Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen — Battlegrounds guide

Completing Battlegrounds and visiting the HELM command center are part of the core gameplay loop in Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen. Here’s our mini-guide to help you out.

Note: For more information, check out our Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen guides and features hub.

Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen – Completing the new Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds: Behemoth and Hailstone

If you’ve been playing World of Warcraft, then the mention of Battlegrounds might make you think we’ll see massive PvP zones in Destiny 2. Unfortunately, the ones in Season of the Chosen are more akin to mini-strikes.

Two of these short romps are available at the moment (Battleground: Behemoth on Nessus and Battleground: Hailstone on Europa). Two others, Cleansing and Oracle, will go live in succeeding weeks.

So, how exactly do these Battlegrounds play out? Well, for starters, you won’t be in a new worldspace. You’ll still be running through the same zones as before, though you’ll be facing off against lots of Cabal.

Certain parts of the run involve shield generators that need to be destroyed with bombs. These explosives are dropped by majors and/or champions, and you’ll have to pick them up and throw them to the machines. Once all three generators have been destroyed, proceed through the level normally.

Towards the end, you’ll see a banner that lets you start the Rite of Proving. This will spawn the boss of the Battleground. It has three segments to its health bar.

Whenever you deplete a segment of the boss’ health, it’ll spawn a champion that makes it immune. As such, you’ll have to eliminate that champion to remove the boss’ shield, then continue to nuke it.

Likewise, the boss will periodically cast a shield akin to the one from the Injection Rig public event. You can shoot the contraption to destroy it.

Additional tips

• After the opening cinematic, you’ll undertake your first Battleground activity (Behemoth). This rewards you with Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen‘s artifact, the Bell of Conquest.
• Likewise, your first completion allows you to visit the HELM command center and War Table.
• If you continue following the campaign objectives in the “Challenger’s Proving” quest, the next Battleground (Hailstone) nets you the Hammer of Proving.
• The Battlegrounds playlist in the Vanguard panel lets you obtain a powerful (tier 2) reward. This helps you a bit while leveling your character.
• Battlegrounds tend to have several heavy armor crates, allowing your fireteam to wreak havoc on the Cabal. It makes it easier to complete the “Contender’s Ascent” challenge.

Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.