Quick Links
Modifiers And Recommended Loadout
Remove Vex From The Neptunian Reactor
Get To The Reactor
Defeat Calixte, System Ward Finality
Find A Way Out Of The Building
Eliminate The Tormentors
Destiny 2: Lightfall's campaign features some of the franchise's toughest missions. Breakneck is one such mission, tasking Guardians with fighting an entire army of Vex and Cabal in arenas that feature minimal cover. Completing this mission on Legendary or Master is a serious task for most, but it's possible to turn Breakneck into Lightfall's easiest mission with a single glitch.
Related: Destiny 2 Lightfall: Downfall Legendary Campaign Walkthrough
This guide will cover how to complete Lightfall's Breakneck campaign mission on both Legendary and Master difficulties. We'll be covering the best loadouts you can use and give an in-depth breakdown of each encounter, including tips and how to perform this mission's unique invincibility bug. Even if this gets patched, this guide will showcase the best ways of completing this mission safely on all difficulties.
Modifiers And Recommended Loadout
Legendary | |
|---|---|
Power Level | 1,670 |
Mettle | Your effective Power is capped at 1,655 |
Legendary | Heavily shielded and highly aggressive combatants appear in great numbers. |
Chaff | Radar is disabled. |
Galvanized | Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun. |
Multiplicity | Greater fireteam size scales combatant difficulty and adds limitations on revives. |
Master | |
|---|---|
Power Level | 1,840 |
Mettle | Your effective Power is capped at 1,820 |
Master Modifiers | Extra Champions, Locked Loadout, Extra Shields |
Champion Foes | You will face Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable Champions. |
Pestilence | When defeated, Psions spawn Void grenades at their feet. |
Void Threat | 25% increase to incoming Void damage. |
Solar Surge | 25% increased damage to outgoing Solar damage. |
Strand Surge | 25% increased damage to outgoing Strand damage. |
Overcharged Weapons | Rocket Launcher and weapons overcharged from the Seasonal Artifact deal 25% increased damage. Kinetic weapons are overcharged if your subclass element matches an active surge. |
Legendary locks you to -15 Power under your enemies, causing them to hit harder and take more damage. This mission has hundreds of Vex and Cabal units, so you'll want to spec for 100 Resilience and use as many chest DR mods as possible. Engagement ranges are quite varied here, so a Machine Gun is recommended if you own one. We'll cover specific weapons further in this section.
Master features a -20 Power delta, all three Champion types, Solar and Strand Surges, Void Threats, and a modifier that makes Psions explode for Void damage on death. The Void Threat is easily the worst part of this mission, as nearly every enemy you'll face will deal Void damage. Wyverns, Cyclops units, and Tormentors will demolish your HP. Spec heavily into damage resistance (DR) and crowd control effects (CC).
This mission is incredibly difficult on Legendary and especially on Master. There is an invincibility glitch you can use to make this far easier, but we'll be recommending loadouts without this glitch in mind. Legendary players will want survivability and crowd control effects, and Master players will want to bring Strand.
read more
Subclass | |
|---|---|
Hunter | Nightstalker or Threadrunner |
Titan | Sunbreaker or Berserker |
Warlock | Voidwalker, Shadebinder, or Threadrunner |
Hunters on Legendary should use Nightstalker. It has constant invisibility if you run Stylish Executioner and Volatile Rounds through Echo of Instability. If you have any weapons with the Repulsor Brace perk, you'll be quite tanky since you'll have constant Void Overshields. For those attempting this on Master, Threadrunner is a great choice. Ensnaring Slam and Shackle Grenades completely trivialize Champions and make the Tormentor encounter a breeze. Be sure to spec for Woven Mail and grenade cooldowns.
Titans on Legendary can use Sunbreaker to stay alive. Constant access to Restoration and Sunspots will make you tough to kill. This spec does lack crowd control effects, so you might consider using really strong add-clearing weapons like Osteo Striga or Trinity Ghoul to help offset this. Those on Master should use Berserker with Abeyant Leap to constantly suspend targets. This counter Barrier and Unstoppable Champions, and it makes most add-dense sections much more manageable. You also get easy access to Woven Mail.
Warlocks have a few options here. For Legendary, Voidwalker and Shadebinder are both great options. Voidwalker is best for aggressive playstyles that have a good Machine Gun and good build. If you prefer to take things slowly, Shadebinder is perfect for this mission. Bleak Watcher turrets make all encounters much easier and help counter Champions on Master. Those attempting this on Master should use Threadrunner. Consuming a Shackle Grenade lets you suspend targets on kill. Paired with a good Exotic Primary like Osteo Striga, much of this mission's add-dense encounters become much less dangerous.
read more
Weapons | |
|---|---|
Artifact Weapons (Master Only) | Any weapons boosted by the Artifact will deal more damage on Master difficulty. Some passives also give your guns anti-Champion properties. |
Machine Guns | Versatile weapon archetype. Great for killing adds, majors, Champions, and minibosses. |
Osteo Striga | Great for killing adds. Synergizes nicely with Warlocks. |
Trinity Ghoul | Fantastic at killing adds from all ranges. |
Tractor Cannon | Stuns Overload Champions and disables Tormentor abilities. |
Witherhoard | Versatile Exotic that's good at everything. |
Ager's Scepter | Deals great damage and has excellent crowd control. Counters Overload and Unstoppable Champions. |
Artifact Weapons refer to any weapons buffed by your seasonal Artifact perks. These weapons count as Overcharged on Master difficulty, granting them a 25% damage buff. Use these weapons whenever possible to make Master a little easier.
