Quick Links
Completing all 50 waves of Onslaught inDestiny 2can prove difficult for most players. The high enemy density, strict Power delta, and various modifiers can make this activity quite punishing during the latter half of a match. Throw in Legend difficulty into the mix, and you have a fairly demanding endurance test for most builds.
Fortunately, there are a few things your fireteam can do to make your Onslaught run a little bit easier. This guide will cover seven tips you can use to make your Onslaught run a little bit easier. From using Shadowshot to picking the right map, here are the best tips and strategies for reaching Wave 50 in Destiny 2’s Onslaught activity.
Build Decoys
Out of the three defense types you can build,Sweeper Bots are the strongest defenses in Onslaught.They draw the attention of all non-Sabotuer enemies, have immense health pools, and are fairly cheap to create. They can’t take sustained punishment from explosive enemies, but one decoy can single-handedly save the ADU from a rogue Tormentor or Champion.
We highly recommend youbuild at least one Sweeper Bot per ADU objective.The closer the bot is to critical chokepoints, the better. Don’t build multiple decoys either. It’s better to upgrade one Sweeper Bot to make it as tanky as possible. If you may keep a healthy decoy for each ADU point, you shouldn’t have issues defending the ADU on Waves 30+.
Throw Your ADU Cores At Defenses
Unbeknownst to most players,you may repair defenses by throwing ADU Cores at them.Doing so won’t consume the core, and the emplacement will recover most of its lost HP. This is critical to keeping decoys alive during the later stages of an Onslaught run, especially in Legend difficulty. Keep a core handy to repair your defenses at the end of each wave.
Bring A Nightstalker Hunter
While we try to avoid recommending specific builds in activity guides, Onslaught is a rare exception due to its difficulty scaling. Due to the high enemy density and predictable spawns, wehighly recommend you bring a Nightstalker Hunter with theOrpheus RigExotic.Use theShadowshot: Deadfall Superwith this setup, and use a good Void Primary or Heavy weapon—ideally Graviton Forfeit or a Machine Gun.
When a wave starts, deploy the Shadowshot tether at a chokepoint on the map. Enemies tethered will restore the Hunter’s Super energy, generate Orbs of Power, and make the enemies share all incoming damage. It makes the latter half of this activitymucheasier. If your team chains Supers, you can use a Shadowshot Super at the start of every wave. It’s the only hard requirement we suggest for most teams.
Swap Your Loadout In The Pyramid
Right before you fight the Pyramid boss, your team has the chance to deploy a rally flag to refill your ammo and ability energy.Before you rally, consider changing your loadout to something better suited for single-target DPS.For example, if you were using a Machine Gun to defend the ADU, consider swapping to a Rocket Launcher or Grenade Launcher.
Besides defending the ADU, the second most common pain point in Onslaught is the Pyramid boss room. There’s little cover, tons of adds, and the boss has a fairly large health pool. You can melt the boss with raw damage in the first 30 waves, but the last two fights will require good add management. Coordinate with your team on how you’ll defeat the boss before you start the fight. Change your loadout accordingly.
Use Your Heavy Ammo
Don’t be shy about using your Heavy weapon. Completing bonus objectives in Onslaught will usually spawn a Heavy crate near the ADU. Interacting with it will fully restore your ammo. Throw on some ammo finders and an Exotic Primary, and you should be able to make liberal use of your Heavy weapon throughout an Onslaught run.
And you’ll need that Heavy ammo to deal with the tougher waves.Machine Guns are ideal, as they are perfect for clearing out adds and Tormentors alike. Use your other weapons to counter Champions.
Play On Vostok
Guardians can choose to defend the ADU in one of three unique maps, each with their own pros and cons.
In our view,Vostok is the best map for Wave 50 clears.It’s not quite as chaotic as Midtown, and it doesn’t have a lack of chokepoints like Mothyards.Bonus objectives are also fairly easy to deal with on Vostokdue to the map’s design. Midtown’s objectives usually have little cover, and Mothyards will send a player halfway across the Cosmodrome to defuse a mine.
With that said, Vostok is arguably the slowest map of the bunch due to its tight chokepoints and spawn locations. If your team gets comfortable with Wave 50 clears and wants to speed things up,Midtown should yield the fastest clears of the bunch.For everyone else, practice on Vostok.
Fight The Hive
If your team is struggling to complete Wave 50 Onslaught,restart the activity until you get Hive.The Fallen are significantly tougher due to a few small differences:
While these changes seem small in a vacuum, they add up as the match progresses. Defeating crit-immune enemies is fine for the first 20-30 waves, but once you hit a -20 Power delta and beyond, killing two Brigs or an entire wave of Heavy Shanks proves extremely difficult for the average party. If you’re pushing for a Wave 50 clear,alwaysfight the Hive.
