Destiny 2: Everything You Need To Know About Adept Mods

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In an effort to make Trials of Osiris and other endgame activities more rewarding, Bungie has added Adept gear into Destiny 2 with Season of the Hunt. Adept weapons have slightly better Masterwork stats than their non-Adept counterparts and can equip a new category of mods named Adept mods.

These mods offer some large bonuses that rival or even exceed what Masterwork bonuses can provide. Earning these mods requires you to complete endgame activities such as going flawless in Trials of Osiris or completing a Grandmaster Nightfall. For those that want to have the best weapons possible, here is everything you need to know about Adept mods in Destiny 2.

Updated July 13th, 2021, by Charles Burgar: Season of the Splicer has added a new way for Guardians to obtain Adept weapons and mods. Through the Master variant of the Vault of Glass raid, players can earn Timelost VoG weapons that function similarly to Adept weapons and mods that accompany Adept weapons. We've updated this guide to include every new way of earning Adept mods, and we've made some organizational changes to make this guide easier to read and navigate.

What Are Adept Mods

Adept mods are more powerful variants of pre-existing weapon mods that usually grant a +10 stat increase. Unlike normal mods, these Adept variants can come with negative effects such as reduced handling or stability. These Adept mods also take up the same mod slot as your standard mods do, which means you'll have to give up the likes of Icarus Grip or Major Spec for some of these bonuses. Only Adept weapons can equip Adept mods.

How To Obtain Adept Mods

Adept mods can be obtained through the following:

Reach the Lighthouse by completing a flawless card in Trials of Osiris.
Successfully complete a Grandmaster Nightfall.
Complete encounters in Master Vault of Glass.

The Lighthouse

Trials of Osiris will give one type of Adept mod when players reach the Lighthouse. Adept Icarus, Blast Radius, Projectile Speed, Impact, and Charge Time are exclusive to this playlist.

Grandmaster Nightfalls

Grandmaster Nightfalls use a knockout system, similar to how standard mods work. Every GM Nightfall has a chance of granting an Adept mod, and there isn't a limit on how many Adept mods you can earn this way each week. Every Adept mod, excluding those found from Trials, can be obtained from this activity.

Master Vault Of Glass

Vault of Glass has a Master difficulty variant that adds Masterwork materials and Adept mods to the loot pool. Similar to GM Nightfalls, each encounter has a chance of granting a mod. Every mod, excluding those exclusive to Trials, can be obtained from Master VoG. Mods can only drop from your first encounter completion per character each week.

Every Adept Mod

Guardians can farm Adept mods from going flawless in Trials of Osiris, completing encounters in Master Vault of Glass, or by completing a Grandmaster Nightfall. Adept Big Ones Spec is exclusive to PvE activities, and Trials of Osiris has five exclusive mods. There are 15 Adept mods in total. Let's go over what these mods are capable of.

Once again, these mods can only be equipped on Adept weapons. Mods that reduce your stats cannot lower a stat value below ten, similar to how Iron Banner perks work. Conversely, mods that increase the value of a stat cannot raise that stat above a value of 100.

Adept Accuracy

Effect: +10 Accuracy
Useable On: Bows

Due to a lack of Adept Bows in Destiny 2, this mod is currently unusable.

Adept Big Ones Spec

Effect: Deal 7.7% increased damage against Majors and Bosses.
Usable On: All weapons

Adept Big Ones Spec as a combination of Major and Boss Spec. Its damage percentage is the same as Minor, Major, and Boss Spec.

This mod is currently found only in GM Nightfalls and Master VoG.

Adept Blast Radius

Effect: +10 Blast Radius
Usable On: Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers

Adept Blast Radius still respects the blast radius cap on Special Grenade Launchers. A Special Grenade Launcher cannot exceed a blast radius of 55 (50 with Proximity Grenades), even if this mod is equipped.

This mod is currently found only in Trials of Osiris.

Adept Charge Time

Effect: +10 Charge Time
Usable On: Fusion Rifles, Linear Fusion Rifles

Strangely omitted from the mod's description, Adept Charge Time reduces the damage of your Fusion Rifle bolts while equipped. It's by a significant amount, much more than Accelerated Coils or a Charge Time Masterwork. This mod is a detriment for most Fusions and not recommended.

This mod is currently found only in Trials of Osiris.

Adept Counterbalance

Effect: +25 Recoil at the cost of -10 Range
Usable On: All weapons

Be careful using this mod. Destiny 2's recoil stat changes direction as you increase the recoil stat. The odd amount of recoil direction added by this stat could cause weapons with a vertical recoil pattern to sway off-center and vice versa.

Adept Draw Time

Effect: +10 Draw Time
Usable On: Bows

Bows have a hard cap on their draw speed. Precision Bows can reach 576 draw time, and Lightweight Bows can reach 540 draw time. This cannot be lowered further through any means, this mod and Archer's Tempo included. Since no Adept Bows exist in Destiny 2, this mod is currently unusable.

Adept Handling

Effect: +10 Handling
Usable On: All weapons

Adept Icarus

Effect: Improves accuracy while airborne; +5 Range
Usable On: All weapons except Swords

This mod is currently found only in Trials of Osiris.

Adept Impact

Effect: +10 Impact
Usable On: Swords

This mod can only be used on Swords. It works similarly to an Impact Masterwork, increasing a Sword's damage by roughly 3%. Adept Big Ones is a much better option.

This mod is currently found only in Trials of Osiris.

Adept Mag

Effect: +40 Magazine at the cost of -20 Handling
Usable On: All weapons excluding Rocket Launchers and Breech-Loaded Grenade Launchers

For clarity, the +40 magazine increase is a percentage increase, not a flat addition. Most weapons will only gain one to three extra rounds when compared to Backup Mag.