The Final Shape is meant to be the most terrifying ordeal Destiny 2 guardians have faced in-universe, though players can choose between Legend and Normal difficulties when starting the campaign. Each has its pros and cons, so it may be hard to pick a difficulty.
Destiny 2 expansions since The Witch Queen have had an elective, higher-difficulty Legend version. If you’ve played them, you have an idea of what to expect once The Final Shape drops. If you haven’t ventured much outside of base content, however, you may not know which one to pick.
Here’s what campaign difficulty you should choose based on your playstyle and what you want to achieve.
Which campaign difficulty should you play in The Final Shape?
Picking your campaign difficulty is ultimately up to your skill level. Players used to the endgame will gravitate toward the harder version, but guardians who are more into casual gameplay are bound to choose the Normal difficulty. The biggest upside of the Legend campaign is its rewards, including a set of armor at level 1960.
I’m running the campaign on Legend difficulty because I’ve done so since The Witch Queen and it’s always been a better experience on my first run. The ability to skip a bit of the level grind is also a big plus.
Legend difficulty should feel like waves 30 to 50 of regular Onslaught, or the first two dozen waves of Legend Onslaught. Activities at Legend difficulty also serve as a good baseline, though they usually have Champions attached to them.
Doing the campaign on Normal is worth it if you’re looking for a quicker, more relaxed run through the story, or if you’re not sure about your skills. You can always run the campaign on Legend on an alternate guardian or go through the missions again with the same character.
If you start with Legend and think it’s an unsurmountable ordeal, you can likely swap to Normal difficulty throughout your campaign. You’ll only receive the Legend rewards after completing all missions in that difficulty, though, so don’t expect to swap at the last second and get your gear.
Your previous experiences with the other campaigns will dictate your pace here. If you’ve broken past your enemies on Legend in The Witch Queen or Lightfall, odds are you’ll do the same through The Final Shape. If you’re still in doubt, content creator Datto said the Legend version of the campaign can become pretty easy with the right Prismatic build.
The Final Shape Legend campaign rewards
The full set of campaign rewards is still unknown, but Bungie has confirmed one of its most important rewards. Completing The Final Shape’s campaign on Legend difficulty will get you a set of 1960-level gear, which is 20 points into the powerful cap band (1940 to 1990). This is at the doorstep of the requirements for the Salvation’s Edge raid, capped at 1965, the studio said. Just don’t delete your set by accident.
Finishing the campaign on Legend difficulty will save you a good chunk of time and grinding for Power level, especially with the new account leveling feature. Your Power level will be account-based in the expansion, so just completing the Legend campaign will bump the level of all your guardians to 1960.
Players will likely also receive an emblem for completing the campaign on Legend, though it’s unclear if an Exotic armor piece is also on the table. The Witch Queen and Lightfall awarded players with an Exotic, though Bungie is making Rahool the one-stop shop for new Exotics with the next expansion.
