Grandmaster Nightfalls have returned once more to Destiny 2 in Season 21, also known as Season of the Deep. They arrive with a slight twist this time, though, as they’ve come back far sooner than many would have expected. Grandmasters are one of the key pillars of endgame PvE in Destiny, serving as challenging pieces of content that fireteams of 3 can undertake together. Since there isn’t an increase to the Light Level (or Power Level) this season, Grandmasters were able to release far earlier, appearing during week 4 when they usually release during week 7. While this may blindside some people who weren’t expecting it, this gives some weapons and Nightfalls a little more time in the sun and should make grinding for them feel a lot more lenient.
The GM cap this season is the same as the last. Grandmasters are capped at 25 Power Levels above your current level no matter what, giving you a decent challenge to overcome. What this does mean is that you need to be 1815 to be at maximum effectiveness for Season of the Deep GMs, which is very easily achievable by basically anyone who’s been playing Destiny recently. With the chance to earn some wicked new Adept Nightfall weapons, boatloads of Exotics, rare upgrade materials, the Conqueror Title and more, Grandmasters are a great place to sink your time if you’re up for the task.
Here’s everything you need to know about Grandmaster Nightfalls in Season 21 (also known as Season of the Deep) in Destiny 2.
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Season 21 Grandmaster Nightfall List
Before we dive into the Grandmasters, let’s have a quick refresh on what changes were made to GMs in Season 20. First off, Match Game no longer appears in endgame activities, freeing up your Grandmaster loadout and allowing you to run multiple weapons of the same damage type. Secondly, the old acute and major Burn system has been replaced with Threats (elemental damage boosts for your enemies) and Surges (elemental and weapon damage bonuses for you and your team).
Finally, traditional Grandmaster Nightfalls have been joined by Grandmaster Battlegrounds. The main thing that distinguishes Battlegrounds and traditional Nightfalls is their pacing: Battlegrounds tend to have fewer encounters or mechanics, making up for this in sheer add density and combat complexity. There’s one new Grandmaster Battleground this season and Bungie has said they’ll be adding plenty more in future D2 seasons.
With that out of the way, in Season of the Deep in Destiny 2 prepare to face the following Grandmaster Nightfalls:
- The Devil’s Lair
- The Corrupted
- The Disgraced
- The Lightblade
- Fallen S.A.B.E.R.
- PsiOps Battleground: Moon
There’s one big difference with Grandmasters this time around. Instead of being available on week 7, they’re being made available during week 4 giving you some additional time to earn select Adept weapons. That being said, the Grandmaster node (which lets you pick from all the Grandmasters you haven’t currently completed) will not be available until week 7, meaning that you’ll be stuck farming the normal Nightfall if you want loot.
So, what’s the big deal with the Grandmasters in Season 21, then?
The Fabled Conqueror
The Devil’s Lair
First up is The Devil’s Lair, a fan favourite Strike that Destiny veterans have probably run hundreds of times. Compared to some of the other offerings in this season’s GM rotation, Devil’s Lair is a nice breezy one that most Guardians will be able to take on relatively easily. In it, you and your fireteam go deep into House of Devil’s territory in Old Russia to stop Sepiks Prime. Seeing as this is a Fallen Strike, strap on your Anti-Barrier (Auto Rifles) and Overload (Scout Rifles + Trace Rifles) weapons to make this a much easier experience.
The initial start of the Strike isn’t too hard but it can result in some deaths if you get careless. Rushing in on your Sparrow will leave you wide open to Hive Knight Boomers, Acolyte Grenades and other bits of nastiness so try and approach on foot by sneaking around the side (especially because you need to deal with a pesky Overload Captain before continuing). There’s also a glitchy Acolyte who can stuck in a wall in this first bit of the mission, so be cautious in case you die to a random grenade from absolutely nowhere.
