Destiny: Rise of Iron kicks off another new week of content for players with the weekly playlist reset, and here is everything that one needs to know for December 20.

While Bungie may be on holiday break for the next couple of weeks, Destiny is never done. The game is currently in the middle of the snowy holiday event The Dawning, which is intended to keep players occupied while the hard working developers at Bungie take a much-needed break from Destiny.

As for 2017, Bungie isn't saying what's to come, but merely hammering home that new content is being play tested. Already players are waiting on a promised weapons balance patch which offers a solution to the issue with shotguns like the Party Crasher or Matador 64.  While nothing is yet confirmed, Bungie appears to be looking at ways to bring the gun type back in line with the others, rather than just nerfing them into the ground and calling it a day.

Outside of upcoming content, 2017 should be another huge year for the franchise with a proper sequel being planned for release sometime later that year. Until E3 gets a little closer, don't expect to hear much on the title.

In the meantime, however, the weekly reset has finally arrived, providing some fresh content while players wait for a jolly man in a red suit to climb down their chimney and deliver some goodies next weekend. Let's take a closer look at all the new playlists, bounties, and everything in between for the week of December 20, 2016.

Weekly Nightfall

With a renewed focus on the Nightfall strike thanks to Commander Zavala (more on that below), this week, players are heading back into the Devils Lair to take on Sepiks Perfected.

Introduced just a few months ago in the Rise of Iron expansion, this Strike is a remixed version of the original Devil's Lair strike where the Fallen splicers have resurrected their once fallen servitor thanks to the use of SIVA.

Considering this is the strike that many players first attempted back in the day, it plays out quite similarly to how players originally remember it. Some added twists introduce SIVA clusters, and a newly improved spider tank in the large open field area. For the most part, the strike will be fairly similar.

Now called Sepiks Perfected, the servitor has a few new tricks up its sleeve. Instead of just hovering and soaking up loads of damage, the servitor will phase in and out at times, gaining a shield while waves of Devil Splicers flood the room. To knock down its shield faster, grab a shock cannon from a defeated splicer and fire it at the Servitor to bring it back closer without its shield to protect it. Make sure to check out our guide for more details on this remixed strike.

For the Nightfall aspect of this strike, the active modifiers this week are: Epic, Berserk, Small Arms, Match Game, and Airborne.

  • Epic adds heavily shielded enemies that are more aggressive and appear in greater numbers.
  • Berserk prevents enemies from flinching even after taking massive damage.
  • Small Arms favors primary weapon damage.
  • Match Game makes enemy shields immune to all damage that doesn't match its element. Make sure to look for the color and switch weapons appropriately.
  • Finally, Airborne increases the damage done to enemies while players are in the air.

SIVA Crisis Heroic Strike Playlist

Players looking for a burn modifier are in luck with the Heroic strike playlist this week. Void Burn is active this week and while there are no primary weapon choices for this role, there's a lot of great secondary options here such as the Telesto or even the new heavy option, Nova Mortis. In addition to Void Burn, the playlist also features the following modifiers: Heroic, Brawler, and Chaff.

  • Like every week, Heroic buffs enemies, making them more aggressive and in greater numbers than normal.
  • Void Burn greatly increases void based damage from any source. Remember that this goes both ways and is not only for Guardians so equip Nightstalker, Defender, or Voidwalker subclasses for best results.
  • Brawler increases Guardian melee damage.
  • Lastly, Chaff disables player radars, even for those using the Memory of Gheleon.

Like each and every week, the SIVA Crisis playlist is a great way to earn valuable high level light loot and score an easy 30 Legendary Marks. The new Radiant Treasure boxes are also a main draw and the easiest way to acquire Silver Dust and new weapon ornaments.

As an added bonus in The Dawning update, Bungie has tweaked the drop rate of those incredibly rare Skeleton Keys, giving them a small boost. The SIVA Crisis playlist is still the best way to obtain a key, though finishing the Nightfall once per week now guarantees a drop.

