Destiny 2's Season of the Splicer has added four new Legendary Lost Sectors, most of which are located on the EDZ. Excavation Site XII is one of these new Lost Sectors, and it's one of the shortest in the game.

Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Armor 2.0

Unfortunately, it is far from easy. This Lost Sector contains seven Champions, six of which fight alongside each other if you kill too many enemies during a certain encounter. Unless you have a build with tons of damage resistance and healing, you'll need to take this Lost Sector slow. Let's go over this Lost Sector's modifiers, enemies, and give some tips on how you can complete it.

Updated April 16, 2023, by Charles Burgar: Excavation Site XII is the easiest Lost Sector you can farm in Lightfall. A good build can clear this Lost Sector in a couple of minutes, down to a minute with perfect play. We've updated this guide to include new Lost Sector modifiers added in Lightfall, and we've refreshed our loadout recommendations to account for new Artifact perks, Strand subclasses, and weapon balance changes.

Modifiers And Recommended Loadout

Excavation Site XII Modifiers

Excavation Site XII Modifiers
Surges	Solar and Strand
Overcharge	Swords
Threat	Solar
Shields	Arc
Champions	Barrier and Unstoppable
Attrition	Regeneration is greatly impaired. Defeating enemies may create wells of Light.
Scorched Earth	Enemies throw grenades significantly more often.
Master Difficulty
Equipment Locked	You will not be able to change your equipped loadout after this activity starts.
Extra Champions	This mode contains additional Champions.
Limited Revives	Limited fireteam revives. Gain additional revives by defeating Champions.

There's only one Arc shield in the entire Lost Sector, so focus on matching the burn when making your loadout. Excavation Site XII is a rather short Lost Sector that can be cleared in a couple of minutes. More Unstoppables are present than Barriers, so be sure your Primary can stun Unstoppables. Long-range weapons like Scout Rifles and Bows are fantastic for slower playstyles that struggle with Attrition. More aggressive players will need a constant form of health regeneration to stay alive.

read more

Recommended Loadout

Subclasses
Hunter	Threadrunner or Nightstalker
Titan	Sunbreaker or Sentinel
Warlock	Dawnblade or Voidwalker

All three subclasses can benefit from using a Solar subclass. All classes have access to Restoration and Ember of Empyrean, allowing you to benefit from constant, uninterruptible healing. For more specific picks:

Hunters can use either Threadrunner or Nightstalker. Threadrunners can use Cyrtarachne's Facade for constant Woven Mail. Paired with an Unrelenting weapon or the Recuperation mod, you should be quite tankly. Nightstalker is always a good choice if you aren't sure what to play. Use Gyrfalcon's Hauberk to gain Volatile Rounds, giving you a Barrier counter and stronger add clear.

Titans can rock Sunbreaker or Sentinel. Sunbreakers can use Synthoceps with Throwing Hammer to dish out some absurd damage. You can use Consecration to deal with Unstoppable Champions if your weapons aren't cutting it. Sunspots also grant Restoration and are fairly easy to spawn. Sentinels can use a Repulsor Brace weapon with this season's Artifact perks to gain permanent Volatile Rounds and Void Overshields.

Warlocks can run just about anything here, but we want to highlight Dawnblade and Voidwalker. Dawnblades can use Phoenix Dive to gain x2 Restoration while Heat Rises is active. Use Ember of Empyrean to extend the buff. This works great with Sunbracers or Rain of Fire. Voidwalkers can use Devour to become nigh-unkillable so long as your DPS is good. Rocking a Machine Gun is highly recommended if you opt for this strategy.

All Solar subclasses should use Ember of Torches to gain access to Radiant. While Radiant, your guns with no Champion properties will gain Anti-Barrier Rounds, allowing you to pierce Barrier Champion shields.

