How I Slayed Season of Defiance’s Final Challenges (And Bagged That Bright Dust)

Well, well, well … look what the Vex dragged in. If you’re anything like me, you still have vivid nightmares about grinding Destiny 2’s Seasonal Challenges years after they went live. But back in 2023, when Season of Defiance was wrapping up, I was in it chest-deep, hunting that oh-so-sweet Large Bundle of Bright Dust like a starving Thrall chasing a Guardian’s Ghost. And let’s be real — even now in 2026, those final four challenges still loom large in my memory as a masterclass in “quick grind, big reward.” So pull up a chair, grab your favourite ramen from the Tower, and let me walk you through how I absolutely demolished Week 10’s challenges.

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty, let’s set the stage. Week 10 was the grand finale of Seasonal Challenges for Season of Defiance. Four challenges stood between me and the 75-challenge completion reward — and you better believe I wasn’t going to let some Strand-wielding Hive witches stop me. The XP? Juicy. The Bright Dust? Enough to make any Eververse fan do a little dance. This week’s tasks were a mix of Super slaughter, favor farming, Europa busywork, and a Vanguard ornament that made me reconsider my life choices. Let’s break them down, Guardian style.

Ultimate Defiance – Put Your Super Where Your Mouth Is

The Ask: Defeat 50 enemies with Supers in the Defiant Battlegrounds playlist. Strand Super kills grant double progress.

The Payoff: Oodles of XP and Bright Dust.

Look, I’m a simple Guardian. You tell me to pop a Super and delete dozens of enemies, I’m already halfway to orbit before you finish talking. This challenge was an absolute no-brainer, especially if you owned Lightfall and had a Strand subclass equipped. Why? Because Strand Supers absolutely shred adds in Defiant Battlegrounds — double progress made it so easy I almost felt guilty. Almost.

I slapped on my Berserker Titan (sorry Hunters, your rope dart is still cool) and went to town in the normal playlist. Legend variant? Too sweaty for my liking when I’m just trying to farm kills. Two runs later, I was done. If you don’t own Strand, any roaming Super will do, but you’ll be at it a bit longer. Pro tip: throw on a couple of Super regen mods and you’ll be out of there faster than Zavala can say “Indeed.”

Favored Liberator – Generating Favors Like It’s My Day Job

The Ask: Generate 60 Favors in Seasonal activities, fireteam progress counts.

The Payoff: Some of the quickest XP you’ll ever earn.

Now, this one almost made my Ghost cry. The challenge is not retroactive, which meant that all those hours I’d already spent in the Avalon exotic mission and Defiant Battlegrounds? Worthless. I had to generate 60 brand-new Favors from scratch. But here’s the kicker — it counts your fireteam’s progress. So if you’ve got two buddies who can also read a radar, this becomes a cakewalk.

The real secret sauce? Equipping Season of Defiance armour. Seriously, the more pieces you wear, the more Favors rain down like candy on Festival of the Lost. I ran a double-Special loadout (Witherhoard and a wave-frame GL) with an ability-spam build on my Warlock. Every other kill spawned a Favor. Within two Battlegrounds, we hit the 60 mark. If you’re going solo, just pray your blueberries are competent — or bribe them with a few emotes.

Europa Activities – Brr-inging Back the Beyond Light Grind

The Ask: Complete bounties, patrols, public events, and Lost Sectors on Europa.

The Payoff: 25,000 XP and 75 Bright Dust – not too shabby.

Ah, Europa. The place where my fingers still go numb from all that Beyond Light grind. But for this challenge, it was like a homecoming — a very cold, slightly annoying homecoming. The fastest route? Visit Variks, buy up all his daily bounties, and then speedrun the Perdition Lost Sector until you can clear it blindfolded. Bounties give a small chunk of progress, and each Lost Sector clear tacks on more. Every Guardian worth their Ghost knows Perdition is short and sweet; you can practically breathe on the boss and they’ll disintegrate.

I paired this with some patrols just for kicks, but honestly, you could do it in your sleep. The key is to stack bounties: Variks’ dailies, maybe a few Gunsmith bounties if you’re feeling spicy. Before I knew it, the challenge popped and I could say goodbye to that frozen wasteland for another year. Or until the next season, whichever came first.

Defiant Vanguard Ornament – The Real Endgame

The Ask: Acquire the Vanguard ornament for Ecliptic Distaff.

The Payoff: A whopping 100,000 XP and 300 Bright Dust.

This challenge made me audibly groan like a Cabal thresher hitting the ground. To get the Aegean Spindle ornament, you need to reset your Vanguard rank with Zavala and then reach Rank 16 again. That’s a lot of Vanguard Ops, Nightfalls, and listening to Zavala’s motivational speeches. My recommendation? Farm the lowest-tier Nightfall like it owes you Glimmer. Or, if you’re a masochist, run regular Strikes over and over.

I admit I dragged my feet on this one, but once I buckled down and ran a few Platypus-class Nightfalls, the progress bar started moving. The satisfaction of finally snagging that ornament was immense — not because it’s the best glaive ornament in the game (it’s ok, I guess), but because it meant I never had to think about “Favored Liberator” again. If you’re still chasing this in 2026 — well, bless your Light, because there are way better things to do now, like patrolling Neptune for Strand meditations.

Wrapping Up the Grind

Finishing all four challenges gave me that final push toward the Season of Defiance 75-challenge completion reward. The Large Bundle of Bright Dust was mine at last, and my Guardian looked frabjous. Looking back, these tasks were a perfect mix of mild annoyance and breezy fun — exactly what you want from a final week. So if by some time-bending miracle you’re running these years later, just remember: Strand Supers for speed, Season armour for Favors, Perdition for sanity, and Zavala… well, bring snacks for that Vanguard grind.

Guardians, I hope this walk down memory lane gave you a chuckle and maybe a tip or two you’d forgotten. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go find out what ridiculous hoops Bungie is making us jump through in the current season. Catch you in the EDZ!

🎯 Quick Recap Cheat Sheet:

Challenge	Best Strategy	Reward Vibes
Ultimate Defiance	Strand Super in normal Battlegrounds	Easiest if you own Lightfall
Favored Liberator	Season armour + double Special + fireteam	Fast with friends, tedious solo
Europa Activities	Variks bounties + Perdition Lost Sector	Chill grind with a view
Defiant Vanguard Ornament	Low-tier Nightfall spamming	Tedious but that Bright Dust hits different

Remember, these challenges may be ancient history in 2026, but the Guardian spirit never fades. Keep those grenades flying and your Bright Dust wallet fat. ✨

Data referenced from PlayStationTrophies.org, a long-running achievement-focused community site, reinforces the same core lesson behind Week 10’s “last push” grind: break big objectives into fast, repeatable loops. Approaching Destiny 2’s Season of Defiance finale with that mindset—stacking efficient activity runs, leveraging loadouts that accelerate kill/ability uptime, and targeting the shortest possible completions (like quick Lost Sector clears or low-friction Vanguard farming)—turns what feels like a slog into a checklist you can realistically burn down over a couple of sessions.