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Challenging PVE content in Destiny 2 comes in a few different flavors, from raids to solo lost sectors to Grandmaster Nightfalls. The latter is actually fantastic for farming powerful Adept weapons that are on rotation, such as the Palindrome, PLUG.ONE 1 and the Uzume R44 and more.
However, Grandmaster Nightfalls currently represent the most challenging form of PVE in Destiny 2, and going in blind will usually yield zero results. Grandmaster Nightfalls also require players to be at the light level of 1345, which can be a bit of a grind to get to, but it goes to show that these strikes really are difficult. Here are a few general tips on how to complete Grandmaster Nightfalls.
10 Every Nightfall Is Different
This is an obvious statement, but a very necessary one. While there are many builds and tools that are considered meta in PVE, great weapons like the Vex or One Thousand Voices might not actually be the ideal pick for every single Grandmaster Nightfall.
Some strikes will require players to clear more adds, and other strikes have "cheese" methods that can make it easier for players to just completely skip the adds. Because of this, every Nightfall needs to be approached with a fresh mindset, and players should be ready to try different things, as well as experiment, especially if they find themselves struggling.
9 Use Particle Deconstruction
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Attempting a Grandmaster Nightfall without having the Particle Deconstruction mod unlocked from the seasonal artifact is a terrible idea. This mod is absolutely key and defines the Season 15 meta of Destiny 2. It's what gives Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles their "oomph".
Apply Particle Deconstruction on a class item. To activate it on an enemy, players need to shoot multiple bullets into the target, which will start to glow and receive a dark cloud above its head. Fusion Rifles are the best tool to activate Particle Deconstruction since they shoot multiple bullets at once and activate the full stack of damage boost at once, whereas Linear Fusions would have to shoot several times to reach the maximum stack of damage boost.
8 Get The Best Weapons For Champions
Grandmaster Nightfalls are defined by their abundance of champions. Each Nightfall has two types of champions, as well as various enemies with elemental shields. This means players will need to prepare weapons with either Overload, Barrier, or Unstoppable mods, as well as ensure they have Void, Arc, and Solar weapons at hand.
There are some weapons that intrinsically come with the ability to stun certain champions. The Arbalest and Eriana's Vow are both fantastic for Barrier champions if there are no good Auto Rifles for players to use. The Divinity is a staple for stunning Overload champions and is a much better pick than a bow due to its potential to boost damage against bosses.
7 Skip The Parts That Can Be Skipped
The most important part of a Grandmaster Nightfall is to achieve the Platinum score, which guarantees maximum loot at the end of the strike. To get this, all champions must be killed by the players. It also means that anything that's not a champion or the final boss can be safely ignored.
Any parts where only regular adds spawn in, players should try to skip to save time. That's because after a certain period of time, darkness begins to encroach and players will receive a lower score for taking too long to complete the strike. The best way to skip parts is to have one player run a Void Hunter build with the Omnioculus Exotic chest piece, which provides infinite invisibility grenades when used on multiple targets.
6 Equip Protective Armor Mods
Enemies in these Nightfalls will deal a lot more damage than usual, so death is to be expected. The problem is, Grandmaster Nightfalls have limited revives, and if all players die they're returned to orbit. This means sustain is key in order to stay alive for a long time.
Mods like Protective Light, Concussive Dampener, and elemental resistance mods are absolutely key when it comes to Grandmaster Nightfalls. With armor mod switches now being free as well and costing no Glimmer, there's no excuse for players not to deck out their armors fully before jumping into the strike.
5 Focus Damage
Unlike regular strikes where players can get away with doing their own thing, Grandmaster Nightfalls require a lot of focus fire. Champions are extremely powerful, and if every player isn't focused on the same target at once, they will be near impossible to kill. Failing to kill a champion once it gets stunned also wastes resources such as heavy and special ammo.
It might be useful for the player in charge of stunning certain champions to call out who to focus and to wait for the rest of the team to be in a position to shoot. This way, the fireteam saves time and resources, which are the main ingredients of survival in Grandmaster Nightfalls.
4 Equip Special Ammo Finishers And Ammo Finding Mods
Speaking of resources, ammo will be few and far between in these Nightfalls. There's typically a modifier for the strike that states that ammo drops are more sparse, and this can make actually scoring champion kills a real headache if players are constantly out of ammo.
The solution is simple. Mods like ammo scavenger and finder mods are vital for players who rely on heavy ammo for their main source of champion damage. Players can also use the Ammo Finisher mod to finish off enemies to generate special ammo for themselves and their teammates.
3 Have Someone On Add-Clear Duty
For strikes that have quite a few unskippable parts, add-clear is one of the main concerns players will have to worry about. Even regular adds can easily kill off players in Grandmaster Nightfalls, so one or two players at least should have something in their loadout that helps with clearing adds.
A few good examples are the Lorentz Driver with the catalyst (without the catalyst it's much more unreliable), Ticuu's Divination, and Witherhoard. The Lorentz Driver is a Season 15 Exotic weapon that players should unlock as soon as possible, while Ticuu's Divination and Witherhoard can be purchased with an Exotic cipher from Xur from the Monument to Lost Lights.
2 Buy Time With Blinding Grenades
On top of clearing adds, players can also use Blinding Grenades to momentarily stun them. This is particularly useful against large hordes of enemies or even against champions when players need to desperately buy some time. Fireteams who wish to skip certain parts of the strike can also use them if there's no Hunter with an Omnioculus build.
One of the best ways to get a primary Grenade Launcher with Blinding Grenades as a perk is to head to the H.E.L.M. and focus an umbral engram at the Prismatic Recaster.
1 Maximize Sustain With The Right Subclasses
The choice of subclass is key in ensuring players will have a successful Nightfall experience. For Hunters, this could mean the Revenant Stasis-subclass ideal for stunning and clearing adds, or the bottom tree Nightstalker Void-subclass for invisibility, paired with Omnioculus, and Shadowshot.
Titans can go for the Sentinel top or middle tree Void-subclass for Ward of Dawn or Sentinel Shield for damage boost and protection. Finally, Warlocks will almost always go for middle tree Dawnblade Solar-subclass that gives them Well of Radiance, by far the best Super for sustain, healing, and damage boost in the game. These subclasses will always be great regardless of Nightfall map, and the major changes will be the choice of weapons.
Destiny 2 was released on September 6, 2017, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia.