History of Anti-Champion

Overview

Anti-Champion is the umbrella term for the mods and weapon effects that let Guardians damage and stun Champions, the shielded elite enemies. Each of the three Champion types has a counter: Anti-Barrier for Barrier Champions, Overload for Overload Champions and Unstoppable for Unstoppable Champions. Many weekly challenges and Empire Hunts require them.

Original system (artifact mods)

Under the older system, anti-Champion mods were Artifact perks unlocked with artifact points and slotted onto matching weapons. According to Shattered Vault and search coverage:

• Anti-Barrier pierced Barrier shields (Auto Rifles, Submachine Guns, Hand Cannons in the Shadowkeep-era set).
• Overload Rounds applied Disruption, delaying enemy ability regeneration and cutting damage output (Auto Rifles, Submachine Guns, Bows).
• Unstoppable Rounds caused a staggering explosion when aiming down sights (Hand Cannons).

Dexerto reported players found extra uses: Anti-Barrier cuts through non-elemental shields, Overload reduces enemy damage by 25% and stops some enemy abilities, and Unstoppable can reveal critical spots on Wyverns.

Anti-Champion 2.0

Shattered Vault says that with the Monument of Triumph update (July 2026) anti-Champion mods were removed from artifacts and every weapon has an intrinsic Champion counter based on its frame or archetype, with no mod or wind-up required; Exotic weapons get individual assignments. This comes from a single guide, so check in game for current weapon assignments.