European Dead Zone

European Dead Zone
Overview
Location:	Earth
Enemy factions:	Dread (Season of Defiance); House of Dusk; Lucent Brood (Season of the Risen); Nightmares (Shadowkeep); Red Legion; Shadow Legion (Season of Defiance)
Hostile races:	Cabal ; Fallen ; Taken
Gameplay
Accessibility:	Complete Spark (Formerly) ; Complete A Guardian Rises
Landing zones:	Sunken Isles ; The Gulch ; Trostland ; Winding Cove ; The Sludge

"European Dead Zone was ground-zero for a cataclysmic event that left a massive shard of The Traveler — the source of every Guardian's power and immortality — embedded in the vast landscape. For years, only wild vegetation and the remains of an abandoned city were evidence of our forgotten past. Now, the Red Legion are using the European Dead Zone as a staging ground for their war machine."

— Website description

The European Dead Zone, also known as the EDZ or simply Dead Zone, is a region on Earth, and a Destination in Destiny 2.^[1] The EDZ is filled with ruins dating back to the Golden Age and earlier, but one of its most notable landmarks is a massive shard of the Traveler that was broken off of the Traveler during the Collapse. The Fallen House of Devils was known to have a presence in the EDZ before their disappearance due to the SIVA Crisis. By the time of the Red War, the Fallen had returned to the area under a new banner and their presence, combined with that of a Cabal occupational force and Taken remnants, transformed the EDZ into a warzone.

Overview

The Red Legion began occupying the Zone after The Last City was invaded. Guardians began to travel to the European Dead Zone in order to reclaim their powers from the Traveler's shard found there. The region contains many Lost Sectors, Patrols, and Public Events to partake in, as well as twenty-one Region Chests to find. The Fallen House of Dusk are also active in the Dead Zone, as well as Taken remnants from the Taken War who continue to linger within the region.^[2]

History

Some time ago, possibly during the Collapse, an unknown event occurred that left a massive shard of the Traveler stuck in the EDZ. This shard caused the region to become completely deserted, safe for some human explorers.

Following the invasion of The Last City, Dominus Ghaul deployed his forces to mobilize within the region, causing the region to become a major warzone between the Taken, Fallen, and Cabal. Guardian forces also fled to the Dead Zone in order to hide and recover from the invasion, establishing The Farm as a new base of operations. However once the Last City was reclaimed the EDZ became a bastion for the remnants of the Red Legion, who over the course of several Adventures and questlines across the years, have attempted to regain a foothold on Earth to little effect.

Locations

European Dead Zone (Destination)
- Firebase Hades
- The Gulch
  - Flooded Chasm (Lost Sector)
  - The Tunnels
    - Smidur's Cavern
- Outskirts
- Quarantine Sector 236
  - Blackened Forest
- The Sludge
- Sunken Isles
- Trostland
- Winding Cove
  - The Weep (Lost Sector)
- The Dead Cliffs (Crucible map)
- The Fortress (Crucible map)
- Legion's Gulch (Crucible map)
- Memento (Crucible map)
- Widow's Court (Crucible map)
- Emerald Coast (Gambit map)
- The Farm (Social Space)

Story missions

Strikes

Adventures

Quests

Shard of the Traveler

World Quests

Trivia

In late 2013, the European Dead Zone was a major location planned for the Comet which would eventually become The Taken King. Along with Europa, the area was never completed and was later dropped from the expansion in March 2014 when Bungie decided to focus on the Dreadnaught.^[3]
The names Zervreilahorn and Graubünden can be seen on motorway signs around the EDZ. The former is a mountain in Switzerland, and the latter is a region of east Switzerland; this might effectively place the EDZ in Switzerland or near the country.
Different words in German can be seen on signs in the area, such as "Ausgang" (exit) and "Salzwerk" (salt mines). Since Austria, Germany, and Switzerland all have German as their official language, it is currently unknown which country the EDZ is supposed to be located in.
- In German, Trostland may translate to "solace country".
The European Dead Zone is the largest playable space ever created by Bungie.
Being the largest playable location in the game, the European Dead Zone has an impressive amount of Activities, which add up to: 7 Story Missions, 2 Strikes, 13 Adventures, 2 World Quests, 16 Lost Sectors, and 21 Region Chests.
- The EDZ, as such has the most Lost Sectors and Adventures on any other Destination in Destiny 2.
The name and setting of the Gambit map Emerald Coast indicates that the EDZ may stretch as far south as Italy.