Highlights

  • Destiny 2 players have noticed that the regular Vanguard strikes playlist have seen a sudden increase in difficulty.
  • Specifically, Champions and Tormentors have begun appearing in lower difficulty strikes, causing frustration for newer players.
  • Some have speculated that Bungie may have forgotten to remove certain elements from activities like Defiant Battlegrounds when moving them into the playlist.

Destiny 2 players discover that the normal Vanguard strike playlist has seen the inclusion of Champions and Tormentors, adding a level of difficulty that is typically reserved for Nightfalls. The Final Shape expansion for Destiny 2 has a profound impact on the game, not just from adding a storyline that brought an end to a 10-year story. The expansion also made major changes to certain mechanics, some of which have been a bit more divisive within the community.

The Pathfinder system was one of the big new additions, ultimately replacing weekly and daily bounties from ritual vendors like Lord Shaxx, the Drifter, and Zavala. Players completed nodes to work their way to an end reward, which could be repeated, though Destiny 2 players had plenty of issues with the new system, which wasn't as straightforward as bounties were. Difficulty also received a big change in The Final Shape, including the return of a higher Power Cap as well as introducing the Fireteam Power mechanic. However, it seems some of these background changes may also have had unintended consequences for typically more straightforward content.

destiny 2 warlock xp bug
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For players who may want a more straightforward and relaxed way to obtain loot or complete new Pathfinder nodes in Destiny 2, the Vanguard strikes playlist typically offers content that is easier to play than content like Nightfalls. However, players have recently noticed that strikes within this playlist have seen a major bump in difficulty, leading many to believe something accidentally changed following the expansion release or with one of the recent Destiny 2 updates.

Why Are Vanguard Strikes More Difficult in Destiny 2?

New posts on social media have begun to highlight issues with the current Vanguard Strike Playlist. A user named Melchior2001 noted that Champions are now appearing, causing all sorts of issues for newer players and causing many to leave in the middle of the activity due to frustration. The main issue is that if something has changed recently, selecting the activity from the director gives no indication that Champions will be present. Others have confirmed this change as well, with some indicating Bungie may have forgotten to remove certain gameplay elements from activities like Defiant Battlegrounds when moving them into the Destiny 2 Strike Playlist pool. The Tormentor room in the Nightfall version of the Lake of Shadows is also seemingly spawning for lower difficulty Strike runs now as well.

A common theme in the comments revolved around the sarcastic idea of Bungie believing the game to be too easy and adding more difficult content. In fact, this isn't the first problem players have had with te game's difficulty, as Destiny 2 Raids and Dungeons have received plenty of criticism since the launch of The Final Shape about encounters feeling tedious and overly tuned. The feedback became so loud that Bungie ultimately removed elemental surges entirely, tuned the experience, and added a damage boost for players by default.