Hey there, fellow Guardian. By 2026, Destiny 2 has evolved in ways we never imagined, but sometimes it's fun to look back at the grind we conquered. One standout memory? Week 9 of Season of Defiance. That week dished out a hearty mix of Legend difficulty, favor farming, and weapon calibration—all for a mountain of XP and Bright Dust. Even if you're revisiting these challenges years later, the strategies are just as effective today for legacy triumphs or simply scratching that completionist itch. Let's relive each challenge and the optimal ways to blitz through them.
Legendary Defiance – Taking the Battlegrounds to the Next Level
Bungie asked Guardians to complete two Defiant Battlegrounds on Legend difficulty. No matchmaking, locked loadouts, and a capped Power level of 1,815. It sounds terrifying, but the season’s Overcharge mechanic gave you a huge edge. Any anti-Champion artifact perks you selected automatically granted Overcharge to those weapon types, and the daily Overcharged archetype stacked more damage on top.
The key was building your fireteam around Surges and Overcharged weapons. Grab two buddies, coordinate elemental burns, and set your artifact perks before queueing up from the H.E.L.M. playlist. Even in 2026, this structure lives on in many seasonal Legend modes—so the habit of syncing loadouts is timeless.
Favored Warrior – Farming Those Favor Flavors
This one demanded you generate 20 of each Favor type: Justice (ability final blows), Grace (Special weapon final blows), and Zeal (Heavy weapon final blows). The real trick? The Avalon Exotic mission’s opening encounter flooded you with infinite Vex. Equip double Special weapons and a Machine Gun, then let loose.
Don’t forget to buy the necessary War Table upgrades first, or Favors won’t spawn at all. Wearing season pass armor pieces boosted Favor drop rates, so throw on those cosmetics even if your stats tank. Once your ammo ran dry, simply wipe and restart the checkpoint. It was cheesy, but hey, efficiency is king.
Defiant Specialist – Precision Over Panic
Land 50 precision final blows in Defiant Battlegrounds or Avalon. Season of Defiance weapons granted double progress, but any Hand Cannon or Scout Rifle made short work of this. One load of a battleground usually spat out enough enemies to finish the challenge in minutes. The lesson? Always keep a precision workhorse on hand for seasonal kill-count objectives.
Pinnacle – Hitting the Hard Cap
Reach Power Level 1,810 without artifact bonus. That was the Pinnacle cap for the season, and it meant grinding raids, dungeons, and weekly ritual challenges. Pinnacle sources have barely changed over the years: Vanguard, Crucible, Gambit weeklies, plus endgame clears. If you’re chasing a similar cap today, the same loop applies—focus on +2 Pinnacle drops first, then fill gaps with +1s. Patience wins the race.
Warp and Weft – Gambit Subclass Slaughter
Ah, Gambit. Defeat 200 enemies with Strand, Solar, or Void equipped. Ability kills counted extra, so Void’s Devour turned you into an immortal grenade machine. Pair Trinity Ghoul or Huckleberry for effortless add-clearing, and invade occasionally to snag Guardian kills for bonus progress. Even in 2026, the quickest path through Gambit challenges is still a slaying-focused build—ignore motes, embrace chaos.
Weaving Sunlight – Vanguard Vanquishing
Same 200 enemy kills, but this time in Vanguard Ops or Nightfalls. Strand, Solar, or Void subclass required. Strand abilities chained beautifully if you built into grenade and class ability regeneration. Void users could lean on Volatile Rounds to clear entire rooms. If you’re running similar challenges today, remember: the right build trivializes these numbers, so don’t just rely on guns.
Armory-Wide Calibration – The Triple Threat
Finally, the big one: land 200 Kinetic, Energy, and Heavy weapon final blows—600 kills total. An SMG, a Wave-Frame Grenade Launcher, and a Machine Gun formed the holy trinity. Wave-Frames cleared trash effortlessly, while Machine Guns mopped up majors and refilled ammo from finder mods. The Shuro Chi checkpoint in Last Wish remained the most popular farm, but Neomuna Lost Sectors also delivered.
Here’s a table to summarize the weapon pairings:
| Slot | Recommended Weapon Type | Why It Rocks |
|---|---|---|
| Kinetic | SMG (e.g., Huckleberry) | Fast, infinite ammo, great for add waves |
| Energy | Wave-Frame GL | One-shot groups, ignores coverage |
| Heavy | Machine Gun | Ammo-efficient, versatile, fun |
Nine seasons later, the principle stands: whenever a calibration challenge pops up, pick the most ammo-friendly loadout and hit dense enemy zones. Nothing beats the pure dopamine of watching that progress bar fill up.
Even if you missed Season of Defiance, the DNA of these challenges lives on in modern Destiny 2. The grind never truly ends, Guardian—better to embrace it with a smile and a perfectly rolled SMG.