Destiny 2 Raid, Loot & Champion Terms

By Treesz · Updated Nov 2, 2026

This glossary explains seven terms that Destiny 2 players look up: how Contest Mode changes a raid launch, what an Unstoppable Champion needs from your weapons, how patterns and Deepsight work, what Silver buys, how transmog works in Destiny, and what two older Exotics, Aeon Swift and Dawn Chorus, actually do.

Where the game stands on 2 November 2026: update 9.7.0, released on 9 June 2026 with the Monument of Triumph, is described by the developers as the final major patch for Destiny 2. Smaller maintenance patches continue; the latest on Bungie's news feed is 9.7.0.6 (20 October 2026), an Eververse fix. Several rules below changed in 9.7.0, so older guides may be out of date.

Term	What it is	Status on 2 Nov 2026
Contest Mode	First 48 hours of a raid with a power cap under enemy level	Used at the Desert Perpetual launch (July 2025)
Unstoppable Champion	Enemy type stunned by specific weapon frames	Changed in 9.7.0
Pattern extraction	Unlocking a craftable weapon from Deepsight drops	Active
Silver	Premium currency bought with real money	Active
Transmog	Armor Synthesis, turning armor into an ornament	Active
Aeon Swift	Exotic Hunter gauntlets, Curse of Osiris	Collections, Exotic engrams
Dawn Chorus	Exotic Warlock helmet for Daybreak, Beyond Light	Active

Contest Mode

Contest Mode is the rule set that applies to a new raid during its race window. Your Power is capped below the enemies' level in each encounter, enemies hit harder and have more health and shields, and Bungie has also disabled gear in some races. Clearing the raid in Contest Mode opens Challenge Mode from the Director.

The window was 24 hours in earlier raids and was extended to 48 hours for Lightfall's Root of Nightmares, and Crota's End also used 48 hours.
Typical caps: Root of Nightmares was capped at 1780 and Crota's End asked for 1790 to be at the cap in all encounters. (These were the old power-level numbers.)
The Desert Perpetual, released in July 2025 with The Edge of Fate, gave the Timeline's Blade reward for a clear within the first 48 hours (19 to 21 July 2025).

Contest Mode is often described as "equalising" everyone's Power. More precisely, it caps Power under the enemy level, so skill and team play decide the result. Contest Mode is not a permanent difficulty; once the window ends the raid goes back to Standard, Master and Feats. Bungie called 9.7.0 the final major patch, so no new raid, and no new contest launch, is planned.

Unstoppable Champion

Champions are the elite enemies in Destiny 2. There are three types: Barrier, Overload and Unstoppable. An Unstoppable Champion has a heavy attack and is hard to interrupt until you stun it with the right effect, after which it takes damage normally.

Update 9.7.0 reworked the rules ("Anti-Champion 2.0"). The seasonal artifact no longer holds anti-Champion mods. Instead, every weapon has an intrinsic anti-Champion effect based on its archetype, and you only need to fire and hit a target to apply it. Examples from the patch notes:

Weapon archetype	Effect
Aggressive frame	Unstoppable
High Impact frame	Unstoppable
Precision frame	Barrier
Adaptive frame	Barrier
Lightweight, Rapid-Fire	Overload

Other examples: Aggressive Burst and Heavy Burst Pulse Rifles and Heavy Burst Hand Cannons stun Unstoppable; Breach Grenade Launchers vary by archetype; Sidearms with Rocket-Assisted frames stun Unstoppable. Stasis shatter damage now stuns Unstoppable Champions (before it stunned Overload).

Pattern Extraction

Pattern extraction is the community name for unlocking weapon crafting patterns through Deepsight Resonance. Weapon crafting arrived with The Witch Queen. A weapon with an extractable pattern can drop with a red border, marking Deepsight Resonance. You can dismantle the weapon to extract progress, or fill its Attunement Progress bar and keep it.

Patterns are unlocked by extracting Deepsight Resonance from several copies of the same gun; the Austringer, for instance, needs five.
Crafting happens at the Relic in the Enclave, the shaping room added with The Witch Queen. A crafted weapon starts with few perks and unlocks the rest as it levels.
Enhanced traits need Ascendant Alloys. At weapon level 7 you can reshape an enhanced intrinsic trait.
In 9.7.0 the dev team updated loot pools so they avoid dropping weapons after all their crafting patterns are unlocked, and raids use Deepsight rewards in their featured rotation.

