Destiny 2 Transmogrification Guide

Transmogrification in a video game context refers to altering the appearance of items while leaving their mechanical traits intact. The word is often shortened to transmog. It has been a long-awaited feature in Destiny 2 due to the limited choice of high-level armor and the varied aesthetics present between the likes of Dreambane and Scatterhorn Armor Sets. Up until recently, there were only limited appearance change options through preset Universal Ornaments acquired from the Eververse Store and events. The release of the Season of the Splicer has brought with it a theoretically much more versatile Armor Synthesis system, which is described in this article.

Synthesis Mechanics

Armor Synthesis involves three currencies:

• You earn Synthstrand by defeating combatants in any kind of activity from Gambit to Strikes and (to a lesser extent) playing through certain quests;
• With Synthstrand, you can purchase bounties from Ada-1. Completing them will yield Synthcord;
• Synthcord may then be processed into Synthweave using the Loom, a new machine that you will help assemble in the Tower during the introductory quests for the system.

Synthweave comes in four varieties: Plates (for Titans), Bolts (for Warlocks), Straps (for Hunters), and Templates (for anyone). By spending Synthweave, you can create a Universal Ornament based on any non-Exotic Armor Piece from your Collections, which can then be attached to any parts belonging to an eligible class. For instance, you could use the distinctive aesthetics of Trials of Osiris Armor with your best high-stat gear or reclaim the look from the old event and activity sets.

Note that you are restricted to earning ten Synthweave items for every character in a season through bounties. However, each Guardian will also receive six Synthweave units from the Armor Synthesis Introduction and Tying It All Together missions. Out of those, one would need to be expended during the second quest itself, but the rest will remain for later use. Five more of each type will be given to your account after playing through Path of the Splicer I at the beginning of this season’s campaign. Those options should be available until at least the end of the current game year in November.

You also have the option to buy Synthweave Templates from Eververse in exchange for Silver, which is bought with real money, with 500 Silver costing $5. One template comes at a price of 300 Silver, while the five units needed to synthesize a full set are in a 1000 Silver bundle.

Synthstrand Farming

The main way to acquire Synthstrand is by vanquishing combatants. Any opponent, whether AI or human, has a small chance to drop this substance, but there is also a lockout timer that limits rewards to one Synthstrand every two minutes. Since you are going to get Synthstrand from any activity, the easiest route would be to simply keep playing normally until you have enough to move on to the next step. However, if you intend to farm this resource, you can focus on relatively small and target-rich areas such as Lost Sectors or the Shattered Throne dungeon. The latter offers an opportunity to collect kills against melee opponents without having to do anything beyond making your way past the first boss and activating Solar Empowerment. Such methods could let you avoid much of the grind.

Synthcord Bounties

Ada-1 offers Synthcord bounties from five categories, classed according to the pursuits they are based on. You can choose which category you want to work with when buying the bounty, but the objective you get will be randomly selected from the following list.

Vanguard Threader:

• Complete 4 Nightfall strikes or 1 Grandmaster Nightfall strike
• Accumulate 200,000 points in Nightfall strikes
• Complete 4 playlist strikes or Nightfalls and defeat 200 combatants using Arc damage as a team
• Complete 4 playlist strikes or Nightfalls and defeat 200 combatants using Solar damage as a team
• Complete 4 playlist strikes or Nightfalls and defeat 200 combatants using Void damage as a team

Crucible Threader:

• Capture 30 zones in Crucible Control matches
• As a team, defeat 300 opponents in the Crucible. Personal final blows contribute significantly more progress
• Defeat 75 opponents in the Crucible
• Complete 8 Crucible matches and defeat 100 opponents as a team using Arc damage
• Complete 8 Crucible matches and defeat 100 opponents as a team using Solar damage
• Complete 8 Crucible matches and defeat 100 opponents as a team using Void damage

Gambit Threader:

• Complete 7 Gambit matches and defeat 200 targets as a team using Arc damage
• Complete 7 Gambit matches and defeat 200 targets as a team using Solar damage
• Complete 7 Gambit matches and defeat 200 targets as a team using Void damage
• Send and defeat 50 Blockers in Gambit
• Defeat 30 Primeval envoys, high-value targets, and Primevals in Gambit
• As a team, defeat 50 opposing Guardians in Gambit

Destination Threader:

• Complete 5 Wrathborn Hunts
• Complete 10 public events at any destination
• Complete 4 Empire Hunts on Heroic difficulty or higher on Europa
• Defeat 50 powerful Nightmares on any destination or within Nightmare Hunts
• Defeat 85 Champions, bosses, and high-value targets as well as loot chests on any destination
• Open 15 chests awarded from completing the Altars of Sorrow on the Moon. Chests from higher tiers grant more progress
• Open 10 chests awarded from completing the Blind Well within the Dreaming City. Chests from higher tiers grant more progress

Raid/Dungeon Threader:

• Generate and collect 100 Orbs of Power in any raid or dungeon
• Complete 2 encounters in any raid or dungeon
• Complete the final encounter of any raid or dungeon
• Defeat 150 combatants as a team in any raid or dungeon using Arc, Void, and Solar damage
• Defeat 50 challenging combatants in any raid or dungeon.

All of those bounties except for the one used in the tutorial cost 150 Synthstrand to unlock. If you make a mistake or get an objective you don’t like, you can cancel the bounty to get 50 Synthstrand back. You get 100 Synthcord of a class-specific type per bounty; that amount can be converted into one corresponding Synthweave item.

For most players, the Raid/Dungeon Threader tasks will likely be the easiest to complete, potentially being done in a single run. Conversely, the Destination ones are by far the hardest and most time-consuming choice due to a large amount of grinding involved. Crucible matches are a viable option for PvP enthusiasts, as are Vanguard strikes for those who prefer that activity.

The Armor Synthesis system has come under a lot of criticism since it was announced. While enthused about the concept of a transmog system, many fans were angry with this implementation due to its convoluted nature, necessary heavy grinding, and low cap. It has been estimated that a dedicated player can reach the free cap for all classes in 160 hours, after which they would have to go to the store for more transmogs. Still, given the widespread outcry, there is reason to believe the system might change in the near future. After all, the sunsetting system that removed the likes of Redrix’s Broadsword from high-level play has been canceled after a few months due to its unpopularity. If the player concerns are addressed, Armor Synthesis may yet evolve into a satisfactory transmog system.