Lost Sectors, the bane of many guardians' existence in Destiny 2, are one of the primary ways in which players can hope to get their hands on some Exotic gear—including decent stat rolls. Lost Sectors are essentially mini-dungeons that can be accessed at any given point in the game, but during each daily reset cycle, there will be one Lost Sector in rotation that can be completed in either Legend or Master difficulty.
Completing them at higher difficulties is what grants the chance of possibly earning an Exotic. That being said, these Lost Sectors can be grueling to finish, thanks to champions, locked loadouts, modifiers and the devastating damage even small ads are able to inflict on the player. Here are a few things to consider before jumping into a Legend or Master Lost Sector in Destiny 2—and making it out alive.
9 Check The Surge, Overcharge, And Threat
Ever since Lightfall came out, many of Destiny 2's PVE activities come with three modifiers. Surging elements deal 25% more damage in the activity, Overcharge weapons deal 25% more damage and Threats determine what damage type will be most lethal against players.
Based on these three modifiers, players can pick a subclass that matches the Surging element to gain a passive 25% boost (this also goes for weapons, provided that weapon doesn't already benefit from the Overcharge modifier buff). They can also equip a weapon archetype that's Overcharged, and add damage resistance mods that counter the main Threat of the activity.
Surges and Overcharges only appear on the flag located outside of the Lost Sector entrance, and not on the Destination screen.
8 For Champions, Use Intrinsic Perks And Subclass Abilities
Legend and Master Lost Sectors come with the added bonus of champions. These pesky enemies need to be stunned before they can take damage, and to stun them, players must either apply a debuff on them or use a specific weapon to stun them. There are many Exotic weapons in the game that have intrinsic anti-champion perks, such as Le Monarque, Bastion, and Arbalest.
On top of this, many of the subclass abilities have intrinsic anti-champion capabilities. These can all be checked on the character screen by hovering over the three champion symbols next to the equipped weapons. For a full breakdown of what each subclass ability can do, check out this graphic.
Provided players have unlocked the anti-champion perks from the seasonal artifact, it's also possible to just the weapons that are seasonal anti-champion weapons. However, given that these rotate seasonally and aren't always ideal (Unstoppable Hand Cannon, for example), it's best to learn how to rely on Exotic with intrinsic perks or just use subclass abilities.
7 Know When To Stun Champions
Champions are the main threats of these Lost Sectors. The goal is to stun them and kill them to gain Platinum rewards for the highest chance of earning an Exotic. But champions can't be stunned all the time, not all of them at least.
- Barrier Champions: Deal damage to these champions first. When they create a bubble around themselves, shoot the bubble with an anti-barrier weapon to stun the champion.
- Overload Champions: Can be stunned at any moment, but will regenerate fast. Damaging them continuously with an anti-overload weapon will prevent them from regenerating.
- Unstoppable Champions: Can be stunned at any moment, and any damage dealt to them when they are not stunned is significantly reduced.
In conclusion, always wait for a champion to be stunned before dealing damage to them with a heavy weapon. Since heavy ammo is typically short in supply in these types of activities, even with ammo finder mods, it's crucial to be sparing with it when it comes to killing champions—and the final boss of the Lost Sector, of course. For more information on how to stun champions, Datto has made a fantastic beginner-friendly guide on champion killing.
6 Take Advantage Of Solo Perks And Traits
Since players will be tackling these high-difficulty Lost Sectors solo, it's the perfect time to take advantage of any solo perks in the game. In Season of Defiance, there aren't any in the seasonal artifact, but it's likely that perks like Solo Operative from Season of the Seraph will return in the future, providing a significant damage buff when being the only member of the fireteam.
An underrated Origin Trait that also favors solo gameplay is Alacrity, found in Trials of Osiris weapons. Alacrity is active whenever players are the last living member of their fireteam—which includes any solo activity. It provides a boost to weapon stats, so if players have the opportunity to use Trials weapons in their Lost Sectors, it's well worth the buffs. Other great Origin Traits include the Souldrinker perk from Vow of the Disciple weapons, which restores health when reloading after kills.
5 Good Positioning Is Key
Unlike many other PVE activities in Destiny 2, solo Lost Sectors are truly punishing. Players have limited revives, and the enemies deal a lot of damage, especially point-blank. Because of this, players need to be patient and strategic, rather than running in head first to clear out ads.
Take note of any snipers on high grounds, champions that can run in like the Unstoppable, Screebs, or even Cursed Thralls. The type of threat will greatly determine how and where to take cover, but also what type of weapon to take into the Lost Sector. Cramped spaces will favor SMGs, while huge open areas work better with scout rifles and even pulse rifles.
4 Match Shields To Get Rid Of Them Fast
On higher difficulty, even small ads might spawn with a shield at times (such as Taken with Void shields). This can be incredibly infuriating if the player's primary weapon does not match the shield damage type, as they'll be plinking away at the enemy for quite some time.
The activity loading screen will show what shield types are in the Lost Sector. It's not always necessary to match them, especially if there are only a couple of shielded knights that the player feels comfortable dealing with, but if there are a multitude of shields, it can quickly become a problem and overwhelm the player.
3 Use Crowd Control Abilities
With Strand and Stasis in the game, both are fantastic tools for players to take advantage of when dealing with Lost Sectors containing higher enemy density—such as the ones on Neomuna and the Throne World. Older Lost Sectors will be more forgiving.
Strand's suspend is great for disabling half of the room in order to shoot the boss or to tackle that dangerous Unstoppable champion running at the player from across the map. That said, Stasis works just as well, with freeze able to deal with all three champions. It's why a fusion rifle with Chill Clip is one of the cheapest stun options to bring into a Lost Sector.
2 Beware Of Darkness Encroaching
Revives in Legend and Master Lost Sectors are limited by default, but with every champion kill, players earn another revive. Once there are no revives and the player dies, they will be sent back out to the Lost Sector flag.
The Darkness Encroaching effect, which comes into effect around the 15-minute marker, will remove all revive tokens from the player regardless of how many champions they have killed. So while players can technically take their time with these activities, they should try to finish before hitting the 15-minute marker. A message will appear on-screen to warn the player well in advance of Darkness Encroaching.
1 Do A Practice Run And Experiment
Chances are, especially when running Master Lost Sectors, players will need to start over a few times to figure out the best possible loadout for a quick, farmable rotation. There are a lot of variables to consider in solo content like this, from weapons to the right subclass to champions, etc.
So, don't be ashamed to drop in and drop out to see what exactly awaits inside the Lost Sector to be better prepared for it. This is a good way to also check out enemy spawns and see if a weapon with a better range is needed to deal with the enemies inside. SMGs aren't always the perfect answer, unfortunately.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.