Destiny 2’s hardest endgame content will bump player power levels up to 400

Contrary to popular belief, there’s actually a lot to do in Destiny 2 once the main story campaign has been completed. What there isn’t, is a lot of content to keep on doing as you can only run a Nightfall strike so many times before boredom for established gameplay systems kicks in. For the diehard fans who seek to get a mathematical achievement in Destiny 2, there is something else that keeps them awake at night: The Prestige Raid Lair.

Destiny 2’s hardest content, the Prestige Raid Lair, is also your best chance at bumping your overall Light level power up to its highest possible number, 385. Prestige versions of Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars will soon bump that number up even further, as Senior raid designer Joe Blackburn revealed on the Bungie Blog that the mode will drop a guaranteed 400 Light level weapon when the new patch arrives on July 17.

“Prestige raid lairs use new activity modifiers and a new system of curated loadouts to challenge you in new and exciting ways each week. I wanted to give a quick rundown of what you can expect to get, what you can expect to do, and answer some questions you might have,” Blackburn wrote on the Bungie blog.

We believe players will be chasing after three different pursuits in the summer Prestige raid lairs.

• 400 Power Weapons: The only way to get 400 Power armor before Forsaken is by participating in the Summer Solstice event, but the only way to get 400 Power weapons before Forsaken is by completing Prestige Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. Every time you complete all the encounters in a Prestige raid lair that week, you will be rewarded a 400 Power raid weapon. This can be any raid weapon from Destiny 2, not just the weapons that drop in that raid lair.
• Raid Armor Ornaments: Each Prestige raid lair has its own set of unique armor ornaments.
• Exotic Masterwork Catalyst:  Both raid lairs have a Masterwork catalyst that can be found only as a rare drop in the activity.

Each week, there is a curated weapon suite and a global activity modifier for Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. The weapon set and modifier will be the same across both activities.

Curated weapon loadouts are based on weapon archetypes. So over the summer, you might see combinations that require you to equip Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle or Scout Rifle/Hand Cannon/Rocket Launchers

Loadouts are not locked inside the Prestige raid lair. You can bring tons of different guns into a raid lair and swap between them at will as long as the gun meets the required curation. For example, if you were doing Spire of Stars and the loadout is [Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle], you might want to use Surous Regime for Val Ca’uor Phase 1, but swap to Ghost Primus for Val Ca’uor Phase 2 so you can equip D.A.R.C.I. for boss damage.

We are shipping three activity modifiers that the raid lairs rotate between. Two of these modifies are brand new and were built from the ground up by the raid team to work in raids. The third is a fan favourite from Destiny 2: Prism.

Each of these modifiers is designed to provide Guardians with advantages over their enemies when they lean into it.

The goal of using these modifiers and loadouts is to change the way you engage with Prestige raiding each week. The first week, the modifier and weapon loadout might synergize really well with strategies and armor exotics you’ve been using for months. Next week, the modifier and weapon loadout might push you to explore the encounter in a different way and use different exotic armours (looking at you Lunafaction).

As for when the new Solstice of Heroes event begins? That’ll roll out from July 31, as Bungie detailed in a roadmap for the month ahead:

I’m just happy that there’s a new Iron Banner on the way that’s not too far off, because I’m this close to getting all the fab new ornaments for my Warlock. Hopefully next month, the Iron Banner is anything but Control yet again. I’m hungry for some Supremacy. Or better yet, the Mayhem playlist.

Last Updated: June 29, 2018