History of Nightfall

Overview

The Nightfall is a weekly high-difficulty Strike playlist activity in Destiny 2, the PvE endgame counterpart to Trials of Osiris. It is launched from the Vanguard playlist in the Director. As of Forsaken players choose from several featured strikes each week (the in-game data lists Strange Terrain, The Inverted Spire, The Arms Dealer, Exodus Crash, The Pyramidion, A Garden World, Will of the Thousands among others).

Difficulty and power

Destinypedia lists three standard tiers: Hero (matchmaking, recommended about 40 below the Pinnacle cap), Legend (no matchmaking) and Master (recommended above the cap), with Nightfall Grandmaster as the final tier (40 above cap recommended). Exact numbers change every season, so check the current Director.

Mechanics

Weekly modifiers (e.g. Champion types such as Barrier, Unstoppable and Overload) apply. Scoring combines kills with Champion defeats; defeating all Champions earns the Platinum tier, with Gold, Silver and Bronze below.

Rewards

Weekly Nightfall weapons plus Nightfall-only drops; Adept weapon versions only came from Grandmaster. They can be focused at Commander Zavala.

History

The former weekly Nightfall: The Ordeal playlist hosted the tiers. Destinypedia states that with The Edge of Fate Grandmaster Nightfalls were removed and replaced by seasonal Conquests; verify current status in-game.

Variants

Nightfall: Strange Terrain, Nightfall: The Inverted Spire, Nightfall: The Arms Dealer, Nightfall: Exodus Crash, Nightfall: The Pyramidion, Nightfall: A Garden World, Nightfall: Will of the Thousands, Nightfall: Tree of Probabilities, Nightfall: Savathûn's Song.