Destiny 2 is a game with a lot of content and activities to play. In its current iteration, most activities are split between what's available in the Portal, which includes our latest content and The Edge of Fate and Renegades expansion, and what's in the World tab, which covers the content that launched up until The Final Shape expansion.
Advanced Activities
As a newer Destiny 2 player, you are probably already familiar with some activities that the expansions have thrown at you, like Strikes or Empire Hunts. But there is a lot more to discover as you become a more experienced player. Let's start with the three of the most emblematic types of activities that Destiny 2 has to offer.
Exotic Missions
Missions that serve as the means of acquiring certain Exotic weapons. They are more complex in mechanics than most campaign missions and they require certain experience in Destiny 2. They can be completed in a fireteam of up to three players.
List of currently available Exotic Missions:
- The Whisper
- Zero Hour
- Presage
- Parasitic Pilgrimage
- Vox Obscura
- What Remains
- NODE.OVRD.AVALON
- Starcrossed
- Wild Card
- Hope
- Dual Destiny
- Encore
- Kell's Fall
- Derealize
- Heliostat
- Fire and Ice
Dungeons
With dungeons, we enter the terrain of endgame activities. These activities aren't necessarily meant for new players but are worth explaining for those who dare.
Dungeons are endgame PvE activities for fireteams of up to three players (there's usually a challenge to earn for completing them solo!) and they require coordination and complex mechanics to be completed. They all have at least one boss at the end that's a very tough challenge, and they reward unique gear only available in said dungeon.
List of currently available dungeons:
- The Shattered Throne
- Pit of Heresy
- Prophecy
- Grasp of Avarice
- Duality
- Spire of the Watcher
- Ghost of the Deep
- Warlord's Ruin
- Vesper's Host
- Sundered Doctrine
- Equilibrum
Raids
The most emblematic endgame activity in Destiny 2 is the raid. They typically require fireteams of up to six players, are incredibly complex in mechanics, have very tough enemies and bosses, and all drop exclusive weapons and armor. They all have a very hard-to-get Exotic weapon to earn, sometimes randomly and sometimes obtained through a complex, multistep quest.
List of currently available raids:
- Last Wish
- Garden of Salvation
- Deep Stone Crypt
- Vault of Glass
- Vow of the Disciple
- King's Fall
- Root of Nightmares
- Crota's End
- Salvation's Edge
- The Desert Perpetual
Activities in The Portal
The Portal is a hub for activities and missions that launched along The Edge of Fate expansion in 2025. The Portal features direct access to activities through menus. You will find the most recent expansions in it, as well as activities to progress your Power Level and earn new gear while you complete orders and challenges.
There are currently five categories of activities to launch in the Portal.
Solo Ops
A list of activities that can be completed solo, all by yourself. They feature vertical slices of destinations you may have visited already, and they usually are the more approachable type of activity in the Portal.
You can customize the difficulty by level and with all kinds of modifiers.
Fireteam Ops
Activities better completed in a fireteam of three players. Some of them require an established fireteam; others allow you to matchmake with other players. They include activities like Strikes, Battlegrounds, Expeditions, Reclaims, and more.
You can customize the difficulty by level and with all kinds of modifiers.
Players can complete Quickplay and Grandmaster Vanguard Fireteam Ops runs with the goal of completing Weekly Challenges that reward extra currencies and gear.
Arena Ops
Activities for fireteams of six players from past Destiny 2 seasons. Arena Ops currently includes Arena Ops, Astral Alignment, and Nightmare Containment, and they all have matchmaking available.
You can customize the difficulty by level and with all kinds of modifiers.
Players can complete Quickplay Arena Ops runs with the goal of completing a Weekly Challenges that reward extra currencies and gear.
Pinnacle Ops
Endgame activities for fireteams of three players. They require coordination, take the longest to complete, and they are more mechanically complex than other Portal activities. They also have a unique loot pool of gear.
You can customize the difficulty by level and with all kinds of modifiers.
