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Episode: Heresy brings a new Artifact to theDestiny 2sandbox, bringing with it a suite of powerful new perks that will shape the meta for the next few months. Some fan-favorite perks have returned this time around, including Horde Shuttle, a reworked version of Volatile Light, and even Particle Deconstruction from Season of the Splicer.
If you’re looking to push your builds to their limit or get into buildcrafting in general, you won’t want to miss this season’s Artifact. Complete the opening Heresy story mission, get your hands on the Tablet of Ruin, and start earning XP to get your hands on these powerful perks.
Updated August 01, 2025, by Charles Burgar:Heresy’s second Act is now live, adding five new Artifact perks for players to buildcraft around. Most of these perks are tailored for Trace Rifles, an underused archetype that has received some serious love through these perks. We’ve updated this guide to include information on all five of this Act’s new perks.
How The Artifact Works In Episode: Heresy
The Tablet of Ruin is comprised of 30 perks you can allocate.You earn perk points for the Artifact through XP. All XP you earn will contribute towards your next Artifact perk unlock, not just Heresy-themed content. The Tablet of Ruin is obtained during Heresy’s onboarding quest; you can’t miss it.
Perks are broken up into columns that must be unlocked by allocating points into the Artifact. For example, you can’t select any perks in column two until you grab three perks from column one. The order looks like this:
You may only have 12 perks allocated at a time.
Should you choose to change your Artifact, you can simply select any perks in the right-most column to unspec them. Doing so is completely free and can be done as many times as you desire. You can also hold the “Respec” button on the bottom-right of the Artifact UI to reset all perk options.
Artifact choices are tied to each character, although they are not saved in your loadout configurations. If you want to use different perks, you’ll need to adjust the Tablet of Ruin manually.
Column One Perks
Unstoppable Fusion
Aiming down sights with a Fusion Rifle will load an explosive shot, stunning Unstoppable Champions.
Additionally, Fusion Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active.
Anti-Barrier Sniper Rifle
Sniper Rifles fire shield-piercing rounds, strong against Barrier Champions.
Additionally, Sniper Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active.
Unstoppable Glaive
Glaives you wield fire an explosive payload that stuns Unstoppable Champions.
Additionally, Glaives are always Overcharged when that modifier is active.
Overload Trace Rifles
Landing consecutive hits with a Trace Rifle will stun Overload Champions.
Additionally, Trace Rifles are always Overcharged when that modifier is active.
Anti-Barrier Weaponsare capable of breaking Barrier Champion shields, stunning them temporarily. Weapons with Anti-Barrier Rounds also gain the ability to shoot through certain immune objects, notably physical shields (Cabal Phalanxes, Vex Hydras, etc.) and Vex Hobgoblin immunity phases. Titan Barricades also receive 20% more damage from Anti-Barrier weapons.
Overload Weaponsbuild up charge through sustained use, firing an Overload Round after enough shots have been fired. Enemies hit by this areexhausted, reducing their outgoing damage by 10% in PvE only; Guardians receive an ability regeneration nerf of roughly 40% instead. This technically counts as an exhaustion debuff for the purposes of later Artifact perks. Exhaustion stuns Overload Champions.
Unstoppable Weaponsload an explosive projectile shortly after aiming, stunning Unstoppable Champions on impact. Non-Champion units in PvE are staggered instead. This explosive shot deals no bonus damage and has no effect in PvP.
Column Two Perks
Overclock And Load
While you are Amplified or have Bolt Charge, Arc weapons gain increased handling and reload speed.
Deep Alchemy
Weapons with the Subjugation origin trait gain stability and reload speed for a short duration when hitting any target.
These weapons are always Overcharged.
Volatile Marksman
Rapid Void weapon precision hits and rapid Void weapon final blows grant Volatile Rounds.
Unraveling Orbs
Picking up an Orb of Power or a Tangle grants Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds.
Rapid Trace Rifle final blows heal you and nearby allies.
Powerful combatants increase the amount.
Overclock and Loadgrants your Arc weapons roughly +30 handling and reload speed while you’re Amplified or have Bolt Charge, two keywords tied to Arc subclasses. This effect is passive and works in both PvE and PvP.
