If you’ve hit power level 950 in Destiny 2, you’ve likely found yourself struggling to find Pinnacle gear that will get you to the 960 cap. Luckily, a new source of Pinnacle gear has just been added to the game with the Garden of Salvation raid’s first challenge, “Staying Alive.”
For the uninitiated, raid challenges require you to complete an extra task in a raid, like killing a boss in a specific way. Doing this grants you extra Pinnacle gear, which will drop above 950. This is a valuable, but difficult task. Here’s everything you need to know to complete the Staying Alive challenge.
Staying Alive
In the past, you’d need to start by going to Hawthorne and picking up the challenge. This time, you won’t need to do that. Load into the raid and you’ll notice that a “Leftovers” modifier is active. If you see that mod, that means you can load right in and complete the challenge without picking anything up.
To do this challenge, start the raid and head to the first respawn restricted area. The basic idea is that you’ll need to complete the first 2 rooms without killing specific Cyclopes. However, there are Cyclopes that you will need to kill to progress the encounter, so this can be a little confusing at first.
When you enter the encounter, you’ll see a Cyclopes by itself. You’ll need to kill this one. When you do, a pair of Cyclopes will spawn in the previous room. You can not kill either of these at any point. Instead, your team will need to complete the encounter like you normally would, while dodging their shots, hence the “Staying Alive” name.
After your team completes the encounter and opens the door, you’ll see another single Cyclops. Like the first step, you need to kill this one in order to spawn the next pair of Cyclopes. And again, you’ll need to complete this next section as you normally would while keeping those two alive.
In short, there are 4 Cyclopes that you need to keep alive, and 2 you absolutely need to kill. As a rule of thumb, if you see Cyclopes in a pair, don’t kill them. It’s important to note that after completing these 2 rooms, you’ll enter the last room of the encounter, which is also filled with Cyclopes. You are free to kill all of these if you wish.
This is a difficult encounter, so having to deal with two powerful enemies shooting you as you complete it can be frustrating. The key is to always be moving as you work through it. Jump a lot, and try to avoid the ground as much as possible so you aren’t killed by splash damage. Complete the entire encounter and you’ll get a Triumph, as well as an extra Pinnacle drop within the first encounter’s loot pool.
Need more Destiny 2 tips? Here’s how to get Destiny 2 raid-ready fast, and tips to help you beat Destiny 2’s new Momentum PvP mode.
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