Solo GM Conquest: Heist Mars – Destiny 2 Monument of Triumph

Destiny 2 Monument of Triumph dragged Heist Battleground: Mars back from the dead and slapped a Grandmaster Conquest label on it. Congratulations. The activity that already hated fireteams now wants to watch you suffer alone. It's the final major content update for Destiny 2's live-service era, and Bungie chose to celebrate by making one of the historically cruelest Nightfalls a solo endgame requirement.

Under Monument of Triumph's new difficulty ladder, Grandmaster difficulty Destiny 2 sits at S-rank: Tier 5 loot, maximum Champion density, revives locked, and modifiers designed specifically to punish improvisation. You are not meant to feel good about this. That's the point.

Power & Prerequisites

Monument of Triumph restructured the entire difficulty system. The new tier breakdown is clean and merciless:

Anti-Champion mods no longer live in the Artifact. Every weapon frame has a permanent Champion stun type baked in: meaning your Destiny 2 best loadout for Grandmaster no longer revolves around Artifact slots. It revolves around not being bad.

Solo Builds

Heist Mars throws Unstoppable and Barrier Champions at you with genuine enthusiasm. For solo play, survivability and ability uptime matter more than raw damage output. Pick one of the following and commit. Switching mid-run is how wipes happen.

Warlock: Phoenix Protocol / Starfire Solar

The classic. Phoenix Protocol Well of Radiance Warlock has carried more GMs than any exotic in history, and it still works. Starfire Protocol is viable if you want Fusion Grenade spam as your entire personality. Shattered Throne armor set from Monument of Triumph adds Truth to Power: passive damage resistance that scales as you fight, plus ability recharge bonuses at max stacks. In a content update that caps cooldown bonuses, this matters.

• Exotic: Phoenix Protocol or Starfire Protocol
• Super: Well of Radiance (stay in it, you are not a hero)
• Heavy: Machine Gun for adds, Linear Fusion Rifle for boss DPS

Hunter: Void Omnioculus / Orpheus Rig

Invisibility is your solo survival mechanic. Vanishing Step into Trapper's Ambush gives you consistent invis uptime, which is the closest thing to a health bar extension you're getting here. Wish-Ender is mandatory: it's your Barrier Champion answer and it does work in the boss room.

• Exotic: Omnioculus (preferred) or Orpheus Rig
• Kinetic: Wish-Ender for Barriers
• Heavy: Leviathan's Breath: knockback on Kelgorath is a legitimate strategy

Titan: Strand Banner of War Suspend

Solo Titan is masochism dressed up as aggression. Banner of War keeps you alive through add clear. Suspend stops Champions from ending your run while you reload. Arbalest handles Barriers. Strand Titan in a solo flawless Grandmaster context is viable, not recommended, and will teach you patience the hard way.

Encounter Breakdown

Seraph Tower Plates (Opening)

Three plates, cleansed in sequence. Enemies do not need to be inside the circle: they just cannot enter it. Spawn in, ignore everything on the right, go left, start with the C Tower. Kill the gunk on each Seraph Tower from distance before activating the plate, because activating it without clearing first spawns a reinforcement wave that will kill you while you're standing in a circle like a tourist.

The Deathtongue Chorister spawns at the back of each landing pad after the plate is cleared. Kill it fast. The Heist Battleground Mars encounter guide lives or dies on your Deathtongue reaction time.

Shortcut: The C plate can be cleared entirely from range by shooting Hive crumbs off the Tower without pulling aggro. Invisible Hunters should do this. Everyone else: good luck.

Hacking Section

Take the upper-left balcony from the entrance immediately. Higher ground gives you visibility on every spawn. Pop Supers constantly: this section rewards aggression, not patience. Void Machine Guns chew through the add waves. Strand's Suspend covers any Champion that gets too comfortable.

Jumping Puzzle

Hunter becomes invisible. Everyone else prays. The second half of the puzzle can be skipped by jumping on the pipes to the right: skip it every time, there is no reason to do it properly.

Boss Door

Open using only the two Warmind balls: one on top of the entrance, one to the right. Do not trigger additional enemy spawns by being clever. You're almost at Kelgorath. Do not waste resources here.

Boss: Kelgorath, Risen From Bones

Kelgorath is an Unstoppable Ogre in a room with Barrier Champions and your deepest insecurities. The Kelgorath boss fight strategy that works solo involves two phases of deliberate, cowardly, effective play:

• Phase 1: Kite Kelgorath to the back hallway. Stay mobile. Use Leviathan's Breath to knock him back when he charges. His charge attack in a small room is a one-shot. Respect it.
• Phase 2: Jump onto a pillar. Wish-Ender stun-locks him from the high ground. Two players (in non-solo context) split the pillars and trade aggro. Solo: pick a pillar and commit.
• Between phases, invisible Hunters deposit charges. Everyone else dumps Supers on the Champion spawns that arrive to ruin your day.

Note: Leviathan's Breath's knockback is not a gimmick. It is the only reason some solo Titans finish this encounter. Use it.

Conquest Tier 5 rewards Destiny 2 are the entire justification for this suffering. Weapons are now manually upgradeable from Tier 1 through Tier 5 using crafting materials: every tiered weapon in your vault is eligible. Grandmaster Conquest drops Tier 5 directly. Adept variants carry enhanced perks unavailable at lower tiers.

Monument of Triumph's Legendary Marks Destiny 2 system runs until September 30, 2026, when the Immortal Title qualification window closes. Four Tenet vendors in the Tower Courtyard: Bravery, Devotion, Sacrifice, and Death: accept Marks for legacy rewards including Chatterwhite, Superblack, Fafnir, and Heir Apparent. Spend wisely. Or don't. The clock runs regardless.

Artifact mods are gone. anti-Champion weapons Monument of Triumph are now permanent frame properties. Check your weapon before you build: not after you wipe.

Ruthless Efficiency Tips

• Check Destiny 2 GM Nightfall modifiers before loading in. Modifiers change weekly and can invalidate entire loadout strategies.
• Never stand in the open in the boss room. Kelgorath tracks you. The Barrier Champions track you. The geometry does not care about you.
• Well of Radiance on Kelgorath's approach path, not in the middle of the room. You need to move out of it.
• Save your Heavy for the boss phases, not the add waves. This is why you have a Machine Gun.
• Revives are locked in GM. A wipe resets the entire encounter. Slow down.