The core activity in Destiny 2 Season of the Haunted, Nightmare Containment sees you defeating both Scorn and Cabal Loyalists and the Nightmares they work with. In week 1, there are three tiers of Containment, each escalating in difficulty. Most boil down to some variation of “kill enemies, dunk balls,” but there’s a little more to it than that.
There are three Tiers of Nightmare Containment currently, each a bit more complicated than the last. Tier 1 of Nightmare Containment has four steps.
- Kill Scorn enemies, paying special attention to the Dread Bearer yellow bar mobs that spawn. Killing them drops a Core of Dread ball you take back to the Nightmare Harvester for additional Shards of Dread score.
- Two yellow bar Psion bosses will spawn, called Egregore Atavist Illusions. Kill them to spawn the actual Egregore Atavist within a bubble of translucent energy. You can’t shoot through the bubble, so go up and punch the Psion within to progress this step.
- You’re back to killing Scorn to bank Shards of Dread points. Continue focusing Dread Bearers and dunking Cores of Dread.
- Provided you completed the previous three stages, a boss will spawn. Burn him down to half health and he’ll become immune. Two Resonant Splinter orbs will spawn in the air. Destroy them to break the shield, then burn the boss’s remaining health.
Tier 2 of Nightmare Containment is a slightly more complicated Tier 1.
- You’re back to killing Scorn and banking Shards of Dread points, but there are now Overload Champions and additional yellow bar enemies to deal with.
- Next, you’re fighting Cabal again, but this time there are two Egregore Atavists to kill, and they spawn all over the encounter area. Defeating their Illusion again spawns the actual Psion, and once the last of the four is dead, you progress to the next step.
- Step three here repeats step one, so kill Scorn, bank points, dunk Cores of Dread, use the Relic, etc.
- The final step has you facing a tougher Cabal boss. At around half health, he’ll gain an immunity shield. Destroy the four Resonsant Splinters that appear, then burn him down.
Tier 3 of Nightmare Containment is the final step for now, and pits you against Elykris, a nightmare version of a boss from the Forsaken expansion. The fight has three identical phases.
Burn Elyrkis’s health by almost 1/3 and he’ll go immune. Six Resonant Splinters will spawn alongside two immune Emissary of Elykris Abomination. Destroy the Splinters to take down the Emissary shields. Kill the big guys to drop immunity on the boss. Burn another 1/3 of his health, then repeat the process.
Dread Bearer enemies will appear during this final encounter. Dunking the Cores of Dread they drop spawns Scythe relics, which you can use to deal free burst damage to the boss. Defeat Elykris to spawn the reward chest and have a chance at an Opulent Key and the ability to spend Vestiges of Dread to acquire Bound Presence. You’ll use the Bound Presence to open the final chest in the Sever weekly missions and get additional rewards.
