Weekly Destiny 2 Nightfall strike, Nightfall weapon and rewards – Our guide to the toughest Vanguard Ops

Wondering what the weekly Destiny 2 Nightfall strike and Nightfall weapon is this week? Nightfalls are among the toughest PvE challenges available in Destiny 2, but the greater challenge also offers greater reward. The satisfaction of completing a Nightfall Strike and the better quality gear both make these elite Vanguard Operations a compelling activity to dive into.

Here, we’ll cover what the weekly Destiny 2 Nightfall strike is each and every week of its rotation, as well as what to expect from each strike. We’ll also cover the weekly Nightfall weapon, and analyse its pros and cons. This way, you can grind for the best exotic weapons, Ascendant Shards, and Exotic Ciphers you’ll want to stock up on to prepare for Destiny 2 Season 23 and the Final Shape release date. If you’re looking for fresh fun outside of Vanguard Operations though, why not have a look at today’s Legend Lost Sector, or switch things up and learn how to fish in Destiny 2 and join in on one of the game’s most relaxing activities?

What is this week’s Nightfall strike, and what should you expect?

This week’s Nightfall strike is Lake of Shadows. It takes place on Earth throughout the urban ruins of the EDZ. You’ll face off against Shadow Legion Cabal and a lot of Taken enemies in this strike.

A Destiny 2 Nightfall strike Outline – What’s the setup?

Outline: Taken have re-emerged in the European Dead Zone, congregating around the ruins of a Hydroelectric power station and threatening the area’s remaining clean water supply. With the help of Devrim Kay and Pyramid Tech scavenged by your Cabal allies, your fireteam will need to crush a dug-in Shadow Legion force, then break through waves of heavy Taken defences to confront their pseudo leader Gor’Ath Gath and eliminate the threat at its heart.

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Did you know?

Lake of Shadows is one of only a few reworked strikes in Destiny 2. It’s original form launched with the game, and the new, current version has a narrative reworked to reflect everything that’s happened since the time of the Red War.

What are the key Nightfall strike modifiers this week?

There are plenty of modifiers in Nightfall Strikes, designed to make the challenge that much tougher. There will be different numbers of modifiers for Hero, Legend and Master difficulties, and Grandmasters. Some of the crucial ones will stay the same regardless of difficulty though. So here are the most important modifiers for this week’s Nightfall strike to keep in mind:

• Champion Foes – Unstoppable and Barrier champions. Sidearms, hand cannons, and bows will be your best friends for this week’s strike. If you need some pointers on how to defeat Champions, we’ve got you covered.
• Overcharged weapons – Machine guns are overcharged, meaning they’ll do 25% more damage in this activity.
• Surges – Strand Surge and Solar Surge are active, giving a 25% outgoing damage buff to these damage types and their subclasses.
• Threats – Arc Threat is active, meaning you’ll take an additional 25% incoming damage from all Arc sources.

What is the Destiny 2 Nightfall weapon this week?

There’s plenty of great Nightfall rewards up for grabs in these elite strikes, but Nightfall Weapons are potentially the biggest draw of all. Every week, you’ll have a chance to pick up a Nightfall weapon for completing runs of the strike, with higher difficulties improving the chances to get your hands on adept weapons and adept mods. Adept versions of weapons as a reminder are already masterworked guns with favourable rolls.

This week’s Nightfall weapon is Undercurrent, an Arc wave-frame grenade launcher. Special grenade launchers are pretty versatile weapons, and this is especially true for wave-frame launchers. This is just as true for the new Nightfall weapon, Undercurrent. It sports a wide, 100 stat blast radius, as well as great reload speed and aim assist and solid velocity. Though it suffers from poor stability, this nonetheless leaves it in an excellent position for mid-range engagements. Taken with potential rolls like Demolitionist and Voltshot, it’s got the potential to excel on ad clear duty. Both the regular and adept version give a choice between two origin trait perks, Stunning Recovery, or Vanguard’s Vindication.

Our best advice for tackling this week’s Nightfall strike

There’s plenty to keep in mind for any Nightfall. Here, we’ll outline some key advice for each week’s Nightfall to help you succeed:

• Tight and open spaces. This strike has some massive variation in its combat spaces. Some areas are wide, open areas with varying levels of cover – it’s worth taking your time to avoid being outflanked here. Other areas are cramped and confined, such as a close-range engagement with a Tormentor which requires some skilful positioning and organisation to safely overcome.
• An easy or challenging boss fight. Gol’Ath Gath is a Taken Phalanx, boasting a particularly large shield and free roam of a hazardous arena. He’s thus quite difficult to dispatch quickly for the unprepared. In a prolonged fight, large numbers of ads, Taken blight coating the floor, and very little cover can make even powerful ad clearing tools like Ex Diris or Quicksilver Storm Storm insufficient to survive, and the fight can spiral out of control with alarming speed. However, Gol’Ath Garth also has no damage gates, meaning you and your fireteam can harm him at any given moment. We’d recommend spreading out, placing rifts and wells, and surrounding the boss, then utilising potent DPS metas to rapidly overwhelm him. Done right, you can end the battle before it really even begins, securing a victory in the process. For GM’s where the threat is even greater, try parkouring up the left hand side of the room – there’s a way up onto the roof from here, which gives you a safer vantage point to fight from.
• • That one Thresher. Arguably more dangerous than the boss of the strike itself is a Cabal Thresher you’ll run into while navigating a long gauntlet along the side of the dam. This Thresher hovers nearby, unloading frequent barrages of tracking missiles. Even on easy difficulties this barrages can dispatch you in a moment, and on Masters and Grandmasters it can prove nightmarish. We’d recommend prioritising its destruction or taking it very, very slowly through this area. Be sure to equip the best Hunter exotics, best Titan exotics, and best Warlock exotics for your class to improve survivability here, too.

What other rewards can you get from Nightfall strikes?

The Nightfall weapon may be the highlight, but it’s far from the only thing you can get from a Nightfall. Here’s a list of the other Nightfall rewards you might be lucky enough to pick up.

• Adept Nightfall weapons – these are exceptionally powerful variants of the regular Nightfall weapons. You can pick them up from the highest difficulty, Grandmaster.
• Ascendant Shards. In Grandmaster strikes, you can earn Ascendant Shards on a completion.
• Enhancement Cores.
• Enhancement Prisms.
• Legendary weapons and armor, including pinnacle gear.
• Exotics – these are most common in the higher difficulties, and among the best ways to get exotics in-game.
• Glimmer – strikes are also a great way to get Glimmer if you’re running low on it.

That’s everything you’ll need to know about the weekly Destiny 2 Nightfall strike, as well as some tips and tricks to help you beat it. If you’re struggling with completing the Nightfall on higher difficulties, why not take a look at the best Warlock builds, best Hunter builds and best Titan builds, or the best PvE weapons in Destiny 2 right now to give yourself an edge? Or if you’re ready for a change of pace, why not have a look at the weekly Eververse store stock and get your fashion on point, or check out our feature on 10 ways Destiny 2 can solve its biggest problems for a more meta look at the game?

Are Nightfall strike weapons in Destiny 2 good?

Nightfall weapons are excellent for the most part, boasting high stats and strong rolls. What makes them particularly good are the adept versions, earnable on the highest difficulty Nightfalls.

What are the different difficulty levels for Nightfall strikes?

Nightfall strikes can be completed on Hero, Legendary, Master, and Grandmaster difficulties.

Are there double Nightfall rewards this week?

No. This week there not are double rewards for Nightfalls.