History of Proving Grounds

Proving Grounds is a Vanguard Ops Strike set on Nessus in the Arcadian Valley, introduced in Season of the Chosen. Guardians board the Cabal Land Tank Halphas Electus and defeat Caiatl's Chosen as part of the Rite of Proving, a ritual agreement between Caiatl and Zavala.

Overview

• Type: Vanguard strike (also appears as a Nightfall/Grandmaster variant in later seasons).
• Destination: Arcadian Valley, Nessus.
• Launch: Open the Nessus map in the Director and select the strike at the top of the map, or queue via the Vanguard playlist. During Season of the Chosen it was available straight away to season pass owners.
• Power: 750 on this listing (the in-game recommended power rises with the season; older figures may be outdated).
• Players: 1-3 Guardians.

Encounters

1. Watcher's Grave: fight through Vex and Cabal forces. A Cabal Colossus miniboss, Val Ozysas, guards the Land Tank entrance and is immune until you destroy its shield generator.
2. Vehicle bay: wave fights including Interceptors and two Goliath Tanks.
3. Maintenance area: several named Cabal leaders (Optus Vocca, Val Vinca'ar, Val Veorthus, Val Cempas).
4. Power redirection: carry two power cores (about 30 seconds each) to the receivers.
5. Final boss, Ignovun, Chosen of Caiatl: he throws homing fireballs (shoot them down) and becomes immune at two-thirds and one-third health until you destroy his shield generator. Rockets and swords are popular damage options.

Destinypedia notes it has more Cabal leadership than any other single mission (one Valus, six Vals, two Optus and one Chosen).

Rewards

Strike drops listed on this page include armor sets such as Luminopotent and Smoke Jumper and weapons including Nameless Midnight and Cynosure. Killing all 10 named enemies completes the seasonal triumph "Eliminate Caiatl's Cabal".

Status

The activity remains available in the current strike rotation; no sunset or vaulting is documented in the sources used.