Destiny 2‘s new Portal activities are peppered with modifiers. Some make your runs easier, while others set out to keep your sorties more challenging. Trade-off modifiers are somewhere in the middle, sometimes offering you benefits and downsides at the same time.
Trade-off modifiers have different effects, but they increase the challenge rating of an activity and raise your enemies’ power by 10. If you need a bump to your rewards and don’t mind some of the downsides, throw a trade-off modifier in the mix. They’re also required to advance past Guardian Rank Six.
Not all modifiers are made equal, though. Volatile Shields can be fairly easy with good teammates or healing-based builds, but Low Gravity was so loathed that Bungie disabled it for playlists with random modifiers.
Here’s how you can use trade-off modifiers in Destiny 2 and complete the Guardian Rank Six objective.
What is a Trade-Off Modifier in Destiny 2?
These types of obstacles are found in multiple Portal activities, though their availability can vary. Here are the trade-off modifiers we’ve seen so far:
- Low Gravity: Gravity isn’t as strong, so you, enemies, and pickups float in the air for longer. Yes, this includes ammo bricks, orbs of power, and Engrams, but admittedly, it’s fun to watch Cabal Centurions hovering around. Only available in custom matches in Master and above.
- Volatile Shields: Your shields are stronger, but when they’re broken, you start a detonation sequence. Teammates must defuse you before you explode. Healing yourself also cancels this effect. Not available in custom Solo Ops.
- Lightning Crystals: Arc and Stasis abilities have improved regen, but you take more damage from these two elements. Not selectable.
- Oscillation: Dealing damage with your kinetic and heavy weapons charges up your energy weapons and vice-versa. Freely available to pick on Normal and Advanced difficulties.
How to use Trade-Off Modifiers in Destiny 2
You can add some trade-off modifiers to custom activities in the Portal, though your options vary depending on difficulty. Some may only be available in matchmade activities like Fireteam Ops and Pinnacle Ops.
You can also run a matchmade activity with preset modifiers, such as Volatile Shields and Lightning Crystals. For instance, we completed our Guardian Rank Six challenge by doing a Master matchmade Devil’s Lair with the Volatile Shields modifier active.
The Guardian Rank Six challenge specifies you must complete it on Master difficulty or higher, so clears in Expert or below may not count for it. Regardless, the process is still the same: apply a modifier through the Customize tab or run an activity that already has one in place. If the challenge doesn’t advance, try doing it on Master or using a different modifier.
