Recently, Destiny 2 received a heroic mode for the Menagerie. But what is different there? And what loot is available? Is it even worth the trip?
What is the heroic mode of the Menagerie all about? With the Weekly Reset on June 25, you can tackle the heroic mode in the Menagerie. This is the biggest challenge of this new 6-player activity from the Season of Opulence.
In the Menagerie, you venture into new sections of the gigantic Leviathan ship. In a labyrinth of vast rooms and narrow tunnels, you fight against waves of monsters and measure yourselves against weekly rotating bosses – all to prove your worth before Cabal Emperor Calus.
What you need to know about the Heroic Mode of the Menagerie
This is different in heroic mode: The Menagerie is now significantly harder and more challenging than the regular experience. The heroic mode is clearly intended for high-level, coordinated teams. The following factors make the mode the biggest challenge of this activity:
- The recommended power level rises to 750. During the fights, the power level of the enemies even rises to 770.
- No more matchmaking. You now need a complete team to tackle the heroic Menagerie. Casual guardians, smaller groups, and solo players will struggle here.
- Weekly modifiers that provide disadvantages in combat, creating additional challenges. Especially “Eclipsed” makes life hard for you. If your entire team goes down, it’s back to orbit.
- You can lose, which is basically impossible in the regular version. Individual encounters do not repeat in the heroic Menagerie. If you’ve played each encounter once and do not have 100% progress by the boss, like with “Eclipsed”, it’s also back to orbit.
This is the loot available in heroic mode
What do the rewards look like in heroic mode? In terms of loot, there’s little that the heroic Menagerie offers over the normal version in added value. You can still use the Chalice of Opulence normally to target Menagerie-exclusive weapons or other gear. Here are the extras for the heroic difficulty:
- Masterwork gear: The first successful weekly completion of heroic mode grants you (per account, not per character) a randomly rolled masterwork item (no curated roll) of level 10. If you get a good roll, you can save the costs for the masterwork upgrade. If not, you’ll get 7 masterwork cores upon dismantling.
- Revised class swords: Additionally, the revised class-specific swords from Year 1 can drop directly from the final boss in fresh looks and with random rolls. The drops are based on the class you are playing at that moment.
- Menagerie ship: This is an RNG drop from the boss chest. So when you collect the loot with the Chalice of Opulence, you have a chance each time for this new Menagerie-exclusive spaceship.
- Emblem: This special emblem can be obtained upon your first successful clear of heroic mode.
- Exotic masterwork catalyst: Once you have fully upgraded your Chalice of Opulence, meaning all upgrade nodes have been unlocked, you’ll receive the masterwork catalyst for the exotic sniper Izanagi’s Burden upon mastering the heroic Menagerie. This increases the damage from the intrinsic perk “Refined Blade” by about 20%.
The Menagerie bosses rotate weekly. It is currently unknown whether there may be a new masterwork catalyst with a new boss or if it just remains with this one.
You also need this for the heroic mode: The heroic mode also has some triumphs that can only be unlocked there. So if you need more Imperial tokens or want to earn the new title of Season 7, “The Shadow,” there is no way around the heroic Menagerie.
Who is the effort in Heroic Mode worth it for?
Given the additional effort, many people wonder: Is it worth it for me to tackle the heroic mode of the Menagerie? Am I missing out? This question is essentially easy to answer. It depends on how you play Destiny 2.
The heroic Menagerie is clearly designed for the hardcore community and dedicated players. They gain another group challenge with this mode – basically the icing on the cake for the Menagerie. Here, they can earn some exclusive cosmetics as well as masterwork weapons and (for now?) a masterwork catalyst. Those interested in such rewards are usually dedicated enough to easily find a group for the activity.
Casual players essentially miss nothing there. None of the heroic rewards are truly essential. And Menagerie gear with the Chalice can also be obtained in the normal mode, which features matchmaking and can be approached at will. However, if one is still interested in one or another item from heroic mode, then the possibly fun and challenging heroic mode might be just the right incentive to look for a group and delve deeper into Destiny 2.
