Destiny 2: Lightfall Legendary Campaign Missions Guide and Tips

Lightfall is finally here in Destiny 2, and that means it’s time for another legendary campaign. While Lightfall might be getting mixed reviews due to the lackluster narrative, there’s still plenty to see and do here. The gameplay has been refreshed, the UI looks better, and Strand is a hell of a lot of fun to use. Along with all that, there’s plenty more to discover and enjoy in this expansion.

In this article, we’re gonna go through each campaign mission and discuss some tips and mechanics that will help you out. We’re not going to do a full walkthrough, but we’ll cover the necessary info and some useful tips!

WARNING: We’ll be discussing the campaign in-depth here, so expect spoilers.

Normal vs Legendary Campaign

Choosing whether to play the Lightfall campaign on normal or legendary difficulty might not be a clear choice for everyone in Destiny 2. If you play at normal difficulty, the game will obviously be easier but you won’t get as much loot. It will be much harder on legendary difficulty, but you’ll get better loot, more of it, and an Exotic at the end.

Legendary is the best way to play the campaign for experienced players who want a serious challenge. But if you’re a new or returning player without the right gear, it’d probably be best to play on normal. You can always repeat campaign missions on either difficulty after you finish, so you’re not going to miss out either way.

How to Start the Lightfall Campaign in Destiny 2

Neptune - where the new Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2 takes place.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

To launch the intro mission for the campaign, you’ll need to select Neptune on the locations screen. The first time you land on Neptune, the intro mission will automatically start. Make sure you have all your gear ready beforehand, because you’ll be going straight into the mission.

Intro Mission – “First Contact”

Recommended Light Level: 1610

The first time you choose to go to Neptune (the new planet), you’ll be brought into a mission called “First Contact”. This mission serves as the intro to Lightfall, and you’ll complete it before actually getting the main “Lightfall” quest in Destiny 2.

One thing to remember throughout the campaign is that Rally Banners are free to use. Normally, you’d have to purchase a Raid Banner beforehand and make sure you have enough, but they’re on the house during the campaign. Use these to replenish all of your ammo and ability energy instantly.

Destroy Tech Packs

Example of a tech pack that you need to destroy.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

One mechanic you’ll see here that stays throughout the campaign are the tech packs (pictured above, slightly to the left) that Cabal sometimes drop upon dying.

If you don’t blow up the tech pack, it will shield nearby Cabal. This can cause some major problems, so make sure to destroy them each time you see them.

Symbols & Keycards

Example of a Symbol that you need to find the corresponding keycard to.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

The symbols from Leviathan and Duality also make a comeback for this mission (pictured above). If you’re unfamiliar, just find the matching keycard and bring it back to the hologram by the doors.

The enemies you need to kill will be marked with a waypoint, and they’ll drop a keycard that matches the symbol.

How to Fight Tormentors

A Tormentor, a new and common enemy type introduced with the Lightfall campaign of Destiny 2.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

You’ll soon come across your first version of the Tormentor enemy when you get towards the end of this mission (some have specific names, but they all have the same mechanics). To damage them effectively, aim for the glowing crit spots on their shoulders and stomach.

Tormentors have the ability to suppress you with their melee ability, which prevents you from using your abilities. This often leads to deaths since you can’t use your grapple or any of your movement abilities, and those are necessary when you’re being smacked off the map.

Also watch out for their grab ability. It does a lot of damage and can kill from much higher health than you might expect. This, combined with the suppressing melee, means you should always stay away from Tormentors.

Precision damage is necessary to take them out without getting close, so you should always have some in each mission.

“Under Siege” (Quest Step 3)

Vul'Ourn - boss enemy of "Under Siege" in the Lightfall Campaign of Destiny 2.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1620

This mission stays pretty simple, so there isn’t much to cover here. The biggest hazards in this mission are the Threshers flying above and the abundance of Cabal drop pods. It’s constant death from above, so watch out.

For the boss of this mission, Vul’Ourn, you’ll want some good ad-clear and something for the boss itself. Volatile Rounds is one great way to go about this. Most of the Strand abilities also work great for both ad-clear and damage, so you should have some good options available.

The most important part of this fight is to stay aware of your surroundings since the arena is so small. The drop pods, threshers, and swarms of ads can easily kill you in an instant. Be careful not to run past the Rally Banner too soon, because Drop Pods will drop as soon as the mission starts.

Any heavy weapon with decent ammo economy is great here. Right now, the best options seem to be heavy machine guns and heavy grenade launchers.

“Downfall” (Quest Step 5)

Keep your distance from the Tormentors.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1650

The first part of this mission leading up to the first mini-boss fight is a bit harder than the previous mission. You’ll want to start being careful as you go through the respawn restricted zones in legendary, especially if you’re playing solo.