The first big point of conflict is when Ghost must disable three laser grids barring your path. You and your team will be bombarded with waves of Hive and Fallen and you need to hold your ground until the final enemy falls. The area by Ghost has a decent amount of cover and you’ll want to stick close to this location for the majority of this section: just be aware that Fallen Wretches will spawn behind you above the cargo crates and should be taken care of immediately so they don’t one-tap you or your teammates. Aside from them, play this section safe by taking out long-ranged Vandals and Tracer Shanks before engaging the frontline forces with Supers and other dangerous weaponry.
A Fallen Walker
Shortly after this section is a massive open arena with you on one end and a Spider Tank Walker on the other. If that wasn’t bad enough, two Fallen Brigs are posted on the left and right sides of the arena and there are several Anti-Barrier Servitors and Overload Captains just waiting for you to get close. The key here is to take each piece off the board one at a time: work as a group to eliminate both the Brigs before moving in on the Champions so you don’t get caught off guard if things go sideways. Keep an eye on the Spider Tank, too, as well as where it’s going to shoot so you can avoid a needless death. This section is relatively easy if you take your time.
Finally, we come to the boss battle against Sepiks Prime. As soon as you enter the arena, we recommend dipping into a small room to the left side. This room has several open windows you can shoot Sepiks from while avoiding the majority of its more deadly moves. Just be careful not to get overwhelmed by the adds, which will not only rush you from the main entrance but also the stairs leading from the lower levels. A very important thing to say is that you cannot allow yourself to get complacent: if you are too passive, the clock will tick down and you’ll fail. Sepiks is by no means a difficult boss but it can be a long one (especially when it spawns the mini-Servitors at its health gates) so step up, be aggressive and you’ll be as good as gold.
Big Sepiks and Little Sepiks
The Corrupted
Next is another well-known Strike, but for very different reasons to The Devil’s Lair. The Corrupted held the title of “worst Nightfall” for a fairly long time due to a multitude of factors, from the unforgiving length to the abundance of one-hit attacks to the orb-throwing mechanic. Prompted by Queensguard Petra Venj, your fireteam dives deep into the Ascendant Plain and beyond to free one of Mara Sov’s trapped Techeuns from Riven’s insidious grasp, taking heed not to kill her in the process. Hive and Taken are the main adversaries this time but you only need to worry about Taken Champions. As such, make sure to equip Overload (Scout Rifles + Trace Rifles) and Unstoppable (Hand Cannons + Glaives) weapons.
Most of the encounters in The Corrupted are very long and drawn out which, when paired with annoying enemy placements, can make certain sections very draining. This is present from the very start of the Strike which involves crossing a bridge filled with Scorn and Taken. There’s a particularly nasty Taken Centurion at the end who will constantly fling tracking Taken orbs in your direction which almost always kills in a single hit. Play long-range for this section and be wary of the Taken orbs as well as the numerous Taken Hobgoblins.
Into the Ascendant Plain
The Corrupted isn’t relenting in its torment, though, as the next section asks you to descend an elevator infested with Taken. This section has very little cover (as well as very little ground to stand on) and you will be constantly hunted by powerful Taken being guarded by invulnerability shields. These shields can only be broken by shield-popping orbs scattered around the arena: make sure to pick up an orb and pass it to a team member, which will power it up and allow you to pop a combatant’s shield in a single hit as opposed to needing multiple orbs to do the same job. In terms of general strategy, crowd control abilities and Supers such as Tether and Ice Bolt Grenades are great at controlling the adds as soon as they spawn.
Continue further into the Strike until you reach the realm hopping Ogre fight. You’ll constantly teleport back and forth between the regular realm and the Ascendant plain, each of which has a separate Ogre mini-boss. The fun doesn’t stop here as there are Unstoppable and Anti-Barrier Champions chasing you down in both realms at all times, flanked by irritating Solar Knights and Void Acolytes. The best bet for this encounter is to stay grouped up but be ready to bounce at any time. The elevated rooms on each side of the arena are great places to hide but enemies do have the tendency to sneak up and appear on top of you whenever you switch dimensions.
