The latest weekly reset for Destiny 2 brings the new Niobe Labs content drop for The Black Armory expansion, but with it also comes another Ascendant Challenge. We’ve completed the Dreaming City’s six-week cycle on Ascendant Challenges, which means that this week, we’re back to the beginning. Here’s where to go and what to do to complete the challenge.
As always, the Ascendant Challenge starts out with acquiring the corresponding bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City. You’ll also need a Tincture of Queensfoil, a consumable item you can earn by taking part in certain activities in the Dreaming City (or you can outright buy one). Once you have both the bounty and a Tincture, you’ll head to a Lost Sector, Aphelion’s Rest, which is located in The Strand, just beneath the area where Petra is sometimes found. Using a Tincture will grant you a buff, Ascendance, that allows you to see a Taken portal. This one is located partway through the Lost Sector, atop a hill–it’s hard to miss if you’ve used your Tincture.
Jumping into the portal takes you to the Ascendant Plane’s Ouroborea. There, you’ll have to explore the area to find four different blights. Enter the dome and destroy its core; you’ll know you’ve done it when it disappears and the text “a seal breaks” pops up in the bottom-left corner. Once you’ve dealt with all the blights, you’ll go back toward the center to destroy crystals (whose protective shield has been temporarily dropped). Just beware the knights who will chase you around as you do this–your best bet is to keep moving in a circle, which should let you destroy the crystals without allowing the knights to get too close.
Although the chest is unlikely to have much in the way of worthwhile rewards, finishing the Ascendant Challenge also completes the bounty you picked up from Petra. That rewards you with a piece of Powerful gear that is highly desirable and can increase your level, making this all worth the trouble, provided you’re capable of getting it done. With The Black Armory expansion in full swing, players are back to the gear grind to get to the new level cap of 650.
Although this Ascendant Challenge is not a new one, there is a lot happening in Destiny 2 right now. Niobe Labs means the fourth of The Black Armory’s new Forges to unlock, as well as a new step in the Mystery Box Exotic quest we’ve been tracking since the expansion released last month.
There are actually five new Exotic weapons in The Black Armory to find, four of which we know about (and one of which we can take a guess at). There’s also a lot more happening in January and beyond: Bungie laid out its content calendar for the rest of Year 2, which is pretty extensive.
