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Nearly all PvE content received a major rework inDestiny 2: The Edge of Fate.A new Portal menu has restructured the way activities are initiated in Destiny, and the new gear tier system has added long-term loot pursuits for virtually all new items, both weapons and armor.
But what determines the gear tiers you receive? That would be difficulty modifiers, a new mechanic that allows you to fine-tune all PvE content you play. Add modifiers that suit your playstyle, increase the difficulty, and you’ll be able to chase massive boosts to your Power level and acquire higher-tier equipment across all activities.
What Are Difficulty Modifiers?
Most activitiesaccessed through the Portalhave access todifficulty modifiers.Before you start a new activity, you may select the “Customize” button to adjust the mission. In previous expansions, each activity had preset difficulties with banes, surges, and similar modifiers. With this new system, you can select all of these modifiers yourself.
Each modifier you add will adjust youractivity score, which is how Destiny determines the quality of drops you receive at the end of the activity. Increasing your activity’s Power requirement and optional modifiers will increase thegear tierof all items that drop, including the quantity of drops.
Adding Activity Modifiers
Upon selecting an activity, select the"Customize" button to bring up the modifier page.There are quite a few options to toy with here.
These options arenotavailable for the Crucible playlist.
Base Difficulty
Before you’re able to apply any modifiers, you must first select the activity’s base difficulty. This will determine the base Power of all combatants and their health scaling. Harder difficulties make targets more resistant to flinch and greatly increases their HP.
Choosing a higher difficulty does come with some benefits, notably to the reward pool.The harder the base difficulty is, the higher your score forecast can be.Getting this rank to a higher letter will yield better drops. At Grandmaster difficulty, an A rating should be enough to get T5 weapons and armor, the highest in the game.
Challenge Modifiers
Once you’ve selected a base difficulty, it’s time to add modifiers.Challenge modifiersare where you get to select enemy banes and new mechanics that penalize certain styles of play. You’ll want to select modifiers that donotaffect your build to boost your score.
Some modifiers increase the activity’s Power level. Be careful.
Banesare modifiers to random enemies that grant them new abilities, such as spawning mini-Screebs when they take sustained damage. You may select two banes at a time on Advanced difficulty; higher difficulties might allow for more.
Challenge Modifiersadd mechanics to the activity that make it harder, such as enemies inflicting Stasis slow on melee hit. Some of these modifiers are arguably sidegrades and can be leveraged to make the activity easier. For instance, the Oscillation Trade-Off modifier makes your weapon damage oscillate between weapons. If you love switching weapons, this is arguably a beneficial modifier, not a detriment.
Boons And Events
This category is all about bonuses that make your build stronger.You may select up to three boons, each slot offering different bonuses. A popular pick in this category is theGrapplermodifier, which replaces your grenade with threeGrapplecharges that instantly recharge when you touch a surface. You can’t use Grapple melee, but the added mobility makes speedrunning missions a breeze.
Activity Score And Rewards
Every modifier you enable will adjust your mission’sactivity score. Similar to how Nightfalls used to work, achieving a higher score will make you eligible for higher-quality drops and larger boosts to your Power.The baseline rank is a B, which can increase to an A.Going above an A or lower than a B does nothing. Your goal is toadd enough modifiers to make your target rank an A.
PvP Rewards
Since modifiers aren’t present in PvP, all rewards that drop are determined byyour current Power level and match performance.This applies to Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner as well.
The base difficulty you select will determine the reward rank you’re in, ranging from Copper to Platinum. Selecting a harder difficulty will raise this ranking, which will then influence the Power level andgear tierof all items that drop from the end-of-match rewards.
To get the best gear this expansion, you’ll need toachieve an A rank in Grandmaster content.Doing so will require a Power level of at least 350 and a strong build. Boons can help offset this difficulty, but it won’t make it trivial by any stretch. Complete this level of difficulty, and you’ll earn T5 gear and tons of Power boosts for your character.
