What does Elemental Affinity do on armor in Destiny 2?

Elemental Affinity was part of the Armor 2.0 rework that came to Destiny 2 back in late 2019. Armor pieces (helm, chest, arms, legs, and class item) now have an element associated with them (Solar, Arc, Void, Stasis), and this determines the types of mods that can be slotted into that piece of armor.

In the beginning, this selection was very limited, with specific weapon mods being available for certain elements. It was a headache, and there was little rhyme or reason as to what could be slotted in each piece of armor.

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Original Elemental Affinity

Arc

• Machine Guns
• Shotguns
• Bows
• Pulse Rifles
• Swords

Void

• Hand Cannons
• Grenade Launchers
• Scout Rifles
• Sniper Rifles
• Sidearms

Solar

• Auto Rifles
• Fusion Rifles
• Linear Fusion Rifles
• SMGs
• Rocket Launchers

Since then, Bungie has revised Elemental Affinity and added Stasis as a fourth option. Guardians are now able to swap a piece of armor to a different element for a price. The cost is determined by the number of upgrades in place on the piece of armor. This went into effect with the Beyond Light expansion.

Updated Elemental Affinity

Arc

• Melee Mods
• Secondary bonus that is activated with a second Arc mod installed on either that armor piece or in another item's Combat Style slot

Void

• Class ability mods
• Grant powerful effects for relatively low energy at the cost of stat improvements

Solar

• Grenade and health mods
• Mods stack with one another unless otherwise specified

Stasis

• Situational ability regeneration mods
• Grants powerful boons with a higher energy cost

For more Destiny 2 goodies, check out What is the Weekly Nightfall Weapon in Destiny 2? (March 15 to 22) on Pro Game Guides.