The Edge of Fate has delivered much-needed changes to the core systems in Destiny 2, one of the most significant of which is a revamp of ammo generation — a mechanism that governs how often Special and Heavy ammo drop in combat.
As opposed to previous versions where ammo drops were less predictable and even maddeningly so at times, the new one is more deterministic and tactical. It allows the player more control over ammo economy through weapon attributes, mods, and game choices.
This article informs players about how the new Ammo Generation stat operates, and how best they can optimize it so that they keep their arsenals replete with PvE and PvP.
What Is Ammo Generation in Destiny 2?
Ammo Generation refers to how quickly your gun helps to fill up your Special and Heavy ammo bars, which are shown on the bottom-left corner of your screen. Your progress toward generating bricks of ammo is shown in these bars. When a bar is complete, the next time you kill an enemy, a brick of that particular type of ammo will drop.
Every weapon has a value of Ammo Generation (refer to the weapon information screen), and the higher values charge the bars more quickly.
There are a few things to keep in mind in general:
- Primary weapons generate most of the ammo. They provide most of the progress per kill.
- Special and Heavy weapons do give ammo, but at a slower rate — particularly when topping off their own kind of ammo.
- It is to dispatch foes, and not just to bludgeon them, that powers ammo generation.
- Swords do not take part in Ammo Generation.
- A bar of ammo brick may only generate at most one bar, so rotation and good play are key.
Upgrading Ammo Generation
Though weapon stats carry significant weight, players can speed up ammo generation and enhance ammo economy via armor mods and weapon perks.
1. Weapon Mods and Perks
Legendary weapons may be supplemented with mods such as:
- Bandolier: Adds a small amount to Ammo Generation.
- Abundant Ammo: Boosts ammo gain from kills further.
There are also perks that assist in ammo generation for your entire loadout. Here’s one:
- Impromptu Ammunition: Increases Ammo Generation rate for all weapons equipped during the duration.
2. Armor Mods
Armor has a significant role in optimizing your ammo uptime. Here’s how:
- Chest Armor – Ammo Generation Mods: These modify the generation rate of weapons that have a particular elemental damage type (e.g., Solar Ammo Gen mod increases all Solar guns).
- Helmet Armor – Ammo Finder Mods: These don’t really increase generation, but they augment the effect of whatever does, including weapon perks and primary kills.
- Leg Armor – Scavenger Mods: Scavenger mods have no influence on the generation process itself, but improve the amount of ammo collected per brick.
3. Weapon Stat Bonus from Armor
Your overall weapon stat from armor (which you can view in the character menu) also has an influence on ammo pick-up efficiency. If your overall is above 100, you get a greater chance to get bonus ammo for each brick. This is scaling and stacked, so the higher your stat, the more ammo you’ll get out of every drop. It also does slightly more damage to bosses and Guardians, so this stat is all the more favorable to min-max.
How to Get the Most out of Ammo in Combat
In order to get the most out of this system, do the following playstyle advice:
- Farm Primary weapon ammo: They provide the fastest and most reliable ammo, even for Special and Heavy weapons.
- Hyperswitch weapon types tactically: Use your Primary to accumulate meter, then dump Specials or Heavies when bricks fall.
- Gear synergistic mods: Pair your weapon components with the corresponding Ammo Generation and Ammo Finder mods on gear.
- Balance your loadout: Avoid overspecialization in one weapon class — diversity in your guns means more balanced ammo drops overall.
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate’s new Ammo Generation system is more fun and rewarding to manage your ammo. No longer do players need to merely rely on RNG, but now they can strategize with loadouts and use specific mods in order to build a steady stream of ammo for even the most dire of fights.
With the ability to target Ammo Generation stat and pair it with appropriate armor and perks, Guardians can sustain momentum, uncouple the highest payload, and absorb top-level content without wasting the ammunition.
