Nightfalls can be one of the most challenging activities in Destiny 2 on higher difficulties. Luckily for Guardians, they come with rewards to match. Each week, at least one Nightfall weapon will be in rotation and can drop from Nightfall completions.
Higher difficulties have better odds, and Guardians brave enough to face Grandmasters will get an Adept version of whatever weapon is on tap that week.
Season of the Wish only has two Battlegrounds in its Nightfall rotation (Heist Battlegrounds: Moon and PsiOps Battlegrounds: Cosmodrome), with HyperNet Current (Lightfall) and Birthplace of the Vile (Savathûn’s Throne World) also in the mix. The Corrupted and the revamped Lake of Shadows round out the rotation. It’s not the hardest Grandmaster pool we’ve had, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park either.
Here is the Nightfall weapon for this week.
Destiny 2 Nightfall weapon this week: Jan. 30 to Feb. 6 (season 23 week 10)
- Weapon: Undercurrent
- Nightfall: Lake of Shadows
- Champions: Barrier, Unstoppable
- Threat: Arc
- Surge: Strand, Solar
- Overcharge: Machine Gun
Nightfall weapon this week: Undercurrent
Undercurrent made waves when it launched in Season of the Wish thanks to its stacked perk pool. Now, you can earn this grenade launcher again.
When it comes to add clear weapons in Destiny 2, “is it better than Forbearance” is probably a common question regardless of archetype. That comparison is much stronger with Undercurrent, since they’re direct competitors (just in case you needed another deadly Arc Wave-Frame grenade launcher).
They’re both beasts in their own right, and each has a leg up on the other in some departments. Undercurrent has access to Demolitionist or Ambitious Assassin paired with Voltshot, which makes for potentially deadly combinations thanks to the Jolt status effect, plus Adept mods. Forbearance, on the other hand, has the tried-and-true Ambitious Assassin with Chain Reaction and can get enhanced versions of them. Choosing between the two is a matter of preference, but you can’t go wrong with either.
All Nightfall weapons in rotation in Season of the Wish
Each season, six Nightfall weapons are in the rotation. Completing a Nightfall has the chance of awarding players with a random roll of the Nightfall weapon for that week, with higher difficulties improving your odds. If you’ve reset your rank with Zavala, your weapons may drop with additional perks on either the third or fourth column (or both), depending on how much reputation you’ve acquired with him.
The six Nightfall weapons in Season of The Wish are:
- Loaded Question
- BrayTech Osprey
- Uzume RR4
- Warden’s Law
- Undercurrent
- Pre-Astyanax IV
What are the Nightfalls in Season of the Wish?
Here is what the Nightfall rotation will look like in Season of the Witch:
- PsiOps Battleground: Cosmodrome
- Birthplace of the Vile
- HyperNet Current
- Lake of Shadows
- The Corrupted
- Heist Battleground: Moon
Nightfall weapons available through Focused Decoding at Commander Zavala
If you have some Vanguard Engrams to spare, The Focused Decoding section of Zavala offers the possibility to focus the current Nightfall weapons, as well as Vanguard weapons that were introduced to the loot pool after Beyond Light and can still drop. These include:
- Nightfall weapons: Loaded Question, BrayTech Osprey, Warden’s Law, Pre Astyanax IV
- Vanguard weapons: Royal Entry, Empty Vessel, Punching Out, Fortissimo-11, Strident Whistle, Pure Poetry, Prolonged Engagement, Nameless Midnight, Positive Outlook, Luna Regolith III
Nightfall weapons available through Legacy Focusing at Commander Zavala
If you missed some of the old Nightfall weapons, you can spend some of your hard-earned Vanguard Engrams to obtain these weapons for the first time, even though they’re no longer obtainable through normal means. Older weapons, such as the Palindrome and Shadow Price, aren’t available through this method. Here are the former Nightfall weapons you can decode in Destiny 2:
- The Hothead (Rocket launcher, Arc): A great rocket launcher that will reign as long as rocket launchers continue to be good DPS options.
- Duty Bound (Auto rifle, Kinetic, 600rpm): A great Kinetic auto rifle with a litany of good perk choices.
- Silicon Neuroma (Sniper rifle, Kinetic, 72rpm): A great, hard-hitting Kinetic 72rpm sniper rifle made better by a perk pool with Triple Tap potentially paired with Firing Line or Focused Fury.
- D.F.A. (Hand cannon, Kinetic, 140rpm): A good 140rpm that can take your slot if you don’t have anything better, but it can potentially be outclassed by other options.
- Horror’s Least (Pulse rifle, Arc, 540rpm): A pulse rifle that’s better for the Crucible than for PvE, but you can still do some damage with it if you have the right rolls.
- The Militia’s Birthright (Grenade launcher, Kinetic, Breech-Loading): A solid grenade launcher with access to good perks. It can be outclassed by the competition, but its accessibility is where it shines.
- The Mindbender’s Ambition (Shotgun, Solar, Aggressive Frame): A once-glorious shotgun that has returned without most of its former glory.
- PLUG ONE.1 (Fusion rifle, Arc): A good general-use fusion rifle with access to Reservoir Burst and other damage/charge time perks.
- Uzume RR4 (Sniper rifle, Arc), 90rpm: A good PvE sniper with access to both Triple Tap and Clown Cartridge, as well as Vorpal Weapon and High-Impact Reserves.
- The Comedian (Shotgun, Void): A shotgun that wasn’t that great to begin with, but has been quickly power crept.
Best Nightfall weapons worth farming in Destiny 2
- The Hothead: One of the best rocket launchers for sheer damage, which becomes even better when a Gjallarhorn is involved.
- The Militia’s Birthright: A serviceable Kinetic grenade launcher with a decent perk pool and access to Blinding Grenades. If you don’t have any weapon to fit that slot, the Militia’s Birthright can be more than enough.
- Hung Jury SR4: Will continue to be a great option for scout rifles as long as they excel at range and continue to get Champion mods.
- Buzzard: A good Kinetic sidearm worth tracking down because of Overflow and Kinetic Tremors, though veterans may have a few alternatives on their vaults.
- Horror’s Least: Rapid-fire pulses may not hit the hardest in PvE, but if you like them, Horror’s Least is a solid choice—and an even better addition to any PvP player’s arsenal since it lets them fight comfortably at range.
What are the Grandmaster Nightfall rewards in Destiny 2?
Grandmaster Nightfalls are the hardest challenge in Destiny 2, but they give out some of the most coveted rewards in the game. Completing a Grandmaster Nightfall will drop an Adept version of that week’s weapon, which can use Adept mods and gains slight bonuses to other stats when masterworked.
In addition to the Adept weapon (the crown jewel of GMs), players also have a shot at obtaining Ascendant Shards and Exotic armor upon completing a GM, with a Nightfall Memento also on the table.
The rewards for Grandmaster Nightfalls are:
- Adept Nightfall Weapon (Common, but guaranteed with a Platinum completion)
- Exotic Gear (Common)
- Ascendant Shards (Common)
- Nightfall Cipher (Common)
Bungie doesn’t share the exact drop rate for Nightfall weapons, so it’s hard to estimate exactly what the “common” drop rates mean. In our experience, though, completing a Grandmaster with a Platinum score has consistently yielded us at least one Ascendant Shard or an Exotic armor piece.