Machine Guns are fantastic for this mission due to the absurd add-density that's present. Thunderlord is a good Exotic for general use, but we highly recommend using Commemoration or Retrofit Escapade if you own them.
Osteo Striga is a great SMG for killing adds, doubly so if you're a Warlock using Necrotic Grip or the Broodweaver subclass. With the right build, this weapon inflicts tons of poison explosions that suspend targets, making this mission a breeze on Master.
Trinity Ghoul is what Legendary players should use. With its Catalyst, every kill will refresh your lightning arrow, giving you infinite lightning arrows if you can keep killing enemies. And since this weapon hits incredibly hard, that's fairly easy to accomplish.
Tractor Cannon is worth considering for loadouts that can't counter Overload Champions or Tormentors. Suppression will stun Overload Champions on Master difficulty, and this gun will disable Tormentor abilities on all difficulties. This makes the final encounter much easier.
Witherhoard is a solid option if you aren't sure what to use. It's a versatile Exotic that does a little bit of everything. It locks down enemy spawns and deals solid damage-over-time against tougher foes.
Ager's Scepter is fantastic for this mission if you spec for Special Finisher and ammo mods. The beam will inflict Stasis slow on kill, stunning Overloads and greatly limiting an enemy's combat effectiveness. With its Catalyst, this gun's alt-fire mode will outright freeze targets and deal substantially more damage. Shattering a frozen Unstoppable Champion will also stun it, giving this weapon a ton of versatility on Master difficulty.
read more
Return to Quick Links
Related: Destiny 2: Top Legendary Weapons, Ranked
Remove Vex From The Neptunian Reactor
Hop on your Sparrow and make your way to Liming Harbor. Your goal is to enter the Radiosonde building on the southern end of the zone, but it's heavily guarded by Vex units. Stay back and destroy any Cyclops you see. These turrets will destroy you if you get close, especially on Master difficulty. The entryway to Radiosonde will spawn a small group of Vex and a Minotaur miniboss, upgraded to an Overload Champion on Master. The Vex units are heavily clumped here and can generally be dealt with through grenades or any CC effects. Deal with the Minotaur once the Cyclops turrets and Goblins are slain.
Inside the building, you'll face multiple Hobgoblins and a Barrier Hobgoblin on Master. Killing these enemies will spawn a small wave of Vex near the stairs, featuring a Wyvern and a Minotaur (Overload on Master). Do not push up. You'll want to fight near the entrance to the building when possible. This Wyvern is weak to CC effects, so consider freezing or suspending the target to give yourself some breathing room. Once you've dealt with all the enemies, make your way to Radiosonde. Use the Strand energy nearby to navigate to the next encounter.
Invincibility Glitch
When you enter Radiosonde, walk toward the Strand fragment but don't activate it. Once your Ghost finishes speaking, immediately backtrack to Liming Harbor and return to Radiosonde again. This will trigger the glitch and make you invulnerable for the rest of the mission. This works on all difficulties.
This guide's strategies were written without this glitch in mind, but we highly recommend doing this to make the mission easier. Clears will be substantially slower otherwise.
Return to Quick Links
Get To The Reactor
Encounter Breakdown | |
|---|---|
Objective | Fight through waves of Vex to reach the reactor. |
Notable Enemies | Vex Hobgoblins, Cyclops, Wyverns |
Champions (Master Only) | Overload, Barrier |
This encounter is a test of patience and positioning. You'll need to fight dozens of Vex units and an absurdly tanky Wyvern boss to make your way through the facility. Immediately after starting the encounter, use your grenade to clear out the wave of Vex units, then focus on killing the Cyclops. A second wave will spawn right behind that Cyclops that include more fodder units and a Minotaur (Overload on Master).
The next part of the facility is much more open, but it is filled with dozens of Vex units. Do not push up. You'll want to stay back and take cover behind nearby crates as you deal with the Vex units. Focus on the Cyclops turrets and Hobgoblins first, especially on Master as two of these Hobgoblins will be Barrier variants. Defeating these enemies will spawn yet another wave of Vex, this time including a Wyvern miniboss that's immune to CC effects. Stay as far away from this boss as you can, using your Super and Machine Gun to damage it from a distance. You can kite the Wyvern between the pillars in the arena to give yourself some cover.
Further into the facility, you'll have to fight another Wyvern—this one is vulnerable to CC effects—alongside some Harpies that spawn to your left, nothing that should give you trouble. Use the nearby vents to make your way through the facility. This next room will have some headless Goblins standing beside a Vex pillar of data. Kill the Goblins and destroy the cube that's above the Vex pillar. This will spawn a Wyvern major with a few Goblins, A CC ability or a grenade should take care of them.
