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May 16, 2023

Destiny 2: Lightfall campaign walkthrough

A complete walkthrough for the Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2, including

A complete walkthrough for the Lightfall campaign in Destiny 2, including information on the Legendary version.

Destiny 2: Lightfall has a new campaign for players to enjoy. Unlike seasonal story missions, this campaign is a more traditional experience, comprising several missions that take you to new locations, see you face off against new threats, and hopefully overcome the main antagonist: Emperor Calus. With a Legendary option to choose, there are plenty of challenges – and rewards – to be found for those who wish to take on the Witness and Emperor Calus and defend the Traveler, Earth, and humanity.

Last updated: March 6, 2023 @ 3:19 p.m. EST

Use the following links to jump to the relevant Lightfall mission:

The campaign in Destiny 2: Lightfall will have two difficulties: Classic and Legendary. These are assigned two tiles for players to pick: Be Brave and Become Legend. As with the Witch Queen, newer players may want to opt for Classic while veterans should choose Legendary for the rewards, this is especially true for those looking to get ready for a Day One raid.

Completing the Lightfall campaign on Legendary will reward players with armor that is close to the Power cap. This help players reach the endgame where they can focus on other aspects of Lightfall like finding secrets, creating builds, and playing raids. The Legendary campaign will also reward Upgrade Modules, an Exotic, and Strand Meditations. It's also worth noting that our playthrough was on Legendary, and this guide reflects that. Rest assured it will still get you where you need to go if you're playing on Classic.

The first mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall kicks off with Emperor Calus, the Pyramid fleet, and the Witness arriving at Earth.

After watching the opening cinematic you'll be able to move around and begin the mission aboard the Cabal ship. Like most story missions in Destiny 2, this one is quite linear. If you’re ever not sure where to go next, bring up your Ghost and you’ll see a waypoint on your screen. Bringing up your Ghost will also show you the current objective.

Move through the ship until you encounter a group of Cabal. A message at the bottom of your screen will introduce you to Shadow Legion Cabal. Some of these enemies will carry tech packs on their backs. When you defeat them, they’ll drop their pack and shield their allies within a certain radius. You can shoot the tech pack to blow it up and disable the shield.

Press forward for now, ignoring any doors that are locked and require keycards. Just move the only way that's open and defeat the enemies in front of you. You’ll eventually find a War Beast Keymaster that will drop War Beast Keycard. When you pick that up it will become available to every member of your team, and can be used to open the corresponding door that was previously blocking your path.

Push forward until you can place a Rally Banner and do so. In the next room are several enemies but the one you are here for is the Conquest Keymaster. Defeat them to grab the Conquest Keycard which will open the corresponding door.

Through the locked door is the Computer Core. Defeat the enemies guarding it and then shoot the glowing electrodes that are protruding from the core. You’ll see the integrity drop from 100 percent and when it reaches zero the core will be destroyed.

The next section of the mission is mostly navigating through the ship and outside. Follow the path and defeat enemies that are in your way.

Eventually you’ll find a door that's locked and requires a Chalice Keycard. Turn to your right while facing the door and head through the opening along the only path available. Defeat the Chalice Keymaster and then return to the door. Open it and head inside.

As you enter the room there will be Radiators, one on the left and one on the right. Kill everything in the room and then shoot each Radiator. When both are destroyed your work there is done.

Work your way through the ship. There's nothing fancy to worry about here. You’re just on the path until your objective updates. You might do a little shooting along the way.

We’ve been waiting for this moment our entire Guardian lives. Fight through the ship until you acquire the Conquest Keycard. At that point you’ll encounter Kavauust, Reverent of the Witness. This is the Tormentor enemy you saw briefly earlier. Defeat it to move forward towards the Drop Pod Bay

Now that you’re in the Drop Pod Bay, hop into a Drop Pod and enjoy the ride. Take note of the dead Cabal when you step out of the Drop Pod. The tables have turned, pal.

