History of Excision

Overview

Excision is the eighth and final story mission of Destiny 2: The Final Shape and the finale of the Light and Darkness Saga. It takes place in The Pale Heart and is a matchmade 12-player activity, billed as the franchise's only 12-player co-op activity. Allied forces (House of Light, Imperial Cabal, Lucent Brood and Guardians) assault the Witness. Launch it from the campaign in the director after the prior Final Shape missions; it also has Replay, Narrative and Grandmaster variants. Grandmaster is listed at Power 2010 and was added in June 2024 as the first non-Nightfall Grandmaster activity.

Encounters

1. Territory: fight through the Witness's forces and claim zones to banish its influence.
2. Cornerstones: in the Witness's arena, kill the two Cornerstones (Taken) on either side.
3. Veiled Statues: enter the Witness's consciousness, collect Traveler's Light and destroy the statues with the sword.
4. Final phase: destroy the Glyphs on the Witness's body to expose its chest and damage it, dodging its hand attacks; repeat until the final stand.

Grandmaster adds Witness arms to shoot out (glowing orange bands) and more dangerous attacks.

Rewards

Ergo Sum (Exotic Sword) with more rolls and its Exotic catalyst on Grandmaster, plus Ascendant Shard, Exotic Engram and Spoils of Conquest.