Love them or hate them, Champions are here to stay. They’ve slowly entered more and more of Destiny 2’s activities and are now fully integrated within the buildcrafting system.
However, with that integration comes a fair bit of confusion for many. Today, we’ll cover everything you need to know regarding Unstoppable Champions: what they are, where to find them, and how to defeat them efficiently. Let’s begin.
Updated as of Season of the Wish (S23).
What are Unstoppable Champions
Champions are miniboss-like enemies that are featured in the majority of mid to high-level PvE activities. They come in three distinct types: Overload, Barrier, and Unstoppable.
Unstoppable Champions have high health and damage resistance compared to their normal counterparts; when they spot you, they’ll endlessly rush you without flinching.
Unstoppable Champions, Destiny 2
To stun an Unstoppable Champion, you’ll need to stagger it using any weapon or ability with anti-Unstoppable capabilities attached to it. After you do so, the enemy will become stunned for a short time, removing its damage resistance. Once they get back up, you’ll need to stagger them again to deal effective damage. However, be aware that there is a short time in which Champions are immune to stuns after they get back up (indicated by their red tendrils turning white).
Now, let’s look at the specific ways you can stagger Unstoppable Champions, beginning with Exotics.
Destiny 2 Unstoppable Exotics in Season 23
Many Exotic weapons and armor have anti-Champion capabilities built directly into them. The following Exotic weapons have intrinsic anti-Unstoppable abilities:
| Art | Weapon | Type | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo? | Element? | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo | Element | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? | Best of? | Top Perk? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 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 |
Something worth mentioning is that the presence of these intrinsic stagger capabilities means that these weapons are unaffected by anti-Barrier and anti-Overload mods found in the seasonal artifact. For instance, if the current artifact offers a mod for Overload Hand Cannons, Malfeasance will continue to stagger Unstoppable Champions exclusively (as if you didn’t even have the artifact mod).
Another quick note is that this list is not all-encompassing. Some Exotics have elemental debuffs built into their perks, which can then stun Unstoppable Champions. More on that later.
The following Exotic armor has intrinsic anti-Unstoppable abilities:
| Armor | Class | Type | Requirements | Source | Released | Requires | Exotic Perk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Athrys's Embrace | Hunter | Arms | Beyond Light | Lost Sectors | Season 12 |  Beyond Light | Exotic Perk: "Weighted Knife gains a second bounce. Rapid precision hits with your weapons grant Weighted Knife a significant damage bonus, bonus strength, and the ability to stun unshielded combatants for a short time. Empowered Weighted Knife is strong against Unstoppable Champions." |
Anti-Unstoppable Subclass Verbs
Over time, the process of stunning Champions has transitioned from being exclusive to certain weapons to now being an integral part of each subclass. This is through subclass verbs—the buffs and debuffs each element offers (Radiant, Suppression, Jolt, etc.). The following debuffs will stagger Unstoppable Champions:
- Blind (Arc)
- Suspend (Strand)
- Shatter (Stasis)
- Ignition (Solar)
Unstoppable Subclass Verbs, Destiny 2
Applying these debuffs to Unstoppable Champions via any source will automatically stun them. This means that anything from Sunshot to Shackle Grenade has the opportunity to stun Unstoppable Champions, opening up a wide variety of buildcrafting opportunities.
Destiny 2 Unstoppable Weapons Mods in Season 23
Each seasonal artifact offers mods that allow specific types of weapons to stun Champions. For Season 23, the anti-Unstoppable seasonal artifact mods are:
- Unstoppable Bow
- Unstoppable Hand Cannon
-
Unstoppable Mods, Destiny 2
Additionally, a variety of Legendary weapon perks offer the elemental debuffs listed above that can help combat Unstoppable Champions. These include:
- Headstone
- Incandescent
- Chill Clip
Unstoppable Weapon Mods, Destiny 2
That said, keep in mind that these are the weakest and most indirect methods of staggering Champions. As a result, we wouldn’t recommend ever relying on them but rather using them to your advantage in builds.
For example, Incandescent can be used as a source of Scorch, which can then be combined with other abilities and perks to generate an Ignition, thus staggering an Unstoppable Champion.
Where to find Unstoppable Champions in Destiny 2
Champions are all over Destiny 2 but are mainly found in mid to high-level PvE activities. With the exception of raids, any activity that features Champions will display an activity modifier stating so.
Where to find Unstoppable Champions, Destiny 2
Before you go…
You now know everything there is to know about Unstoppable Champions. If you’re interested in Barrier Champions, we cover all the Destiny 2 Anti Barrier Exotics and Weapons here.
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