Exotic Ability Boosts
Exotic Ability Boosts are an upgrade layer for your Major and Minor abilities, added in Season 5. A boost empowers your currently equipped ability with an extra effect, such as a shorter cooldown, more ammo, or an added damage type. Every ability has two boosts to choose from, and only one can be active at a time.
How to get them
Section titled “How to get them”Boosts drop from item and supply cases during a run. They are rolled to match your currently equipped Major and Minor ability, so you cannot pick up a boost for an ability you are not running.
- Nightmare locations are the primary source. Boosts drop most often from Nightmare-level Activities and Assignments, and from Glitch Fractures.
- Zone IV regions have a smaller chance to drop them.
- Open your Tac Map and check the rewards list on Nightmare-level Activities and Assignments to see where your best odds are.
- The Season 5 Burn Run assignment is farmed by many players as a boost-and-skill-upgrade route, though drop luck varies.
How long a boost lasts
Section titled “How long a boost lasts”Once acquired, a boost stays active until one of these happens:
- Your operator wipes (full elimination).
- You reset Combat Rating (including through Prestige).
- You swap the affected ability for a different one.
Major ability boosts
Section titled “Major ability boosts”Each Major ability has two boosts. Only one can be active at a time, so pick the one that fits your build.
| Ability | Boost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Crash Cart |  Full Restock | Restores ammo, armor, and equipment |
 Jumbo Battery | Invulnerability lasts longer, and you can revive non-squad allies | |
| Active Camo |  Extra Time | Melee kills increase camo duration |
 Stealth Fire | Stay invisible while firing your weapon | |
| Ballistic Shell | Shell Revive | Downed squadmates who enter the Shell are revived |
 Stun Shell | Melee attacks on the Shell can stun the attacker | |
| Hand Cannon | Blast Stun | Bullets can trigger an explosion that stuns the target |
 High Capacity | Increased ammo count | |
| Vision Pulse | EMP Kill | Killing pinged enemies generates an EMP effect |
 Marked for Death | Pinged targets take increased damage | |
| War Machine |  Fast Charge | Reduced charge time |
| High Capacity | Increased ammo count | |
| Shadow Break |  Gravity Well | Pulls enemies into its center |
 Sky Drop | Entering Shadow Break teleports you into the sky | |
| Drone Pod |  First Strike | Drones gain a shrapnel effect |
| Stun Protocol | Drones have a chance to stun enemies | |
| Sentinel Protocol | Shock Rounds | The Guild Bot’s weapon gains the Dead Wire ammo mod |
 Target Relay | The Guild Bot targets enemies you ping, with improved accuracy | |
| Thermal Spike |  Molten Aura | Enemies that touch you are burned |
 Shock Blast | The initial explosion stuns enemies | |
| Death Machine |  Critical Return | Critical kills have a chance to return ammo |
| High Capacity | Increased ammo count |
Minor ability boosts
Section titled “Minor ability boosts”| Ability | Boost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Grappling Hook |  Acrobatic | Adds one charge, and refunds charges used in midair |
| Stun Hook | Enemies hit by the grapple are stunned | |
| Portal Grenade |  Contagious | Summoned Fears can infect nearby enemies |
| Extra Time | Summoned Fears last longer | |
| Kinetic Jump |  Jump Boost | Jump higher and restore some health |
| Quick Charge | Faster charge time | |
| Flicker |  Auto Reload | Auto-reloads a portion of your weapon |
| Warp Damage | Teleporting at enemies deals damage | |
| Supply Link |  Fully Protected | Auto-refills armor plates for you and allies |
| Fully Supplied | Refills all equipment for you and allies | |
| Black Hat |  Backdoor Protocol | Adds powerful attacks against Guild and Fear enemies |
| Chargeback | Successful attacks reduce your Major ability cooldown | |
| Blood Burner |  Protective Field | Increased damage reduction while riding |
 Time Charge | The pulse attack charges over time instead of by kills | |
| Aether Blade | Extra Charge | Adds one charge |
| Stun Bounce | Blade bounces stun enemies | |
| Psych Grenade |  Charm Offensive | Charm lasts longer, and more enemies can be charmed |
| Reinforcements | Chance to spawn a stronger ally |
Community notes
Section titled “Community notes”Early community testing has surfaced a few things the in-game descriptions do not spell out:
- Kinetic Jump, Quick Charge does more than the tooltip says. On top of the faster recharge, it adds a fourth jump charge (from three to four). The extra charge is not mentioned in the description.
- Grappling Hook, Acrobatic is the extra-charge option (shown by the battery icon on the grapple). A charge that gets refunded while you are still in the air is lost when you land, so it rewards grappling back to the ground.
- Shadow Break, Sky Drop is widely seen as weak. It adds a small vertical launch that does not gain much height.
- Vision Pulse, Marked for Death is rated highly for Glitch Fractures, where tagging enemies for bonus damage speeds up clears.
- Crash Cart, Jumbo Battery is a common all-round pick for keeping the ability available more often.
Related pages
Section titled “Related pages” Major Abilities All Major abilities and their unlock conditions.
Minor Abilities All Minor abilities and their unlock conditions.
Nightmare Zones The primary farming ground for Ability Boosts.
Glitch Fractures A reliable source of Ability Boost drops.
Data sourced from community research and in-game documentation. Information may change with game updates.