You'll be near the reactor at this point. Some Goblins will be guarding the stairs, but you'll want to direct your attention to the platform directly behind you. This area is guarded by a Cyclops, multiple Hobgoblins, and Minotaurs. On Master, you'll fight two Barrier Champions and one Overload Champion here. Stick near the bottom of the stairs for cover. If you still have Heavy ammo and/or your Super, now is the time to use it. You'll get all of your resources back after this fight. Clear out the adds to reach the next encounter.
Return to Quick Links
Defeat Calixte, System Ward Finality
Encounter Breakdown | |
|---|---|
Objective | Defeat the Hydra in a three-phase fight. |
Notable Enemies | Vex Hobgoblins, Cyclops, Wyverns |
Champions (Master Only) | Overload, Barrier |
Be sure to use the Rally Flag before starting this encounter. You'll have to fight a Hydra boss in three phases, each swarming you with fodder enemies and a few Champions on Master. If you're playing on Legendary, now is the time to swap to a Machine Gun and a good add-clearing Super.
Start the encounter by shooting the headless Goblins and destroying the Vex pillar. This will spawn Calixte, System Ward Finality. Immediately find cover behind a pillar or the stairs you just came from. Kill the fodder units first to give yourself some breathing room, then shoot at Calixte from a distance with your Heavy weapon. Damaging the boss will cause it to flee before spawning more adds, including a Wyvern that's vulnerable to CC effects and a Minotaur (Overload on Master). Kill the adds before you chase the Hydra. It'll teleport to an adjacent room. Use the vents to the left side of the arena to reach the next room.
Detain Drones
Destroying Vex Pillars and damaging the Hydra boss will cause a Vex projectile to spawn. If it touches you, you'll be stuck in a bubble and must shoot your way out. Getting detained disables your abilities, including Supers. Shoot these before they make contact to avoid getting detained.
The second phase plays out much like the first. Calixte will be surrounded by Harpies when it spawns this time. Use a grenade to quickly clear out the adds, then focus your attention on the boss. You can use the cylindrical object in the center of this room as cover. The boss will spawn a Wyvern and more Goblins when it retreats, no Champions this time. CC effects and Machine Guns work well here. Use the vents on the right to reach the boss.
Calixte's final phase is slightly more hectic due to the lack of cover. Now is a great time to use your Super if you've been waiting. One of the initial adds will be a Barrier Champion on Master, but the rest of the adds will be standard Goblins and Hobgoblin units. Clear the adds and burn down Calixte's health bar as fast as you can. Killing the Hydra will end the encounter. Reactivate the turbine and use the nearby vents to reach the final encounter.
Return to Quick Links
Related: Destiny 2: Armor Mods And Armor Charge Explained
Find A Way Out Of The Building
Turns out the Shadow Legion has rigged this place to explode. You'll need to fight a few Cabal enemies and make your way to the top of the facility. The only note-worthy thing with this fight is the presence of two Unstoppable Champions on Master difficulty that spawn in the first wave. If you have any CC tools, this part shouldn't pose any threat to you. You can use Strand to navigate through the facility, but we recommend ignoring it entirely. You can complete the jumping section in a few seconds, so Strand really isn't needed.
Eliminate The Tormentors
Encounter Breakdown | |
|---|---|
Objective | Defeat two Tormentors. |
Notable Enemies | Tormentors, Cabal Incendiors |
Champions (Master Only) | Unstoppable |
This encounter requires you to kill two Tormentors while fighting a small army of Shadow Legion Cabal. Those playing on Master difficulty will also have to fight two Unstoppable Champions throughout the encounter, all of which spawn at the center of the arena. When the encounter begins, attempt to stun the Tormentors. Stasis freeze, Strand suspend, Void suppress, and Arc blind all work for this. If you're on Master, both Unstoppable Champions spawn near the center. If you can get the Tormentors in this same spot, you can stun all enemies at once. Those without any CC effects will need to constantly rotate around the arena to avoid dying.
If you can catch all the enemies in a stunlock, you can effectively speed-clear this encounter by killing the Tormentors. The second both Tormentors are dead, the encounter ends, so focus on breaking their shoulders and chest as soon as possible. Fodder Shadow Legion units will spawn during the start and as you damage the Tormentors. Any decent Primary or Machine Gun can handle them. When a Tormentor dies, a small wave of Cabal will spawn that includes a Gladiator, War Beasts, and a few Psions. You can use crowd control effects on these enemies to make them virtually harmless. Focus on killing the Tormentors above all else to finish this encounter.
Escape
You have two minutes to finish the escape sequence before you wipe. If you performed the invincibility glitch earlier, this timer will not appear on your HUD.
With the Tormentors slain, you'll need to use the nearby vents to find an escape route. Your Ghost and HUD waypoints will guide you through the facility. Strand isn't required to exit the facility, but those playing on Legendary should interact with them to get a hang of the Grapple grenade. Reach the top of the facility to finish the mission.
Return to Quick Links
Next: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Strand
