What is the Nightfall weapon this week in Destiny 2?

Nightfalls can be one of the most challenging activities in Destiny 2 on higher difficulties. Luckily, they come with rewards to match. Each week, at least one Nightfall weapon is in rotation and can drop from Nightfall completions.

Higher difficulties have better odds, and Guardians brave enough to face Grandmasters will get an Adept version of whatever weapon is on tap that week.

Season of the Wish only has two Battlegrounds in its Nightfall rotation (Heist Battlegrounds: Moon and PsiOps Battlegrounds: Cosmodrome), with HyperNet Current (Lightfall) and Birthplace of the Vile (Savathûn’s Throne World) also in the mix. The Corrupted and the revamped Lake of Shadows round out the rotation. It’s not the hardest Grandmaster pool, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park either.

Here is the Nightfall weapon for this week in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2 Nightfall weapon this week: May 7 to April 14

• Weapon: Pre Astyanax IV
• Nightfall: Heist Battleground: Moon
• Champions: Barrier, Unstoppable
• Threat: Void
• Surge: Strand, Solar
• Overcharge: Sniper rifle

Nightfall weapon this week: Pre Astyanax IV

Pre Astyanax IV is the Nightfall weapon for this week, and Destiny 2 players who have been diving into the playlist probably have a good copy of this Solar bow already. Pre Astyanax IV offers a few interesting perks, such as Archer’s Tempo paired with Explosive Head, Incandescent, or Successful Warm-Up. These are generally among the best rolls for bows, and Pre Astyanax packs them all.

Pre Astyanax IV has competition within its own vendor: Zavala also sells Strident Whistle, a regular Vanguard weapon that has the same element and archetype. Strident Whistle offers similar combinations, with even more options for flavor—though that comes with the hefty 12-trait pool that ritual weapons usually bring. Pre Astyanax IV has the Adept factor in its favor, if you’re inclined to try Grandmasters for a chance at applying Adept mods. Thankfully for guardians, though, the Nightfall weapon this week has an easy substitute if you can’t get your hands on it.

All Nightfall weapons in rotation in Season of the Wish

Each season, six Nightfall weapons are in the rotation, though the delay of The Final Shape means Season of the Wish has eight. Completing a Nightfall has the chance to award players with a random roll of the Nightfall weapon for that week, with higher difficulties improving your odds.

If you’ve reset your rank with Zavala, your Destiny 2 weapons may drop with additional perks on either the third or fourth column (or both), depending on how much reputation you’ve acquired with him.

The Nightfall weapons in Season of The Wish are: 

• Loaded Question
• BrayTech Osprey
• Uzume RR4
• Warden’s Law
• Undercurrent
• Pre-Astyanax IV
• Wild Style
• The Slammer

What are the Nightfalls in Season of the Wish?

Here is what the Nightfall rotation will look like in Season of the Witch:

• PsiOps Battleground: Cosmodrome
• Birthplace of the Vile
• HyperNet Current
• Lake of Shadows
• The Corrupted
• Heist Battleground: Moon

Nightfall weapons available through Focused Decoding at Commander Zavala

The Focused Decoding section of Zavala offers the possibility to focus on the current Nightfall weapon. Vanguard weapons introduced to the loot pool after Beyond Light can also still drop. These include:

• Nightfall weapons: Loaded Question, BrayTech Osprey, Warden’s Law, Pre Astyanax IV
• Vanguard weapons: Royal Entry, Empty Vessel, Punching Out, Fortissimo-11, Strident Whistle, Pure Poetry, Prolonged Engagement, Nameless Midnight, Positive Outlook, Luna Regolith III

Nightfall weapons available through Legacy Focusing at Commander Zavala

If you missed some of the old Nightfall weapons, you can spend your hard-earned Vanguard Engrams to obtain these weapons for the first time, even though they’re no longer obtainable through normal means. Older weapons, such as the Palindrome and Shadow Price, aren’t available through this method.

Here are the former Nightfall weapons you can decode in Destiny 2:

• The Hothead (Rocket launcher, Arc): A great rocket launcher that will reign as long as rocket launchers continue to be good DPS options.
• Duty Bound (Auto rifle, Kinetic, 600rpm): A great Kinetic auto rifle with a litany of good perk choices.
• Silicon Neuroma (Sniper rifle, Kinetic, 72rpm): A great, hard-hitting Kinetic 72rpm sniper rifle made better by a perk pool with Triple Tap potentially paired with Firing Line or Focused Fury.
• D.F.A. (Hand cannon, Kinetic, 140rpm): A good 140rpm that can take your slot if you don’t have anything better, but it can potentially be outclassed by other options.
• Horror’s Least (Pulse rifle, Arc, 540rpm): A pulse rifle that’s better for the Crucible than for PvE, but you can still do some damage with it if you have the right rolls.
• The Militia’s Birthright (Grenade launcher, Kinetic, Breech-Loading): A solid grenade launcher with access to good perks. It can be outclassed by the competition, but its accessibility is where it shines.
• The Mindbender’s Ambition (Shotgun, Solar, Aggressive Frame): A once-glorious shotgun that has returned without most of its former glory.
• PLUG ONE.1 (Fusion rifle, Arc): A good general-use fusion rifle with access to Reservoir Burst and other damage/charge time perks.
• Uzume RR4 (Sniper rifle, Arc), 90rpm: A good PvE sniper with access to Triple Tap and Clown Cartridge, as well as Vorpal Weapon and High-Impact Reserves.
• The Comedian (Shotgun, Void): A shotgun that wasn’t that great to begin with, but has been quickly power crept.

Best Nightfall weapons worth farming in Destiny 2

• The Hothead: One of the best rocket launchers for sheer damage, which becomes even better when a Gjallarhorn is involved. 
• The Militia’s Birthright: A serviceable Kinetic grenade launcher with a decent perk pool and access to Blinding Grenades. If you don’t have any weapon to fit that slot, the Militia’s Birthright can be more than enough.
• Hung Jury SR4: Will continue to be a great option for scout rifles as long as they excel at range and continue to get Champion mods.
• Buzzard: A good Kinetic sidearm worth tracking down because of Overflow and Kinetic Tremors, though veterans may have a few alternatives on their vaults.
• Horror’s Least: Rapid-fire pulses may not hit the hardest in PvE, but if you like them, Horror’s Least is a solid choice—and an even better addition to any PvP player’s arsenal since it lets them fight comfortably at range.

What are the Grandmaster Nightfall rewards in Destiny 2?

Grandmaster Nightfalls are the hardest challenge in Destiny 2, but they give out some of the most coveted rewards in the game. Completing a Grandmaster Nightfall will drop an Adept version of that week’s weapon, which can use Adept mods and gain slight bonuses to other stats when masterworked.

In addition to the Adept weapon (the crown jewel of GMs), players also have a shot at obtaining Ascendant Shards and Exotic armor upon completing a GM, with a Nightfall Memento on the table.

The rewards for Grandmaster Nightfalls are:

• Adept Nightfall Weapon (Common, but guaranteed with a Platinum completion)
• Exotic Gear (Common)
• Ascendant Shards (Common)
• Nightfall Cipher (Common)

Bungie doesn’t share the exact drop rate for Nightfall weapons, so it’s hard to estimate exactly what the “common” drop rates mean. In our experience, though, completing a Grandmaster with a Platinum score has consistently yielded us at least one Ascendant Shard or an Exotic armor piece.