Bungie is determined to bribe me into running Destiny 2's new raid this weekend

pcgamer.com:

Recently, my Destiny 2 clanmates and I took the healthy and responsible decision not to participate in the next raid race. The way things work in Destiny 2 is that for the first 48 hours of any new or reprised raid a modifier called 'Contest Mode' is active, during which time player power is capped 20 levels under the enemies in each encounter. Result: you deal less damage and take much more. For those who don't have a well-drilled fireteam and meta loadouts, the experience is bracing—particularly as fatigue creeps in, and the tempers of old gamers with decaying thumb skill begin to fray. 

But there must be a sweet reward, right? Historically, not really. Unless you're serious about winning the race, the prize for which is a boxing-style championship belt for all six team members, then the reward for beating Contest Mode has been an in-game emblem for bragging rights. However, today the pot got sweetened substantially. In its latest This Week at Bungie post, the developer announced that beating Crota's End under Contest Mode will also enable players to skip what sounds like a substantial quest and instantly earn Necrochasm, the exotic weapon tied to the raid. Here's Bungie's full breakdown:

I've been playing the game since day one to the tune of many thousands of hours, and reading those bullet points still gives me a headache. Acquiring the gun in Destiny 1 involved getting a random drop from the boss called the Crux of Crota, and then levelling up various inferior versions of the gun until it was fully transformed into Necrochasm. From what I can tell here, though, it sounds like you won't have to rely on RNG to start the questline in Destiny 2, and that a contest mode clear will skip you straight to the final reward.