You’re now on Neomuna. Poke around a bit but keep your Ghost up now and then so you can see your waypoint and stay on the path. You’ll do a little fighting here, but nothing quite as intense as your first encounter with a Tormentor.

Kill everything you find until you see something you can interact with that looks an awful lot like the new Strand subclass. It is, so interact with it and enjoy playing around with Strand for a few moments.

Use Strand to defeat the enemies in front of you, behind you, and wherever else they may be. It's pretty easy, and it's really just about you getting the feel for the new subclass. You’ll find your abilities all recharge faster, so use them liberally. Eventually you’ll be hit with the Exhausted debuff, at which point you’ll get your mission-ending cinematic. You’re done the first mission in the Lightfall campaign.

The second mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall has the Guardians trying to protect something called the Veil on Neomuna.

The second mission of the Destiny 2: Lightfall campaign is called Under Siege. It's shorter than the first, but the difficulty ramps up, including the recommended Power levels. Let's dig in.

Jump down, then hop on your sparrow and speed through the streets of Neomuna. When you reach a barrier that you can't get through with your sparrow, hop off to receive your second objective.

Fight through the enemies in the area until you find a Shadow Legion Code Bearer. This will be the toughest enemy in the area but will drop a Corrupted Keycard upon death. This will update your objective and ask you to find three more. In total, you will need four keycards, all of which can be found in the area on three more Shadow Legion Code Bearers that are wandering about.

Once you have your final keycard, bring up your Ghost so you can see your waypoint, directing you to a nearby barrier. Approach the device next to the barrier and deploy your Ghost to hack it.

This is as standard as it gets. Ghost is busy hacking the barrier, so you need to defend your little buddy against three waves of enemy forces.

Shoot the exploding barrels next to it. Well done.

This objective will take you to the end of the mission, but there's a decent amount of fighting to be done. It's standard stuff, with the exception of the Suppression Field debuff you’ll receive at times. This is thanks to what Osiris calls paracausal disruptor. You can't do anything with these yet, so simply be mindful that some of your abilities will be nerfed. Fight your way through to the end of the mission.

The third mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall will see Guardians storming Calus' stronghold, or at least attempting to.

The third mission, like most, will start on Neomuna and see Guardians racing against time to stop Calus. As we hear over the radio from Osiris, we must destroy the Radial Mast aboard Calus’ ship.

Hop on your sparrow and speed forward along the roads until you’re forced off by a suppression field. Use a Rally Banner to top up your ammunition and abilities, then get ready for a fight against some Cabal. It can be a bit tricky with a few tough foes, but it's standard stuff. When you reach a barrier, take note to shoot the energy lock on the right side of the door to open it.

Once you’re inside make your way forward. The path will split, but it converges so there is no wrong way to go. You’ll be keeping this objective for quite some time, so just keep moving through the ship and defeating what's in front of you. Aside from shooting more locks to open doors, or hopping into wonky grav lift. Pro tip: press forward while you’re in the grav lift and you’ll usually make it to the other side safely. Took my team a few tries to sort that out.

Here's where you learn the main mechanic of this mission. You’ll need to overload energy conduits. Fight through the enemies until you can pick up the Dark Resonance, then carry it to the opposite end of the room and deposit it.

Tormentors are tough enemies just introduced with Lightfall. You’ll need to defeat a bunch of them throughout the campaign, and already have if you’ve made it this far. Look for the glowing weak points on their body and target those, but the best strategy for teams with multiple Guardians is to have one person distract the Tormentor while another (or two) members of the team deal damage. They can really take a beating, so just stay safe and keep the damage on to whittle it down.

You’re back to your original objective now that you’ve worked through those distractions. Shoot the locks on either side of the door next to the rewards chest you just looted. Head through and you’re back on the path. Soon you’ll be hopping into another grav lift.

There's nothing special going on here, just a small encounter with some Taken. Clear them all out and then open the door to go back to your original objective.

