Charging Transcendence in Destiny 2 The Final Shape Guide

In Destiny 2: The Final Shape, mastering the Prismatic subclass means unlocking the game-changing ability known as Transcendence-a powerful mini-Super that charges by balancing Light and Darkness damage. Learn how to efficiently build and activate this unique meter to shatter Bound shields, unleash enhanced grenades and melee attacks, and dominate your enemies like never before.

In this Destiny 2 guide, I’ll walk you through how to charge Transcendence, how you can use it to break Bound shields, and how to make the best Prismatic build for recharging Transcendence.

How to charge Transcendence in Destiny 2

To charge Transcendence in Destiny 2’s Prismatic subclass, you need to fill two separate meters beneath your Super bar: one for Light and one for Darkness. The Light meter is charged by dealing damage with Void, Arc, or Solar weapons and abilities, while the Darkness meter fills by dealing damage with Stasis or Strand weapons and abilities. Kinetic damage contributes to both meters but at a slower rate. Alternatively, you can use Prismatic Wellsprings found in certain activities to rapidly charge Transcendence. Once both meters are full, you can activate Transcendence, granting powerful buffs and the ability to break Bound enemy shields.

Transcendence manifests as two small bars beneath your Super bar. One bar represents Light, and the other represents Darkness. Here is how to charge Transcendence in Destiny 2:

To fill the Light bar, you need to deal damage with weapons or abilities that deal Void, Arc, or Solar damage.
To fill the Darkness bar, you need to deal damage with Stasis or Strand weapons and abilities.
Dealing damage with Kinetic weaponsgives a little energy to both bars, or a decent amount of energy to one if the other is already full.

When you’ve filled both bars, they’ll merge into a single bar that glows pink. This signifies that you’re ready to activate Transcendence, which is another bind on your controller or keyboard. Unlike most Supers, you’ll remain in first-person when activating Transcendence.

While Transcendent, you gain several benefits:

Increase to all weapon damage
Damage resistance
Increased ability recharge rate
A unique Prismatic-only grenade based on your class

The ability recharge on Prismatic is intense, and you can essentially spam all of your abilities while you have it active. When you kill targets while in Transcendence, you’ll also refund some Transcendent energy for yourself, meaning you can stay in it even longer if you play well.

How to defeat Bound weapons with Transcendence

To defeat Bound enemies in Destiny 2’s The Final Shape, you need to use the Prismatic subclass and activate Transcendence, a unique mini-Super ability. Bound enemies have shields that make them invulnerable to normal damage, but while Transcendence is active, you can break these shields and damage them. To charge Transcendence, fill two bars beneath your Super meter by dealing both Light (Solar or Arc) and Darkness (Stasis or Strand) damage; kinetic weapon damage fills both bars simultaneously, which helps when abilities are on cooldown. Once charged, activate Transcendence to gain boosted grenade and melee abilities, including a special Prismatic grenade dealing mixed Light and Dark damage. During Transcendence, defeating enemies extends its duration, while your damage and ability regeneration increase, allowing you to quickly dismantle Bound foes and maintain pressure.

In The Pale Heart of the Traveler, you’ll occasionally encounter enemies who are “Bound,” and have pink shields that are completely immune to damage. To make them vulnerable, you need to become Transcendent and deal any damage to them – including just shooting them with your gun.

This sounds far more annoying than it actually is.

Every time one of these enemies shows up, a puddle of Prismatic essence, like the image shown above, will appear somewhere in the arena. If you stand in that puddle, you’ll charge up your Prismatic energy very quickly. If you can’t make your way to the puddle, shooting Bound enemies charges your meter much quicker than shooting normal enemies.

How to make the best Prismatic build for Transcendence

To make the best Prismatic build for Transcendence in Destiny 2: The Final Shape, focus on balancing your damage output to fill both the Light and Darkness bars under your Super meter efficiently. Use a mix of Void, Solar, or Arc abilities and weapons to build the Light bar, and Stasis or Strand abilities and weapons to build the Darkness bar, while kinetic weapons contribute to both sides. Equip abilities and weapons that synergize well to maximize the speed at which you charge Transcendence. Once fully charged, Transcendence boosts your weapon damage, ability recharge rates, and provides damage resistance, along with unique Prismatic grenades. Tailor your loadout to maintain a steady balance between Light and Dark damage, using Prismatic fragments and weapons to even out any lagging bar, ensuring you can activate Transcendence frequently for maximum effectiveness in both PvE and PvP scenarios.