Destiny nightstalker quiver

Crucible Playlist

While SRL is still listed on the main page of the Director, players looking for their weekly Crucible playlists have to go directly into the Director Crucible section. Up this week is Mayhem Clash, which is fantastic for those wishing to finish the Crucible weekly bounty. In addition to normal clash rules, mayhem recharges grenade, melee, and super abilities much faster, and ammo crates also spawn more frequently.

For those who don't want that much chaos in their lives, the other weekly match type is doubles. Get some practice in before the annual Crimson Double event likely kicks off in February.

Tower and Iron Temple Bounties

While the Tower may be a more exciting spot these days with The Dawning in full swing, the Iron Temple at Felwinter Peak is still the best place to begin this week as both Tyra Karn and Shiro-4 have new bounties and quests to complete. Tyra Karn has her weekly Artifacts of the Iron Lords quest where players finish patrols and other actions to earn a token that can be redeemed for one of three artifacts. The artifacts this week are: Memory of Perun, Memory of Skorri, and Memory of Felwinter.

  • Memory of Perun highlights enemies with low health and other guardians who have a full super meter.
  • Memory of Skorri recharges allied supers faster when the players is completely full.
  • Memory of Felwinter removes the players super meter, but provides a small boost to all stats, grants an extra grenade, and melee strike. Not only that, all orb pickups recharge grenade and melee energy.

After an Archon's Forge heavy week, the Vanguard scout Shiro-4 has once again brought balance back to his bounty selection. In addition to the weekly Plaguelander quest, these four Iron Bounties are now available: Stay Down, Crushing Blows, Archon's Forge: Captains, and Archon's Forge: Vandals.

As usual, these bounties are the only way to have a chance at earning the Thorn exotic quest line, one of four that is needed to finish off the four exotic quests in the Rise of Iron record book.

  • Stay Down simply has players killing enemy Splicers around the Plaguelands.
  • Crushing Blows requires players use the Iron Axe or other heavy enemy weapons on enemies.
  • Archon's Forge: Captains requires players to complete four Captain encounters inside of Archon's Forge.
  • Archon's Forge: Vandals requires players to complete four Vandal encounters inside of Archon's Forge.

Once finished at the Iron Temple, head over to The Tower as there are more things than usual to check out. In addition to opening the four free daily Dawning presents, Lord Shaxx has a new Crucible weekly bounty. This week, the focus is on the clash match type. Here's how to finish it:

  • Back to Basics requires that players finish seven clash matches, earn 50 primary kills, 25 assisted kills, and another 25 ability kills.

Shaxx isn't the only friendly face players should be visiting anymore as Commander Zavala should be a weekly visit as well. The Titan has three new strike focused weekly bounties as well. Don't forget that finishing these bounties gives players a chance to start the new exotic quest line for the Icebreaker sniper rifle.

  • Sunrise - Earn a Gold Tier Medal before time expires in the Nightfall Strike.
  • Clean Up - Get 150 kills with your fireteam during a SIVA Crisis strike to earn a "Brutal Efficiency" Medal. Do this three times.
  • Strike Elite - Earn 9 Gold Tier, Silver Tier, or Bronze Tier Medals.

As always, finishing these weekly Crucible bounty grants Nightfall tier rewards, helping players get closer to that maximum light level of 400.

 Challenge of the Elders

Players in search of Sterling Treasure should head to the Reef to speak with Variks and enter his Prison of Elders. For Guardians working on the Elder's Sigil in the Challenge of the Elders, the modifiers for this week are: Catapult, Ironclad, and a bonus for super kills.

  • Catapult increases grenade recharge rate.
  • Ironclad adds additional enemy shields.
  • Lastly, all Super Kills award bonus points.

Events

The Dawning seasonal event enters into its second week, tasking players with racing sparrows and scoring in strikes. As usual, Amanda Holliday at the Tower hangar has 3 new Sparrow Racing League bounties for eager Guardians. Keep in mind, the event comes to a closer officially on January 3, 2017, so players will need to wrap up their competitive record books before then.

As if it was any surprise at this point, the raid challenge has swapped and now focuses on Aksis. To finish successfully, make sure to use the supercharge plate and slam every single teleport. For more on this challenge, check out our guide.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Guardians!

Destiny: Rise of Iron is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.