Keep moving through some platforming sections (which can drain your lives if you’re too reckless) and you’ll eventually arrive at the boss. This is the worst bit in the entire Grandmaster and a contender for the worst fight in Destiny 2. You need to juggle the shield-popping orbs which always spawn away from reliable cover while also managing hoards of dangerous adds and the boss herself who has a habit of killing you in a single hit with her ranged attacks. Save your bigger Supers like Nova Bomb or Hammer of Sol for the waves of adds (who spawn in at each health gate) while remaining far back to deal damage to the boss. Once she teleports away, follow her immediately. Survive the final section in the Ascendant Plain and you will conquer The Corrupted once and for all.
Taken Techeun
The Disgraced
The third Grandmaster Nightfalls Guardians will be undertaking in Destiny 2 is The Disgraced, a revamped version of the Omnigul Strike from back in the original Destiny. Under the request of Shaw Han, you go into the bowels of Hive territory in Old Russia to squash a Hive Witch called Navota. The Hive are your primary targets for this GM so bring Anti-Barrier (Auto Rifles) and Unstoppable (Hand Cannons + Glaives) weapons to dispatch Champions with ease. There are a few Fallen adversaries too, though, so be wary of that.
Shortly after entering the Strike, you’ll be met by your first major obstacle. This is a small server room filled with Fallen. Aggressive Anti-Barrier Captains roam the area, joined by cocky Dregs and pesky Vandals watching the rear. Honestly, the safest place to be is the initial room where you enter, giving you some cover and enough space to pick off adds from a safe distance. The enemies can still see you, though, so don’t get too comfortable as one wrong move can put you at the end of a Vandal’s sniper.
An Infested Land
The section directly after this is a similar tale, only with the Hive. You’ll be stuck in the planetarium room where you spent the final Old Russia in Destiny 2, battling against waves of Thrall, Knights and Wizards as they descend upon you. This area is much more spacious than the last, giving you plenty of space to fall back and take a moment to regain your abilities so don’t play too risky and waste lives unnecessarily. Clear the waves pushing you, pick off the Wizards from a distance and then push in to finish any stragglers who remain.
The next few sections aren’t too interesting until you enter a fallen Hive ship and spot Navota. She’ll dip, leaving you with plenty of irritating Wizards, Unstoppable Ogres and long-ranged Hive Boomers. The best bet for this bit is to playback and wait until the more aggressive enemies – particularly the Ogres – run into your line of sight. There you can deal with them away from the other adds, making them a much easier deal. Do be aware of the Knight sitting up high as you run up the slope as one or two shots will spell disaster.
Clear the slope and you’ll be face-to-face with Navota herself. This fight plays pretty similarly to the Omnigul fight from back in the day with a few key twists. The most major is that the arena has two sections – the original room and a deeper section which has been carved out below – which Navota will teleport between as the fight progresses. Unlike most bosses, Navota has a Solar shield, meaning that you need to deal a little bit more damage to her before you go all out. Tough adds will also spawn whenever she teleports, usually from where she just was, so stay on your guard and the Witch should meet her end soon enough.
A Disgraced Ritual
The Lightblade
In what seems to be a reoccurring pattern, the next Grandmaster is one of Destiny’s most reviled and most challenging: The Lightblade. This time, it’s Alak-Hul’s turn to return from Destiny 1 and he’s come back with a shiny new coat made from the Light thanks to Savathun. Venture into the Temple of Oryx in Savathun’s Throne World and slay this old foe once more to claim one of the Tablets of Ruins. As to be expected, Hive will be the main force in this Strike, meaning Anti-Barrier Champions (Auto Rifles) and Unstoppable Champions (Hand Cannon + Glaives).
There are two main reasons why this Strike is so difficult. The first thing is how relentless the enemies are. Acolytes with insta-kill grenades like to hide around corners, guarded by tanky Knights who can also kill you in a single hit. The worst among them is the Lightbearer Knights: you’ll fight a good amount of these throughout the fight and between their Supressor Grenades, which kill in one hit, to their shield throws, which also kill in one hit, they’re a menace to go against. Try not to group up when going against a Lightbearer as a single shield throw has the potential to splat all three Guardians at once so keep on your toes.
