One feature that’s got players scratching their heads are Tribute Chests, part of the new Battlegrounds matchmade game mode. Since Tribute Chests are the best way to stock up on Umbral Engrams this season, it’s important to know how to get them to spawn, and how to open them once they do.
Where can I find Tribute Chests in Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen?
Tribute Chests appear at the end of a Battlegrounds event, the new activity introduced in Season of the Chosen. Once you and your teammates have defeated the boss and the event has ended, you should see a reward chest spawn. It will be surrounded by three other chests. These are Tribute Chests, and you need to smash them open with the Hammer of Proving to get at the rewards inside.
Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. You can only smash a Tribute Chest if there’s a Challenger Medallion socketed into your Hammer of Proving. This costs 14 Cabal Gold, and can only be done by upgrading the Hammer of Proving at the War Table in the H.E.L.M. — which needs to happen before you start a Battlegrounds event.
Why do I need Tribute Chests in Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen?
Tribute Chests are primarily useful for getting hold of Umbral Engrams in Season of the Chosen. Umbral Engrams aren’t new this season, but there have been a few tweaks to the way they appear. Unlike in last year’s Season of Arrivals, you won’t gain nearly enough Umbral Engrams from simply playing through the story of Season of the Chosen to access all the season’s new loot. As a result, playing Battlegrounds events to grind Tribute Chests is now your best source of collecting them.
How to decode Umbral Engrams in Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen
Once you’ve collected your loot from the Tribute Chests, head back to the Tower and go to the H.E.L.M. There, you can use the Prismatic Recaster to decode and focus the Umbral Engrams you picked up.
Focusing an Umbral Engram allows you to gain more control over the loot you extract from it. Instead of a random drop, you can choose to focus on weapons, armour, and other types of goodies.
I played a Battlegrounds event but didn’t see any Tribute Chests — why not?
At the time of writing, there have been some reports of Tribute Chests not appearing when they apparently ought to at the end of Battlegrounds matches.
It seems that the issue stems from where you launched into the Battleground from. Opening the Director and choosing a Battleground directly from its location seems to be causing players to enter a version of the activity where Tribute Chests don’t spawn. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, open the Director and go to the Vanguard section. Launch from the Battlegrounds Playlist in there and you should experience the activity as intended. This will include a slightly higher recommended Power (+1200 as opposed to +1150 when selecting directly from the location), the presence of Champion enemy types, and — crucially — Tribute Chests included in the rewards at the end of the event.
