In the ongoing saga of Destiny 2's Episode Revenant, the newly reintroduced Tomb of Elders activity has become a focal point for players seeking powerful new gear. This refreshed take on the classic Prison of Elders, a beloved activity from the vaulted Forsaken expansion, was a major highlight of the midseason update. Designed as a challenging, repeatable arena-style encounter against various enemy factions, it promised rich rewards for Guardians brave enough to face its trials. However, the experience has been marred by a significant technical flaw directly impacting one of its core reward mechanics, leaving the community in a state of frustration as they navigate the unintended consequences.

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Central to the Tomb of Elders loot pursuit are the Episode Revenant Tonics. These craftable consumables allow players to apply specific buffs, including targeted increases to the drop rates for certain weapons from the activity. The system was designed to give players more agency over their farming efforts, reducing reliance on pure random chance. Yet, shortly after Act 2 launched, astute players began reporting anomalies. Data compiled from extensive playtesting, most notably by a dedicated Guardian known as reprix900 on Reddit, provided compelling evidence: the tonics were not functioning as advertised. Instead of boosting the drop chance for the intended weapon, they were erroneously increasing the likelihood of receiving completely different weapons from the Episode Revenant arsenal.

Bungie has since officially confirmed the bug through its support channels. The development team acknowledged that a backend issue is causing Tomb of Elders-specific tonics to apply their drop rate bonuses to incorrect weapons. This confirmation validated community concerns but came with a caveat—no immediate timeline for a fix was provided. For the foreseeable future, players are left with a compromised system. Their options are limited to either hoping for favorable luck from the unmodified base drop rates or attempting to use the community-sourced findings to determine which tonic actually corresponds to their desired weapon, a workaround that is both inconvenient and unreliable.

Key Issues with Tomb of Elders Tonics (As of 2026):

  • ✅ Bug Confirmed: Bungie has verified the drop rate malfunction.

  • ❌ No Fix ETA: A resolution timeline has not been announced.

  • 🎯 Incorrect Targeting: Tonics boost drops for unintended weapons.

  • 🔧 Community Workarounds: Players rely on crowd-sourced data to guess correct tonics.

This tonic debacle is not an isolated incident in the current Destiny 2 ecosystem. The game has been grappling with several balance-breaking bugs in recent weeks. Most notably, Bungie was forced to take the drastic step of completely disabling the Warlock's Ballidorse Wrathweavers exotic gauntlets. Players discovered an extreme damage glitch where activating the Winter's Wrath Super could instantly delete the health bars of most raid and dungeon bosses, trivializing endgame content. Furthermore, Sentinel Shield Titans have also been operating with unintended potency, dealing more damage with their shield bashes than the game's balance intended. Bungie has indicated a fix for the Titan issue is slated for later this month, but the gauntlets remain disabled indefinitely.

The combination of these issues paints a picture of a live service game experiencing growing pains following a major content injection. For players invested in the Tomb of Elders grind, the bug represents a significant waste of time and in-game resources. The tonics often require specific materials to craft, and using them for no benefit—or worse, for the benefit of a weapon they don't want—is a frustrating setback. It undermines the player agency that the tonic system was meant to provide and slows progression within Episode Revenant's reward track.

Current Major Bugs in Destiny 2 (December 2026) Status Impact
Tomb of Elders Tonic Drop Rates Acknowledged, No Fix Date Incorrect weapon reward targeting, wasting player time/resources.
Warlock Ballidorse Wrathweavers Gauntlets Disabled Indefinitely Game-breaking one-shot boss damage glitch.
Sentinel Shield Titan Melee Damage Fix Incoming (Late Dec) Higher-than-intended damage output, affecting PvE/PvP balance.

Looking ahead, the community's eyes are fixed on Bungie's next set of patch notes. The return of Prison of Elders in its new 'Tomb' iteration was a nostalgic win for veteran players, but its potential is currently hampered by this reward bug. Until a fix is deployed, the activity's meta will be dictated not by Bungie's design, but by player-discovered workarounds and sheer perseverance. It serves as a reminder of the complex interplay between new content releases and systemic stability in a constantly evolving online world. Guardians continue to delve into the Tomb, but many do so with crossed fingers, hoping their hard-earned tonics don't lead to another duplicate of a weapon they've already mastered, while they await the patch that will finally restore order to the Elder's crypt.