As for the actual encounters, troubles begin once you enter the Cathedral. In terms of play space, this area is pretty tiny and you’ll likely find yourself sandwiched between its tight corridors as more and more enemies spawn. Deal with the Knights and Wizards first as both can become massive nuisances if left alive, especially the Wizards who can slow you with their mist. You’ll also face down several Lightbearer Knights who will charge you with reckless abandon. Once they appear, use anything – Supers, grenades, heavy – to get them off the field.
A Merry Boat Ride
The next two sections can either be really easy or really annoying, depending on your approach. First up is the boat section. Here, constantly stay on the move during the initial descent, taking out the distant Acolytes when you can. Once you reach the long canal, hop off the boat and use the platforms on the left and right to make your way across as it is a much safer way to deal with all the adds. Then we have the swamp run: simply put, you need to just go for it. Having an Invis Hunter or a Solar Guardian with Restoration will make this way easier as they can just sprint ahead and cause the rest of the adds to despawn. No matter what, play carefully, don’t take stupid risks and deal with the moths whenever you see them.
Last, and certainly least, is the Lightblade, Alak-Hul. This arena has two floors and you shouldn’t be afraid to use both: it can be tempting to just stay on top but weaving between both levels will cause the boss to move as well, giving you some breathing room as he transitions between each state. Be particularly careful of the Thrall, both normal and Cursed variants, who can sneak up on you quite easily if you hyper-focus on the Lightblade too much. Finally, coordinate with your team whenever you’re about to reach the boss’ health gates. The boss will shield himself and spawn several yellow-bar Knights and Lightbearers which you can easily dispatch with coordinated Supers or heavy weapon strikes.
To close, don’t panic if someone dies. Take things slow, steady and try to kite the boss as much as possible. Do this and, with a little bit of luck, the Lightblade Grandmaster in Destiny 2 will be conquered.
Drown in the Light
Fallen S.A.B.E.R.
Back for the first time since Season 18, Fallen S.A.B.E.R. is at it again. This certainly isn’t the hardest Strike, nor is it the most tedious, but it does have some tricks up its sleeve that can take you off guard should you waltz into the Warmind’s bunker unaware. The Fallen are your only threat for this fight so pack your Anti-Barrier (Auto Rifles) and Overload (Scout Rifles + Trace Rifles) weapons.
To be honest, the worst parts of this Strike are at the very beginning. The first two segments are where you will likely die the most: get past them and you’re home free. To begin, you need to defend a downed Warsat while waves of Fallen descend on you from their Skiffs. A new Skiff will spawn when you reach each 25% threshold on the Warmind, bringing with it more adds, more Champions and more problems to deal with. Take care of the Wretches and Dregs as they leave the Skiffs, then engage the Captains at range when you can. You can also shoot the turrets off the Skiffs to make this fight far more manageable. Another notice is to make sure you kill all the Champions: do the Warsat too quickly and you’ll miss the Platinum rank.
Forgotten Shores
After this, you’ll venture into the bunker below which is stuffed to the gills with Shanks, Vandals, more Shanks, Captains and even more Shanks. Your best bet is to quickly push inside the room and move to the left corridor: it’s a tight fit for all three of your fireteam but it gives you a good vantage point of both sides of the arena. Just make sure you watch your back as Wretches and Dregs will push you hard. Take out the Anti-Barrier and everything else should be relatively simple.
The section with the running the Arc ball down the Shank-ridden electrical grid can be made trivial thanks to Arc and Amplify: if you and you’re team are running other elements, have two people stand at different points on the path to shoot down oncoming threats as the runner makes their way up. For the next room, use a similar strategy to the first room by taking care of high-profile targets with Supers before pushing in. There are a lot of invisible Vandals and Wretches in this area, too.
