Strike

"Strikes are the backbone of the Vanguard's response to the Darkness. Each mission is planned for maximum disruption and hindrance of enemy lines. Your Strike service directly impacts our ongoing war with the Darkness. So serve well."

— Commander Zavala

Strike is a cooperative mode featured in Destiny. Strikes represent a middle ground in PvE content between Story missions and Raids in terms of length and difficulty, and are optimized for a fireteam of three players. Usually, Strikes are composed of a linear series of enemy encounters which may or may not include a mini-boss, culminating in a battle against one or more bosses supported by additional enemies. Some of the newer strikes feature simple puzzle mechanics that make boss fights more challenging.

As of The Taken King, Strikes have a chance to drop Strike-specific loot that can help gear players up in preparation for Raids. Playing in a Strike playlist continuously increases the chances of better loot on consecutive strikes.

Strike playlists

Higher-level versions of each Strike are available in the Strike playlists. Entering a playlist will launch a random Strike alongside two matchmade players.

Year One

These playlists were available during Year One of Destiny, and incorporated all available base game and expansion Strikes. Playlists at higher levels offered greater rewards.

• Vanguard Eagle - Level 18
• Vanguard Viper - Level 20
• Vanguard Wolf - Level 22
• Vanguard Tiger - Level 24
• Vanguard Roc - Level 26, added by The Dark Below
• Vanguard Dragon - Level 28, added by House of Wolves

Year Two

The Taken King replaces all Year One playlists with the following:

• Vanguard Legacy - Level 20 required, includes all Year One strikes only, no modifiers
• Vanguard Strikes - Level 36 required, includes Year Two and select "remixed" Year One strikes, no modifiers
• Vanguard Heroic Strikes - Light Level 260 required, includes Year Two and select "remixed" Year One strikes strikes, Heroic and one random modifier active
  • The Vanguard Heroic playlist replaces the Weekly Heroic Strike; players are rewarded for the first three strikes completed in this playlist each week across all of a player's characters.

Year Three

Rise of Iron's Strike playlists retain the Vanguard Legacy and Vanguard Strikes, but adds two new playlists and renames Vanguard Strikes to Taken War:

• Taken War - Completion of The Taken King Campaign required, includes Strikes from Year 2 and 3 Remastered Strikes from Year 1
• SIVA Crisis - Light Level 320 required, includes Strikes from Year One to Year Three with no modifiers.
• SIVA Crisis Heroic - Light Level 350 required; includes Strikes from Year One to Year Three; three random Heroic modifiers active per week; replaces Vanguard Heroic.

Year Four

Destiny 2 features two Strike playlists apart from the Nightfall. Vanguard Strikes are unlocked after completing the Story mission Fury and returning to The Farm to speak to Commander Zavala. Heroic Strikes are unlocked after completing the first Strike milestone.

• Vanguard Strikes - Power Level 140 required, includes all Destiny 2 base game Strikes with no modifiers.
• Heroic Strikes - Power Level 350 required, includes all Destiny 2, Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris and Destiny 2: Warmind strikes with a weekly rotating elemental singe and daily rotating modifiers.

Year Five

Destiny 2 features four Strike playlists apart from the Nightfall. Legacy Strikes are unlocked after completing the Story mission Fury and returning to The Farm to speak to Commander Zavala, Only for Non-Forsaken Players. Level 30, Level 40, and Level 50 are unlocked after buying Forsaken. Every Playlist has modifiers.

• Legacy Strikes - Power Level 200 required, includes all Destiny 2, Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris and Destiny 2: Warmind and have daily rotation modifiers
• Level 30 Strikes - Power Level 300 required, includes all Destiny 2, Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris and Destiny 2: Warmind and have daily rotation modifiers, Disappears after Power Level 440
• Level 40 Strikes - Power Level 400 required, includes all Destiny 2, Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris,Destiny 2: Warmind and Destiny 2: Forsaken and have daily rotation modifiers, Disappears after Power Level 540
• Level 50 Strikes - Power Level 500 required, includes all Destiny 2, Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris,Destiny 2: Warmind and Destiny 2: Forsaken and have daily rotation modifiers

Year Six

As of Shadowkeep, there is now only one Strike playlist apart from Nightfalls. This playlist incorporates all Strikes available to the player.

• Vanguard Strikes - Power Level 750 required, with a weekly rotating elemental singe and daily rotating modifiers.

Year Seven

No changes were made to Strike playlists in Beyond Light, except for removing the normal Nightfall Strikes in favor of Nightfall: The Ordeal. It incorporates all Strikes, including from expansions not owned by the player.

• Vanguard Strikes - Power Level 1050 required, with a weekly rotating elemental singe and daily rotating modifiers.

Year Eight

With the release of The Witch Queen, the Strike playlist now incorporates Battlegrounds and has become the Vanguard Ops playlist.

