Destiny 2: Daily & Weekly Resets Explained

[Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Destiny 2!]

Destiny 2 is now a little over two weeks old (on consoles anyway - its PC release isn't until October 24th). Many players have finished the campaign and watched as the Traveler reawakened and laid waste to Dominus Ghaul. Some have since taken part in strikes and public events, earned glory in the Crucible, perhaps even completed the raid, Leviathan, in where a fireteam of six Guardians work together to defeat the Cabal Emperor. All of that and more is now available to experience in Destiny 2 - over and over again - making it abundantly clear that the grind is still very real in this sequel.

For games of the MMO and/or RPG variety, the main path towards reaching the max possible level often relies solely on collecting better and better loot. Destiny 2 is no different, and with a power level cap of roughly 300 - a stat that's derived from a Guardian's equipped armor and weapons, becoming the true signifier of a Guardian's level once the experience cap of 20 is reached - that grind for more loot is what the game is all about once the campaign in completed.

Legendary (purple) and exotic (yellow) gear is the most sought-after loot in Destiny 2 and it is earned primarily through activities - be it finishing challenges, playing Crucible matches, or successfully beating the Nightfall strike. Every week these activities reset, some even every day, allowing Guardians the chance to earn their rewards again. This means that knowing when these activities reset, and which are worth focusing on for the best loot, is key to continue leveling a Guardian towards their max power level.

What Are The Resets & When Do They Happen?

There are two time frames in which Destiny 2's activities regularly reset - daily and weekly. The daily reset pertains to challenges and Adventures, while the weekly reset involves basically everything else: milestones, Meditations, clan rewards, the Nightfall strike, and the raid. The challenges and Adventures that reset on the daily schedule usually do so around 1:00AM PST or 2:00AM PDT (depending on whether Daylights Savings Time is active), during which new challenges will appear on each of the destination planets and the Adventures found there will become available to replay for rewards.

The weekly reset is the more substantial of the two, dealing with many of the activities considered to be endgame content, like the Nightfall strike and raid. Destiny 2's weekly reset occurs early Tuesday mornings, 1:00AM PST or 2:00AM PDT, allowing those players who have already completed these activities and earned their rewards another chance to do so. At this time, the weekly milestones will reset, including the Crucible Call to Arms milestone, the weekly challenges milestone, the Clan XP milestone, and the Flashpoint milestone (including a new destination on which the Flashpoint will take place). The Meditations, or story mission replays, offered by Ikora Rey will also reset, as will the loot available as rewards for clan activities.

At this weekly reset, a new strike will be made the Nightfall strike and it will include new modifiers and challenges of its own. The raid will also reset, and while Destiny 2 currently only has the one raid, any progress made towards completing the Leviathan raid will be reset at this time. That means any checkpoint saves are erased and any keys (Drain Key, Engine Key, etc.) will disappear from a Guardian's inventory.

What To Do Every Week in Destiny 2

CHALLENGES - Making up the bulk of Destiny 2's resetting activities are challenges, which similarly to Destiny 1's bounties, task Guardians with short missions like complete three patrols on Titan or loot a Lost Sector near Exodus Black. Completing all of the challenges in any destination will grant tokens that can then be turned into a destination's vendor - the EDZ's Devrim Kay, Titan's Commander Sloane, Nessus' Failsafe, and Io's Asha Mir - towards earning rewards, typically legendary gear or engrams. Strikes and the Crucible will have their own daily challenges to complete and doing so nets a Guardian more tokens for trading to either Zavala or Shaxx in exchange for more loot. Since these challenges will reset daily, they are an easy way in which to grind for more gear, increasing the number of tokens that can be earned and therefor turned in towards rewards from Destiny 2's many vendors.

ADVENTURES - Added to the open world of Destiny 2, Adventures are more or less side quests, providing a bit of additional story as well as loot. Each destination features several Adventures (marked by their own icon on the map), and once all of the Adventures for a particular destination are completed, the Adventures become re-playable (up to four) every day. The rewards available for these adventures reset every day and they can vary depending on your power level. Moreover, completing them will also reward faction tokens which can be exchanged towards legendary gear from destination vendors.

MILESTONES - After the weekly reset, players will find that their Milestones tab (found in the Director) will have been updated with several new activities. These will generally include a Challenges milestone, which requires Guardians to complete a set number of challenges either in general or within a specific destination or activity (i.e. Nessus challenges or Strike challenges); a Flashpoint milestone, which asks Guardians to participate in public events on a specific destination; the Call to Arms milestone, completed by taking part in (not strictly winning) Crucible matches; and a Clan XP milestone, which is accounted for by earning XP for a clan through activities such as strikes, raids, Crucible, etc. Milestones reset weekly and reward powerful gear as well as reputation bundles, making them some of the most rewarding content to complete when looking to increase a Guardian's power level.

