Battlegrounds

This article is about the original battlegrounds activity. For the overall activity format, see Battlegrounds (activity format).

Battleground: Hailstone.

Battlegrounds is a three player Arena matchmaking activity that was released with Season of the Chosen. In it, the three players assault a fortified Cabal position and hunt down a Cabal commander seeking to join Empress Caiatl's War Council. All four Battlegrounds were added to the Vanguard playlist with the release of The Witch Queen.^[1]

Structure

Battlegrounds are similar to Strikes, in that they are a 3-person activity that pits players against various obstacles throughout an extended area of the map. Players have to complete two objectives, during which they will have to fight a Major enemy (if running the battleground from the map) or a Champion (if running from a playlist). Battlegrounds contain a larger concentration of enemies compared to strikes, especially during the battle with the boss.

In the last section, the players will be presented with a post (functioning like a rally banner) that allows them to begin the Rite of Proving and fight a Cabal boss. Every third of its health bar, the boss will become immune to damage and move to a different section of the arena. To deactivate the immunity shield, the players will have to defeat a Shield Bearer (either a Major or a Champion). At half of its second and last third of its health bar, the boss will summon a Portable Cabal Shield and retreat inside. The shield will stay active until destroyed or until the boss is deprived of its remaining health, whichever comes first. All throughout this phase, an increasing amount of Cabal enemies will spawn, so players have to be quick to finish the battle, lest they be overwhelmed.

Battleground	Location	Council Aspirant
Battleground: Behemoth	Arcadian Valley, Nessus	Commander Dracus
Battleground: Hailstone	Rathmore Chaos, Europa	Basilius the Golem
Battleground: Foothold	Cosmodrome, Earth	Val Ma'rag
Battleground: Oracle	Arcadian Valley, Nessus	Ixel, the Far-Reaching

Rewards

Completing a map Battleground will reward the player with a chest containing Season of the Chosen loot. Completing a playlist Battleground spawns three Cabal Tribute Chest that can be opened with a charged Hammer of Proving that grants Umbral Engrams, Glimmer, and other gear depending on the level of the hammer.

During Season of the Chosen, opening three Cabal Tribute Chests rewarded a piece of Pinnacle gear, and every three completions of strikes in the playlists rewarded Powerful gear of increasing rank, to a maximum of three pieces per week.

On subsequent seasons, completing three Battlegrounds from the playlist rewards the player with a piece of Powerful gear from the Season of the Chosen.