Think you’re ready for Escalation Protocol? The new mode, found exclusively in the new Mars map included in the Destiny 2: Warmind DLC pits a pack of players against an endless horde of Hive. It’s one of the hardest, highest Power Level events you can tackle before the new Warmind Raid Lair — and it’s a great way to earn totally unique, powerful gear.
Escalation Protocol can be a little bit confusing for new players. If you’re just getting started on Warmind and want to know more about this cool new way to play, we’ll explain everything in the guide below. There are unique armor sets to find, exotic weapons, and methods you can use to cheese the patrol system and bring up to nine clan allies with you to a single escalation. Keep scrolling to get all the info we’ve got so far — and drop us a comment if you there’s anything we missed.
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Everything You Need To Know About Escalation Protocol | Tips, Exotics & More
What Is Escalation Protocol?: Escalation Protocol is a wave-based horde mode found in the Glacial Drift and in Braytech Futurescape on Mars. Start the mode at any time by activating a square node at the Warsat Down Public Event locations. Any player can activate an Escalation Protocol as long as the Warsat Down PE is not currently going on.
What Power Level Do I Need To Be?: Escalation Protocol starts at Power Level 360 (20 above the new PL softcap) and only gets more difficult from there. There are four rounds to each wave — three rounds of Hive enemies, followed by an elite Hive monster. All waves are timed, and if you don’t defeat the Ogre before the time limit is up, the mode will end in failure.
How To Get The Javelin: As you fight the horde, you can use Armory Keys (acquired by opening chests, defeating VIPs, or any other Mars activities) to unlock a Valkyrie Javelin relic weapon. These are timed, and you’ll expend one Armory Key for each relic weapon you collect. You can collect as many as you want.
Escalation Protocol Will Unlock After Completing The DLC Campaign
Until you finish the five included story missions in Warmind, you won’t be able to access Escalation Protocol. Once you defeat the big bad Xol and talk to Ana Bray / Zavala a few more times, you’ll be free to return to Mars and unlock the Escalation Protocol Event.
Getting The Best Gear (Including Exotics)
There’s a special set of armor that you can only unlock by completing Escalation Protocol. To do that, you’ll need to defeat the big boss — every week, a new unique Hive boss will spawn at Wave 7. The bosses will be rotated, and each one drops a different piece of exotic or legendary masterwork gear.
Getting this special gear is a guaranteed way to increase your Power Level past the softcap (360) — and you’ll need to. As the waves increase in Escalation Protocol, so will the Power Level requirement. It starts at 360, and increases up to 380. That’s the hardcap, making this one of the most challenging activities in the game currently.
How To Bring 9 Friends To An Escalation Protocol
Escalation Protocol takes place on social maps — and you can only join fireteams of three. That means you’ll always work with at least six strangers while fighting some of the toughest battles in the game. There is a way to get around this limitation; follow these steps, and you can bring more friends with you.
- Collect all nine (or fewer) friends together. If you want to bring more than three, you can use this method. Adjust accordingly!
- Start out solo (not in a fireteam) and travel to one of the Escalation Protocol maps. Stay in close communication with your friends — it’s the only way to make this work.
- After selecting a Mars Landing Zone, continue to fast travel between landing zones until you randomly drop into a map with one of your friends. Keep doing this until all three friends (not in a Fireteam) are in the same zone.
- Now, each of the three friends can form their own fireteam — allowing you to bring in up to six more friends to the same map.
This is the only way to get a full, raid-level team for one of the toughest challenges available in Destiny. It takes a little bit of fiddling, but it’s totally worth the effort if you’ve got a big enough clan. The longest you can survive, the better.
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