• Vanguard Ops - Power Level 1350 required, with a weekly rotating elemental singe and daily rotating modifiers.

Year Nine

With the release of Lightfall, the Vanguard Ops playlist now incorporates PsiOps Battlegrounds and Heist Battlegrounds.

• Vanguard Ops - Power Level 1600 required, but it is now disabled across the playlist, resulting in fixed difficulty. Weekly rotating elemental surges, threats and daily rotating modifiers.

Nightfall Strikes

Main article: Nightfall

A random Strike is selected each week for the Nightfall Strike, a high-difficulty challenge with the Nightfall and Epic modifiers active in addition to three other randomly-chosen modifiers; after The Taken King is released, the latter three modifiers will be manually selected by Bungie each week instead of randomized. Nightfall Strikes do not include matchmaking, requiring players to fight alone or assemble a fire team of three before starting. Rewards include Legendary and Exotic gear.

List of Strikes

Destiny

Strike	Level	Location	Expansion/Update	PlayStation Exclusive	Final Boss	Strike-Specific Loot
The Devils' Lair	8	Cosmodrome, Earth	Base Game	No	Sepiks Prime	None
The Summoning Pits	10	Ocean of Storms, Moon			Phogoth, the Untamed	Devil's Dawn (Sniper rifle) Mongrel Ogre's Grasps (Hunter gauntlets)
The Nexus	14	Ishtar Sink, Venus			Sekrion, Nexus Mind or Sekrion, Subverted Mind	Mark of the Nexus Undone (Titan mark)
Winter's Run					Aksor, Archon Priest or Nixis, Hunger of Oryx	Stolen Will (Shotgun)
Cerberus Vae III	20	Meridian Bay, Mars			Valus Ta'aurc	Treads Upon Stars (Scout rifle)
Dust Palace				Until September 2015	The Psion Flayers	Arc Flayer Mantle (Hunter cloak) Solar Flayer Mantle (Hunter cloak) Void Flayer Mantle (Hunter cloak) Treads Upon Stars (Scout rifle)
The Will of Crota	16	Cosmodrome, Earth	The Dark Below	No	Omnigul, Will of Crota	Grasp of Malok (Pulse rifle)
The Undying Mind	20	Meridian Bay, Mars		Until September 2015	The Undying Mind	Imago Loop (Hand cannon) Mark of the Undying Mind (Titan mark)
The Shadow Thief	20	Ocean of Storms, Moon	House of Wolves	No	Taniks, the Scarred or Taniks Perfected	Cloak of Taniks (Hunter cloak) Baron's Ambition (Machine gun) Does Not Bow (Auto rifle)
Fallen S.A.B.E.R.	36	Cosmodrome, Earth	The Taken King	No	S.A.B.E.R.-2	Baron's Ambition (Machine gun) Devouring Maw (Warlock helmet)
Shield Brothers		Dreadnaught, Saturn			Valus Mau'ual; Valus Tlu'urn	Mau'ual's Maulers (Titan gauntlets) Treads Upon Stars (Scout rifle)
The Sunless Cell					Alak-Hul, the Darkblade	Darkblade's Helm (Titan helmet) Darkblade's Spite (Fusion rifle)
Echo Chamber		Ishtar Sink, Venus		Until October 2017	Theosyion, the Restorative Mind	Imago Loop (Hand cannon) Theosyion Vibrissae (Warlock gauntlets)
Blighted Chalice	36	Ocean of Storms, Moon	April Update	No	Malok, Pride of Oryx	Hood of Malok (Hunter helmet)
Sepiks Perfected	38	Cosmodrome, Earth	Rise of Iron	No	Sepiks Perfected	Devil's Dawn (Sniper rifle) Sepiks Deposed Bond (Warlock bond)
The Abomination Heist		Ocean of Storms, Moon			Phogoth, the Untamed
The Wretched Eye		Plaguelands, Earth			Kovik, Splicer Priest; Kovik's Monster	Devil's Dawn (Sniper rifle) Anathema Cannon Mark (Titan mark) Hood of Malok (Hunter helmet)