Deep Alchemybuffs the origin trait on allSundered Doctrine weaponswith an extra effect, granting a boost to your handling and reload speed upon hitting a target. This works in both PvE and PvP. Additionally, all Sundered Doctrine weapons are considered Overcharged in endgame PvE content, increasing their damage output by 25%.
Volatile Marksmangrants Volatile Rounds for 10 seconds upon landing Void weapon multikills or rapid precision hits. There’s no cooldown on this perk, so you may effectively have 100% uptime on Volatile Rounds if you can keep chaining kills. If theTome of Want is upgraded enough, Volatile explosions will also restore ~5% class ability energy while this perk is selected.
Legend Incarnatebuffs all Vault of Glass weapons with a temporary damage buff upon using your Super. Primaries get 20% more damage, Specials get 15%, and Heavy weapons get 10%. Additionally, all VoG weapons are tagged as Overcharged in endgame PvE content, increasing their damage output by 25%.
Unraveling Orbsgrants Unraveling Rounds to all Strand weapons for ten seconds upon grabbing an Orb of Power. This is fantastic for building Darkness Transcendence energy on Prismatic and for activating certain Darkness-themed Fragments.
Beam Medicwill trigger after four rapid kills, restoring roughly 50 HP when it procs. Defeating majors or tougher opponents will restore additional HP. This doesnotcount as Cure, so Beam Medic cannot proc effects likeEmber of Benevolence.
Column Three Perks
Hold The Line
While surrounded, Machine Guns and Glaives gain increased reload speed and stability; final blows heal you.
Dielectric
Defeating Arc-debuffed targets grants Bolt Charge.
Upgrade: Rapidly defeating Arc-debuffed targets spawns an Orb of Power and heals a small portion of HP.
King’s Vestige
Defeating a powerful Taken loads your weapon with 3 Taken seekers. These seekers inflict Disruption and Exhaust.
Exhaust and Sever are stronger.
Photonic Flare
Defeating an Exhausted or Severed target with Arc damage releases a blinding burst.
Elemental Siphon
Rapid final blows with a Kinetic weapon or a weapon matching your equipped Super create an elemental pickup that matches your equipped Super.
Boost:Elemental pickups grant matching Super energy when they are collected.
Hold the Linegrants a reload speed and stability buff to your Machine Guns and Glaives while you’re surrounded by three or more enemies. Additionally, while you’re surrounded, kills from LMGs and Glaives will restore roughly 25% of your HP, including Glaive melees.
Dielectricgrants a stack of Bolt Charge if you defeat an Arc-debuffed foe. This includes enemies who are Jolted or Blinded. If the Tome of Want is upgraded, you’ll also spawn an Orb of Power and restore a small chunk of HP from landing multikills against Arc-debuffed targets.
King’s Vestigeturns your weapon into a discount version of Barrow-Dyad upon killing a Taken major, causing your next shot to unleash three Taken seekers. These seeker projectiles Exhaust targets, stunning Overload Champions.
Disruptor Spikemakes Exhaust and Sever 25% stronger. Exhaust is now a 12.5% debuff, while Sever is increased to 52%. This also works in PvP, albeit with smaller values.
Photonic Flarewill release a blinding AoE if you defeat an Exhausted or Severed target with Arc damage, similar to howSpark of Beaconsworks. Blind is technically an Arc debuff, so you may use Photonic Flare to trigger other Artifact perks like Dielectric.
Elemental Siphonwill spawn an elemental pickup after landing a triple kills, provided the weapon you’re using matches your Super’s element. Pickups include the following:
Champions, Tormentors, and Subjugators spawn more ammo.
Maligned Harvest
Rapidly applying Volatile causes your next instance of Void damage to create a Weakening pulse.
Damaging Unraveled targets with a weapon occasionally spawns a Threadling.
No Bell
Rapid Glaive melee final blows grant Special ammo Glaives additional ammo.
Blocking damage with Glaives increases their melee damage to targets.
Harsh Refraction
Trace Rifles do more damage to targets afflicted by elemental debuff matching their element type.
