Bungie has finally unveiled its take on the highly requested armor transmog system in TWAB (This Week At Bungie) dated 22nd April. The new system will come to the game with Season 14, officially known as Season of the Splicer.
Armor Synthesis is just another fancy word for transmog system that every other MMO features. Armor Synthesis is a system that will allow players to transmog looks of their favorite pieces of armor to another armor with better stats or in destiny’s case a non-sunset armor piece.
Along with the Armor Synthesis in Season 14, Bungie is also bringing back Ada-1 as an exclusive NPC tied to the Armor Synthesis system. She will be the go-to NPC in the tower for all bounties and currencies.
Usually, the transmog system is free or cheap (costing only earnable in-game currency) in MMO games, but in Destiny 2’s case, the “Armor Synthesis” system is a convoluted mess. It does not only limit the number of armor pieces you can transmog to 10 each season each class, but it also comes with its separate 3 new currency that players need to be farm separately.
Sounds complicated? Well, this is just the start, things will become even more confusing later on. I have tried to keep it simple and precise, but Bungie has made a simple system so much complicated that even with edits it will be difficult to explain.
Before we begin, here’s a quick list of steps to convert a piece of gear you desire into a universal ornament.
- Defeat enemies to earn Synthstrand.
- Spend Synthstrand on bounties to earn Synthcord.
- Convert Synthcord at the Loom in the Tower into Synthweave.
- Use Synthweave to convert an unlocked armor appearance (Legendary quality or lower) from Collections into a Universal Armor Ornament.
Or just skip all the steps above and use your wallet to purchase Synthweave Template from the Eververse Store. The cost of 1 Synthweave Template token is 300 silver, while the cost of a set of 5 Synthweave Template token is 1000 silver. Plus, Synthweave Templates purchased from Eververse can be applied to any class and there is no limit on purchases and uses, so you can convert your entire collection to universal ornament if you have enough silver.
To earn Synthstrand (New Currency #1) players just need to defeat enemies in Destiny 2. Each enemy you defeat has a chance of dropping Synthstrand. Collect 150 Synthstrand and meet Ada-1 in the tower and acquire class-specific bounties that will reward Synthcord (New Currency #2).
There are five categories of Armor Synthesis bounties: Vanguard, Crucible, Gambit, Destinations, or Raids and Dungeons. Players can pick bounty for the activity they like the most and work towards earning Synthcord. Note that, if you pick up a wrong bounty, only a portion of the Synthstrands will be refunded if you choose to abandon it. So think carefully before picking up any bounty.
After earning enough Synthcord, visit the Loom in the tower to convert Synthcord into Synthweave (New Currency #3). Now use the Synthweave to convert any unlocked armor piece from the collections tab into a Universal Armor Ornament. Note that you can’t transmog Exotic Armor pieces and most of Year 1 armor.
You will be able to do this process up to 10 times per season per class, except during Season of the Splice, which will allow players to transmog up to 20 times per class.
Well, that’s it, Folks! The “Armor Synthesis” system by Bungie is overly complicated and grindy, with a direct bypass for those that can pay up. Rather than a simple implementation like every other MMO, Bungie has chosen the path of most resistance for players that will constantly nudge players towards spending real money to bypass the grindy system and the arbitrary limit of 10 pieces per class.
