In 2026, Destiny 2 has long since turned the page on Season of the Haunted, but the fifth week of that 2022 season remains a handy case study in how Bungie paced a mid-season grind. At the time, the week marked the halfway point for new challenge sets, and it kept the story rolling with Bound in Sorrow V. Guardians were tasked with helping Empress Caiatl face her own Nightmare, Dominus Ghaul—a blast from the past that hit harder than a Titan shoulder charge. For anyone who missed the ride, here is the lowdown. 🎮
The week five challenge slate was leaner than earlier weeks. The first three weeks each served up 10 weekly challenges, week four dropped nine, and week five trimmed things to seven. For the final five weeks of Season of the Haunted, players could expect a similar amount—or at the very least no fewer than five or six challenges per set. That was still enough to earn Figments of Darkness and unlock every Crown of Sorrow upgrade over the season, provided Guardians stayed on the grind. In other words, the treadmill kept moving, but it did not demand a full-time commitment.
On the PvP side, the adept version of the new Burden of Guilt Fusion Rifle was on deck for the coming weekends in Trials of Osiris. Week four had already handed out the adept Forgiveness Sidearm to players who managed a Flawless card and claimed the reward at the Lighthouse. Reaching the Lighthouse through random pairings had been no small feat for some players in the previous weekends, so the return of Freelance mode was a welcome sight. Freelance only allowed solo players to pair up with and face off against other solo players—a favorable setup for Guardians who did not want to butt heads with fully stacked teams. 😅
The Week 5 Challenge List
| Challenge | Reward | Objective |
|---|---|---|
| Sorrow Bound V | Challenger XP+ | Complete Bound in Sorrow V and defeat Nightmares on the Moon. Bound in Sorrow IV had to be finished first. |
| Nightmare Containment III | Challenger XP++ | Successfully complete tiers of the Nightmare Containment public event throughout the season. |
| Empty Grief | Figments of Darkness and Challenger XP+ | Complete Sever - Grief using only a Void subclass and Void, Kinetic, or Stasis weapons. |
| Umbral Focusing II | Challenger XP+ | Focus six weapons and four armor pieces at the Crown of Sorrow throughout the season. |
| Linking the Chain of Command | Challenger XP++ and Bright Dust | Acquire the Chain of Command. |
| Sunburn | Challenger XP++ and Bright Dust | Defeat Guardians. Bonus progress was granted for opponents defeated with the help of Solar effects. |
| Leviathan Reaper - Cabal and the Nightmare | Challenger XP++ and Bright Dust | Defeat Cabal bosses in strikes or Vanguard playlists; defeat Nightmares anywhere in the system throughout Season of the Haunted. |
The week five list was not just busywork. Empty Grief pushed loadout discipline by locking players into Void subclasses and a narrow weapon pool. Sunburn nudged Guardians toward Solar team play in the Crucible, while Umbral Focusing II tied the seasonal economy back to the Crown of Sorrow. Linking the Chain of Command gave players a clear loot goal, and Leviathan Reaper kept both PvE bosses and Nightmares in the crosshairs. It was a classic Destiny balancing act: keep the hardcore crowd fed without burning everyone else out. 🔥
Looking back in 2026, Week 5 of Season of the Haunted is a reminder of Destiny 2's seasonal rhythm at its most familiar. The story beat with Caiatl and Ghaul gave the week some emotional weight, the challenge list offered a mix of story, playlist, and economy tasks, and Trials kept the PvP faithful on their toes with another adept reward and a solo-friendly Freelance weekend. It was not the flashiest week in the season, but it kept the ball rolling—and for Guardians chasing every Crown of Sorrow upgrade, that was exactly the point. 🚀