Should You Play the Legendary Witch Queen Campaign in Destiny 2?
After multiple completions and dozens of cumulative hours attempting the brutal gauntlet that is Legendary Witch Queen, I firmly believe that all skilled and determined Destiny players should experience this pinnacle PvE challenge. Yes, Legendary Witch Queen is punishingly hard, but the struggle makes finally conquering it tremendously rewarding and memorable.
Unmatched Difficulty That‘s Manageable With Practice
Legendary ratchets enemy health and damage up to an astronomical degree – we‘re talking over 2500% health increases for red bars and over 7000% for majors and ultras according to player testing.
Champions become borderline minibosses, and Savathun herself has over 12x her normal health pool at the final stand. Here‘s a comparison of key enemy stat increases:
| Enemy Type | Health Increase | Damage Increase |
| Thrall | 2500% | 400% |
| Knight | 7000% | 650% |
| Champion | 14,500% | 850% |
However, through optimized loadouts, defensive ability cycling, and relentless practice, players have proven it is possible to topple. My first completion took nearly 16 hours, but I can now finish in under 6 thanks to expertise I‘ve developed.
The Campaign Is Lengthened Greatly on Legendary
Beyond stats, Legendary also adds major mechanics changes – the enemies are far smarter and more aggressive with ability usage, bosses have new attacks and immunity phases, respawn restricted, and the activity has automatic wipe timers.
This significantly slows down progress. Where a normal run takes most approximately 7 hours, Legendary averages between 12-15 hours for first completions according to community surveys. Speedrun records still clock in at over 2 hours!
| Campaign Difficulty | Average Completion Time | Speedrun Record |
| Normal | 7 hours | 1 hour 4 minutes |
| Legendary | 12-15 hours | 2 hours 14 minutes |
So expect Legendary to be almost twice as long – it turns an already movie-length campaign into a TV show season spanning challenge!
The Ultimate Destiny 2 PvE Test
While some may argue Grandmaster Nightfalls push higher absolute difficulty, I believe Legendary Witch Queen is the single hardest piece of Destiny content available right now for a few reasons:
- Enemies are smarter, faster, and more aggressive than GMs
- No immunity phases to create safe openings like strikes
- Requires mastery of several boss fights in a row rather than a single repetition
- If you die, you don‘t restart at a checkpoint – you go back to orbit!
You have to maintain extreme precision, skill, and consistency for hours without a single major mistake. That‘s harder to achieve than a 20 minute GM with no real mechanics. Even the seasoned PvE purists on /r/DestinyTheGame hail Legendary as the pinnacle challenge.
And that unmatched difficulty makes finally toppling Legendary so sweet and such a badge of honor. Stories of 3am victory shouts after endless wipes are common – the payoff matches the pain.
It Makes You a Master of Destiny Systems
By forcing you into such lengthy encounters against such potent enemies, Legendary Witch Queen also makes you intimately familiar with all of Destiny 2‘s intricacies in a way nothing else demands:
- Mastery of ability cycling for survivability
- Memorization of enemy layouts and behaviors
- Understanding of optimal positioning, angles etc.
- Intimate class, build, and loadout optimization
Rather than just a tough numbers check like GMs, Legendary tests total gameplay comprehension in a crucible of combat. Streamers like Gladd and Datto say Legendary taught them damage and economy tricks they never knew before.
Put simply – beat Legendary Witch Queen, and you‘ll be an expert on Destiny 2 systems forever after. That knowledge will make all PvE content moving forward a breeze.
It Offers the Best Campaign Rewards in History
While the journey itself and education along the way are rewarding enough, Legendary also showers you with elite tier loot:
- Full 1520 power level armor set
- Up to 25 Upgrade Modules
- 13 Enhancement Cores and Prisms
- Exotic gear pick after final boss
- Throne World title requirement (Enlightened)
No other campaign has offered such sheer value just for running through missions on higher difficulty. The 1520 gear alone would take weeks of powerfuls/pinnacles to accumulate normally – Legendary fast tracks that in 12 hours.
It essentially functions like a mini-raid, truly earning its stripes as endgame content. The sheer time and energy cost also make the rewards feel truly triumphantly earned rather than gifted freely.
It‘s a Must-Do for Destiny Veterans and Streamers
While definitely not beginner friendly, Legendary Witch Queen offers the ultimate challenge for Destiny 2 veterans and especially content creators.
GladdSG completed it day one, but other top PvE names like Equinox Teawrex and Saltagreppo needed 16-30 hours across weeks of attempts. Their eventual victories were sublime moments.
Beating Legendary has become a competitive badge of honor in the community, especially when racing for world‘s first asexpansion drops is so viewership driven. Redeem still holds that crown, but expect all aspirants to have Legendary completions day one moving forward.
And the journey of struggle along the way makes for great viewer entertainment too – just ask Gigz, who saw record numbers while believers cheered him on amidst Legendary wipes.
It‘s a Thrilling, Memorable Experience
Accomplishment aside, Legendary Witch Queen also offers an exceptional gameplay experience in its own right. The sheer stakes and tension sustained for hours on end creates edge-of-your-seat excitement no Strike or mission can match.
Every room becomes a shaky high wire walk between life and death. Most report actual adrenaline from the battles, and collective relief at Each checkpoint. I‘ll never forget the goosebumps when Savathûn fell and victory fanfare sounded after so long fighting.
In an era with many "hard modes" barely doing more than juicing HP/damage, Legendary feels carefully crafted for the ultimate solo/co-op hero‘s journey. That thought and care comes through in an experience that stays with you.
And relieving that journey with friends through Discord and commiserating the wipes just enhances the fun – until you finally topple that last boss together in sweet glory!
Final Verdict
Legendary Witch Queen asks a lot – it will patiently and ruthlessly punish you, break your spirits at times, and push Destiny 2 mastery to its limits. But after all my hours struggling through Legendary solo the past few weeks, I say bring on the pain!
Why? Because the arduous journey breeds gratifying expertise, the elation of overcoming adversity is profound, and sharing those memorable battles as a community enriches the experience even further.
If you‘re a Destiny 2 veteran up for the ultimate challenge, Legendary Witch Queen belongs on your Guardian bucket list. See you in the throne world, and may the Light be with you always against the gathering Hive Darkness!