Crucible Ops
The node for PvP. It usually has three playlists available: the Competitive Playlist, with a unique weapon reward each season; the general Control playlist, usually the most popular and where most players go to play against each other; and the rotating playlist, with game modes like Mayhem Showdown, and more.
Players can play Control matches with the goal of completing a Weekly Challenge that rewards extra currencies and gear.
During seasonal events like Dawning or Guardian Games or during one-week events like Arms Week, other playlists may appear in the Crucible Ops tab.
Every weekend, the Trails of Osiris node will appear and be accessible to those with a Trials of Osiris Passage (available at Saint-14, the Tower vendor). It's a unique, endgame take on the Crucible and has a featured weekly weapon reward that drops more often, as well as unique armor sets each season.
Portal Customization
Once you have selected an activity in the Portal, you can customize its settings. You can choose from six different difficulty settings (unlocked as you progress your Power Level), as well as a plethora of modifiers, both negative and positive, that will overall give you a combatant difficulty setting and reward score.
In the customization screen, you can also get a glimpse of the rewards you can earn. Not all are guaranteed, but as a rule of thumb, the higher the difficulty, the better the gear, the Power Level, and the currencies you get.
Read carefully what each mod does, how much your score and difficulty change with each option, and find a balance between the progression you earn and the loot you get. And don't be afraid to try and fail; you will learn what's best at your current stage.
Activities in the Seasonal Hub
Vanguard Alerts
A list of all available Weekly Challenges in the Portal, including the weekly dungeon and raid challenges. You can preview the requirements and rewards if you hover them.
The rewards available in Vanguard Alerts refreshes every week.
Seasonal Conquests
A tough challenge only for expert players. You will need a high Power Level before you tackle them, and the hardest ones can only be completed by veteran players in a well-organized Fireteam. The rewards are really worth it, though.
The list of rewards and activities in the Seasonal Conquest tab changes every Season. Completing Seasonal Conquests will also help you earn the Conqueror Title, and then gild it on future seasons. [BE1]
Quick Launch
Do you just want to play something fast, without thinking much about how difficult it will be or what activity you will face? Just hit the Quick Launch node to the bottom right and call it a day. You'll match with other players in a similar mood to you.
Activities in The World Tab
In the World tab you'll have to navigate different nodes to find destinations and activities inside of them.
Destination Activities
All destinations in Destiny 2 have activities that are shared between all destinations, like Lost Sectors and public events, as well as some unique activities that are often related to an expansion.
Lost Sectors
These small PvE activities were first introduced in Destiny 2. They are hidden on the map of a destination, so you'll have to find them if you are looking to complete them. Every day, a destination is designated as a Legendary Lost Sector, which rewards better gear and more materials.
Public Events
Open world events with simple mechanics that happen at a time in a given patrol zone, so you can complete them with the help of other players. You can see in the map when a Public Event will take place, and all of them have a hidden mechanic that, if triggered, will transform them into a Heroic Public Event, which rewards better gear and more materials.
Special Public Events
As their name indicates, they are public events that players can start in specific destinations, and that vary in complexity and rewards. Altars of Sorrow, Blind Well, and Terminal Overload are some of the currently available special public events.
Expansion Activities
Activities that are exclusive to a destination and require ownership of the related expansion. The include activities like Wellspring in Savathûn's Throne World (requires The Witch Queen expansion) or Overthrow in The Pale Heart (requires The Final Shape expansion).
Vanguard Node
This node allows players to access Nightfalls and Vanguard Ops.
The Vanguard node is now considered Legacy Content, so in order to experience the PvE activities in this node with updated gear and difficulty options, we suggest you find them in the Portal hub.
Crucible Node
This node allows players to access certain PvP playlists that are not yet in the Portal. It's now considered Legacy Content, so to experience the PvE activities in this node with updated gear and difficulty options, we suggest you find them in the Portal hub.
Gambit Node
Gambit is a PvEvP activity introduced in Year 2 of Destiny 2. It's now considered a Legacy activity, which means it no longer rewards up-to-date gear. That doesn't mean you can't play it for fun but expect longer than usual matchmaking times.
Drifter, the Gambit Vendor, can be found in the Tower.
