Destiny 2 fans who jumped into Dares of Eternity likely heard of the nearly mythical Lightning Round, a rare occurrence that brings heaps of loot with it.
In addition to all the items you’ll get from the chests at the end (up to three bonus chests based on your team’s performance), finishing three Lightning Rounds is a requirement to finish the “Special Guest Scar” Triumph, which rewards players with the Ultra Plasmic Shader.
With such obvious benefits, including up to three chests at the end of a run, triggering a Lightning Round is a fortunate occurrence for players and give them something else to aim for in Dares of Eternity. As it is with several activities in Destiny 2, though, the game doesn’t give many details on how to trigger this event.
How to get the Lightning Round in Dares of Eternity in Destiny 2
Getting the Lightning Round in a Dares of Eternity run is mostly a matter of luck. “The Lightning Round has a random chance to occur at the end of any Dares of Eternity run,” according to Bungie senior design lead Tom Farnsworth. “Playing efficiently [increases] the odds a bit. Playing the Legend difficulty increases the odd a bit too.”
Related: How to complete Dares of Eternity in Destiny 2 | Dares of Eternity guide
Based on Farnsworth’s tweet, a Lightning Round is mostly about luck, and there is little players can do to trigger it. In that sense, it seems like the Anomalies in Season of the Splicer’s Override, which would give guardians extra Decrypted Data upon killing them.
That said, given its random nature, players are bound to encounter Lightning Rounds naturally as they play Dares of Eternity. If you’re grinding Xûr’s reputation rank, then odds are you’ll eventually stumble into your share of them. Here’s what to expect when that day does arrive.
What happens in a Lightning Round?
A Lightning Round is more high-stakes than the rest of Dares of Eternity, and by a large margin. A Lightning Round gives players a simple objective: capture zones, much like in an Iron Banner or Control match, but it takes place against a series of AI enemies, including several Elites. Lightning Rounds kick off after a boss encounter.
To advance to the next part of the Lightning Round, players must capture four zones within a time limit. Players must capture three sets of objectives if they want to get the maximum number of rewards, but it will be well worth their effort: each set of captured zones yields an extra chest at the end of the activity, to a maximum of three. These add up with Xûr’s usual reward chest at the end, meaning players can get four Dares of Eternity chests if they complete all the objectives in a Lightning Round.