Weapons
Solar Scout Rifles	Counters Unstoppables and matches the burn
Arbalest	Breaks Barrier Shields in one shot.
Wish-Ender	A good alternative to Arbalest.
Gjallarhorn	A hard-hitting Heavy weapon.
Lament	Breaks Barriers and hits hard.
Leviathan's Breath	Counters Unstoppables and deals massive damage
Witherhoard	Use this if you're playing Dawnblade with Starfire Protocol.
Void Machine Guns	Deal excellent damage and benefit from Artifact perks

Quite a few Unstoppable Champions are present in this Lost Sector, so we highly recommend you use a Solar Primary with Unstoppable Rounds. Barriers can be dealt with through Arbalest or even Lament. If you don't have a good Solar Scout, use a Kinetic one alongside Eriana's Vow; the Solar burn makes Eriana's Vow much more consistent.

If you're really struggling to clear adds, bring a Void Machine Gun like Corrective Measure or Retrofit Escapade. These guns benefit from the Volatile Flow and Bricks from Beyond perks this season, spawning more Heavy ammo while granting your MG Volatile Rounds. This gives your Machine Guns Anti-Barrier Rounds and greatly improves their overall damage.

read more

Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Stasis

Excavation Site XII: Cave

Cave Enemies

• One Unstoppable Incendior
• Legionaries

Every enemy will spawn at the opposite end of the cave, including the Unstoppable Incendior. While the Champion is stunned, kill the Legionaries. Try activating an Ignite to get this done faster. Wait for the Champion's antlers to glow red, stun it with your weapon of choice, then use your Heavy weapon to take it out.

Excavation Site XII: Bridge

Bridge Enemies

• Two Barrier Colossi
• One Unstoppable Incendior
• Legionaries
• Phalanxes
• Psions

There will be a small army of Cabal waiting for you on the bridge. You can either fight the enemies from inside the cave or by taking an alternate path.

If you want a safer vantage point, jump from the left exit of the cave directly across the chasm. There will be a ledge on the cliffside preceding the Cabal dome that's protecting the final boss. You can use this as a sniping vantage point for the bridge enemies and the boss.

Do not kill any of the non-Champion enemies. If you kill enough of the fodder enemies, it'll cause the boss and his allies to spawn. You'll have to fight six Champions simultaneously if you do this, so avoid killing any fodder enemies at all costs.

The Barrier Colossi tend to stick together as a pair. They'll anchor on the bridge until you kill a few of their allies, at which point they'll retreat to the boss. You'll want to focus on the Unstoppable Incendior near the back of the bridge. It'll start to chase you if it hears you. Damage the Champion to draw its attention, then wait for it to reach you (preferably in the cave). Stun the Incendior with your Unstoppable weapon, then use your Heavy and abilities to take it out.

For the two Barrier Champions, you'll want to force both enemies to project their shield simultaneously. You can do this with a single rocket if they're close. Break both of their shields, then focus all of your firepower on one Colossus. If you can't kill one of the Champions in one stun, retreat and hold a sightline on the weak Champion. When it pops its shield, break it and kill the Champion as fast as you can. Break the second Champion's shield, then finish it off. You're now free to kill the remaining enemies.

Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To The Conflux Master Lost Sector

Excavation Site XII: Boss Encounter

Boss Encounter Enemies

• Three Unstoppable Incendior
• Colossus Boss
• Legionaries
• Phalanxes
• Psions

The Cabal dome at the end of the arena will dissipate at this point, revealing three Unstoppable Incendiors and the final boss. These Unstoppable enemies tend to stick together, but you can split them up by damaging one of them and running away. The enemy you hit will follow you for a few seconds, allowing you to kite them back to the bridge or the cave. Lure them to a safe spot before damaging them. Repeat this process for all three Champions.

Defeating the Colossus boss is somewhat tricky, as its rocket barrage attack leaves you vulnerable. It's best to attack him from cover, waiting for the rocket attack. When the rockets launch, stick to cover to avoid them. You can then retaliate by breaking its Arc shield. Use your Super, Heavy, or any high-damage weapon to eliminate the boss. Grab the Lost Sector chest when the boss is dead to finish the run.

Next: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Arc 3.0