These days it seems as if controversy loves Bungie. While the Curse of Osiris expansion for Destiny 2 has seemingly left fans lukewarm, many have been outraged over certain endgame activities having been locked behind the DLC paywall even though they were previously available to everyone. Keeping with its promise to be more open with fans, Bungie has issued a statement confirming that the studio is fixing the problem with today's hot fix update. The Prestige Leviathan Raid will get moved back down to a recommended power level of 300 and other activites like Trials of the Nine and Nightfalls will be available to all until Curse of Osiris content is selected for that week.
Unfortunately, this change has also caused the planned Faction Rally for this coming week to be delayed in order for Bungie to reassess how best to handle access to seasonal content in Destiny 2. Before the planned update, seasonal events like Iron Banner and Faction Rallies would have kept non-expansion owns from being able to participate due to the newly added loot and ornaments players can obtain. Under the new policy, that restriction is removed so all players, regardless of which version of Destiny 2 is owned, can participate. Bungie's ultimate goal is to not take away content that players have had access to since the launch of the game.
Needless to say, it's going to be a busy day for Destiny 2 fans, sorting through all of the new updates and changes arriving to the game today. In addition to game updates, the weekly reset has also arrived and brought with it all fresh new content to tackle including a new Nightfall, Flashpoint, and other milestones. Here's everything Destiny 2 players need to know for the week of December 12, 2017.
Weekly Nightfall Strike
This week's Nightfall Strike will send players back to Saturn's moon Titan to take on Savathun's Song once more. Oddly enough, this strike seems to appear more often than not as the Nightfall, so players should be fairly familiar with the mission by now.
The strike actually begins in the Solarium, so once players are there, they'll need to defend Ghost as he removes wards from a nearby door. Of course, during this segment, the team will be attacked by waves of enemies. Players will then need to destroy a number of void crystals in order to progress while facing the likes of powerful Hive enemies such as Wizards, Ogres, and Knights.
Once at the end of the level, players face off against Savathun's Song, a giant Shrieker. At first, the enemy teleports around the area as more Hive flood in. Players should focus on the adds to clear them out and create opportunities to attack the boss. At 50% health, two Ogres enter the battle, and then at 25%, Savathun’s Song gains a light shield. Players will then need to find and destroy a nearby void crystal to drop the shield, finish off the boss and complete the mission.
The modifiers and challenges this week are:
- Momentum: While standing still health and shield regeneration are disabled. Players need to sprint in order to trigger the regeneration process.
- Timewarp: Anomalies: Destroy any detected anomalies during the mission to increase the Nightfall timer.
The player challenges for this week are:
- Speed of Dark requires the fireteam to finish the Nightfall with at least 5 mNightfallemaining on the clock.
- To earn Unbroken, the fireteam needs to complete the Nightfall with fewer than three deaths.
- The Best Defense can be completed by shooting down 15 projectiles before defeating Savathun’s Song.
Flashpoint Location and Treasure Maps
With the reset comes an all-new Flashpoint location, and this week is going to be slightly disappointing for some Destiny 2 players as the new location is set on Mercury. What this means is that only Curse of Osiris owners will be able to complete the milestone this week, a fact which will likely rile some community members.
The other unfortunate side effect of having the Flashpoint set on Mercury is the lack of things to do on the small planet. The world itself is fairly small, preventing the use of a sparrow and only having one actual public event option with the newly added Vex Crossroads. At any rate, players need to take part in public events to complete this milestone and this week it appears that the percentage meter fills a bit faster than normal. Once filled, return to Cayde-6 to collect the luminous planetary engram.
Like the Flashpoint, vanilla Destiny 2 owners also get this week off from treasure hunting, as Cayde's stash is also located on Mercury this week. Considering the small size of Mercury, Curse of Osiris players only have to find three of them instead of the normal five. As always, the chests hold a variety of loot from glimmer and rare gear, to more interesting pieces like curios, emblems, and exotic engrams.
With a lack of hiding spots in the small space, players should have no trouble locating the three stash locations this week on Mercury.
- The first is located right near the fast travel point. Walk around the outer edge and head towards the bottom of the zone once even with the icon. The chest is located on a large ledge right where the minimap icon is located.
- Chest 2 is found on the other side of the map from where chest 1 is. Run towards the marker on the minimap to find the chest tucked in near a ruined ball statue. Be careful here as electrified vex fluid will damage players who get too close.
- The final chest on Mercury can be found on the opposite end of the zone from where players spawn in. Basically, right behind the portal entrance to the Infinite Forest. As players run around the portal, the chest is on a ledge right behind the portal. Can't miss it.
Leviathan Raid Encounter Order/Weekly Challenge
As expected, the Leviathan Raid encounter order has shifted once again. While this not only helps to keep the experience fresh for veteran players, it also helps players new to the experience get used to the Raid while also giving them an opportunity to play each part even if struggling.
The active Challenge for this week is against the Emperor himself, Calus. Check out our Calus guide for tips and tricks on taking him down.
This week, the order is as follows:
- Pleasure Gardens
- Gauntlet
- Baths (Pools)
- Emperor Calus
Heroic Strike Milestone
After being absent at launch, Heroic Strikes have once again returned to Destiny 2 alongside season 2. Players looking for more of a challenge should start here as these upgraded strikes come with a minimum recommended power level of 270. With the added difficulty, however, comes the opportunity for better loot. Complete three of them this week to earn this week's powerful loot.
Heroic Strikes - Complete 3 heroic strikes.
Lord Shaxx Crucible Milestone
Call to Arms - Win glory by participating, getting kills, and finishing PvP matches from either the Quickplay or Competitive playlists. Finish the milestone and return to Shaxx to earn his weekly engram.
And that's all for this week, Guardians. Enjoy!
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.