Once you get past the mini-boss, you’ll just keep going along as the game tells you. There will be another mini-boss and a Tormentor, as well as some terrible gravity lifts. The first one you’ll encounter has about a 1 in 5 chance of working, at best. You’ll just have to keep respawning and trying again until eventually the lift doesn’t kill you. (This is currently glitched, so there’s really no way around it that we know of so far.)

“Downfall” Boss Fight

The main boss of “Downfall” is where the difficulty begins to ramp up. Here are some tips to get you through it on any difficulty:

  • Don’t go anywhere near the middle until you have to. It’s an instant death zone.
  • Get the two plates on both sides before going down for Dark Resonance.
  • Pay attention to where you’re at since it’s easy to fall off the map to your death. Also watch out for the Taken Darts. They do massive damage in legendary mode.
  • Stay on the edges of the map and clear ads as quickly as possible. It’s easy to get overwhelmed due to the cramped nature of the room.
Stay at the edges of the map
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

After this hectic boss fight, all you’ll have to do is clear the room out and escape once the orange shield wall goes away. The escape sequence will give you a countdown timer, and you’ll need to use your sparrow to make it. You might die a few times on this section due sparrow explosions and such, but it’s just trial and error.

“Breakneck” (Quest Step 8)

Calixte
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1670

This mission doesn’t have too many new mechanics, but it does have several difficult fights. The first pits you against a horde of Vex, including Cyclopes, Wyverns, and waves of minor enemies. Volatile Rounds absolutely destroys these waves and many of the powerful enemies as well. Try to focus the Cyclopes and Wyverns, but don’t get overwhelmed by smaller enemies. Also, don’t be afraid to back up if you need to. You have the whole room, so make use of it.

When fighting the Hydra, Calixte, after the second Rally Banner, be ready for a chaotic fight. It takes place in a very small room, but luckily there’s plenty of room to hide in the back. This fight goes on for quite a while across multiple areas, but just stay away from the boss and take it slow.

The last fight of this mission is two Tormentors at once. This is going to be a handful, but the best way to go about it is to use everything on one of them as soon as it spawns. If you can blast one of them early, fighting the other is much easier.

“On the Verge” (Quest Step 10)

Inquisitor Mind
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1690

Energy Cells & Vex Barriers

Throughout this mission you’ll need to be familiar with energy cells and Vex barriers. Energy cells look like small orange balls, and you can pick them up and deposit them in the Vex barriers (pictured below). It’s not a hard mechanic at all, so don’t worry too much about it.

Depositing an energy cell in a Vex barrier.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

How to Break the Crystals

In the cave section early on, use Strand tangles to break the crystals. This part only takes a few minutes, but if you don’t realize how to break the crystals it can get frustrating. It’s tempting to just wipe out every wave of ads instantly, but you have to use whichever of your abilities makes tangles.

Break the crystals with Strand tangles.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

During the mission’s final boss, Inquisitor Mind, you’ll have a few tasks to complete. Here they are in bullet points:

  • The floating crystals are back, and you’ll need to use Strand tangles to break them just like last time. When you do that, you’ll be able to damage the shielded minotaurs in the room.
  • Once you’ve broken the crystals and killed the minotaurs, Hydras will spawn. Kill those for the energy cell they drop. Take that up to the top of the spire in the middle and deposit it up top. Then it’s time for a damage phase.
  • The back of the room (away from the boss) and the upper right hand side are good places to be during this fight. You’ll have plenty of space for yourself and you’ll have a good view of where ads are spawning in. It’s not going to be easy on legendary, but it’s manageable.

“No Time Left” (Quest Step 11)

Use Drake tanks to easily punch through.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1700

The main mechanic of this mission is using Strand to break suppression fields. Regardless of class, you’ll have to use your super to break the suppression nodes (pictured above). Titans and Hunters can break it with their roaming super, but Warlocks have to use their whole super to do it.

There are also Drake tanks in this mission, and they’ll be required to break some walls down. You don’t have to use it all the time, but sometimes you’ll have to. It’s best to use the Drake, though, because it has a ton of health and does huge damage.

The Drake can be fired in normal tank mode or you can use its target locking system with its missiles. You can also fire both modes at once. If your Drake gets heavily damaged, make sure to look out for the big white circles where you can spawn more. Most of the time you can just park the tank by these areas and have a new one as soon as yours get damaged.

Get to the Strand source in this boss fight.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

The boss fight for this section only has one objective during it. You’ll have to go below the main area and find the Strand source, then use it to blow up a suppressor.

After the first phase is when you’ll have to get the Strand source for that. Then, you’ll have to jump up onto the middle platform to grab it once the boss is at its final bit of health.

Just like with most boss fights during the campaign, you’ll want to stay on the outsides of the arena. There are Drakes to spawn if you want, but even that can get you in trouble since there are so many enemies.

