The ninth weekly crop of Seasonal Challenges has arrived, and Guardians across the system are already cracking their knuckles. Season of the Echo keeps pushing its Pinnacle cap higher, dangling a hefty pile of XP and Bright Dust just out of reach — until now. This week, six new tasks will ask players to prove their mettle in Legend-difficulty content, rev up Heavy weapons, and drench opponents in Void and Stasis energy. None of them are back-breakers, but a little planning (and maybe a second cup of coffee) goes a long way. If the Season Pass still needs a few levels or the eververse inventory is calling your name, these challenges are the express lane.
Let's dive into each challenge, one by one, before the Vanguard starts wondering why we're all just standing in the Tower.
Legend Echo Battlegrounds II
Legend Echo Battlegrounds II: Complete each Echo Battleground on Legend Difficulty.
- Rewards: 8 Echoic Umbral Energy, 50,000 XP
To wrap this up, all three Echo Battlegrounds — set across Nessus, the EDZ, and the Dreaming City — must be conquered on Legend. Think of it as the playlist's stern older sibling: locked loadouts, no matchmaking, and a -15 Power delta that makes every Psion sniper feel like a raid boss. The trick is a versatile build that can handle both Overload and Barrier Champions without breaking a sweat.
Legend Battlegrounds rotate on a weekly cadence, meaning a single clear each week over the next three weeks will tick the box. Rumor has it Bungie might flip the rotation to daily near the season's end, so keep an optic on the Director. "Yeah, it's a bit of a time gate, but pacing yourself feels way better than a Sunday night panic run," as many a seasoned Guardian would mutter.
Heavy Loadout
Heavy Loadout: Defeat targets with Machine Guns. Bonus progress for eliminating Guardians. Additionally, defeat powerful combatants in Echo Battlegrounds.
- Reward: 50,000 XP, 150 Bright Dust
Simplicity itself. Score 100 kills with Machine Guns and put down 35 majors or bosses inside Echo Battlegrounds. The obvious move is to double-dip and let your Thunderlord or Commemoration sing during Battleground runs — Deathtongue Choristers, final bosses, and any yellow-bar toughs will all count. Ammo can get tight, so slotting a Lucent Finisher mod or running an Aeon gauntlets teammate transforms this from a scavenger hunt into a fireworks show. Let's be real, who doesn't love a good Machine Gun spree?
Pinnacle
Pinnacle: Reach Power Level 2,000 by earning pinnacle rewards.
- Rewards: 100,000 XP, 300 Bright Dust
Season of the Echo's Pinnacle cap stands at 2,000, and Artifact Power won't help here — only raw gear levels from Pinnacle drops count. The most reliable sources are the weekly rotators: the new Echo Dungeon (Spire of Echoes) and reprised King's Fall raid each grant a Pinnacle per encounter. Scatter in a few ritual playlists and the occasional Iron Banner session, and the climb feels less like a mountain and more like a steady staircase. The real secret? Patience. Two or three weeks of focused play will see that number hit the magic mark, and then the real endgame — fashion — can begin.
Armory-Wide Calibration
Armory-Wide Calibration: Calibrate Kinetic, Energy, and Power weapons. Bonus progress against Champions.
- Rewards: 100,000 XP, 300 Bright Dust
A returning favorite — 200 Kinetic kills, 200 Energy kills, and 200 Power weapon kills. Champions give a huge boost, so farming Legend Echo Battlegrounds or Master Nightfalls will chew through the objectives rapidly. Even without grinding, this challenge practically completes itself if players just… play. Vanguard Ops, Gambit, patrol spaces — every trigger pull counts. "I just ran some strikes with a triple-element loadout and it was done before I noticed," one warlock was overheard chuckling in the H.E.L.M.
Icy Singularity
Icy Singularity: Defeat targets with Void or Stasis effects. Bonus progress for invading Guardians in Gambit.
- Rewards: 50,000 XP, 150 Bright Dust
The card's description hides the real requirement: 200 enemy defeats in Gambit using Void or Stasis abilities and keywords. Weapons are politely asked to sit this one out. Volatile rounds, Shatter damage, grenade kills — these are the stars. Builds that loop abilities are the play.
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Hunter: Nightstalker with Gyrfalcon's Hauberk. Devour and a Demolitionist weapon make grenades rain.
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Warlock: Shadebinder with Ager's Scepter — freeze everything and watch the shatter cascade.
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Titan: Behemoth with Heart of Inmost Light or Hoarfrost-Z. Throw crystals like they're going out of style.
A quick tip: invading as a Voidwalker or Shadebinder and tagging the enemy team gives a juicy burst of progress, so don't be shy about stepping through that portal.
Cosmic Chill
Cosmic Chill: Defeat combatants with Void or Stasis effects in Vanguard playlists.
- Rewards: 50,000 XP, 150 Bright Dust
Similar to Icy Singularity but swapped into Vanguard Ops or Nightfalls. The target is 300 enemies defeated with Void or Stasis subclass abilities, Supers, or keyword effects. Once again, gunplay doesn't count. An ability-spam build — something that recharges grenades and melees in seconds — will turn this into a breezy session. Toss on Volatile Flow if it's still in the artifact, grab a Void weapon just for the fireworks, and let the abilities do the talking. Pair it with a Pinnacle grind run and the XP piles up before the kettle boils.
All told, Week 9 is a gentle nudge rather than a shove. Armory-Wide Calibration will finish in the background, Heavy Loadout rewards the machine-gun enthusiasts, and the two ability-kill challenges just ask for a little subclass dress-up. The real gatekeeper is Legend Echo Battlegrounds II, but with three weeks to spare, even the most time-starved Guardian can knock it out one Battleground at a time. Now, grab those guns and give the Darkness something to shiver about.