[toc] Protective Light used to be one of the strongest mods in the entire game. In fact, it was considered a must for anyone aiming to tackle endgame content including Master and Grandmaster activities.
But with the release of The Witch Queen, Protective Light was severely nerfed in favor of the newer Well of Tenacity mod. But how bad was that nerf? And more importantly, is it still worth using?
| Art | Mod Name | Slot | Cost | Requirements | Effects | Type |
How to get Protective Light in 2022?
Like the vast majority of Combat mods in Destiny 2, Protective Light can be purchased from Ada-1, located in the Tower. Be aware that since the release of The Witch Queen, she now offers 4 combat mods for sale per day.
Every day, the mods on offer change, which means you’ll have to pay her a visit every day until she sells Well of Tenacity again. Alternatively, you can follow the Destiny Insights Twitter bot. It will tell you, every day, what Ada-1 (and other important vendors), have for sale.
The cost for Protective Light is 10,000 Glimmer.
What does Protective Light do?
The mod’s description is straightforward and tells you exactly what it does:
While Charged with Light, you gain significant damage resistance against combatants when your shields are destroyed. This effect consumes all stacks of Charged with Light. The more stacks consumed, the longer the damage resistance lasts.
The mod also inflicts a -10 Strenght penalty, but to be clear, its benefits outweigh this small drawback.
Damage resistance
Protective Light now offers a mere 10% damage resistance, down from 50%.
As explained by Bungie:
By swapping the damage reduction values of Protective Light and Well of Tenacity, Protective Light should no longer feel like a mandatory part of every loadout, and players will need to choose between a smaller, but longer-lasting, amount of damage reduction on-demand when wounded (Protective Light) vs. a shorter-duration but stronger amount of damage reduction when picking up Void wells (Well of Tenacity).
Needless to say, this was massive and turned Protective Light from a top-tier, must-have mod into a mediocre mod almost no one uses anymore.
To be fair: Protective Light is still decent and will be useful when tackling challenging content, including Legend, Master, and Grandmaster content, raids, etc. With Protective Light, your survivability still increases, just not as much as before.
Buff Duration
Protective Light’s duration will increase based on the number of stacks of Charged with Light you have:
- 1 stack: 6 seconds
- 2 stacks: 10 seconds
- 3 stacks: 13 seconds
- 4 stacks: 16 seconds
- 5 stacks: 20 seconds
Given the diminishing returns seen with every additional stack, aiming for 2 stacks is what I recommend.
Does Protective Light stack?
Protective Light does not stack based on the number of Protective Light mods you have equipped. Having several Charges of Light does extend Protective Light’s duration time. As discussed before, the buff doesn’t get stronger, it lasts longer.
How do you use the Protective Light mod?
If you’re completely new to Destiny 2, the Charged with Light mod system might sound complicated and intimidating, but it’s actually easy to use. To use Protective Light, you need to:
- Put the Protective Light mod in any of your Void armor pieces
- Put at least one Charged with Light mod in any of your other armor pieces
- My recommendation is to simply start with the “Taking Charge” mod
The gameplay loop to use Protective Light goes as follow:
You create Orbs of Power by killing multiple enemies with your Super or with a Masterworked weapon. You gain Charge with Light stacks by picking up those orbs thanks to the Taking Charge mod. Protective Light will automatically activate when your shields are destroyed and give you that extra damage reduction you’ll need to find cover and recover.
Your turn
Are you a fan of this mod? Do you prefer to use other mods instead? Let us know in the comments section!
PL is now nerfed to only 10% DMG reduction… This is really s…ad