How do I play Nightfall/Strike missions solo?

I would like to play the strikes just by myself, without any other guardians to play with me. I have the fireteam setting switched to Private, which indicates that no one can join my Fireteam lobby. And yet, when I do instance into a Nightfall lobby, it seems I am always forced to find 2 other Guardians to queue up with for a strike.

I know the game will most likely be more frustrating and harder to play by going solo. But I like and appreciate the sense of challenge and working on improving my own skills. In addition, it helps to not have teammates get in the way of catalyst progression, or Strike-related bounties or quests.

Is there a way to play fireteam missions solo?

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3 Answers

PC

Thanks to /u/depreciated_ on reddit for their solution:

Run the following script in Powershell (run as Administrator):

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-1" -Direction Outbound -LocalPort 1935,3097,3478-3480 -Protocol TCP -Action Block
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-2" -Direction Outbound -LocalPort 1935,3097,3478-3480 -Protocol UDP -Action Block
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-3" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 1935,3097,3478-3480 -Protocol TCP -Action Block
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-4" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 1935,3097,3478-3480 -Protocol UDP -Action Block
Write-Host "Destiny 2 Solo mode activated. Press ctl + c to deactivate solo mode."

And then run the following when you are done:

Read-Host
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-1"
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-2"
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-3"
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Destiny2-Solo-4"

This will force the game to block specific network ports, preventing other guardians from joining up in your fireteam. Do note as mentioned in his post that the script needs to be run while your ship is fully in orbit, before starting "matchmaking". After a few minutes, the game will automatically start the strike regardless if others join your team (in this case, won't happen), and you'll be free to play any Strikes solo! This applies to both Nightfall strikes, Nightfall: The Ordeal, any strikes in the Vanguard playlists, or Strikes started manually from each planet's map.

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PS4

You can set your time back, preferably 1 hour. This prevents others from matching with you, and you can solo strikes this way. Don't forget to switch your system clock back to normal if you want to play with others again.

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Think of fireteams as a persistent group or party that stays together through missions, whereas matchmaking is temporary and will disband when the activity is completed.

Fireteam settings only change who can('t) join your persistent group. On the other hand matchmaking will stick you with other players to fill out your group for example, during a strike, after which you will be disbanded. Matchmaking will happen regardless of fireteam settings.

There have been posts stating that changing your system time on PS4 will stop you from being matchamde with anyone else. I have not seen any posts of it being tried on PC, nor have I done it myself, but it is an option.

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To do a Strike solo, you have to find the entrance in the world. You cannot do a random strike if you don't want a 3 man group. The following image shows the quest to enter the Strike "The Arms Dealer".

It is normally not possible to start solo UNLESS you have a quest for it.

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