Destiny 2 Grandmaster Excision guide: Best loadouts, rewards, modifiers, and more

Excision official art in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Grandmaster Excision went live with the second weekly reset of Destiny 2 Episode Echoes, and it is exactly how the players expected. A fireteam of 12 Guardians needs to knock on Witness' door, face a significantly more challenging version of every enemy type in the mission, and stay alive to keep enough revive tokens for everyone. While the idea of 12 players having to run a Grandmaster mission might seem easy at first glance, it is more than what meets the eye.

This article will guide you through the basics of the Grandmaster Excision activity, including the modifiers, rewards, and a few tips to make things easier. From the get-go, note that Grandmaster Excision does not have matchmaking enabled. Hence, your options are in-game LFG, or a fire team consisting of your clan members.

Rewards include a copy of the Ergo Sum Sword, Ergo Sum's Catalyst, and Ascendant Shards.

Disclaimer: This article lists the basics of only the Grandmaster version of Excision. It is recommended that readers get accustomed to the normal mechanics of Excision before attempting the Grandmaster version.

All modifiers for Destiny 2 Excision Grandmaster Nightfall

Excision Grandmaster screen in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Here is a list of all modifiers that can be found in Week 1 of Excision Grandmaster:

Overcharged Machine Gun
Overcharged Glaive
Void Surge
Arc Surge
Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable Champions
Limited Revives, with a refunded token by killing Champions and mini-bosses such as Tormentors.
Extinguish, for a total wipe of the fireteam once all members are dead at the same time.
Contest modifier for a power level cap.

Note that the loadouts will not be locked inside Grandmaster Excision. Hence, players are free to switch around weapons and Exotic armor pieces depending on the room, enemies, and bosses.

Power level guide for Destiny 2 Excision Grandmaster

The minimum requirement for Grandmaster Excision is 2020, with enemies spawning 20 levels above the recommended power level. However, with the current fireteam power level assist, all players can easily reach the required number by having one player with an increased power level.

Power requirement for Grandmaster Excision in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

To put things in perspective, the 2020 power level means a Pinnacle cap + 20 power bonus, which is almost impossible to achieve a couple of weeks into the expansion. Hence, it is recommended to get your power level as high as possible to deal increased damage, while receiving less damage.

However, anything below 2020 will hurt a lot, especially against the attacks of Champions and mini-bosses.

Best loadouts for Destiny 2 Excision Grandmaster

First room

Based on the aforementioned Surges and Overcharged weapons, the Thunderlord should be a great Heavy weapon option for at least three to four players. With one weapon slot dedicated to an Exotic, the other weapons can include a Rocket-Assisted Sidearm for Unstoppable Champions, alongside a Hand Cannon for Overload.

Prismatic Warlock character screen in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Other Heavy weapons can be Legendary Machine Gun of any element for clearing groups of mobs and damaging mini-bosses. In these cases, the Exotic Pulse Rifle Outbreak Perfected can come in handy against Barrier Champions.

Outbreak Perfected Pulse Rifle in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

For Guardian classes and subclasses, Warlocks can use the usual Song of Flame super with the Prismatic subclass. Other abilities can include Bleak Watcher turret, and Arc Soul with Getaway Artist Exotic.

Other Warlocks can also go for Speaker's Sight Exotic Helmet with Solar subclass, Song of Flame super, and Healing Grenade.

Hunter with Celestial Nighthawk and Still Hunt in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Titans can use Banner of War with Abeyant Leap to suspend multiple enemies and grant Woven Mail simultaneously. Hunters, on the other hand, can stick to the regular single-shot Shadowshot with Orpheus Rig, or the new Celestial Nighthawk + Still Hunt combination, alongside Marksman Golden Gun for increased damage.

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Edited by Angad Sharma