Destiny: Rise of Iron kicks off another new week of content for players with the weekly playlist reset and here is everything that you'll need to know for December 13.

The day many Destiny: Rise of Iron fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. The latest seasonal event known as The Dawning brings about a holiday flair to The Tower, along with more things for players to do. The biggest thing for many is the return of Amanda Holliday's Sparrow Racing League. This time around, the popular mode has been enhanced with more content and rewards, along with the addition of two brand new race tracks to go along side the previous two introduced last year.

In addition to spirited racing competition, the other big piece to this free content drop is the addition of Strike scoring. Similar to other modes like the Prison of Elders or the Crucible, players will visibly see points earned for various actions during Strikes such as head shots, grenade kills and more. At the end of the strike, a final score will be given, ranking players into bronze, silver, and gold categories. Based on the tier earned, different gear will be awarded.

Players will have plenty more to see and do as a new SRL/Strike Scoring record book will need to be filled out. Commander Zavala has a whole new quest line to finish up, and there's brand new Dawning inspired gear to find as well. Not to mention, fan favorite weapons like The Icebreaker are returning for year three along with brand new exotic guns such as Abbadon and Nova Mortis.

If players somehow need something else to occupy their time or until The Dawning patch finally arrives, there's plenty of new weekly activities to accomplish as well. With the weekly reset finally here, let's take a look at all the new playlists, bounties, and everything in between for the week of December 13, 2016.

Weekly Nightfall

The Nightfall strike this week is a bit delayed, thanks to The Dawning update and the new Strike scoring system which is scheduled to start hitting consoles around 10am PST. Attempting to play the Nightfall before the update goes live will result in a Honeydew error message.

With that said, the Nightfall this week takes players back to Mars and the Dust Palace. In an attempt to seize control of the Martian Warmind located there, the Cabal have released three Psion Flayers to get the job done. Players will need to take them out.

This previously PlayStation exclusive strike is fairly straightforward, especially compared to some of the more newer strikes that have come out since. Players will fight through the complex, going up against increased Cabal minions as players have countless times already. The challenge to this strike comes near the end, when players are tasked with eliminating the three Psion Flayers.

In addition to waves of Cabal reinforcements, the Flayers each have abilities based around one of the three elemental types: arc, solar, and void. The shielded bosses require fireteam coordination as they're quick moving, hit hard, and they like to hide in order to quickly recharge their shields. Players should also attack each Flayer with the element they're weak to, which is represented in their shield color. Concentrate on one first to prevent it from escaping and recharging its shield, and then move on tot he next and then final one to finish the fight.

The active modifiers this week are: Epic, Berserk, Brawler, Fresh Troops, 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.
  • Brawler increases Guardian melee damage.
  • Fresh Troops provides added enemies to certain groups within the mission.
  • Finally, Airborne increases the damage done to enemies while players are in the air.

SIVA Crisis Heroic Strike Playlist

Arc Burn has moved over to the SIVA Crisis playlist this week, giving players an incentive to bust out those arc subclasses and the Zhalo Supercell to place the odds in their favor. The playlist also features the following modifiers for a bit of an added challenge: Heroic, Arc Burn, Juggler, and Catapult.

  • Like every week, Heroic buffs enemies, making them more aggressive and in greater numbers than normal.
  • Arc Burn greatly increases arc (electricity) based damage from any source. Remember that this goes both ways and is not only for Guardians so equip Bladedancer, Striker, or Stormcaller for best results.
  • Juggler prevents ammo from dropping for your equipped weapon. Players should switch between weapons to ensure needed ammo drops.
  • Lastly, Catapult greatly increases grenade recharge rates.

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.

Crucible Playlist

The Crucible features Supremacy this week, which is good for those of you who like bounties. More on that in a bit. Inferno Supremacy and Rumble Supremacy are the two featured playlists and can be found inside of the Director Crucible section.

While both match types feature the core, shotgun favoring gameplay of picking up fallen crests from other players, the two modifiers adds a twist. Inferno completely removes the radar, even for those trying to use the MIDA Multi-tool or Memory of Gheleon. Rumble Supremacy on the other hand removes teams completely, adding more chaos to an already fast paced mode as a free for all type.

New Bounties

As usual, the Iron Temple at Felwinter Peak is the best spot 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 Silimar, Memory of Timur, and Memory of Jolder.

  • Memory of Silimar provides extra protection against damage over time attacks in the Crucible.
  • Memory of Timur gives a small chance to convert a minor enemy of the darkness against its enemies after getting hit by a melee strike.
  • Memory of Jolder completely removes the sprint cool down penalty.

Shiro-4 has the weekly Plaguelander quest available which focuses on finishing various Patrols around The Plaguelands along with these four Iron Bounties: Together We Rise, Archon's Forge: Servitors, Archon's Forge: Shanks, and Archon's Forge: Vandals. While players got somewhat of a break from Archon's Forge related bounties last week, the same cannot be said for this week. Shiro has brought them back with a vengeance.

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.

  • Together We Rise asks players to complete five public events.
  • Archon's Forge: Servitors requires players to complete four Servitor encounters inside of Archon's Forge.
  • Archon's Forge: Shanks requires players to complete four Shank encounters inside of Archon's Forge.
  • Archon's Forge: Vandals requires players to complete four Vandal encounters inside of Archon's Forge.

This week, the Crucible handler in the Tower, Lord Shaxx, is placing the spotlight on the Supremacy match type. The weekly bounty known as A Hunt For Glory asks players to finish 7 matches, earn 50 primary kills, pick up 30 Kill Credits, and deny 20 crests.

As always, don't forget that finishing the weekly Crucible bounty grants Nightfall tier rewards, helping players get closer to that maximum light level of 400.

Starting later today, players will want to see Commander Zavala in the Vanguard Hall as well. The Titan is handing out bounties geared towards the new Strike Scoring feature added in this update, which applies to playlists such as the SIVA Crisis and Nightfall as well. Some of the new gear such as Icebreaker are tied to these bounties.

 Challenge of the Elders

Those players who are still fighting it out in the Prison of Elders will want to drop by The Reef to speak to Variks as a Sterling Treasure is still up for grabs in the level 41 Prison of Elders. Pick up the Elder's Sigil and any available bounties to help boost his reputation.

For Guardians working on the Elder's Sigil in the Challenge of the Elders, the modifiers for this week are: Grounded, Specialist, and a bonus for precision kills.

  • Grounded makes it so players take more damage while in the air.
  • Specialist grants a bonus to secondary weapon damage.
  • Lastly, all Precision Kills award bonus points. Make sure to aim for the head, Guardians! Unless it's a Vex, then aim for the stomach.

Events

Lady Efrideet has packed up her Iron Banner gear and left for another month to make way for The Dawning and Sparrow racing. While most of what's new was covered above, one thing to keep in mind is that this update also includes three newly remastered strikes as well. These include The Shadow Thief, The Will of Crota, and Nexus.

While microtransactions have emerged as an easy way to earn new loot, Bungie is gifting players with a free winter gift every day the player logs in. These gifts can contain any of the new gear and ornaments, including exotic engrams so it certainly appears to be well worth it to log in each day.

The new week has also swapped the raid challenge so Vosik now stands in the way of players. Of course, any Guardians looking for tips on how to beat this challenge should check out our guide.

As always, good luck and stay safe out there, Guardians!

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