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: The Queensfoil Cense
Obtaining the Queensfoil Cense artifact is easy and straightforward, as always. All you’ll need to do is complete the introductory Season 23 quest and claim the artifact at the H.E.L.M. The seasonal quest is always free-to-play and doesn’t require either Lightfall or the Season 23 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).
Season 23 Artifact Perks
The Season 23 Queensfoil Cense 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. This time around, the artifact will focus on three elements: Solar, Strand, and Stasis.
Column 1 Perks:
- Anti-Barrier Sidearm: Your equipped Sidearms fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Sidearms are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Unstoppable Hand Cannon: Aiming down the sights of a Hand Cannon for a short time loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Hand Cannons are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Unstoppable Bow: Holding a Bow fully drawn for a short time loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Bows are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Overload Auto Rifles: Sustained fire from Auto Rifles disrupts combatants, stunning them, delaying ability energy regeneration, and lowering combatant damage output. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Auto Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
- Overload Pulse Rifle: Sustained fire from Pulse Rifles disrupts combatants, stunning them, delaying ability energy regeneration, and lowering combatant damage output. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Pulse Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
Column 2 Perks:
- Flame, Fiber, and Freeze: Combines the Solar/Strand and Solar/Stasis Siphon mods into one.
- Kindling Trigger: Radiant causes Solar weapons to apply Scorch to unscorched combatants.
- Blast Radius: Rapid final blows with Rocket Launchers and Grenade Launchers grant Armor Charge.
- Origin Perk Specialization I: Improves the benefits provided by the Sundering, Nano-Munitions, and Nanotech Tracer Rocket Origin Traits. Additionally, weapons with these traits are always overcharged.
- From Whence You Came: Increases ability damage to Taken and Scorn combatants.
Column 3 Perks:
- Flint Striker: Rapid Solar weapons precision hits and rapid Solar weapon final blows grant Radiant.
- Torch: While radiant, deal increased weapon damage to combatants affected by Strand and Stasis debuffs.
- Heart of the Flame: Casting your Solar Super grants nearby allies Radiant and increases the damage of your Super for each nearby ally.
- Origin Perk Specialization II: Improves the benefits provided by the Noble Deeds, Unsated Hunger, Head Rush, and Dragon’s Vengeance Origin Traits. Additionally, weapons with these traits are always overcharged.
- Wished Into Being: While your Super is nearly fully charged, ability final blows spawn Orbs of Power. Wearing Season of the Wish armor decreases Super amount threshold.
Column 4 Perks:
- Unravelling Orbs: Picking up an Orb of Power grants Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds.
- Pillar of Ice: Killing an encased combatant spawns Stasis crystals.
- Revitalizing Blast: Causing damage with a Solar ability weakens Champions and bosses for a short duration.
- Overload Rocket Launchers: Rocket Launchers are especially effective against Overload Champions.
- Dragon’s Bite: Breaking a combatant’s shield with a Strand or Stasis weapon has a chance to suspend or freeze that combatant. Wearing Season of the Wish armor increases this chance.
Column 5 Perks:
- Horde Shuttle: Damaging unraveled targets with a weapon occasionally spawns a Threadling.
- Hail The Storm: Shattering encased targets and Stasis crystals deals increased damage. Shattering a Stasis crystal releases shards of ice that damage and slow targets.
- Rays of Precision: While radiant, Solar precision final blows cause combatants to ignite.
- Solo Operative: While you are the only member of your fireteam, you deal increased damage to all combatants.
- Argent Ordinance: Firing a Rocket Launcher consumes one stack of Armor Charge, granting increased damage and reload speed until you reload or stow your Rocket Launcher.
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.
Also, these are some of our latest guides featuring many of the exciting new features delivered with Season of the Witch:
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).