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Destiny 2: The Edge of Fatehas added a Nine-themed raid to conquer. Upon completing the main campaign, you’ll gain access to the Desert Perpetual raid, Destiny 2’s first non-linear raid since Leviathan back at launch. Players can pick encounters in any order they wish, allowing for strong replayability and better loot target-farming.
If Salvation’s Edge wasn’t an indicator, Desert Perpetual is one of the game’s most mechanically complex raids. Juggling pickups, dozens of debuff timers, and some fairly tanky bosses will leave many LFG teams struggling. Fortunately for you, we have a general breakdown of each encounter and some tips to make these boss fights as easy as possible
Choose An Encounter
Unlike all previous Destiny 2 raids, the Desert Perpetual is anon-linear raidthat allows you to pick your encounter order. When you first load into the zone, you’ll travel to a circular platform that has an onyx-colored tower near the center. Entering the structure will launch you to an upper floor that overlooks the arena. On each side is a plate you’re able to interact with to start an encounter.
Interacting with a plate will align the orbital spheres into a straight line that points you in the direction your fireteam must go. Traverse the arena, reach the tower in the distance, and then head inside to start the encounter.
Defeat Iatros, Inward-Turned
Living Rhythm
This encounter is a major DPS check. Five players usingThunderlordand a sixth using Divinity can clear this check at a -40 Power delta.
Dunker
Players: 2
Run to a constellation plate and ascend platforms created by builders. Grab three Vex cubes to start DPS.
Shoot cubes lining pillars to create platforms for the runner. Builders must break cubes from bottom to top in sync with the Diastole buff.
Kill Minotaurs and grab their dropped Chornons. Jump through an hourglass hoop to dunk them. Perform this during running to give your team more time for mechanics.
Iatros is an encounter that’s all about depositing buffs and group coordination. Your goal in this encounter is toconstruct a series of platforms that lead to a crippling Vex vulnerability, starting the DPS phase.Your team is on a timer throughout the encounter, denoted by an hourglass that’s constantly draining near the middle of the arena. Fill up the hourglass, coordinate with your squad to fire at pillars at each end of the arena to construct platforms, and have your runner interact with a Vex data cube at the end of the platforming puzzle to disable Iatros' shields.
Understanding The Encounter
When the encounter begins, an hourglass near the middle of the arena will activate and slowly trickle down.Your team needs to defeat Minotaurs and collect the Chornons buffs they drop.You may hold one buff at a time. This item can be deposited by jumping through the hoopabove the hourglass.Depositing six Chornons will charge the hourglass, allowing you to start the main mechanic.
Shooting the Vex diamond in the middle of the hourglass will start a wipe timer, marking one of the three arena plates with a constellation.Have your dedicated runner travel to the constellation plate and stand on it.Whoever is shooting pillars should get ready, and the remaining players should continue to collect Chornons to extend the hourglass timer. Runners can predict which plate will light up based on the buffs your team’s been depositing.
Creating Platforms For Runners
Three Guardians will need to create platforms for the runner to climb. Take note of the three pillars in the arena that are lined with Vex cubes.Assign one Guardian to each pillar.When the runner steps on the constellation plate, the Diastole buff will appear on your screen for a second before launching your character into the air.
When the buff reaches four stacks, jump into the air and destroy the lowest cube on the pillar.All three need to break at the same time; otherwise, it won’t work. If done correctly, platforms will appear above the runner for them to climb up.
Runners will need to ascend the series of platforms above them until they find a Vex cube.You’ll need to collect it before your platform builders proceed. Vex drones will harass you while doing this, so have a good AoE weapon at the ready to deal with them. Grab the cube, call out that you grabbed it, then wait.
Those assigned to pillars willwait for the runner to announce they’ve collected a cube, and then shoot a Vex cube on their pillar.The order goes frombottom to top. Here’s how it works in a run:
Hourglass Timer
The hourglass will continue to decay during this period. Assign at least one Guardian, preferably two, as Chornon depositers. Kill any Minotaurs that spawn—the Wyvern will walk toward them— and deposit them into the hourglass to extend your team’s time.
You should only need extra time if your runner and builders make a mistake.
DPS Phase
After your runner grabs the final Vex cube,Iatros will teleport to the plate the constellation was on.Have your fireteam converge at the plate’s location and prepare for damage. When the boss arrives, you’ll have roughly 45 seconds to deal as much damage as possible. This enemy only has a weakpoint on their back, so you’ll want to use damage loadouts that either deal non-precision damage or runDivinityto create a weakpoint on their body.
