Destiny 2 Onslaught activity guide: All mechanics, best builds, tips and tricks, and more

Onslaught is one of the main attractions of the Destiny 2 Into the Light update, aside from returning weapons, missions, and other changes. It is the first-ever tower-defense Horde mode in the game, allowing players to clear out enemy groups, set up traps, and push through 50 waves of all kinds of combatants. Hence, players must remember a few aspects, such as builds, scrap management, and enemy densities.

This article will guide you through the basics of the Onslaught game mode, its core mechanics, a few tips, and builds to follow.

Disclaimer: This article is subjective and relies solely on the writer's opinion.

Onslaught full guide in Destiny 2 Into the Light

1) Onslaught Playlist vs. Normal vs. Legend

Legend Midtown in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

There are three versions of the Onslaught activities you can take part in. Let's go over them one by one:

Onslaught Playlist: This is for beginners who want to run the activity once. It grants minimal loot and allows a fireteam of three to go through 10 waves with normal difficulty.
Normal Onslaught: Standard version with normal reward drop rate and 50 waves of enemies.
Legend Onslaught: Increased difficulty and -10 power at the start. There is a double loot chest at the end of each boss. All members will be sent to Orbit upon wipe.

Onslaught's Legend difficulty also seems to hold a higher chance of dropping the limited-edition versions of the Brave weapons, which have four perks in the last two columns.

The final wave of the Legend Onslaught will spawn in three chests, so make sure to open them before returning to the Orbit.

2) Main objective

The main objective of the Onslaught game mode is to protect a small unit called ADU. Your job is to keep the enemy waves away from the small radius surrounding the ADU and defeat enemies to gather scraps and Orb charges. Scraps are used to upgrade all the available defense units near the ADU, and Orb charges are used to heal the ADU for more scraps.

These are all the tasks you must complete until Wave 50 to complete the Onslaught challenge.

Additional objectives occur every fifth wave, where you must teleport through a portal into a Pyramid, defeat enemy groups, and deposit a Spark. Every 10th wave, you must teleport through a portal again and defeat a boss within a Pyramid.

Portal to Pyramid in Destiny 2 Onbslaught (Image via Bungie)

Lastly, bonus objectives will pop up now and then, some of which are optional, while others are mandatory. Doing these will grant you increased scraps for your defense systems.

3) Traps

There are three types of traps you can activate and upgrade to protect your ADU: decoys, trip mines, and turrets. All three defense systems require scraps for activation and upgrade. The following list will give you an idea of what each of these defense systems does:

Decoys: Sweeping bots that taunt enemies towards it. They can taunt all enemies, including yellow-bar bosses too. It's worth investing your scraps until level 2.
Trip mines: Similar to Hunter trip mines. Damages enemies when they pass through the line, and goes into a cooldown. Handy against trash mobs, but weak against bosses.
Turrets: Very powerful against all kinds of enemies, and worth investing your scraps for maximum upgrade.

Defense systems in Destiny 2 Onslaught (Image via Bungie)

The priority of defense upgrades in any map should be: Turret unlock>Decoy unlock>Trip mines unlock>Decoy level 2>Turret maximum level>Decoy maximum level.

4) Builds

Some of the best builds to have on the Onslaught activity, be it normal or Legend, are as follows:

Well of Radiance Warlock with Phoenix Protocol
Gyrfalcon's Hauberk/Orpheus Rig single Shadowshot Void Hunter
Banner of War Strand Titans with Synthoceps

One of the most important tips here is to cast the Well of Radiance outside the radius surrounding the ADU. This way, enemies won't get aggressive near the radius, and your team can kill anything near the unit.

Gyrfalcon's Hauberk Exotic chest piece in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Learning the spawns is always important in horde modes, which in this case, can be the Hunter's job. A single Shadowshot on a group of enemies near the spawns can grant a lot of breathing space for the entire team, and fill half of the Super bar of the Hunter after tethered kills.

Commemoration in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Machine Guns are mandatory in the Legend mode of Onslaught, especially for Gyrfalcon's Hunters and the Phoenix Well of Radiance Warlocks.

Check out other guides on this game from Sportskeeda: