Nightfall

Contest of Elders

The Warden's sadistic game, enhanced. Survive multiple laps through the prison, each one harder than the last. To the victor, more spoils await.

Overview

Contest of Elders is the enhanced, replayable version of Tomb of Elders, a 1-3 player activity introduced in Episode: Revenant (Act 2) and set in the Prison of Elders. A rampant Warden Servitor runs a gauntlet of challenges and enemies. The game's description calls it the Warden's sadistic game, enhanced: survive multiple laps through the prison, each harder than the last. Recommended Power is 2020 for Contest of Elders, 1955 for the original Tomb of Elders, and 2040 for the 2-3 player Kell's Vengeance variant.

How to launch

Select it from the activity list in the Portal or Director, using the available launch option.

Structure and mechanics

Four loops (laps), each with encounters, jumping puzzles and a boss, with rewards at the end of each. A coordinated team can finish in around 30 minutes.
Warden's Judgment: completing bonus objectives grants stacks of Warden's Favor (max three), which raises difficulty (more traps, shorter timers, frequent elites) but increases chest rewards (one chest per stack). Failing objectives removes stacks, and going negative applies Warden's Punishment, which lowers difficulty but blocks treasure access.
Limited revives (start at 20); full wipe with no revives fails the run. Killing model-prisoner enemies gives a revive token.
Rotating enemy sets: Scorn, Hive, Cabal and Dread, with minibosses such as the Scorn scrap-walker and machinist, and bosses including the lucent fireteam, psion commander and Sylok, the Defiled; Skolas appears in Kell's Vengeance.

Rewards

Revenant and reissued Splicer weapons, tonic ingredients (including the exclusive Tomb Flake), and the listed armor sets (Bushido, Eutechnology) and weapons.

Prison of the Elders original activity from Destiny 1.