This week, Destiny 2 added the Heroic difficulty for Menagerie that features no matchmaking and the Extinguish modifier. As advertised and with some nasty negative modifiers, Heroic Menagerie can be difficult, which begs the question: is it worth doing?

Special Heroic Menagerie Drops

When it comes to gear, there is nothing that the Heroic Menagerie offers that the regular Menagerie does not. Players can still use their Chalice to craft armor or weapons, and catered the masterwork or damage resistance to their liking.

However, upon completion of the first Heroic Menagerie of the week (per account), the crafted item will be fully masterworked. If you get a good Menagerie weapon roll, then it saves you enhancement cores to max it out, or if it’s a bad roll then you just got 7 free enhancement cores.

Exotic Weapon Catalysts

The other reason to do the Heroic Menagerie is that it is a guaranteed drop for the Izanagi’s Burden catalyst, provided that players have fully upgraded their Chalice of Opulence. With a maxed out Chalice, the final chest in the Heroic Managerie will reward the catalyst, which increasing the damage of the Honed Edge perk by 20%.

Since we are only in week 1 (of 3) for the Heroic Menagerie, it’s unclear if each boss will have a different exotic weapon catalyst or each chest will reward the Izanagi’s Burden catalyst. There are a ton of new exotic weapon catalysts in the database for Destiny 2, so it’s feasible that each boss would offer a different one.

Triumphs and Shadow Title

In addition to the masterwork gear and catalysts, Heroic Menagerie is also tied to some of the game’s Triumphs. If players want to fully upgrade their Chalice of Opulence, the Imperials that come from these Triumphs will be helpful in that regard but not essential.

Those Triumphs are also an essential component for completing the Shadow Title for Season of Opulence. Without those Heroic Menagerie Triumphs, then players will be unable to claim the title of Shadow and the pin from Bungie. Of course, Menagerie is only one component – there are still a lot of Crown of Sorrow Triumphs to complete as well – but it’s still a part of getting everything done.

Ultimately, Destiny 2 players shouldn’t feel like they are missing out if they can’t put together a 6-man team for Heroic Menagerie. The challenge is fun and there are some cool rewards, but thus far nothing seems essential.

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.