Destiny 2 Champions: How to Stun them [Mods & Exotics]

by Ric Molina | Jan 8, 2023

As your Power grows and you move onto greater challenges, you’ll encounter content and quest steps that set you against Champions. Champions are tough, but we’ll make sure you’re tougher.

In the guide, we’ll cover what Champions are, how to beat them, and where to farm them. Let’s set you up for success, Guardian.

Updated as of Season of the Wish (S23).

What are Champions in Destiny 2

Champions are miniboss-like enemies that appear in a variety of PvE activities. There are three variants of them (Barrier, Unstoppable, and Overload), all of which have a unique way of disrupting them.

Anti Barrier Champions, Destiny 2

After losing around a third of their health, Barrier Champions will pop a shield and begin regenerating HP. To stun them, you’ll need to use any weapon or ability with anti-barrier capabilities attached to it. Assuming you’re successful, they will become stunned: their shield will drop, they’ll stop regenerating health, and they’ll become slightly more vulnerable to damage.

How to fight champions in Destiny 2

For all three Champion types, you will need to stun them using the right weapon/mod combination. Once stunned, the Champions will pause, drop their guards, and become more vulnerable to attacks.

The ability to stop these mini-bosses in their tracks and make them vulnerable to your attacks can take some of the most troublesome enemy types in the game and make them almost trivial. Trust us, though, when facing Champions in endgame content, you’ll want every advantage you can get.

Some Exotic weapons can intrinsically deal with Champions without the need for a specific mod:

However, Seasonal Mods, earned by leveling up your seasonal artifact, are what will allow you to defeat these champions for the most part. These mods will change each season as well.

Destiny 2 Anti-Barrier Champions

For Barrier Champions, after they receive about a third to half of their health in damage they will pop a barrier and begin to heal. To stun them, break their barrier with your anti-barrier weapon. If successful, they will stop healing and become stunned/more vulnerable to damage.

It’s worth noting that Anti-Barrier weapons work against non-champion barriers as well. So you could use a weapon empowered on one of these mods to shoot through a Hive Knight Shield, for example.

Anti-Barrier weapons:

Weapon	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?
Wish-Ender	Combat Bow	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	Best ❘ S	PvE	Exotic Quest	No	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Kinetic	No	Top-tier
Arbalest	Linear Fusion Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Kinetic	Lightfall	Yes	Special	Kinetic	Best ❘ S	PvE	Exotic Quest	No	Lightfall	Season 6	Kinetic	No	Top-tier
Revision Zero	Pulse Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	The Witch Queen	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	Average ❘ B	PvE	Operation: Seraph's Shield	Yes	Witch Queen	Season 19	Kinetic	Craftable
The Lament	Sword	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Solar	Beyond Light	Yes	Heavy	Solar	Best ❘ S	PvE	Exotic Quest	No	Beyond Light	Season 12	Heavy	No	Top-tier

Destiny 2 Overload Champions

For Overload Champions, uninterrupted fire will eventually stun them. Laying a steady stream of rapid-fire on your target with the empowered weapon will accomplish this fairly easily. Once stunned, they, too, will become more vulnerable to your attacks.

Overload weapons:

Weapon	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?
Divinity	Trace Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Arc	Shadowkeep	Yes	Special	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Exotic Quest	No	Shadowkeep	Season 8	Energy	No	Top-tier
Le Monarque	Combat Bow	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Void	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Primary	Void	Best ❘ S	PvE + PvP	Exotic Kiosk	No	Forsaken Pack	Season 5	Energy	No	Top-tier
Thunderlord	Machine Gun	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Heavy	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE + PvP	Exotic Engram	No	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Heavy	No	Top-tier

Destiny 2 Unstoppable Champions

For Unstoppable Champions, Guardians will need to aim down sights their Unstoppable modded weapons for a few moments to trigger the effects of the mod, shown as giving the weapon a glowing red barrel. Once active, shoot the Unstoppable Champion using that weapon to stun them.

Unstoppable weapons:

Weapon	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?
Bastion	Fusion Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Kinetic	Shadowkeep	Yes	Special	Kinetic	Average ❘ B	PvE	Exotic Kiosk	No	Shadowkeep	Season 9	Kinetic	No
Malfeasance	Hand Cannon	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	Best ❘ S	PvE	Exotic Quest	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Kinetic	No	Top-tier
Devil's Ruin	Sidearm	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Solar	Shadowkeep	Yes	Primary	Solar	Average ❘ B	PvE + PvP	Exotic Kiosk	No	Shadowkeep	Season 9	Energy	No
Leviathan's Breath	Combat Bow	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Void	Shadowkeep	Yes	Heavy	Void	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Exotic Kiosk	No	Shadowkeep	Season 8	Heavy	No	Top-tier

Where to farm Champions

Champions can be farmed in a few ways. You might often find yourself with a quest or challenge involving stunning or landing final blows against Champions. This can be challenging in regular content matchmaking when you can’t necessarily communicate with your fellow blueberries easily. That is where farming comes in handy. Activities each Season will have opportunities to farm Champions to varying degrees of success. However, some methods are evergreen.

One popular way to farm Champions is to solo Legend Lost Sectors. These Lost Sectors rotate daily, so be sure to check your Director and planetary maps to see where they are each day.

Another tried and true method is to load up a Nightfall at ranks Hero, Legend, or Master solo or on a fireteam. Each ascending rank will spawn more Champions per run. Champions also appear in Grandmaster Nightfalls at the highest density, but for farming purposes, it would be faster to make multiple runs at a lower difficulty.

Before you go…

You now know everything there is to know about Champions. If you’re interested in other enemy types, we cover all the Destiny 2 Enemies here.

About The Author

Ric Molina

I've been covering gaming since 2012, and some of my work has been featured by large brands, including MSN.com, Forbes, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. I've been obsessed with Destiny 2 (and now Diablo 4) for years now, and I hope to provide new and returning players with the guides and resources I wish I had when I first started.