The roller coaster ride that is Destiny 2 has once again been fairly active this past week. On one hand, the game received another influx of content thanks in large part to the annual Destiny winter event known as The Dawning. In addition to giving the Tower social space a festive look and feel, Mayhem, the fan-favorite Crucible mode, made its grand return. Not only that, players can participate in ice hockey matches at The Farm, utilize snowballs against enemies, and collect a vast array of new Dawning-inspired loot.

Unfortunately, The Dawning also kicked off more fan unrest over what many are seeing as predatory microtransaction policies with regards to Eververse and the new Dawning gear. Much of the loot is locked behind the Eververse paywall, either requiring that players spend large amounts of Bright Dust currency or purchase premium currency to unlock it faster. Things got so bad that the community took over the forums on the official Bungie website posting messages saying that Eververse should be removed.

the dawning tower destiny 2 bungie

Not even Christmas or the New Year can stop a Destiny 2 weekly reset. With the Dawning still in full effect for another seven days, Guardians also have a brand new slate of milestones to conquer before the week is up. Here's the complete guide to all of the new content for this week including the Nightfall, Flashpoint, and everything else for the week of December 26, 2017.

Weekly Nightfall Strike

This week in the Nightfall, players are heading to Io to take on the Brakion inside of the Pyramidion. Perhaps it's due to The Dawning still being active, but the modifiers for this week remain the same from last week. So that means players should be mindful of the clock as the timer cannot be extended. Thankfully, Torrent is also active which means players can access their abilities much faster than normal, which should help thin out the enemies quickly.

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This strike is one of the more technical one available in the game as it requires players to work together and utilize some platforming skills as well. This can be seen in the first sections of the strike where players need to activate two plates while holding off waves of enemies. The quickest method would be to split the group in order to activate both plates to open the main door, while grenade spamming enemies thanks to Torrent. Once completed, players will navigate between rooms of enemies, followed by hallways with insta-death laser beams, which players should obviously be careful to avoid at all costs.

After navigating through a number of laser hallways and battles with Taken and Vex, Brakion awaits in the large room at the end. Like most bosses in Destiny 2, Brakion’s fight occurs in multiple parts. Phase one has Brakion sticking to one location shooting at the players, then moving behind shields when his health hits halfway. Disable his protection by standing on a nearby plate, which causes him to teleport away as Vex reinforcements continue to flood in to the room. At 25% health, his head will pop off giving him enhanced speed and aggression like most Vex. Finish the fight to claim victory.

Here are the modifier and challenge details:

  • Torrent: Player abilities recharge much faster than normal.
  • Timewarp: Zero Hour: Mission timer cannot be extended.

The player challenges for this week are:

  • Speed of Dark requires the fireteam to finish the Nightfall with at least 5 minutes remaining on the clock.
  • To earn Unbroken, the fireteam needs to complete the Nightfall with fewer than three deaths.
  • Siege Engine can be completed if players prevent Brakion from being shield for more than 40 seconds before defeating it.

Flashpoint Location and Treasure Maps

The Flashpoint for this week has moved to the planetoid known as Nessus. As it's been since release, participating in Public Events on the chosen planet go towards completing this quest.

This week's treasure caches can also be found on Nessus as well. Players will need to make sure to visit Cayde before embarking on this task as the maps themselves will first need to be purchased before the icons appear on the world map.

Here's where to find all five chests this week on Nessus:

  • Chest number one can be grabbed at the Exodus Black landing zone. Turn around after loading in, and head towards the entrance of the zone back towards the Glade of Echoes. The chest can be found on top of metal ship structures on the right side just before leaving the zone after going through the small doorway from Exodus Black.
  • Next, head to The Cistern fast travel point and immediately go to the right along the path. The second chest can be found inside the first Servitor husk to the left of the path.
  • Fast travel to Artifact's Edge and immediately head down either by jumping (watch the landing!) or taking the warp spire down. Head in the opposite direction from the public event location, following the path until a massive downed tree acts as a natural bridge over the road. Head to the left, follow the back wall around the downed tree and the chest can be found sitting in a small alcove.
  • For chest 4, either continue heading forward into The Tangle or head back to Artifact's Edge and once again follow the path to The Tangle. Continue following the path through the zone until a small pool of Vex fluid is found off to the right side. The fourth chest is located in the center of it.
  • Finally for chest 5 this week, fast travel to Watcher's Grave and follow the path to Xur's tree towards the back of the zone. Climb up the huge branches to find the chest hanging out on a limb.

Leviathan Raid Encounter Order/Weekly Challenge

As expected each and every week, the Leviathan Raid encounter order has updated alongside the weekly reset. 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.

Those who want an added challenge this week can find it within the Gauntlet. For details on how to beat this raid challenge, make sure to check out our guide.

Destiny 2 Leviathan raid beat in under 30 minutes

This week, the order is as follows:

  • Pleasure Gardens
  • Baths (Royal Pools)
  • Gauntlet
  • Emperor Calus

Heroic Strike Milestone

For players looking for more of a challenge when playing strikes, Bungie has only recently added Heroic Strikes to Destiny 2. Even with a bigger minimum recommended power level of 270, players have an opportunity to score better loot at the end of the mission. Complete three of these this week to earn a powerful loot engram.

Heroic Strikes - Complete 3 heroic strikes.

Destiny 2 Shaxx 300 Power level engrams

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.