Destiny 2

Strike	Power Level at Release	Location	Expansion/Update	PlayStation Exclusive	Expansion Locked	Final Boss	Nightfall-Specific Loot	Availability
The Arms Dealer	200	European Dead Zone, Earth	Base Game	No	No	Bracus Zahn	Tilt Fuse (Exotic Sparrow)	Reworked
Savathûn's Song		New Pacific Arcology, Titan				Savathûn's Song	Duty Bound (Legendary kinetic auto rifle)	Vaulted
Exodus Crash		Arcadian Valley, Nessus				Thaviks, the Depraved	Impact Velocity (Exotic Sparrow)	Reworked
The Inverted Spire						Protheon, Modular Mind	Trichromatica (Exotic Ghost shell)	Reworked
The Pyramidion		Echo Mesa, Io				Brakion, Genesis Mind	Silicon Neuroma (Legendary kinetic sniper rifle)	Vaulted
Lake of Shadows		European Dead Zone, Earth		Until Fall 2018		Grask, the Consumed	The Militia's Birthright (Legendary kinetic grenade launcher)	Reworked
Tree of Probabilities	230	Fields of Glass, Mercury	Curse of Osiris	No	Yes	Valus Thuun	D.F.A. (Legendary kinetic hand cannon)	Vaulted
A Garden World						Dendron, Root Mind	Universal Wavefunction (Exotic Jumpship)	Vaulted
Strange Terrain	340	Hellas Basin, Mars	Warmind	No	Yes	Nokris, Herald of Xol	BrayTech Osprey (Legendary rocket launcher)	Vaulted
Will of the Thousands						Xol, Will of the Thousands	Worm God Incarnation (Legendary Transmat effect)	Vaulted
The Insight Terminus	350	Arcadian Valley, Nessus		Until Fall 2018	No	Kargen, the Technocrat	The Long Goodbye (Legendary energy sniper rifle)	Available
Broodhold	400	Tangled Shore, Reef	Forsaken	Until Fall 2019	Yes	In Anânh, Brood Queen	None	Vaulted
Warden of Nothing		Prison of Elders, Reef		No		The Mad Warden	Warden's Law (Legendary kinetic hand cannon)	Available
The Hollowed Lair		Tangled Shore, Reef				The Fanatic	Mindbender's Ambition (Legendary energy shotgun)	Vaulted
The Corrupted	500	Dreaming City, Reef				Sedia, The Corrupted	Horror's Least (Legendary energy pulse rifle)	Available
The Festering Core	750	Echo Mesa, Io	Shadowkeep	No (Practice Ended)	No	Baurisk, Envoy of Savathûn	None	Vaulted
The Scarlet Keep	790	Ocean of Storms, Moon		Yes	Hashladûn, Daughter of Crota	None	Available
The Disgraced	1060	Cosmodrome, Earth	Beyond Light	No	Navôta, Eir Spawn	None	Available
The Glassway	1140	Rathmore Chaos, Europa		Yes	Belmon, Transcendent Mind	None	Available
The Devils' Lair Destiny 2	1100	Cosmodrome, Earth	Season of the Chosen	No	Sepiks Prime	None	Available
Fallen S.A.B.E.R. Destiny 2					S.A.B.E.R.-2	None	Available
Proving Grounds	1230	Arcadian Valley, Nessus		Yes	Ignovun, Chosen of Caiatl	None	Available
The Lightblade	1430	Court of Savathûn, Throne World	The Witch Queen	Yes	Alak-Hul, The Lightblade	None	Available
Birthplace of the Vile	1510				Heimiks, Warden of the Harvest	None	Available
The Arms Dealer (Rework)	1600	European Dead Zone, Earth	Lightfall	No	Bracus Zahn	None	Available
Lake of Shadows (Rework)					Gor'ath Gath	None	Available
HyperNet Current	1730	Neomuna, Neptune		Yes	Parthenios, Drifting Mind	None	Available
Liminality	Disabled	The Pale Heart, The Traveler	The Final Shape	Yes	Kataxiia, Tormentor of the Ahamkara	None	Available
Exodus Crash (Rework)	Disabled	Arcadian Valley, Nessus	Episode: Echoes (The Final Shape)	No	Pykis, House Salvation	None	Available

Rewards

These weapons and armor can be obtained randomly by completing matches of Nightfalls and Opening Vanguard Engrams in Destiny 2. They also can be focused at Zavala at the Tower for the price of a Vanguard Engram, Legendary Shards, and Glimmer.

• Weapons
  • Royal Entry - legendary Rocket Launcher
  • Empty Vessel - legendary Grenade
  • Punching Out - legendary Sidearm
  • Fortissimo-11 - legendary Shotgun
  • Strident Whistle - legendary Combat Bow
  • Pure Poetry - legendary Hand Cannon
  • Prolonged Engagement - legendary Submachine Gun
  • Nameless Midnight - legendary Scout Rifle
  • Positive Outlook - legendary Auto Rifle
  • Luna Regolith III - legendary Sniper Rifle

• Armor
  • Photosuede Suit

• Legacy Weapons
  • Xenoclast IV - legendary Shotgun
  • The Third Axiom - legendary Pulse Rifle

• Legacy Armor
  • Xenos Vale IV
  • Vigil Of Heros
  • Phobos Warden Armor

Trivia

• In-universe, Strike fire teams are named by a random generator. This generator must be periodically reset, or else it will produce bizarre designations such as "Babydog."

List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
  • The Dark Below
  • House of Wolves
  • The Taken King
  • Rise of Iron
• Destiny 2
  • Curse of Osiris
  • Warmind
  • Forsaken
  • Shadowkeep
  • Beyond Light
    • Season of the Chosen
  • The Witch Queen
  • Lightfall
  • The Final Shape