Dreadful Finisherspawns a Special ammo brick for you and all allies when you perform a finisher on a major or tougher combatant. If that enemy is a major Dread unit or a Champion, you spawn a second brick that restores slightly less ammunition.
Maligned Harvestwill grant access to a 15% weaken debuff on your next instance of Void damage upon triggering Volatile five times within a short period. This is a 15% Weaken debuff and is applied over a small area.
Flashovergrants Amplified once you gain maximum Bolt Charge stacks. Additionally, Bolt Charge detonations deal 2.5x more damage while this perk is equipped, reduced to 1.9x more damage in PvP.
Horde Shuttlereturns this season as a column four perk. Sustained damage against Unraveled targets will spawn a Threadling at their location, which will then seek a target and explode after a short delay. Tougher enemies require more sustained damage to trigger this perk.
No Bellrefunds two shots to your Special Glaives whenever you land a Glaive melee multikill. Additionally, upon blocking incoming damage with your Glaive shield, your Glaive’s melee damage is increased by 85% for the next six seconds. This stacks with Close to Melee and Glaive-boosting Exotics.
Harsh Refractiongrants a damage buff against targets who are afflicted with an elemental debuff that matches your Trace Rifle’s element. Legendary weapons deal 50% more damage, Exotics deal 35% more, and Micrcosm does 20% more ifanydebuff is on the target. For example, if you’re using a Strand Trace Rifle, then any target debuffed with Sever or Unravel would take more damage. This damage bonus stacks with all buffs and debuffs, doing so multiplicatively.
Column Five Perks
Particle Reconstruction
Sustained damage from Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles debuff the target, increasing all damage they receive.
The weapon is also partially reloaded from reserves.
Elemental Supercharger
Defeating Exhausted or Severed targets with weapons that match your Super element grants Super energy.
Heavy Ordnance Regeneration
Dealing sustained damage to targets with a Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher grants damage resistance and increases grenade and melee regeneration for a short duration.
Defibrillating Blast
Stunning a Champion grants maximum stacks of Bolt Charge. Triggers an Arc bolt that heals you and Jolts combatants that it damages.
Void Flux
Defeating Weakened targets with a Void weapon applies Volatile to nearby targets.
Powerful targets increase the radius of the explosion.
Limit Break
Casting a Super while you are critically wounded or have an elemental buff matching your Super element grants a period of increased Super damage.
Particle Reconstructionreturns from Season of the Splicer with a slight rework. Each instance of damage from a Fusion Rifle or LFR will debuff the target for six seconds, increasingalldamage they take fromeverysource. This perk can stack up to five times, culminating in a 28% debuff. This stacks with 15% debuffs, notably Weaken andDivinity. However, it does not stack with 30% debuffs such asShadowshot: DeadfallandTractor Cannon.
Bungie has stated that this isn’t intended and will be changed in a future patch, turning Particle Reconstruction into a standard 30% debuff that doesn’t stack with other sources.
Elemental Superchargerrestores an extra 1% Super energy if you kill an Exhausted/Severed target with a weapon that matches your Super element. This perk has no cooldown and works in both PvE and PvP.
Heavy Ordnance Regenerationgrants a 25% DR buff and 85% faster melee regeneration for 15 seconds upon landing rapid hits with a Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher. MGs require eight hits; Rocket Launchers require two. The DR buff is reduced to 5% in PvP, but it otherwise behaves the same.
Defibrillating Blastwill grant ten stacks of Bolt Charge upon stunning a Champion, causing your next ability to unleash a Bolt Charge strike. Additionally, Botl Charge’s AoE explosion now inflicts Joltandrestores 25% of your maximum HP. It will also trigger HP regeneration if you’re at critical HP (red health), but it will not restore the shield portion of your health bar.
Void Fluxwill apply Volatile to nearby enemies upon landing a Void weapon kill on a weakened enemy. Majors and tougher units increase the size of this Volatile explosion, although the exact size increase is hard to quantify.
Limit Breakgrants a 30% damage buff to your Super if you cast it while critically wounded. Having a buff that matches your Super’s element—Woven Mail for Strand, Amplified for Arc, et cetera—will also trigger this bonus.