Tip: check the Patterns and Catalysts page under Triumphs to see which patterns are still missing before you pick a raid to farm.

Silver

Silver is Destiny's premium currency. You buy it with real money and spend it in Eververse (Tess Everis) on cosmetics. Check the in-game store for what is on offer now. The earnable counterpart is Bright Dust, which you collect through play and use for other Eververse items.

Armor Synthesis templates, which are the basis of transmog, were sold for Silver at launch: 300 for one, 1,000 for five.
Silver is sold for real money; Bright Dust is the one you earn in activities.

Transmog

Players say transmog for Armor Synthesis, introduced in Season 14 (Season of the Splicer, 2021). You turn a piece of armor you already own into a universal ornament that can be used on your other gear, so you keep your best stats and the look you like.

The ornament is made at Ada-1's Loom in the Tower and costs Synthweave.
At launch, earned Synthweave came from Ada-1's Armor Synthesis bounties: each finished bounty gave 100 Synthcord for your class, and the Loom turned that into one Synthweave, capped at ten per class per season.
Synthweave Templates are the paid shortcut: no inventory cap, class agnostic, sold only in Eververse for Silver.
It works on armor only, not weapons.
Update 9.7.0 (June 2026) widened it: Ada-1's legacy armor is no longer on a rotation and her whole selection is open for transmog, and Common to Legendary armor ornaments can now be worn on your equipped Exotic armor. Ornaments not made for that Exotic are hidden in PvP.

If you want the full steps, read our Armor Synthesis guide.

Aeon Swift

Aeon Swift is an Exotic pair of Hunter gauntlets from the Aeon Cult set, rewarded by Ikora after completing the Curse of Osiris expansion (2017) and available again through Exotic engrams. Its perk, Aeon Energy, works when you dodge: nearby allies in Aeon Cult armor receive energy, Hunters dodge energy, Warlocks grenade energy and Titans barricade energy, while others receive a fraction. The same set has Warlock and Titan pieces.

Aeon Swift has no Vigilance mod or Super boost of its own, as some guides claim: the perk is ability energy from a dodge, and it only pays off when teammates also wear Aeon gear.

Dawn Chorus

Dawn Chorus is an Exotic Warlock helmet introduced in Beyond Light (2020). Its perk is Rites of Ember: your Daybreak projectiles burn targets on contact and deal more damage, your burns last longer, and you gain a little melee energy whenever one of your burns damages a target. It only matters for Solar Warlocks using Daybreak (Dawnblade).

It was a Legendary or Master Lost Sector drop at launch, and like other Exotic armor it is now in Collections.
The common pairing is a Solar Warlock build that keeps targets burning, because each burn tick feeds melee energy back to you.

Cuirass of the Falling Star and other Exotics

The Cuirass of the Falling Star is a Titan Exotic chest piece from Season of the Chosen that boosts Thundercrash impact damage and grants an overshield that lasts longer the farther you fly. Details are on Cuirass of the Falling Star.

Guides and services

Our raid and dungeon rotation guide shows what is featured this week, and how to get Exotics lists drop sources. Onlyfarms has Destiny 2 raid carries and Exotic weapon services.

FAQ

Is Contest Mode still in Destiny 2?

It is a launch-window rule for new raids. The last raid release with it was the Desert Perpetual in July 2025. Bungie called update 9.7.0 the final major patch, so no new raid launch with Contest Mode is planned.

What stuns an Unstoppable Champion now?

Since 9.7.0 every weapon applies an effect by archetype. Aggressive and High Impact frames stun Unstoppable, and Stasis shatter damage also does.

How do I unlock a pattern?

Get Deepsight Resonance drops of the same weapon (a red border) and extract each one. Five copies are needed for some weapons, such as the Austringer.

Can I earn Silver in the game?

No. Silver is bought with real money. Bright Dust is the currency you earn by playing.

What does Armor Synthesis cost?

Synthweave Templates were sold for 300 Silver for one or 1,000 for five. Earned Synthweave came from Ada-1's Armor Synthesis bounties, up to ten per class per season under the original system.

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