Blast through the penultimate room filled with Overload Captains and you’ll reach the S.A.B.E.R. unit. Compared to most other Grandmaster bosses, the boss doesn’t actually deal too much damage. Instead, most of the fight is about running around and repositioning yourself. There isn’t a ton of cover and what cover there is has the risk of becoming electrified, killing you near instantly. As such, you need to stay on the move and be aware of your surroundings at all times, whether it’s for the sniper Shanks or the environmental hazards. Be especially careful when the boss changes phases as it will spawn Servitors to protect the other adds and Tracer Shanks which can knock you out in only a shot or two.
Aside from that, stay active, keep moving, thin the adds and the Fallen S.A.B.E.R. should easily fall to your might.
The S.A.B.E.R. Approaches
PsiOps Battleground: Moon
Finally, we have the first brand new addition to the Grandmaster playlist with Grandmaster PsiOps Battleground: Moon. Following on from the Heist Battleground: Mars GM from last season, this Battleground is filled to the brim with Lucent Hive as they try and drown the Moon in Savathun’s Light-soaked image. As with the Mars Battleground, this Strike only has Hive opponents, meaning that you’ll be facing Anti-Barrier Champions (Auto Rifles) and Unstoppable Champions (Hand Cannons + Glaives).
The first bit of this Battleground involves crossing the top of the Scarlet Keep which has since been populated with the Lucent Brood. This will be your first taste of Battleground hell as you’ll be constantly under attack by all manner of Hive. The key here is to remain aggressive and active, don’t regress into a passive state or problems will just pile up. In particular, don’t dawdle around when it comes to the Ogres and the Knights as they can snowball into massive problems if you don’t take care of them quick enough.
A Lucent Moon
After the initial assault, you’ll usher yourself into a large room with three plates. This is where things get tricky as you need to kill Wizards, collect their essence and then bank them at those three plates. While this is happening, hoards of adds will come rushing in from every angle. Like with the starting section, the main thing you need to do is keep moving. There’s little to no cover and you’ll be under constant attack from Wizard slowing mist and up close Thrall claws. Roaming Supers are superb here as they give a good deal of survivability for extended periods while allowing you to still deal with the Wizards and progress the mission.
Deal with the final few Ogres and you’ll be up against the final boss. For this Battleground, that boss is a Lightbearer Wizard. The final section inside the Lightbearer’s mind is going to be extremely chaotic and you’re going to need to coordinate a lot to succeed. Not only are there going to be a lot of adds, but you’ll spawn copies of Savathun who are capable of ridiculous levels of damage whenever you hit a health gate. The entirety of this section is going to be juggling the boss, the adds, the Ogres, Savathun, the synaptic spear and everything else you usually need to in a Grandmaster. Like before, roaming Supers are great at cleaning out the field whereas defensive ones are great to pop to chunk through the boss’ health without worry.
Lightbearing Hive
All Season 21 Grandmaster Nightfall Rewards
Now that we’re past the nitty gritty, what rewards can you expect for defying the odds and beating back the forces of Darkness?
One of the biggest reasons to tackle Grandmasters season-over-season is to gild or complete your Conqueror Title. Complete all 6 available Grandmasters throughout Season of the Deep and you’ll gild your Conqueror Title, turning it orange for the rest of the season (as opposed to the usual purple) and adding an indicator of how many times you’ve gilded it in the past. Conqueror is consistently one of the best Titles in the game, one which shows off your skills without being insanely difficult to achieve.
In terms of gear, Adept weapons are the primary reason to run Grandmaster Nightfalls. The Adept versions of the Nightfall weapons have a new coat of paint exclusive to that weapon (meaning that you cannot replicate it with a shader), increases to all stats upon Masterworking and access to special Adept Mods. The extra three weeks mean that certain Adept weapons have some more time in the sun but be sure to hop in and farm for an Adept you want when it’s active: if you don’t grab it before that week ends, you may have lost your chance for the rest of the season.
