What are Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds? If you’re jumping back into Destiny after a break to play the recent Lightfall DLC, you may not be familiar with Destiny 2’s Battlegrounds activities. Though they’re not exactly strikes, they are similar in tone and involve defeating hordes of enemies and completing specific objectives, culminating in rewards.
While Bungie developers have been experimenting with different Battlegrounds setups in the free PC game, even going as far as to include season 19’s Mars Battleground on a forthcoming Grandmaster Nightfall rotation, they are not quite as cut-and-dry as the game’s strikes. If you’re struggling with Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds and how to reap their rewards in the FPS game, here’s what you need to know about the Destiny 2 season 20 activity.
How to complete Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds
Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds phase one
Fight enemies until Mara Sov directs you to a platform, opening a gateway to the Ascendant Realm.
Defiant Battlegrounds phase two
Combat Taken forces to power up your Guardian’s Balefire. You’ll need to fight a Taken boss, which will spawn shields. Take out the Blights that spawn at this point to remove the shields and continue dealing damage.
Defiant Battlegrounds phase three
Here, you’ll fight a Cabal leader. However, note that this leader will also develop shields at a certain point. You must break these with an orb, which you gain from lighting Balefires into the centre of the room. This area will also protect you from suppression field damage temporarily.
Defeat the Taken Wizard, which will drop a Taken essence. This transforms into a sphere that you can throw at the boss. After three hits, the boss’s shield will drop, allowing you to deal damage once again. After the enemy is down to one-third of its health bar, it’ll move to a higher area. Repeat the process with the Balefire closer to the boss, and then DPS to complete the activity.
If you have a Defiant Key in your inventory, then upon completing the activity, you can unlock a chest to earn bonus rewards.
How to earn Destiny 2 Defiant Engrams
Destiny 2 has revamped its engram process to make it slightly easier to manage. The game has done away with Umbral Engrams in favour of seasonal engrams. While Umbral Engrams used to go into your inventory alongside Bright Engrams and Prime Engrams, they now go directly to the vendor, which, in this case, is the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
You can earn Defiant Engrams as random drops in the world, but you’ll have a higher chance of earning them by competing in the Defiant Battlegrounds seasonal activity.
Like in previous seasons, you can unlock Defiant Engram focusing with the vendor, which, in this case, is Mara Sov. As an added bonus, you can also unlock Leviathan weapon focusing to get weapons players could get from the Leviathan raid when it was in the game. However, these cost two Defiant Engrams, so be aware of that as you focus them. Early on, it may be worth it to hoard your Defiant Engrams so you can spend them on the weapons you know you want.
You can also focus on specific Defiant Weapons. However, note that this costs four engrams, so you’ll likely still need to grind to get that god roll you desire. You can also focus on specific armour pieces for two engrams.
Note that at the War Upgrades table, you can also unlock upgrades to give you additional opportunities to earn Defiant Engrams.
How to get Destiny 2 Defiant Keys
Defiant Keys are random world drops you can earn from completing various activities in and around the Solar System. However, you can also get Defiant Keys from Defiant Battlegrounds, and the more you play the activity, the more likely you are to earn additional keys. You can continuously farm the activity to earn your desired weapons and rolls. However, note that your inventory can only hold five Defiant Keys.
What are Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds?
Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds are the new seasonal activity included with the game’s recent Lightfall expansion. In this three-player matchmade activity, players fight the Dark Cabal by attacking their outposts and rescuing captives. Each one culminates in a ritual that transports those captives to safety.
Once you’ve unlocked Defiant Battlegrounds, you can access them directly from the EDZ. However, you’ll find a more challenging playlist in the H.E.L.M. While the activity’s recommended Power Level is 1770, a player’s power level will be raised to 1760 if they try to access it while under 1760. The reward for completing three of these is Pinnacle Gear, which will likely reset continuously.
That’s everything you need to know about Destiny 2 Defiant Battlegrounds. As you explore everything else new in Lightfall, such as the Destiny 2 Strand subclass, be sure to get your hands on all Destiny 2 Lightfall exotics and check out what we know about the Destiny 2 Terminal Overload activity in one of the best multiplayer games on PC, too.