There's not much to explain here. Move forward and your objective will soon update again.

You’ll enter a large room with the Radial Mast in the center. The same mechanic is in play here as you’ve seen before. You’ll need to fight off waves of enemies until you can pick up a Dark Resonance, then deposit it into the marked location. You will face some very tough enemies here, so it's wise to stay on the outer parts of the room and clean things out before you move to retrieve the Dark Resonance. Stay close to your team if you’re on Legendary as death is likely and you’ll want those revives very quickly to keep from wiping.

Hop on your sparrow and head for the exit. You’ll be getting lit up by enemies the entire way, so don't be afraid to quickly hop off your sparrow and summon a new one instead of having it blow up while you’re riding it. If a teammate goes down, it's almost worth just going on without them as you can probably make it to the end of the mission before the revive timer expires and you wipe. Once you’re out, you’re done for now. Enjoy the cinematic.

The fourth mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall will see players facing off against the Vex.

As the mission begins players will be back on Neomuna, but this mission will see Guardians take on the Vex for the first time in the Lightfall campaign.

Speed forward on your sparrow until you start to see some Vex that need killing. For the most part the Vex are easy enough to handle but keep an eye out for Cyclops and Wyvern enemies; they can deal massive damage. It's generally a good rule to move slowly and keep the enemy in front of you.

Fight through the first few encounters with the Vex. You will see both Cyclops and Wyverns, but both are manageable if you take your time and fight from advantageous positions. Once you’re clear, it's on to the next objective.

As you come to a very simple jumping puzzle, requiring you to cross between buildings, notice that the door you need to reach is blocked by a barrier. Make sure you "Look within" and interact with the Strand nearby. This will allow you to use your grenade to activate your grapple ability. Jump towards where you want to reach, then activate your grenade to deploy a grapple point and pull yourself to your objective.

When you reach a closed door with waypoints on the other side, shoot it. I’m not going to tell you how much time my team and I spent searching for the way to open it, or theorizing that there was a bug, before we just shot it and it fell apart. Once inside, get ready to face a room full of Vex, including a Wyvern. The fighting area is small, so stay near the start and use the upper level to your advantage. Heavy weapons and your super ability should be expended here.

A short distance on you’ll find another Wyvern in a small room, but this one is far easier to deal with than the last. One it's down, head through the vents and make your way forward. When you find some Vex short-circuiting, kill them, then shoot the conflux once the shield is removed from the top. You’ll repeat this several times, and each time you do someone on your team will get detained and need to shoot their way free. This will be the next several minutes of the mission.

Eventually you’ll shoot a conflux and spawn Calixte, System Ward Finality. This is a Hydra in a small room. You’ll need to time your damage to avoid its rotating shield, or move around to keep an open shot. The main thing here is to stay safe and not allow yourself to be overwhelmed with smaller foes. Just clear the room and deal damage as you can.

Look at the ceiling and you’ll see the Vex Energy Parasites you need to destroy. A few shots should do the trick. They’ll even have waypoints on them making them difficult to miss.

You can now approach the terminal and reboot the reactor by interacting with it. As Ghost mentions, that felt a little too easy, but pick up your rewards either way.

Make your way through the building, taking the only path that you can. Once you reach a room with more Vex, your objective will update.

Fight your way through the enemies in this room and then push forward along the only open path. You’ll be given the chance to activate your Strand subclass again, and you’ll need to so you can use the grapple ability to navigate.

There are two Tormentors in this room and a bunch of smaller foes with them. The key with Tormentors in small spaces is to just keep moving. Know where you’re going, where you can go, and don't let them close in on you. Keep cover between you and them. When you get an opening, deal damage with weapons to their weak points, or use your Heavy and abilities. Being able to survive here is key, but dealing damage is a neccessity as well. The longer the Tormentors are alive, the better chance they will get you or a member of your team.

