This week, Destiny 2 players gained access to another challenge for the Garden of Salvation raid. It’s the second challenge for the new Shadowkeep raid and thus focuses on the second encounter. But while last week’s raid challenge forced players to eliminate mechanics and focus on not killing the Cyclops in the first encounter, this challenge forces them to be more active.
Raid Setup
Normally, the second encounter in Garden of Salvation involves Destiny 2 players running around and refreshing Enlightened buffs for each other. There are usually two “runners” who teleport to the “defenders” guarding the four pylons, and they use the boxes to refresh the buff.
But to complete the A Link to the Chain challenge, Destiny 2 players must ensure that everyone gets the Enlightened buff at the same time. It doesn’t matter which box they use to get the buff, but the refresh must by synced so that no person has a different Enlightened buff timer (give or take a few seconds).
The most difficult part of this Garden of Salvation raid challenge is that it forces players to leave their pylons. As a result, players will need to make sure that their area is clear of enemies before attempting a refresh, since they won’t be able to quickly jump back into the fight. If things do get hectic, though, it will be much harder to do the refresh and ensure that no sacrifices occur. So, keep that in mind.
How to Complete the A Link to the Chain Challenge
The best strategy for completing the A Link to the Chain challenge in Destiny 2’s Garden of Salvation raid is to start by refreshing buffs in small groups, and then having two groups of three.
At the start of the encounter, everyone must get the buff from the first box, player 1 and 2 stay to defend and the rest move to pylon 2. Once pylon 2 is clear, the group refreshes at the box at the same time that players 1 and 2 do the same at their pylon. Player 3 stays at pylon 2 to defend.
Players 4, 5, and 6 move on to Pylon 3, clear it out, and then refresh their buff. But at the same time, Player 3 travels through the portal back to pylon 1 to refresh with players 1 and 2. This must be done in sync and player 4 remains to defend pylon 3.
Finally, players 5 and 6 travel to pylon 4. They clear all the enemies and then get ready to refresh. At the same time, player 4 travels to pylon 2 to refresh with player 3, and players 1 and 2 refresh together. So, if done in sync, it should be players 1 and 2 refreshing at pylon 1, players 3 and 4 at pylon 2, and players 5 and 6 at pylon 4. Player 4 then must travel back to their pylon.
With all pylons activated, the team can go about the encounter as normal, clearing Angelics when they spawn. The only thing to keep in mind is that setup for refreshing. Those players must travel to get the refresh and then the team must activate all the boxes at the same time.
If done correctly, the Destiny 2 challenge will be complete, a second loot chest will spawn, and players will get Pinnacle Rewards. Last week, Bungie made a change that increased the power of Pinnacle Rewards to +2 so it’s more worth completing these types of endgame challenges.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.