Destiny 2: How to farm Master Duality for Artifice Armor (2024)

Ever since its rework, armor in Destiny 2 has become the foundation for late-game builds, opening up diversity for builds for different content and subclasses. Armor 2.0 introduced a more robust stat system akin to RPGs that added complexity and depth and made armor worth farming for.

The pinnacle of armor in the Armor 2.0 system is artifice armor, which can only be gained through Master level content.

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Artifice Armor Explained

All armor in Destiny 2's Armor 2.0 comes with slots for mods to be added. These mods can do various things, such as add stats to the armor, or create Elemental Wells/ Orbs of Power, all of which work into a player's larger build.

The main difference between regular and artifice armor is that artifice armor has a bonus mod slot. The bonus mod slot may not seem like much, but in the latter stages of Destiny builds it can make a world of difference when fitting in as many mods as possible. Artifice armor can only be gained from Master level dungeons such as Master Grasp of Avarice and Master Duality.

Tips for Clearing Master Duality

Master-level dungeons are no joke when it comes to difficulty. At a light level of 1590, players are almost guaranteed to be under the power of all enemies within the dungeon.

Add in champions and match game shields, plus the mob density of Duality, and the dungeon ends up being pretty rough even for experienced players.

The biggest priority for Master Duality should be avoiding wipes. Any wipe will result in lost progress as the fireteam will be sent back to a checkpoint each time a wipe occurs. This means that playing safe instead of greedy will guarantee more successful runs and therefore more artifice armor for the fireteam.

It's definitely recommended that players bring a fireteam of 3 with them before taking on Master Duality. This is because at least one of them will need to stay behind in all encounters to ensure the Bellkeepers are killed.

Every Bellkeeper in Master Duality has a void shield which is essentially impossible to take down without having a void weapon.

This is important as in the Nightmare realm players will need to kill all Bellkeepers before their timer runs out and wipes them. Ensuring at least one player with a void weapon stays behind to kill Bellkeepers is vital.

The other two players will be running together, clearing out ADs and grabbing the Standard Essence to dump. It's best to have the two players grab one essence at a time in every encounter except Caiatl; otherwise, timing can become very tight.

It's important to stick together when playing as the pair, as ADs still hit like a truck and can definitely kill a player if they're not careful. On top of that, being below power means enemies are much harder to kill, so having a buddy system lets players clear each encounter more effectively.

Champions are the other big factor when looking at clearing Master Duality. Especially in the first and second encounters, they replace enemies that simply can't be ignored by the fireteam:

• In the first encounter, Incinerators become Unstoppable champions that can only be taken out via a certain weapon archetype. This archetype changes from season to season but is currently Glaive and Scout Rifle for Season of the Haunted.
• In the second encounter, Colossus becomes Barrier champions that once again only be taken out via Sidearm and Pulse Rifle this season.
• In the third encounter, Colossus also becomes Barrier champions. However, these champions can simply be ignored, as they only exist in the Nightmare realm.

Farming Master Duality

Easily the fastest encounter in Master Duality is ironically the final one. Caiatl is the only encounter in which the Standards are easily accessible to the fireteam and therefore does not require two players to grab.

Alongside this, there aren't any champions that the fireteam will have to take care of, which cuts the time down significantly. Keep in mind while farming Caiatl:

• It's still recommended that at least one fireteam member has a void weapon, as all Bellkeepers still have void shields. It's also worthwhile having all fireteam members equip a void weapon so that everyone can clear the Bellkeepers before DPS so Caiatl doesn't reach a bell before the fireteam can ring it.
• Saving a checkpoint at Caiatl is a good idea when farming. An example of this can be found here.
• Loadout-wise, having a Well of Radiance/ Healing Rift is optimal as the snipers in the Nightmare Realm deal a lot of damage and can take down a fireteam member while trying to DPS Caiatl. Aside from that, running Stormchaser and Divinity together is the way to go for DPSing Caiatl. Having good DPS will result in an easy one to two-phase provided the fireteam activates all three bells.
• Optimize other weapons for AD clear as there are still plenty of ADs to take on while fighting.
• Using artifact mods can help greatly. Mods such as Classy Restoration can make the fight a cakewalk.

A Rundown of Caiatl

A quick guide to Caiatl as an encounter is as follows:

1. Once started, Caiatl will spawn in with multiple Bellkeepers and ADs.
2. On the floor, symbols will spawn near pillars indicating to the players what standards they need to collect.
3. Once Bellkeepers are dead, and a bell can be rung, ring the available bell. It's a good idea to have two players stand on the platforms that share the symbols with the ones shown. That way they can kill the Psion and grab the Standard as fast as possible.
4. The third player should be killing the Bellkeepers with a void weapon. Once the Bellkeepers are dead, group up and ring the bell once again.
5. The two players should dump the Standards into the correct area while the last one clears Bellkeepers again.
6. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 once more. A text will appear in the bottom left saying "The Bell of Conquest is primed" if done correctly.
7. Clear Bellkeepers so that at least one bell can be rung.
8. Shoot the chains on the pillars in order to ring the large bell in the center of the arena.
9. As soon the chains move, ring the regular bell to be teleported to the Nightmare realm.
10. Two players should ensure that the Bellkeepers are dead, while the last one should distract Caiatl by making her stomp. This can be done by running close to her and then moving back.
11. Caiatl will be running towards one of the bells in order to escape the Nightmare Realm. Players need to ring the bell that she is running towards when she is close by, which will stun her and start DPS.
12. There are three total bells to be rung in the Nightmare Realm, each of which gives players a DPS phase.
13. Once all bells have been rung, Caiatl will return to the regular world, and the cycle begins again.

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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