example - 40 MOB 60 RES 70 REC 50 DIS 90 INT 40 STR
Warlocks have their class ability tied to Recovery so that’s worth investing in. Discipline and Intellect are recommended next.
Example - 30 MOB 50 RES 80 REC 80 DIS 90 INT 20 STR
The elemental affinity of armor determines some of the mods you can slot. Ideally you should have fully MW’ed Chest and Class item armors for each of the three elements in order to slot the beneficial mods like elemental damage resistance (depending on the ordeal) and CWL/Warmind cell mods.
- 2 Void, 2 Arc, 1 Solar - Defensive and Stat Boost loadout.
- 2 Arc, 2 Solar, 1 Void - Balanced Charged with Light loadout.
- 3 Solar, 2 Void - Aggressive Warmind Cell loadout.
Mods and Builds
Mods are a game changer for endgame content and will differ for each ordeal and subclass.
Helmet
- Ammo finders, Stat boost, CWL and/or Warmind cell mods.
- Ammo finders for your main damage dealing weapons - sniper and/or heavy are a must. They usually cost 3 energy each, and stacking 2 of the same type is not worth it due to diminishing returns.
- Dynamo is a good option for nightstalker hunters.
Examples: Mobility +10 (3), Sniper Ammo Finder (3), Rocket Ammo Finder (3), Global Reach (1) / Recovery +5 (2), Machine Gun Ammo Finder (3), Rage of the Warmind (5)
Gloves
- Champion mods, Stat boost, CWL and/or Warmind cell mods.
- Glove energy is reserved for champion mods and it’s recommended that each player covers at least one champion mod.
Examples: Mobility +5 (1), Overload Bow (1), Anti-Barrier Sniper (6), Protective Light (2) / Intellect +10 (5), Anti-Barrier Scout (1), Unstoppable Hand Cannon (1), Taking Charge (3)
Chest
- Damage resistance, Ammo reserves, Stat boost, CWL and/or Warmind cell mods.
- Post Beyond Light, damage resistance can only be slotted on chest armor and now competes with ammo reserves. Resistance is usually recommended over ammo reserves.
Having a fully MW’ed chest armor for all 3 elements lets you swap elemental resistance depending on the ordeal modifiers and champion types. Type !resist in discord to view detailed information about resistance mods post Beyond Light.
Examples: Recovery +10 (4), Arc Resist (1), Concussive Dampener (1), Powerful Friends (4) / Intellect +10 (5), Solar Resist (1), Sniper Reserves (3), Wrath of Rasputin (1)
Boots
- Ammo scavengers, Stat boost, CWL and/or Warmind cell mods.
- Ammo scavengers can only be slotted on boots and they are a must since they let you pick up more ammo from drops.
Examples: Mobility +10 (3), Grenade Launcher Scavenger (3), Traction (0), High Energy Fire (4) / Discipline +5 (1), Sniper Scavenger (3), Rocket Scavenger (3), Radiant Light (3)
Class item - Stat boost, Artifact mods, CWL and/or Warmind cell mods.
This is where most of the artifact mods will be slotted and they range from 1-7 energy each.
Examples: Recovery +5 (2), Sundering Glare (6), Special Finisher (2) / Resilience +5 (1), Volatile Conduction (6), Surge Detonators (2), Shield-break Charge (1)
Warmind Cell Builds:
Aggressive add-clear (SOLAR) - Global Reach, Wrath of Rasputin, Rage of the Warmind, Burning Cells. Lets you create warmind cells with solar splash damage (Xenophage, Ticcu) and blowing them up does a lot of damage to enemies. Good for GMs with high add density.
Defensive suppression (VOID) - Global Reach, Cellular Suppression, Warmind’s Longevity, Warmind’s Protection. Shooting warmind cells will suppress enemies (except champions and bosses) and reduce incoming damage. Very handy for GM’s like Insight Terminus where plates have to be held down while keeping enemies away.
Charged with Light Builds:
Damage booster - Taking Charge, Shield-break Charge, Supercharged, Charged Up, High Energy Fire. CWL stacks can go upto 5 without any stat penalty, you can build charges by picking up orbs or breaking shields, and deal 20% additional damage when charged with light. Viable for all GM’s. CWL stacks can be built up by killing adds and then used for champ/boss damage.
Balanced - Taking Charge, High Energy Fire, Powerful Friends, Radiant Light, Protective Light. Stat boosts to Mobility and Strength (good for hunters). Provides CWL to teammates when you get charged or cast a super. Avoid getting one-shot by champions and bosses. Recommended for players new to GMs.
Aggressive Sword wielder - Taking Charge, Lucent Blade, Passive Guard (artifact), Reactive Pulse, Disrupting Blade (gloves). Bonus 35% damage with Lucent Blade, swords can stun overload champs. Good for invis hunters and bubble titans.
Rocket add-clear and burst damage - Taking Charge, Blast Radius, Argent Ordnance, Charged Up, Shield-break Charge/Charge Harvester, Wrath of Rasputin (if using Solar RL). While CWL, Godslayer Warheads will do 20% bonus damage, can be stacked to 35% with multiple Argent Ordnance mods. Can swap Ordnance mod for High-Energy fire.
Warmind and CWL Combo - Taking Charge, High Energy Fire, Global Reach, Shield-break Charge, Powerful friends. Mix and match both styles for bonus damage and add-clear potential when using Seraph/Ikelos weapons.