The last several weeks of Season of the Seraph have set a high bar for the story unfolding. Bringing back Clovis Bray’s Exo Frame has revitalized the storytelling and brought a compelling character and narrative that the Seasonal content sorely needed. Additionally, exploring and learning more about his many facilities and works nicely sets up humanity’s preparations for The Witness’s return, which is highly anticipated in the future Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 releasing in February 2023.

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How to Get Operation: Seraph’s Shield

Operation: Seraph’s Shield is tied to the weekly story mission More Than a Weapon, which players will have to progress through Week 3, moving along to loot a required Seraph Chest. Once that’s accomplished, players can visit the H.E.L.M. to speak with the Exo Stranger, Elsie Bray at the holoprojector, which will grant access to the Exotic quest, The Hidden Shape. The first part of The Hidden Shape has players launch a new mission in the H.E.L.M. map, Operation: Seraph’s Shield. The mission has two modes, Normal and Legendary. Players need only complete it on Normal to advance the quest for the Exotic Pulse Rifle.

The mission for Operation: Seraph’s Shield begins similarly to the different Heist Battleground missions. However, players soon find themselves in a launch tube to board the Clovis Bray Orbital Station in Earth’s orbit. On board the station, not only will Guardians face off against a myriad of House Salvation Fallen, but they will need to introduce a computer virus into the system to prevent the Fallen from obtaining crucial Intel.

Operation: Seraph Shield’s Mission Dynamics

As players progress through the mission, they will use mechanics similar to the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, involving obtaining Augments from House Salvation Fallen enemies such as Scanners and Operator protocols to view terminals and interfaces which glow to guide players to the next area. While familiar to players who have completed Deep Stone Crypt Raid, these puzzles are most likely refreshing to newer players who have not.

These puzzles involve determining which interfaces and terminals to hack and shoot, and they also dictate safe zones, such as in the Microwave Room, where touching the wrong floor tile results in instantly dying. Other puzzles include matching the correct terminal layouts as the ones the Augments let players see in previous rooms before a shield knocks the Augment out. Finally, Destiny 2 players will traverse outside the Bray Orbital Station, jumping across different mechanical arms and platforms to reach a safety zone.

Despite sharing aesthetics and puzzles from the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, many players have found The Hidden Shape and thus the mission Operation: Seraph’s Shield to be a breath of fresh air. For a brief bit, the mission, along with the Exotic Pulse Rifle Revision Zero, was trending on Twitter, with many players in the community adding their voices to the jubilance of steps to go through without repeating the Heist Battleground missions over and over.

This issue occurred during Season of Plunder, which saw the lowest player count for the Destiny 2 community, with many complaints lobbied at the repetitive nature of the Ketchcrash and Expedition missions required to advance the story. Now that Heist Battlegrounds are live, it seems Bungie has heard the complaints and listened to its fanbase, bringing back popular mechanics and creating a new way to tackle Seasonal content. If things continue in this positive direction, Operation: Seraph’s Shield should become a template for handling future Seasons.

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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