MEDITATIONS - In the Tower, Ikora Rey offers Guardians the chance to replay the missions from Destiny 2's campaign. These missions or Meditations will reset each week, with three new missions becoming available to play again. As reward for completing Meditations, Guardians will earn Vanguard Research Tokens that can be turned in to Ikora, over time earning reputation with her and eventually rewards. Ikora doles out legendary engrams in return for those tokens, making these replays of previous missions well worth the time. She is also the vender from whom Guardians can reclaim the armor worn by their starter class from Destiny 2's very beginning, earning it through the engrams Ikora rewards.

CLAN XP REWARDS - Clans aren't necessarily new to Destiny, but the way in which the sequel integrates them is new. Being a member of a clan in Destiny 2 gives Guardians even more opportunity to earn loot, which is by now quite obviously the key to advancement in Destiny 2. By simply being a member of a clan and participating in certain activities - strikes, the raid, Crucible, Meditations, world quests, and patrols (Lost Sectors and public events do not count) - Guardians will earn XP for their clan, increasing its level. As a clan levels up, perks are unlocked for its members, like earning additional Glimmer or rewards from public events. Clan members may only contribute 5,000 XP to their clan a week, but this resets at the weekly reset.

Clans can also earn legendary engrams for their members by completing another four challenges: winning a Crucible match, completing the Nightfall strike, completing the raid, and earning a 7-win ticked in The Trials of Nine PVP event. For each activity completed, clan members will earn one legendary engram, whether they were responsible for completing the activity or not. The chance to earn these rewards will also reset each week, making them a lucrative pursuit for any and all members of a clan.

NIGHTFALL STRIKE -Running strikes used to be a tried and true way to earn a lot of loot in Destiny, but the sequel has shifted much of the grind to world activities. Still, the Nightfall strike remains a top choice for those Guardians wishing to test themselves and be well rewarded for the effort. Unlike the average strike, Nightfalls reward powerful gear upon completion - though managing to do so in the time allowed is the real challenge, with only a meager 10-15 minutes on the clock and the chance of scoring additional time tied to completing certain objectives within the strike (killing enemies, hitting portals, etc.). Each week at the reset a new strike is chosen as the Nightfall, gaining modifiers that affect its difficulty and recommended tactics. The Nightfall is a harrowing experience for any fireteam but the rewards are some of the best in the game, befitting such a challenging endeavor. And for those players looking for an even tougher challenge (and presumably, greater reward), there's a hard mode version of the Nightfall strike called prestige.

LEVIATHAN RAID - Only the most experienced of players will advance to Destiny 2's true endgame - the raid, Leviathan. Releasing one week after the full game in order to allow players the time to level their Guardians to the required 280 power level, Leviathan is by far the biggest and most rewarding exercise in which Guardians can participate. However, just like the majority of Destiny 2's post-campaign activities, the raid will reset each week. On the upside, this means that sections of the raid which had previously been completed can be replayed for more rewards, but on the downside, any progress saved towards finishing the entire raid will be lost. This also applies to the keys earned from raid chests but not Emperor Calus Tokens, which don't expire. This particular raid will also switch the order in which Guardians will advance through the encounter, making that replay a little more exciting and daunting. Still, for the top tier rewards Destiny 2 has to offer and the gear that is sure to help a Guardian reach their max power level, it's worth it.

XUR & THE TRIALS OF NINE - In addition to the daily and weekly reset, Destiny 2 also includes a bit of a weekend update during the daily reset on Fridays at which time a new activity and vendors become available. The activity is a new event beginning around 10:00AM PT, The Trials of Nine, in where players form fireteams of four (there's no matchmaking) to compete in PVP matches of great skill. Fireteams need to win seven matches in order to gain their reward - a visit to the Third Spire and its brand-new vendor, the Emissary of the Nine. This weekend update is also when Xur, Destiny's familiar exotic salesman, returns, posting up somewhere within Destiny 2's open-world. Previously, Guardians had to hunt down where Xur was hiding in the Tower, but in this sequel he's highlighted on the map of a destination planet. He's often selling some of the game's most coveted gear, making it well worth a visit to trade in some legendary shards for an exotic or two. Come the weekly reset early Tuesday mornings, Xur and The Trials of Nine will disappear until the following Friday.

These activities are hardly all that resets every Tuesday; the vendor's stock (like Eververse's Bright Dust inventory) will change on a weekly basis as will Cayde-6's treasure maps, creating even more reason to regularly make the rounds in the Tower. Bungie has made a concerted effort to ensure that activity never ceases in Destiny 2, providing ample reason for players to return week after week, leveling their Guardian with all that loot.