Transcendence is extremely powerful in both PvE and PvP. It is the reason to play with a Prismatic build instead of a normal subclass. Any time you put together a Prismatic build, you should focus on increasing the speed at which your Transcendence meter charges.

First and foremost, you want to make sure you have at least some abilities of each type in your build. Instead of running all Stasis and Strand to lock down the battlefield, try replacing your melee with an Arc ability, or add a Void grenade into the mix.

Even if you try to balance yourself out in terms of abilities, you’ll still probably end up lopsided – as in you easily fill one bar but struggle to fill the other. Once you identify where you’re lagging behind, you can and should use Prismatic Fragments and your weapons to even things out.

You want to make sure your primary weapon matches the damage type you’re struggling to fill, as you’ll never run out of ammo and can contribute toward the bar constantly. Primaries are a bit slower to build your meter, but they’re reliable, which is what counts here. If you want to play a little riskier, Special or Heavy weapons will give you a ton of progress on your Transcendence bars. Fusion rifles, for example, will grant you a big chunk of Transcendent energy each shot.

The real trick to Prismatic is to use a Kinetic weapon – especially a Kinetic Exotic primary, like Khvostov. If you’re able to slay out with a Kinetic weapon, you can ensure that you’ll always be gaining Transcendence meter, meaning you’ll be able to pop it that much more often.

You can help this process along even further with a few Prismatic Fragments, which you can unlock by finishing the campaign and exploring The Pale Heart:

Facet of Devotion: Killing targets afflicted with a Darkness debuff grants bonus Light Transcendence energy.
Facet of Grace: Kinetic weapon damage grants you bonus Transcendence energy. Super kills grant you and nearby allies bonus Transcendence energy.
Facet of Honor: Collecting an Elemental Pickup or destroying a Tangle grants Transcendence energy of the same type.
Facet of Sacrifice: While you have a Light buff, ability kills grant bonus Darkness Transcendence energy.

How can I efficiently build up my Transcendence meter in Destiny 2

To efficiently build up your Transcendence meter in Destiny 2, focus on balancing damage dealt with both Light and Darkness sources, as Transcendence charges from equal amounts of Light (Void, Arc, Solar) and Darkness (Stasis, Strand) damage. Using a Kinetic weapon, especially a Kinetic Exotic like Khvostov, is highly effective since defeating enemies with it grants bonus Transcendence energy thanks to the Facet of Grace fragment, which makes Kinetic weapon kills accelerate meter gain significantly. Incorporate fragments such as Facet of Devotion, which grants extra Light energy when defeating targets afflicted by Stasis or Strand debuffs, to help balance the meter if one side lags behind. Additionally, using special weapons that deal Darkness damage-like certain Strand or Stasis weapons-can speed up filling the Darkness side of the meter. Overall, a balanced Prismatic build with a mix of Light and Darkness abilities, supported by the right fragments and weapon choices, will maximize your Transcendence charging speed and allow you to activate this powerful mini-Super more frequently.

What weapons and fragments most effectively speed up Transcendence charge in Destiny 2

To speed up Transcendence charge in Destiny 2 effectively, the best weapons and fragments to use are:

Weapons:

Kinetic Exotic Primary: Khvostov is highly recommended because it synergizes with the Facet of Grace fragment, granting bonus Transcendence energy on kills with Kinetic weapons, allowing you to charge Transcendence rapidly with just a few ricochets.
Strand or Stasis Weapons: Using weapons that deal Darkness damage, such as those with Strand or Stasis elements, helps fill the Darkness side of the meter faster. Examples include certain special or heavy weapons that complement your Light damage sources.
Heavy Weapons with Good Ammo Economy: Machine guns like Commemoration, Hammerhead, and 21% Delirium are excellent for sustained damage and meter build. Rocket launchers like Gjallarhorn and Apex Predator, grenade launchers like Edge Transit, and linear fusion rifles such as Cataclysmic also contribute well to Transcendence charging.

Fragments:

Facet of Grace: Grants bonus Transcendence energy on kills with Kinetic weapons, making it crucial for fast meter gain, especially when paired with Khvostov.
Facet of Devotion: Provides extra Light energy when defeating enemies afflicted with Stasis or Strand debuffs, helping balance the meter if your Darkness damage is dominant.
Facet of Sacrifice: Gives bonus Dark energy on final blows while having Arc or Solar energy, useful for boosting the Darkness side of the meter when using mixed damage types.

Combining these weapons and fragments ensures a steady and balanced build-up of both Light and Darkness damage, maximizing Transcendence charge speed and uptime in Destiny 2’s The Final Shape expansion.