History of Armor Charge

Overview

Armor Charge is a gear-mod system introduced alongside Destiny 2: Lightfall. Bungie combined two earlier armor-mod mechanics into it. Under the launch rules described by Bungie, equipping an Armor Charge mod enabled the system, and collecting an Orb of Power granted one stack.

Behavior

At launch, Guardians could hold three stacks by default, or up to six with certain chest armor mods. Some mods spent stacks when triggered; others granted passive benefits while stacks remained and caused them to decay over time. These counts and triggers describe the launch-era system and can change with sandbox updates.

Sources

• Bungie: Destiny 2 Update 7.0.0.1 — documents the merger and initial stack rules.
• Bungie: Buildcrafting Evolved — details orb generation, caps, decay, stack spending, and finishers.