Get ready, there are a ton of changes coming to Destiny 2's Nightfall strike activity, many of which are targeted to give fans exactly what they've been asking for from the upper-tier PvE activity. Bungie detailed the numerous changes in its weekly "This Week at Bungie" blog.

Bungie had already said it would be getting rid of the timer mechanic on the Nightfall - that much was clear. The timer was something new for the sequel's version of Nightfalls, but the mechanic garnered negative reception from fans who felt like it made them run through the strike in an all-out sprint even to the point of bypassing encounters. Next week's revamped Nightfall Strike will still have a time factor, but one that is based on the upcoming scoring system.

Like with Strike Scoring, players will earn points by killing enemies and creating orbs throughout the Nightfall Strike. However, the fireteam is encouraged to keep moving since the overall score will start to tick down as time goes on. To avoid some of the problems Destiny 1 had with similar systems (i.e. Challenge of the Elders), there is an additional system in place where if players take longer than 15 minutes their score gains are reduced by half, and after 18 minutes score will no longer accumulate.

Scoring high in a Nightfall isn't just for bragging rights; there will be new Nightfall emblems that will unlock an aura when a certain score threshold is reached. In fact, Bungie is making a game-wide change in Destiny 2 where auras are now attached to emblems instead of having their own equipment slot. And alongside gaining an aura for scoring high enough, players will also gain a buff that increases Vanguard Token drops by 25% during a strike.

destiny 2 nightfall challenge card

To make Prestige Nightfalls more interesting and engaging, Challenge Cards are being added that will add extra difficulty modifiers in exchange for higher potential scores. Bungie showed a couple of these modifiers that are debuting with the new Nightfalls:

  • Void/Solar/Arc Singe – currently provides a +25% increase to player and enemy damage of the corresponding element.
  • Extinguish – fireteam wipes return the team to orbit
  • Power modifier – voluntarily decrease your power to gain a score bonus.

Bungie is promising to keep a close eye on the Nightfalls and how players interact with them, saying the developer is ready to adjust score caps to get the difficulty just right and/or add more modifiers into the mix.

The majority of these changes are scheduled to launch with the February update coming February 27, with Nightfall Challenge Cards coming in the update a month later on March 27.

Destiny 2 and the Curse of Osiris expansion are available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie