The XP grind is one of the core pillars of the Destiny 2 experience. By earning XP, you earn gear and items through the Season Pass, but more importantly, you can level up your Seasonal Artifact. On top of granting you extra Power Levels, the seasonal Artifact also allows you to unlock extremely powerful Mods.
In this guide, we cover everything there is to know about the Seasonal Artifact, including its Perks, Power level gains, and how to get it.
How to get the Seasonal Artifact: Hunter’s Journal
Obtaining the Hunter’s Journal artifact should be easy and straightforward. All you’ll need to do is complete the introductory Episode 1: Echoes quest and claim the artifact (most likely at the H.E.L.M). The seasonal quest is always free to play and shouldn’t require either The Final Shape or the Season Pass.
How it works
Every season comes with a new Artifact, which you can find in your Guardian’s inventory screen. As mentioned before, it plays an important role because it grants extra Power Levels and includes several Seasonal Mods. The extra Power Levels are useful for high-end content. The Seasonal Mods, on the other hand, are mandatory, as they include the mods needed to deal with Champions (plus other meta-breaking mods).
The Final Shape Artifact Perks
The Hunter’s Journal Artifact features 25 perks. Just as in previous seasons, these are divided into several columns, requiring you to unlock most Perks in the first column before being able to move on to the next column.
Column 1 Perks:
- Anti-Barrier Pulse Rifle: Your equipped Pulse Rifles fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Pulse Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Unstoppable Sidearm: Aiming down the sights of a Sidearm for a short time loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Sidearms are always overcharged when the modifier is active.
- Unstoppable Scout Rifle: Aiming down sights of a Scout Rifle for a short time loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Scout Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Overload Hand Cannon: Landing consecutive hits with any Hand Cannon you are wielding disrupts combatants, stunning them, delaying abilities energy regeneration, and lowering combatant damage output. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Hand Cannons are always overcharged when the modifier is active.
- Anti-Barrier Submachine Gun: Submachine Guns you are wielding fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Submachine Guns are always overcharged when the modifier is active.
Column 2 Perks:
- Logic Reductor: Weapons with the Radiolaria Transposer origin perk deal increased damage to Vex. Extends the duration of the radiolaria pools created by Radiolaria Transposer.
- Overcharged Armory: Weapons with the Dealer’s Choice, Radiolaria Transposer, Collective Purpose, and Sundering Origin traits are always Overcharged weapons for you when that modifier is active.
- Authorized Mod: Elemental Charge: The energy cost of Elemental Charge mods are significantly discounted.
- Saint’s Inspiration: Rounds loaded by the Cast No Shadows origin perk can overflow the magazine.
- Winning Hand: While using weapons with the Dealer’s Choice origin trait, combatant precision final blows or rapidly defeating combatants cause the target to explode, dealing Solar damage to nearby enemies. Having several equipped weapons with the Dealer’s Choice origin trait increases the effect of the explosion.
Column 3 Perks:
- Elemental Siphon: Rapid final blows with a Kinetic weapon or a weapon matching your equipped Super create an elemental pickup that matches your equipped Super.
- Overload Sword: Landing consecutive hits with a Sword you are wielding disrupts combatants, stunning them, delaying ability energy regeneration, and lowering combatant damage output. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Swords are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Creeping Chill: Stasis weapon final blows against slowed or frozen targets release a burst that slows.
- Press The Advantage: Breaking a combatant’s shield grants increased weapon stability, handling, and reload speed. Swords gain increased guard resistance.
- Threaded Blast: Destroying a Tangle with a Strand weapon creates a larger and more damaging explosion.
Column 4 Perks:
- Counter Energy: When you or a member of your fireteam stuns a champion, you gain energy for your least-charged ability.
- Blade Stamina: Rapidly defeating combatants with a Sword refunds some ammo.
- Void Hegemony: While you have a Void or Prismatic subclass equipped, defeating weakened targets provides a small Void Overshield.
- Radiant Orbs: While you have a Solar or Prismatic subclass equipped, picking up an Orb of Power makes you radiant.
- Galvanic Armor: While you have an Arc or Prismatic subclass equipped, incoming damage from combatants is reduced while amplified.
Column 5 Perks:
- Prismatic Transfer: When you cast your Super, each member of your fireteam with a Super type different than yours gains a bonus to weapon damage.
- Argent Blade: While you have Armor Charge, dealing damage with a Sword consumes an Armor Charge and empowers your Sword for a short time, granting it bonus damage and energy charge rate.
- Expanding Abyss: Void sources deal increased damage to weakened targets.
- Shieldcrush: While you have Woven Mail, Frost Armor, or a Void Overshield, your melee recharges faster and deals increased damage. While you have amplified or radiant, your grenade recharges faster and deals increased damage.
- Transference: Gain increased grenade and melee damage while transcendent. Weapon final blows while transcendent refund Light and Dark energy after Transcendence ends.
Hunter’s Journal Artifact, Destiny 2
Important Changes Introduced with Season 20
In Season 20, the Artifact evolved in ways it had never done before. The Artifact’s Mods, which you previously had to equip on your Armor, become passive Perks:
Artifact mods are now artifact perks.These are passive and you don’t have to slot them into armor pieces. Once you unlock an artifact perk, it automatically applies to your Guardian.
Other changes to Artifact Mods/Perks included:
- Specific Perks can now be toggled on and off (instead of having to reset the entire artifact!)
- You can reset the artifact at no cost any number of times.
- Artifice Armor has a unique mod slot that grants three additional points to a character stat of your choice.
Before you go
Don’t miss our XP guide, featuring every trick in the book to increase your XP gains during your playtime. Also, don’t neglect Power Levels, the other pillar of the Destiny 2 leveling experience.
Thanks for the guide.
It would add value if when you say “All you’ll need to do is complete the introductory Season 23 quest…” you explained how to do that. Eg, where do you go to get the quest, etc. Otherwise it’s pretty meaningless to new players (I had to look up elsewhere how to do this “easy and straightforward” thing).