Now that the Tormentors are dead, head through the vent. Grapple your way along the path and when you become exhausted, grab the rewards from the chests and celebrate another mission completed.

The fifth mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall is called On the Verge.

On the Verge is a mission where Guardians will explore their Strand subclass further. It's kind of like a small break from the main focus of chasing Calus and the Witness, but there's lots of combat in this slightly shorter mission.

Right away you will need to concern yourself with fighting through the Cabal. It's a small fight but you’ll notice as you move and shoot that you can see a trail of Strand along the ground. You can follow it if you want, but it's heading in the same direction as your waypoint. Just go where the Cabal are and eliminate them.

Hop on your sparrow and make up some ground. Speed along the roads until you see some enemies that need to be dispatched from the Destiny 2 universe.

Fight your way through the enemies using either your default subclass or Strand as it's made available to you. Combat here isn't difficult, so try some new moves and see how Strand works. You’ll want to get somewhat proficient with it so you can use it for the remainder of the campaign.

When you reach a Vex barrier, you’ll need to deposit three Energy Cells into a nearby console to disable it. Defeat enemies in the area, pick up the Energy Cells as they drop, and deposit them. The Energy Cells will drop from Malignant Hydras. Once this is done you're back on the path with two objectives that should really be one.

Start killing the Vex you see in front of you. When you see the chance to swap back to the Strand subclass, do so and read the tip about how to grapple and melee in quick succession. You’ll be using your Grapple ability to cross large gaps and make it to your destination.

You’ll be in an area now that has both Vex and what the game is calling Vex Oracles, although these look different from the Oracles we’re used to seeing. To destroy them, you must use Strand. Use Strand to Grapple onto a target, then as you’re flying towards them, use your melee. This will create a Tangle that you can then pick up and throw to destroy one of the Vex Oracles. Just continue doing this until they’re all gone.

Move along the path and this objective will be out of your life in just a few seconds. Once you arrive, the following is a list of mission objectives you must complete:

At this point of the mission these objectives are meaningless. You’re just using Strand in various ways to defeat enemies. As the dialogue suggests, this is training. Practice with Strand. The only part that could trip you up a little is where you must Unravel Vex Offenses. Use your Grapple on enemies and then melee them as you get close to create a Tangle, then throw that at the Vex Oracles to destroy them. This will lower the shields of the Minotaurs so you can defeat them.

The Inquisitor Mind is a huge Minotaur with a troublesome shield. To remove the shield, you must defeat the Malignant Hydras that spawn. These Hydras will have waypoints on them, so they’re easy to spot. They’re also Hydras, which are big and like to shoot you, so you’ll probably notice them.

Once you’re through the first sectioned off block of the Inquisitor Mind's health, its shield will pop back up and you’ll be faced with Quantum Minotaurs that need to be killed. Killing them will once again lower the shield so you can take off another section of the Inquisitor Mind's health.

With just a bit of health left on the Inquisitor Mind, you’ll lose your Strand capabilities, but only for a moment. When you get them back you’ll be able to finish off this boss and deplete its final bit of health to complete the mission.

The sixth mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall sees the recommended Power goes up even further. The modifiers stay the same.

The start of this mission has Calus closing in on the Veil, which is not good. It's a race to get there before the Witnesses' new pet does.

Make your way through the facility and dispatch any Cabal you find. It should be easy enough to keep the enemy in front of you, so don't get crazy and push forward. Just blast through them while staying safe.

There's a suppression device causing problems and Osiris will soon theorize that using Strand can bypass it. You’re going to be fighting off enemies while you locate the Strand. It won't be overly difficult because it will be marked with a waypoint on your HUD. Just keep killing Cabal until you find it, then interact with the Strand to swap to your new subclass.

Now that you have Strand, use the super to destroy the suppression device. A Strand super ability is the only one capable of destroying Suppression Fields, which the game notes with a tool tip. Once you do this you’ll become exhausted (this happens way too often) and you’ll lose your Strand abilities.

