Like previous seasons, Destiny 2's Season of the Seraph features a new activity in the shape of Heist Battlegrounds, which forms a central part of the current storyline. Anyone who has dived into the Battlegrounds playlist will be familiar with the structure of this mode, which tasks three Guardians with a mission to help restore the Golden Age AI Rasputin by obtaining vital data from key points in the Solar system.

　　Like Season of Plunder's Expeditions and Season of the Haunted's Nightmare Containment, this is also designed to be a rewarding experience that will drop plenty of seasonal armor and weapons once the event is over. It has a few interesting wrinkles to the Battlegrounds formula, and if you're interested in seeing how a run against Xivu Arath's forces differs in comparison, you can read more below.

　　It's worth noting that in the first week of Season 19, Heist Battlegrounds is only focused on obtaining fragments of the submind Malahayati and keeps the action contained on the Moon. There'll be more locations to visit as Season of the Seraph continues, but for now, the first week of the current season is sticking to the lunar surface.

　　

Access the Seraph bunker

Once you land, expect some stiff resistance on the Moon. Its crawling with Xivu Arath's minions, and in the regular playlist accessed from the HELM, you can also expect to tangle with Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable Champions throughout the mission. Remember, you'll need to unlock anti-Champion mods through the seasonal artifact and equip them to your arms armor if you want to deal with these dangerous opponents.

　　The twist here is that you'll be stuck between Hive troops and Clovis Bray's automated turrets, which view everyone as an enemy. Once a beam is locked onto you, it'll fire in 15 seconds unless you break its line of sight. It's a one-hit deathblow, so you'll want to make certain that you avoid being caught in the crossfire. With that in mind, clear the area of the Cryptolith Hosts. Take out each swarm of Hive around a Cryptolith to draw out their commander, defeat the boss, and the bunker will be opened to you.

　　You'll also need to be wary of the Deathtongue Chorister, as this special enemy will channel Xivu Arath’s warsong when it reaches a totem, which stops you from using your melee, grenade, and Super abilities.

　　

Infiltrating the Seraph Bunker

Once you're inside the bunker, it's a mostly simple game of Scorn pest control. You can ignore the Scorn lurking in the corridors if you want, but you will have to deal with the enemies lurking in a locked room that requires some hacking from your Ghost. Defend your Ghost, take out waves of Scorn, and keep your eyes open for a Disruptor enemy who'll halt the hacking progress if it gets close to the console that your companion is working on.

　　Some Scorn captains will also drop items that will speed up the hacking process, so prioritize them to help clear this room more quickly.

　　

Break the Hive wards

Your next barrier in your journey towards the submind will be a series of Hive wards placed on the bunker door. As an extra hurdle, enemy Scorn will regularly appear and there's a timer counting down as reinforcements draw closer. Breaking the Hive runes is fortunately easy, as there'll be two Refraction Cores in the room that can be nabbed from the Scorn guarding them. Send a fireteam member after each one, keep your remaining Guardian on guard duty, and use the laser from the core to destroy the runes when you're in range. With that done, it's time for the final part of this activity.

　　

Defeat the boss

It's time for a good old-fashioned boss fight, and in the submind Malahayati, you'll find Once-Phyris, The Exhumed Tether. When Once-Phyris reaches 50% health, they'll pop a shield and you'll need to focus on taking out Scorn captains who carry Arc Charges. Take the charge, insert it into the column in the center of the room--similar to dunking motes in Gambit--and once five of them have been inserted, Once-Phyris' shield will be destroyed by a Warmind laser. Finish off this enemy with concentrated attacks and you'll have cleared the first Heist Battleground.

　　Don't forget to open the optional Serpah chest in this room either, which can be unlocked with 500 Seraph Key codes.

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