In Destiny 2 you can earn rare pinnacle gear in the Haunted Forest. Find out in our guide how to progress in Destiny 2’s Halloween activity up to Branch 9 and deeper.
What is the Haunted Forest? The Haunted Forest was introduced during the Festival of the Lost in 2018. Now the activity is returning in 2019. You will fight through randomly generated sections (branches) in an alternative spooky edition of the Infinite Forest.
Your goal is to defeat as many enemies as possible as quickly as possible and to fight your way through as many branches of the activity as possible. You have a total of 15 minutes for this. The further you progress, the more challenging and difficult the Haunted Forest becomes. At the end, there’s a boss fight and a special reward awaits.
You can face the nightmares solo or with up to 2 companions thanks to the matchmaking. Like the Halloween event “Festival of the Lost”, the Haunted Forest ends on November 19.
That’s why you should visit the Haunted Forest: During the Festival of the Lost, you can loot thematic items. These include weapons at Level 950 and the popular masks. The costumes are inspired by iconic Destiny characters or your enemies.
To purchase these goodies, you will need special festival currency (Chocolate Coins and Candies). You earn these in the Haunted Forest, among other activities.
But there’s another reward waiting for you in the Haunted Forest: pinnacle gear. This rare reward grants you items with up to 960 Power. That is currently the absolute maximum.
Otherwise, you can only receive pinnacle gear from endgame activities such as:
- the raid “Garden of Salvation”
- the PvP event Iron Banner
- the Nightfall (for 100,000 points)
- the new dungeon
Goal: Earn Pinnacle Gear in Branch 9
This is how you get to Branch 9: To collect the pinnacle gear, you need to fight your way to Branch 9 of the Haunted Forest. Here are some tips to make your run easier:
- You only have 15 minutes for the activity. Move quickly and ignore individual enemies or candy drops (these will automatically go to your post). You don’t have to eliminate every enemy. Once you reach 100%, you will be teleported to the boss.
- If you see a giant Hive Knight with an axe – run away! This “Unyielding Terror” is invulnerable and meant to make your life difficult.
- If you encounter red doors, there are demons in the area ahead. Once you defeat them all, the way forward will open.
- Pay attention to the modifiers. With each new branch, you will receive new debuffs. Be sure to check what is currently active. In the deeper levels, more than one modifier can be active.
Wear the Mask
Use this gear: You can get Halloween masks from Eva Levante. These are not just cosmetic items but powerful support.
The masks have a mod slot that is only active in the Haunted Forest. You can choose from three perk combinations. All have the in common that they have extremely useful abilities. In addition to damage resistance and bonuses, there are also cooldown boosts. All masks possess the useful perk “Heavy Ammo Finder”.
This ability works wonders in the Haunted Forest. Thanks to the perk, you should be able to use your power weapon permanently.
Add Clear and Boss DPS: Since you have nearly unlimited heavy ammo, you should use an LMG as your power weapon. Whether you use legendary variants like “Hammerhead” or “21% Delirium“.
Or if you decide on the exotic LMGs “Thunderlord” or the new “Xenophage“, these weapons wipe out all minor enemies, adds, and demons.
Theoretically, you need hardly a primary weapon. Consider taking two special weapons instead. Shotguns, snipers, fusion rifles, or grenade launchers like the Summit are good options.
To properly hit the bosses of the branches, use a combination of:
- Your super
- The special weapons (as LMGs hardly deal damage to bosses)
- Debuffs like Melt Point Void grenades or
- Void grenades combined with the seasonal mods
In the following video from KackisHD, you will find more tips about the Haunted Forest:
What do you think of the Haunted Forest and the Festival of the Lost so far? Have you already gotten the pinnacle gear?