Push forward and you’ll enter an area with some Cabal that mean business, including a Goliath Tank. This can get chaotic, but you can find more Strand in this area and use the abilities to make somewhat quick work of your enemies.

Now comes the fun part. Hop into the Drake Tank and start smashing through the enemies in the area. This includes having to destroy four fuel cells, which is easy enough in a tank. Just make sure that if your tank takes too much damage you hop out of it before it explodes.

Once this tank business is all done you’ll have to start doing work on foot again. You’ll be faced with two more Suppression Fields, which you can once again take down using your Strand super ability. You’ll also face off with another Tormentor. We’re leaving its actual name out of our guide since it could spoil things for those who know Destiny lore well.

Get back into a Drake Tank and start blasting things. There's only one viable path, so shoot and move and continue onward. There's not a lot of guiding required here, just have fun.

When you’re forced out of your Drake Tank you can collect some rewards and then navigate through the narrow passages. When you find Rohan, you can speak with him.

You’ve got a big Cabal boss here that you must deal with. You’ll have your Strand abilities so you can use them to move around and avoid being overwhelmed. Once you remove a section of this Cabal boss’ health, you’ll get a couple of objectives that must be knocked out before you can get back to your boss fight.

Once those are out of the way, you can get back to defeating Val Bho’kaurl. Stay alive and deal damage using all of your abilities and Heavy weapons. This is the end of the mission, so there's really no point in saving anything for later.

When the fight is over, go over to Rohan to complete the mission.

The seventh mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall will bump up the Power yet again, but still caps players at -15 to the recommended spot.

The Headlong mission from the Destiny 2: Lightfall campaign is the second to last, and will test Guardians and their ability to wield the new Strand subclass.

Hop on your sparrow and speed through the streets of Neomuna. There's nothing to do there except drive and listen to Osiris. You might not even pass a single enemy as you go.

Once you get a new objective, you’ll hop off your sparrow and see a Strand energy source on the side of the road. Interact with it to activate the Strand subclass, then start working on the Vex a short distance ahead. It's not a bad fight, and when it's over you’ll see a door with a Vex barrier in front of it. Take note of the icons above the door. Some will be glowing, and some will be darker. Now, look at the Harpy enemies spawned in. Some are glowing and some are not. Our door had a glowing icon, a dark icon, then another glowing icon. This meant we needed to shoot a glowing Harpy, then a normal Harpy, then another glowing Harpy to open the door. This exact system is used several times during this mission, so remember it.

This objective is going to take you quite some time, but the main idea is going to be to move in the direction you see Strand and kill the enemies in your path. You can also just bring up your Ghost and see the direction you need to travel, but it's normally well-marked with enemies. You shouldn't have any trouble figuring out where to go.

As you continue through the mission Osiris will start to talk about Strand and how Guardians can better control it. The truth is you’re just along for the ride and Strand will open when the story says so. Keep working through the level using your Ghost to activate waypoints when you’re not sure where to go.

With all that reflection out of the way, it's time to get back to destroying Vex and hearing the satisfying sound of them breaking apart as you work. You will also receive a Strand Fragment at this point. Study the tool tip so you know what to do with it, then practice it on those poor Vex.

This is another objective that will take you a little work to complete, but it's fun work. Osiris is teaching you all about Strand, so pay close attention to any tool tips that pop up where the game is asking you to use a Strand ability. It's going to put obstacles in your path designed to utilize whatever Osiris is teaching you.

Once you enter the Radiosonde, pay attention to your objectives on the top left. In most cases you will have to kill a certain number of Vex before the door in front of you will open. You’ll also need to deal with rooms where walls move or giant barriers sweep around and threaten to kill you. This entire section is all about effective movement with Strand.

The final fight will be against a Malignant Wyvern, and this fool can hit hard. Not to mention, there is a sweeping barrier that will chase you around the arena. You must stay on the move, deal with the ads, and put damage on the boss. It's not too difficult if you are a combat veteran in Destiny 2, but it can go south quickly so stay on your toes.

The mission is over at this point. There was no need for an objective, but here we are. Get your loot and then it's on to the final mission of Lightfall.

The eighth mission in Destiny 2: Lightfall wraps up the campaign with a major showdown.

The Desperate Measures mission is a long one filled with intense combat and cool moments. You'll want your Power to be about 1735 if you're doing the Legendary campaign, as that's the Power cap. Enemies hit hard here, so come prepared for a scrap.

Hop on your sparrow and take a short ride. It's the way we start off most of our missions in Lightfall, so there's no point in doing things differently for the finale.

You’re in for a decent fight to kick things off here. Defeat the Cabal that get thrown at you until you can interact with the nearby console. You’ll need to deactivate the barrier so you can shoot the explosive barrels and blow up the first anti-air gun. From there you’re headed up to a platform even higher, and you’ll need to Grapple to get there. It's more of the same, though, except that the enemies are a bit tougher and things are more chaotic. Kill the Tormentor to access the console, then blow up the second anti-air gun.

When you enter the next area, you’ll see two turrets. You need to clear the enemies from around them and make sure that they remain in your possession. The easiest way to do this is make sure no Cabal are alive near the turrets.

You’ll have a relic marked on your map that you can pick up. Grab it and point it at the tank and fire. This will call in an Orbital Strike that will instantly destroy the tank. You’ll be repeating this several times, but you also need to maintain control of the turrets. Things can get quite hectic here, so use the high ground and stay in the fight.

This is more of the same, except that you’ll have some Cabal allies to help you, including Caiatl. Keep fighting and painting those tanks to call in Orbital Strikes. There's nothing fancy here, just a good bout.

Again, there's nothing here that you haven't already been doing. This is really just more of the same fight, except that you’ve got your back against the wall making your last stand. As far as last stands go, I’m happy to make mine with Caiatl. Also, fighting the Tormentor enemies is a lot more fun with Caiatl and her troops.

Head in the only direction that you can until you spot an arena. It's clear that you’ll be fighting here. Take a moment to study it from above to get the layout down, then continue on and get ready for the final Lightfall boss.

Eight missions have led to a fight against Calus, but really, it's been years. Guardians have faced off against Calus many times, or at least had to endure his nonsense too many times. It's time to put him down, Guardian.

Calus’ health bar is split into two. You’ll be able to damage him right away and should do so. Stay on the outside of the arena as much as you can, clearing platforms and then shooting from them. Once you deplete the first section of health, a Tormentor will spawn that you need to defeat. Do so while staying close with your team in the event of a death. You’ll need to get your revives quickly to prevent a wipe.

Underneath Calus’ health bar at the bottom of your screen is his shield. With the Tormentor down, take the shield down using damage, then get back to feeding Calus a steady diet of rockets or whatever you have that hits really hard. If you’re out of Heavy, aim for his head to deal critical hits.

Once you defeat Calus, you’ll need to do so again. He's trading in his guns for some big knives, and you’ll be forced into the center of the arena. The good news is he doesn't have nearly the health he did the first time. Stay clear of his attacks which can put you out of commission quickly, and deal as much damage as you can. Calus should fall soon enough, and the Lightfall campaign will be complete.

And so you’ve reached the end of the Lightfall campaign. Hopefully you soaked up the narrative, enjoyed the journey and challenge, and have walked away with some decent loot. You’ll find ongoing coverage of Lightfall, Season of Defiance, and all future content on our Destiny 2 strategy guide.

Bill and Sam are the two Shacknews writers who handle the bulk of the Destiny 2 content. As a Hunter and Warlock main respectively, they can cover a great deal of ground with whatever is happening in Destiny 2 today. What they don't know they can find out thanks to their all-star lineup of Destiny 2 friends.

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