“Headlong” (Quest Step 15)

Look for the easy to miss Strand focusing point.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1740

Early in this mission, there’s a Strand focusing point just off the path to the left. It’s really easy to miss, so if you want to use Strand make sure to look out for it.

Most of this mission is fairly self-explanatory other than the Harpy puzzle (described just below), but the final room can be a nightmare. Let’s take a look at the Harpy puzzle first, then we’ll look at the final room.

How to Solve the Harpy Puzzle

The Harpy Puzzle in the Lightfall Campaign in Destiny 2.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

This mission has the first puzzle so far, but it’s a pretty simple one.

  • Use the diamonds above the harpies to determine the order to shoot them in. Shoot glowing Harpies for light crystals and non-glowing Harpies for dark crystals.
  • Not all crystals will require the same amount of kills. Shoot Harpies one at a time. Each time you kill one, check to see if the crystal on the far left has gone away. If it has, move on to the next crystal. If not, shoot another Harpy of the same type.
  • Once all the crystals are gone, the remaining Harpies will disappear and you can progress!

Spinning Wall Room / Oneion Boss Fight

You better know how to grapple effectively.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

This room is where you’ll really put your grapple skills to the test. With Strand, you can avoid the floor and stay on the corner platforms up above. This is the best time to master the Grapple mechanic before the final campaign boss.

You can get around this room and stay up top easily, as long as you don’t mess up your grapples. But, if you land on the floor during the boss fight, you’ll have a ton of adds to deal with. It’s best to clear them as you go, because it’s inevitable that you’ll end up down there at some point.

Ignore the strand orbs in this room.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Also, ignore the Strand orbs in this room that you’re supposed to grapple onto. They’re only positioned to be useful if you’re trying to stay on the floor, which is a horrible idea.

The higher you throw your grapple, the more altitude you can get. Use that to get around the pillar in the middle at tight angles if necessary. This fight is a nightmare thanks to the spinning wall and its glitched out hitbox, so you’ll have to stay on the move constantly.

“Desperate Measures” (Quest Step 16)

The face of evil.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Recommended Light Level: 1750

Right after the first Rally Banner spot, you’ll see a Thresher fly right past you. You can use your Strand grapple to grab onto it and fly up top where you need to go. It’s not perfect (sometimes you go flying off into the distance and die), but it’s more consistent than those gravity lifts in “Downfall” at least.

If you don’t want to grab onto the Thresher, there’s a path you can walk/jump across to get up top instead. For the second Thresher, it’s best to skip it and use the path instead, since wiping/losing a token is worse later into the mission.

Use Relic Beams to destroy the Goliath Tanks.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

Use Relic Beams to destroy the Goliath Tanks in that section of the mission. Staying up on the balcony makes this section much easier as well.

When the double Imprints of Nezarec part begins, be as careful as possible. Focus on the crit spots with precision heavy ammo and use supers to clear the room out.

Final Boss Fight

The final boss fight of the Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2 will challenge you.
Image: Bungie, Inc. via HGG / Brett Moss

If there’s any fight in this campaign that’s going to really test your skills, it’s this one. This is a two-phase fight with no checkpoints, a massive health pool, and several mini-boss level threats to deal with as well.

  • Use Witherhoard and a heavy weapon with good ammo economy and decent range. Heavy machine guns are a great choice. Retrofit Escapade fits this role well since it has great damage and it’s easy to get Volatile Rounds with the Artifact perks.
  • Strand grapple is essential to surviving this room on legendary difficulty. Since there are so many ways to fall off the map, the grapple can be very helpful. It can also be used to get away from swarms of enemies, or to escape a Tormentor that’s jumping on top of you.
  • Calus gains a Strand shield at about 66% health. You can damage it with anything, but using Strand abilities or Strand weapons is the best way to do it.
  • The side platforms are good for certain situations, but you’re vulnerable to everything up there. They’re better used to escape a bad situation on the wider platforms.
  • Make sure you clear the Tormentors. If you start the second phase with Tormentors still alive, they’ll be in the small arena with you and Calus. The final phase is much, much easier with no Tormentors.
  • For the second phase, keep moving while occasionally sticking the boss with Witherhoard shots. If you didn’t clear the Tormentors already, this is even more essential. If you stop moving at all while those Tormentors are near you, you’ll get overwhelmed immediately.

This is a really difficult fight, especially on legendary difficulty. But, once you’re done, that’s all of the Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2! You’ll now be able to use Strand as you please, and you can move on to post-game content.

Join the High Ground!

Thanks for reading this article on the Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2. We hoped it helped you! If you have any more questions or think we should include something else in our guide, let us know in the comments below!

Be sure to come back for more Destiny 2 articles on Lightfall (including one for the new raid next week), and as always, make sure to keep the high ground! Good luck out there Guardians!

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