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Season of the Haunted introduces two new activities to Destiny 2; a public event in the new Derelict Leviathan patrol zone called Nightmare Containment, and a repeatable mission called Sever. The activities are linked through a resource called Bound Presence you must farm in Nightmare Containment and spend in Sever. While Sever is a fairly straightforward mission similar to last year's Presage, Nightmare Containment is considerably more complex, with multiple phases to complete and different resources to manage. If you're struggling to wrap your mind around the ins and outs of Nightmare Containment, this guide will walk you through the activity, how to complete it, and what rewards you can expect.

What Is Nightmare Containment?

Found on the new Derelict Leviathan patrol zone, Nightmare Containment is a farmable public event similar to the Moon's Altar of Sorrow. The activity can be found in the center chamber of the Leviathan known as the Castellum and is always active. Once you zone in, head to the red Season of the Haunted marker and interact with it to plant your Nightmare Harvester and begin the activity.

There are two ways to load into the Derelict Leviathan. If you're planning to do the Nightmare Containment, make sure you switch to the 'Containment' option instead of the 'Castellum' option. This will help ensure there are other players in the zone to help you. If you load in and there's no one else there, just reload into the zone using the Containment option until you find a group

The Nightmare Containment activity has three tiers. The first two have four phases, while the final tier is the boss fight. If you run out of time and fail to complete a tier, you'll still advance to the next one. It's unclear at this time if failing a tier affects your rewards.

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In Tier 1 and Tier 2, start by clearing enemies to collect Shards of Dread. You don't need to deposit these shards anywhere, progress is automatically calculated after each kill. Soon yellow bar enemies will spawn called Dread Bearers. These enemies have massive health bars and require focused fire from multiple players. It's recommended to focus on a single target rather than spreading damage around to all of them.

Whenever you kill a Dread Bearer they drop a Core of Dread. Bringing the core back to the harvester will create Scythe you can use to quickly dispatch the other Dread Bearers. The Scythe has a powerful slam attack and a long-range quick attack, so make sure you use all of its charges to focus down the other Dread Bearers. Collect all the Shards of Dread in the allotted time and you'll move on to the second stage.

destiny 2 nightmare containment scythe

In stage two, you need to take out for psions called Egregore Atavists. Before they will appear, you first have to kill four yellow bar psions called Atavist Illusions. Your markers should lead you directly to them, just make sure you get inside Egregore Atavists bubbles and melee them, as the bubble protects them from weapon damage of all kinds.

The third stage is just like the first, but this time quite a few more Dread Bearers will spawn, including a pair of ogres. It can be difficult to focus fire in all the chaos, but try to find a teammate and stick with them so at least two of you are shooting at the same enemy. Once you get one down, take the Core of Dread back to the Harvester as fast as possible to spawn a Scythe. Use the Scythe to clear out another Dread Bearer so someone else can create a Scythe. Repeat until you've collected enough Shards to move on.

The final stage is a mini-boss that will spawn from the position of the last Harvester. These Cabal enemies can tank a ton of damage, so try to conserve your supers and heavy ammo for this phase. Once you get the boss down to half health it will shield itself and two Resonant Splinters will spawn nearby. Destroy both splinters to break the boss's shield and start the second damage phase. Kill it within the time limit and you'll complete the tier.

destiny 2 nightmare containment harvester

Both Tier 1 and Tier 2 are essentially the same. In Tier 2, there are even more Dread Bearers to deal with and four Resonant Splinters will appear during the mini-boss fight instead of two. Complete both tiers to move onto the third and final tier.

In Tier 3, You'll need to fight a boss Nightmare. This week the boss is Nightmare of Elykris, The Machinist, but other bosses will rotate in weekly - specifically Nightmare of Anaphex, Sword to Otzot; and Nightmare of Navôta, Eir-Spawn. Start the encounter by clearing adds and dealing damage to the boss until its health drops down to two-thirds. At this point it will gain a shield and you'll need to destroy six resonant splinters scattered around the area. After that, two Emissaries will spawn in front of the boss that needs to be killed too. Once they're dead, you can resume dealing damage to the boss. You'll need to repeat this process again when its health drops down to one-third. Kill the boss before time runs out to complete the Nightmare Containment and collect your treasure. You'll then need to wait two minutes before restarting the activity at Tier 1.

What Are The Nightmare Containment Rewards?

Whether you finish each tier within the time limit or not, you'll be rewarded with a chest at the end of Tier 3. It's unclear what impact failing any tier has on the reward. The loot pool for Nightmare Containment includes a variety of The Witch Queen world drops, as well as the kinetic scout rifle Tears of Contrition, the arc glaive Nezarec's Whisper, the void trace rifle Hollow Denial, the stasis rocket launcher Bump in the Night, and the new armor set Eidolon Pursuant. The chest also has a chance of rewarding an Opulent Key which opens one of the hidden chests on the Derelict Leviathan. Find the right chest using the clue on your key to earn an Opulent Weapons Engram.

destiny 2 nightmare containment vestiges of dread

If you have 500 Vestige of Dread, you can turn them in at the Harvester for additional rewards. You'll receive seven Risen Umbral Energy you can use to focus Umbrals at the Crown of Sorrow in the H.E.L.M. as well as a legendary item from the pool. You also have a chance to earn a Bound Presence, which you can use at the end of the Sever activity to open another chest and gain even more Risen Umbral Energy and loot.

Farming Vestige of Dread can be time-consuming, but the best method is to simply roam around the Derelict Leviathan doing patrols and opening chests. Equip the Wombo Combo ghost shell mod to help you find chests easier, and finish patrol as quickly as you can to earn plenty of Vestige of Dread.

Next: Destiny 2: Every New Weapon In Season Of The Haunted