In Destiny 2, the Nightfall Strike is being significantly changed. Modifiers, strike scoring, new rewards, and even a Nightfall buff are coming.
At the end of February, expected on February 27, Bungie will implement the update 1.1.3. This includes many new features, including strike scoring for the Nightfall, the Nightfall Strike.
In the latest blog post, the developers elaborate on the changes to the Nightfall Strike.
The objectives of the new Nightfall Strike
The Nightfall has been criticized since the launch of Destiny 2. Each Nightfall Strike has a time limit, which annoys many Guardians. It doesn’t contribute to the fun and leads to a stressful gaming experience. Players focus less on the actual fight and more on not running out of time. If the mission timer reaches zero, no rewards are given – the run was in vain.
Game Director Christopher Barrett explains what objectives are being pursued with the new Nightfall:
- The previous mission timer is removed and replaced with strike scoring, making the Nightfall a challenging test.
- Both organized fireteams and dedicated solo players should be able to complete the Nightfall and earn rewards.
- Players can set their own challenge level – they can proceed slowly and cautiously through the strike, or quickly and recklessly.
- Optional modifiers challenge hardcore veterans.
- Additionally, each nasty enemy (likely the bosses) will drop a very rare, unique, and powerful item. Sounds like strike-specific loot!
- With exclusive auras and emblems, you can showcase what you have achieved in the Nightfall.
Nightfall Scoring – All Info
Senior Design Lead Tyson Green then goes into detail about Nightfall Scoring.
The new scoring rules are intended to:
- reward you for confronting enemies and defeating them, rather than running past them.
- not place too much emphasis on specific mechanics, such as precision kills, as these highlight certain sandbox areas too much.
- reward you for taking on bigger challenges and pushing the limits of your abilities.
- additionally reward you if you accomplish all of this in a short time.
Here’s how scoring works:
- The scoring is team-based and reflects the sum of your individual performances. You should work together to try to increase your total score and not get upset if someone steals your kill.
- Scoring primarily relies on kills and secondarily on generating orbs of light. Furthermore, there will be point awards in the future when you earn medals.
- Your score “bleeds” over time, meaning it slowly decreases. This score decay can be harsh; however, it will be rewarded if one team is faster than another.
- After a certain period, scoring stops: After 15 minutes, you will earn only 50% of the points you did before. After 18 minutes, you earn no new points anymore. Then it’s important to finish the Nightfall as quickly as possible to secure the points.
Challenge Cards and Modifiers
In addition to the mechanics described above, you can increase the difficulty of the Prestige Nightfall strikes yourself. By completing a Nightfall, you receive a Challenge Card.
With this challenge card, you can increase the challenge for the next Prestige Nightfall, as it activates modifiers. As a reward, there are score multipliers – meaning, you can earn more points.
Once the strike scoring launches at the end of February, there will be these three optional modifiers:
- Void, Solar, and Arcburn – offers a +25% increase in player and enemy damage with the respective element.
- Wipe – If the entire fireteam falls, everyone returns to orbit (which Destiny 1 veterans may remember).
- Power Modifier – Reduces your power.
In the future, more modifiers are expected to follow.
The Rewards
In every Nightfall strike, you can earn Nightfall emblems. These show your Nightfall scores. If the score is high enough, you unlock Nightfall auras. This requires the score to be above a global threshold. This threshold is initially set by Bungie but can later be increased based on community scores.
If you achieve a score above the threshold, you will receive not only an aura but also a buff that applies to the entire fireteam and increases the Vanguard token rewards in this strike by 25%.
Additionally, there will be rare variants of Nightfall emblems that will only be awarded for extremely high scores. Bungie expects that not everyone will be able to earn these.
It is emphasized that strike scoring will be further expanded in the future. At the end of February, the first version will be rolled out, and then they want to respond to community feedback.
Three additional notes:
- If you play solo and take quite a long time for the Nightfall, you may lose some points, but you will still receive rewards upon completion.
- You can only add modifiers once you have the Challenge Card.
- Modifiers can only be selected in the Prestige Raid.
What do you think of all these changes?
