It’s that time of the season when Destiny 2 releases the Grandmaster difficulty for Nightfalls. Grandmaster Nightfalls are some of the toughest content in the game, and if you’re looking to give them a shot in Season of the Seraph, here’s how you should prep.
Know Your Enemy
The Grandmaster Nightfalls for Season of the Seraph are as follows:
- Birthplace of the Vile
- The Corrupted
- The Glassway
- The Insight Terminal
- The Scarlet Keep
- Warden of Nothing
To be honest, it’s a pretty rough spread. The Corrupted is one of the most notorious Grandmaster Nightfalls for its difficult boss encounter that can easily derail a run right at the end. The Glassway similarly has a brutal final boss fight. Thankfully The Insight Terminal and Warden of Nothing aren’t too bad, but if you’re going for the Conquerer title this season you’re going to have some trouble.
Take the time to learn the dangerous spots for each Nightfall in advance. Use the lower-difficulty versions of the activities to familiarize yourself with the best cover points and firing lines. You may not have needed to worry about this kind of thing in Strikes and lower-level Nightfalls, but in Grandmaster Nightfalls you’ll need all the help you can get.
Get the Right Gear
You can’t swap weapons during a Grandmaster Nightfall, so it’s critical to go in with the right build and equipment. For abilities, anything that ensures survivability is generally a big help — but know that in a GM Nightfall, you can easily get killed even in a Well of Radiance. For mods, you may want to prioritize ammo generation. Lucent Finisher is going to be a huge help here.
When it comes to weapons, there are a few standbys that see a lot of use in Grandmaster Nightfalls and will continue to be huge in Season of the Seraph. Arbalest is the most obvious, as a long-range weapon that can pop Barrier Champions and deal respectable damage even to bosses. Witherhoard is another solid choice, though it’s less useful in GMs than in other content given its low range. That said, there is an Unstoppable Grenade Launcher mod this season.
If it’s at all possible, you want to ensure you can take advantage of the elemental burn in play, since it’s a free buff for the corresponding damage type. If it’s Void, for instance, using a Void primary weapon will tilt the numbers in your favor. Our list of the best Grandmaster Nightfall weapons from Season of Plunder still more or less applies to Season of the Seraph. A few new weapons you might want to consider are Long Arm (Arc Scout Rifle), Veles-X (Void Pulse Rifle), and Tripwire Canary (Arc Bow).
Take Your Time
Remember, you’re not aiming for a score in a Grandmaster Nightfall. All you’re trying to do is get through the damn thing and take out all the Champions along the way. Yes, you do have a time limit in that once you hit 45 minutes you’ll lose your remaining revive tokens, but you’re much more likely to die by rushing ahead and getting wiped than by running out of time in most cases. A few Grandmaster Nightfalls in Season of the Seraph can really stretch on, like The Corrupted, so do keep an eye on the clock, but know that in most cases you can afford to go slow and steady.
We hope these tips help with taking on Grandmaster Nightfalls in Destiny 2 this season! Let us know in the comments if you’re having difficulty with any specific Nightfalls.