Adept Nightfall Loot
In Season 21, the Grandmaster Nightfall Adept offerings consist of:
- Hung Jury SR4 Kinetic Precision Scout Rifle
- Wendigo GL3 Arc Adaptive Grenade Launcher
- Buzzard Kinetic Adaptive Sidearm
- Loaded Question Arc High-Impact Fusion Rifle
- THE SWARM Arc High-Impact Machine Gun
- BrayTech Osprey Void High-Impact Rocket Launcher
Lastly, completing Grandmaster Nightfalls will award you with Adept Nightfall Ciphers. The number of these you earn increases based on your score at the end of a Grandmaster, with a Platinum run awarding 4 Ciphers. Once you earn 10 Ciphers, head on over to Zavala to turn them in to earn another copy of the current weekly Adept weapon. So, for example, if the BrayTech Osprey is the current Adept, you can purchase another roll from Zavala with those Adept Ciphers. You can only hold 10 at any one time, so make sure to head back to the Tower and spend them if you’re running a lot of GMs in Destiny 2.
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- Use Adept Ciphers on Decoding
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- Nightfall Adept Ciphers
Best Weapons and Gear for Season 21 Grandmasters
Kinetic
After receiving quite a chunky buff in the form of an Exotic Catalyst, Malfeasance has quickly risen through the ranks as a top-tier Kinetic option. This 180 Hand Cannon’s special trait is Explosive Shadow which causes the weapon to fire tainted slugs that burrow into enemies, detonating once you stack enough hits on one target (which is about 4 or 5 shots). The Catalyst gave Malfeasance Vorpal Weapon as an additional perk, making it an excellent choice against all enemy types thanks to its high potential burst damage for a primary weapon. It can even break Unstoppable Champions if you’re able to get off the Explosive Shadow detonation, making it an even better pick and worthy of your Exotic slot.
Outside of Malfeasance, your Kinetic slot is likely going to be dominated by a few things. The main one is Exotics which covers Anti-Barrier. In Season of the Deep, only Auto Rifles are given Anti-Barrier status from the artifact and, while you can use certain abilities and elements to pop Champions, breaking a Barrier Champion has always felt more consistent with an actual weapon. In this scenario, your best bets are Arbalest, Revision Zero or Wish Ender. The former is an incredibly strong Special Linear Fusion, giving you a decent backup DPS option alongside great shield-popping capabilities. Meanwhile, the latter two are similarly potent, with infinite ammo thanks to being primary weapons while still having good enough damage in their own right.
Malfeasance is the Best
Continuing with that thought, Quicksilver Storm was already excellent and will become even better in Season 21 thanks to Anti-Barrier Auto Rifle. The micro-rockets it fires thanks to its Exotic perk make it more than competitive enough in terms of general damage against rank-and-file targets. In contrast, the Grenade Launcher functionality of the weapon makes it adept at taking on chunkier, Elite targets. If you’ve completed the Catalyst, Quicksilver will be a Strand weapon allowing it to benefit from a large amount of Strand keywords and take advantage of several Strand-related artifact perks.
If you want to go down the Legendary route with your Kinetic, there are plenty of options. Riptide and Lingering Dread remain top-tier options thanks to the Chill-Clip buff in Lightfall, allowing both weapons to deal with multiple Champion types (Overload and Unstoppable) while remaining strong Special weapons. Then there are a good collection of legendary Auto Rifles (Rufus’ Fury, Lodbrok-C), Hand Cannons (Fatebringer) and Scout Rifles (Servant Leader, Hung Jury SR4) which can fill Champion-stunning roles very nicely.
Revision Zero
Energy
One of the most shocking revivals in Season of the Deep has been that of Graviton Lance. Not only is it an absolute bane in The Crucible, but it’s also a monster at purging the forces of the Darkness. Season 21 did some tuning to this weapon to make it feel more like the other Exotic 2-Burst Pulse Rifle, Revision Zero, which has allowed the weapon to be extremely dominant in all states of the game. Between the ability to trigger Void keywords and benefit from Volatile to having Vorpal Weapon and Turnabout from its Catalyst, Graviton Lance is simply a great workhorse tool that will get the job done very often.
