Complete the latest Nightfall Strike to claim its unique gun.
The Destiny 2 Nightfall weapon changes on a week-by-week basis, giving you the chance to delve into enemy-infested lairs across the system and grab yourself a special gun. The only way to get a Nightfall weapon is by completing the activity, and even then, there’s only a limited chance. You can also get adept versions of each weapon, though these are solely a guaranteed reward for the much-harder Grandmaster Nightfalls.
A couple of Nightfall weapons were retired last season, including the Duty Bound auto rifle and the Silicon Neuroma sniper rifle. If you don’t want to miss out on any weapons that might disappear by season’s end, it’s always a good idea to keep a weather eye on what’s coming up next. Here I’ll explain what Nightfall weapon is up for grabs this week, its best roll, and what you’ll need to bring to beat the activity on higher difficulties.
What is the Nightfall weapon this week?
(Image credit: Bungie)
The Nightfall weapon from January 10 – 17 is Wendigo GL3. This arc power grenade launcher is one of the new Nightfall weapons this season, and is well worth grabbing, especially if you can get an adept one when Grandmaster Nightfalls launch. Bungie is planning to mess with the DPS meta in Lightfall (opens in new tab), so it’ll be handy to have a decent power grenade launcher in the eventuality that they get that long-needed buff.
Wendigo’s best roll is similar whether you take it into PvP or PvE activities. You’ll likely want Explosive Light and either Auto-Loading Holster or Field Prep. The first is an amazing perk that boosts your next shot’s damage by 44% when you pick up an Orb of Power. You can collect six potential stacks of this, and each time you fire it’ll consume one of them.
For the second perk, I’d go with Field Prep, for increased ammo reserves and reload speed while crouching, but if you’re quickly swapping between weapons during a DPS phase to do some Weakened Clear stuff, auto loading is handy. Lastly, for the barrel and mag I’d suggest Countermass and Proximity Grenades. The first buffs stability, recoil, and handling, while the second increases proximity detection for grenades, so you don’t have to worry about missing or getting direct hits, which is the bane of power grenade launchers.
Nightfall weapon rotation for the Season of Plunder
You can find the Nightfall activity in the Vanguard destination (Image credit: Bungie)
With each new season, some Nightfall weapons are retired to make way for new ones, meaning it’s often your last chance to grab them for quite a while. Here’s the current Nightfall rotation with weapons and dates from when the Grandmasters begin:
Swipe to scroll horizontallyNightfallWeaponDatesInsight TerminusMindbender’s Ambition (Solar shotgun)Jan 17 – 24Scarlet KeepHorror’s Least (Arc pulse rifle)Jan 24 – 31Birthplace of the VileHung Jury (Kinetic scout rifle)Jan 31 – Feb 7The Corrupted Militia’s Birthright (Kinetic grenade launcher)Feb 7 – 14The GlasswayD.F.A (Kinetic hand cannon)Feb 14 – 21Warden of NothingWendigo (Arc power grenade launcher)Feb 21 – 28
The two new weapons this season are Wendigo GL3 and Hung Jury SR4, but we don’t know what weapons are leaving rotation at the end of this season yet.
How to get Adept nightfall weapons
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Adept Nightfall weapons can equip better mods (Image credit: Bungie)Adept mods are very powerful (Image credit: Bungie)The Nightfall Memento shader (Image credit: Bungie)
Since Grandmaster Nightfalls have now begun, you can earn adept versions of the weekly Nightfall weapon by completing them. Adept weapons are strong because they can equip adept mods, which are far superior to regular weapon mods. Adept Big Ones for example, effectively combines Boss Spec and Major Spec into a single mod that allows extra damage for both bosses and powerful enemies. You can earn adept mods by completing Grandmaster Nightfalls.
Completions also have a chance to reward you with a Nightfall Memento. These items are mainly cosmetic, and can be slotted into new weapons that you craft. When you reach level 20 with that weapon it’ll unlock a title, and when you reach 30, you’ll get a special shader for it. The Nightfall Memento shader is a shiny orange colour with tessellated vanguard symbols that move. Grandmaster Nightfalls don’t begin in the Season of the Seraph until January 17, so you’ve got plenty of time to prepare.