The first-ever epic raid in Destiny 2 is now live, offering a brand-new take on the Desert Perpetual Raid. New challenges, puzzles, and aggressive enemies await Destiny 2 players, with exclusive in-game rewards, an exotic weapon, and access to purchase a jacket and bag from the Bungie Rewards store all on the table for players who complete the new mode.
The Desert Perpetual Raid was released on July 19 in Destiny 2 as part of The Edge of Fate expansion. The raid was already a substantial change for long-time Destiny 2 players; once the first encounter was completed, teams could choose their own encounters instead of following a linear path.
Destiny 2 Epic Raid and World First Information
The Desert Perpetual epic raid is live as of the time of this writing, and the raid will run in Contest Mode for the first 48 hours. While in Contest Mode, enemies will be tougher and more aggressive, and Fireteam Power will be disabled. It’s recommended that players have a minimum 300 Power level, and they will also notice that their damage output will be reduced against the epic raid enemies. All loot in Contest Mode will drop at Tier 5 for the first clear, then Tier 4 (with a chance to upgrade to Tier 5) for every completion thereafter. The first fireteam to complete The Desert Perpetual Contest Mode will earn the World First belt, and all teams that finish in the first 48 hours will earn an exclusive emblem called Fractured Timeline.
To play The Desert Perpetual epic raid opening weekend, players will need to own the Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate expansion, the fireteam leader will need to have completed the base version of The Desert Perpetual, and a fireteam of six will be required to launch. If a team wants to play with less than six players, teams will still need to have six party members start the encounter, then the other players can leave. Bungie also announced that players will have till December 5 at 9:59am PT to complete The Desert Perpetual Raid, in normal or epic modes, to unlock the raid jacket and raid sling bag from Bungie Rewards.
Contest Mode was originally a 24-hour Destiny 2 raid mode when it was launched in 2019, but Bungie adjusted to 48 hours with the Root of Nightmares raid in 2023. It wanted to give World First teams more time to earn Contest Mode rewards. Anyone can participate in Contest Mode if they have met the requirements to start the activity. Normal mode of the epic raid will start after Contest Mode is completed.
Raid weekends tend to be an exciting time for Destiny 2 fans as they tune in to see who will finish these challenging modes first. Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate saw some disappointing launch numbers on Steam in July, so the Contest Mode World First race could help generate interest in the recent expansion.