Destiny 2: Echoes - Arena: Breach Executable Activity Guide (2024)

Destiny 2: The Final Shape has released its first episode of the year: Echoes. Nessus has been hit by an echo of the Travler's energy, bringing with it unexpected changes in the Vex and the entire landscape. Your Guardian must venture to Nessus and keep the Vex at bay.

This is done through the seasonal activity. Arena: Breach Executable is a short three-player arena that's similar to past seasonal activities, although there is a somewhat hidden side objective you can find partway through the activity. This guide will explain how to unlock this mission, give a short walkthrough of each mission objective, and showcase where you can find a Planetary Assimilation Piston.

How To Unlock Arena: Breach Executable

The core activity for this episode is unlocked after completing an introductory quest that immediately begins after logging in. You will be sent to Nessus and asked to stop a Vex threat that's converging on the Traveler echo that crashed on Nessus. If you exit this mission at any point, you should be able to restart it from the HELM.

Once complete, speak with Failsafe on Nessus, then complete the Arena: Breach Executable activity. This will start the episode's quest chain and grant access to Failsafe upgrades. You shouldn't need to complete the Final Shape campaign to access any Echoes content

Deposit Extracted Data

The mission starts with a simple exterminate task. Your goal is to eliminate enemies and collect their motes. These will look like Vex data cubes. Most major units will drop them. You can only hold ten at a time. Once your backpack is full, return to the marked pylon near the back of the map and deposit your motes. Repeat the process, and kill any bosses that spawn to finish this objective. Failsafe will then ask you to reposition.

Activate A Planetary Assimilation Piston

Between the first and second encounters, you can find a Planetary Assimilation Piston a short distance from the next data pylon. From our runs, we've only found it if your first encounter takes place in a canyon, although it likely has additional spawn points.

After you use the gravity lift to exit the canyon, head slightly left of the objective marker until you find a star-shaped objective marker on your HUD. This marks the Assimilation Piston. Activate it to receive some bonus loot.

Redirect The Vex Signal

Once you've reached the next area, you'll need to eliminate waves of Vex and collect their motes. In addition to dunking motes, you'll also need to destroy Vex nodes floating nearby. Destroy a nearby Minotaur and pick up its beam weapon. You can use this to destroy the Vex plates floating above the nearby data pillars. Continue to destroy these plates to spawn additional waves of Vex. Continue to defeat the Vex and redirect nodes until the objective meter is full.

Defeat The Tormentor

Failsafe will mark a nearby Vex portal your team must enter. Inside will be a Tormentor boss, an enemy highly resistant to non-precision damage. We highly recommend Sniper Rifles, Linear Fusion Rifles, and Forerunner. These weapons will melt the boss if you can aim for its shoulders and chest. If not, run Divinity to assist your teammates with landing critical hits.

The fight itself is a traditional Tormentor fight with no unique mechanics. Defeat the nearby enemies and deposit their motes to trigger seasonal bonuses like enhanced ability regeneration or extra ammo. Damaging the Tormentor will also cause it to despawn for a short duration, but you can damage it again once it reappears. Break its shoulders, focus on its chest, and it'll go down in a few minutes.

Defeating the Tormentor will teleport your fireteam to the reward chest, dropping Echoes-themed weapons and armor. This will also progress the episode's quest chain if this is your first clear. Return to the HELM to unlock Failsafe as a seasonal vendor and her upgrade quest lines.