If you’re not feeling Graviton Lance, you may be more interested in trying out Trace Rifles. They were already pretty powerful (especially if you pair them with a Special Kinetic like a Sniper Rifle for additional Heavy Ammo spawns) but they’ve become even better thanks to Overload Trace Rifle’s return. Exotic Trace Rifles include Coldheart (which synergises extremely well with Arc, and Arc Warlocks in particular), Wavesplitter (an excellent choice if used on a Void build thanks to Volatile Rounds) and, of course, Divinity (which remains a top-of-the-line support weapon even after a hefty nerf). Legendary Trace Rifles aren’t slacking, though, as guns like Acasia’s Dejection are capable of putting in a ton of work.
Graviton Lance
Another Exotic enjoying its time back in the sun is Polaris Lance. Since getting Solar 3.0 support last season, Polaris Lance was already an excellent choice for dispatching Unstoppable Champions thanks to the Scorch and Ignition it could cause from Perfect Fifth. In Season of the Deep, you can take this one step further as Polaris can utilise Overload Scout Rifle, turning it into a true Champion killer. Polaris pairs exceptionally with any Solar Builds and it will tear through everything, from rank-and-file combatants to Elites to bosses, in no time flat.
A few last-minute Exotic suggestions include Eriana’s Vow and Le Monarque. As we mentioned above, Anti-Barrier options are sparse this season, leaving you with very few options if you aren’t a fan of Auto Rifles. Fortunately, Eriana’s is a classic, iconic addition to the game which deals superb damage, can pop a Champion’s shield in one or two shots and is just a great feeling gun all around. On the hand, if you’re feeling a bit starved for Overload capabilities, pick up Le Monarque. Not only does it synergise insanely well with Void and Volatile Rounds, but this Exotic Bow can also deal sustained, consistent Overload damage while remaining strong as both an add-clearer and Elite killer.
Acasia’s Dejection
Heavy
For Heavy weapons, the meta has largely stayed rather consistent in terms of strong options. Rocket Launchers still rule the roost for big damage thanks to being more consistent (on average) than Linear Fusion Rifles. What’s even better is that Season of the Deep has bought several great new Rocket Launchers for Guardians to try out. The new Ghosts of the Deep Rocket Launcher, Cold Comfort, can roll with Bait and Switch as well as Envious Assassin, giving you up to 3 Rockets in the magazine as well as one of the best damage boosts in the game. If you don’t have this yet, then your old Hothead, Ascendacy or even Bump in the Night will still work just fine.
On the off chance you want to use an Exotic Rocket Launcher, you have two main options. If your other teammates are going to be running Legendary Rockets, Gjallarhorn is essentially a must-pick: it deals okay damage but its support capabilities are where it truly shines, buffing the damage of everyone in the team thanks to Wolfpack Rounds. If you want to be a bit more aggressive, Two-Tailed Fox is an excellent pick since it has received its Catalyst. Each shot fires 3 rockets that each deal their own unique 3.0 keyword – Suppression, Scorch and Jolt – and can disrupt several different Champion types while remaining extremely competitive in terms of DPS.
Cold Comfort
Another similarity to last season is that Machine Guns have continued to persist in the meta as great sources of crowd control. Thunderlord and Deterministic Chaos remain great options for anyone wanting to run an Exotic Machine Gun. Meanwhile, Commemoration is a beastly Legendary pick that you can craft from the Deep Stone Crypt Raid. A good tip when using a Machine Gun is to consider running double Special weapons (such as Divinity and a Kinetic Sniper). Your Heavy will become the main add clearer, freeing up the rest of your kit for better damage dealing or supportive options.
Lastly, let’s fire off some quick Heavy weapon suggestions. Despite Linear Fusion Rifles not quite in their prime anymore, guns like Cataclysmic and the new Briar’s Contempt are still able to hold their own and produce some incredibly high numbers (even higher than some Rocket Launchers) so long as you can hit your precision shots. Leviathan’s Breath is also still great thanks to being a high-damage option with innate Volatile Rounds, Unstoppable capabilities and a versatile play style.
Commemoration
And that was everything you needed to know about Grandmaster Nightfalls in Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep. Good luck with your title hunting, Guardians!