Iatros will roam the arena and actively attack your fireteam at this point. Bring a Warlock withWell of Radianceor Song of Flame to give your team some much-needed survivability. Some good damage strategies includeThunderlord, high-damage Supers likeThundercrash,Legend of Acrius, and even roaming Supers likeSilkstrike. Rocket launchers are also a decent option if your team can generate ammo between DPS phases.
You have three tries before Iatros enrages and automatically wipes your fireteam;make each phase count. Stay alive, use your Super whenever you’re able, and consider swapping loadouts between damage and mechanic phases to min-max your stats as needed.
Detainer
Players: 3 (Random)
Kill Minotaurs to grab Chornons. Run through unlit rings to charge.
Once a hobgoblin glows, donotdunk where temporality calls out
Stand on constellation plates to gain a temporality buff. Look for the boss with your buff. These players do not dunk
If your Hobgoblin is glowing, align the plate under them. Call out which ring is glowing red; runners donotdunk there.
Pre-DPS, three random players will gain Alignment Charge. Run through rings to replace your grenade with detain.
Pop detain just before the Hobgoblin debuff hits zero for someone in your fireteam. This starts DPS.
Agraios is arguably the most mechanically complex encounter in the Desert Perpetual. You’ll need to ensure most players understand how the encounter functions to ensure mechanics are executed correctly. There are three roles:
You’ll need three temporarily users. Everyone else can be a runner—the detainer role is random.
Take note of the five rings in the arena. You’ll want tonumber the rings 1-5 before you start the encounter.This will make future callouts significantly easier. You’ll notice that the center of the arena has three plates. This is where your temporarily players will go to acquire buffs once the encounter mechanics begin. Assign those players now before starting.
Preparing For DPS
When the encounter begins, you’ll simply need tograb Chornon buffs from slain Minotaurs to charge the dormant rings in the arena.Running through a ring with a buff will charge it, consuming your Chornon buff. When all five rings are charged, have your temporality players get near the Constellation plates near the middle of the arena butdon’t stand on them yet.
Your fireteam should see the note, “Agraios grows impatient with this test.” This is when your temporalirty players will want to grab the buff.Each player will get a different temporality buff: Absolute, Constant, and Cyclical.You’ll want to aim at each Hobgoblin overlooking the arena and pay attention to thesuffixin their name—you’re looking for the one that matches.
Killing The Marked Hobgoblin
One of the bosses will start glowing anddebuff all players in line of sight with a debuff.If this hits zero, they’ll instantly kill you.The temporality player who has a matching name with the glowing boss must run under that boss to interact with a pillar.This will align the plates. Before you do,that player mustalsocheck the five rings in the middle and call out which one is glowing red.
This ringcannotbe charged by anyone; charge the other four. Those with temporality buffs cannot charge rings, so your runners will be responsible for getting them active. When the boss is aligned, some of your fireteam members will be randomly given the Alignment Charge buff on the left-hand side of your screen, showcasing five pips.
One person with the Alignment Charge buff must run through the newly-charged rings to unlock a detain grenade.With this grenade ready, run back to your team (we recommend standing near the middle). The player with the lowest timer for the boss' laser attack will call out when their timer hits two seconds. Cast the detain grenade to block the incoming shot. This will kill the decoy and start the DPS phase.
Now that you’ve slain one of Agraios' decoys, the DPS phase can now begin.After a ten-second wait, the boss will spawn in the middle of the arena and will be vulnerable to damage.Now is the perfect time to dump your Super and any close-range weapons. The boss will teleport away to a random plate after a few seconds, marking your team for execution.Someone with the Alignment Charge buff needs to get the detain grenade and block the incoming shot before that timer hits zero.We suggest someone runs right as the Hobgoblin teleports away.
You can damage Agraios while your team is detained. Bring a sniper rifle to damage them from a distance.
If done correctly, Agraios will teleport back to the middle and may be damaged again. This repeats a total of three times before the damage phase ends. Repeat the entire encounter as needed until the boss is slain.
Players: 2 (Random during DPS)
Add Clear
You and an add clear partner will take a side: left or right. Stand in Epoptest’s gaze to pop the eyes on its shield.
A grid of diamonds in the room will tell you which eye the opposite side needs to break. Popyoureyes based on what the other team calls out.
Pillar team will tell you which eye to shoot to break any lockout.
Keep middle safe. When either side gets locked out, look at pillars near spawn and state which diamond isnotglowing.
Break the eyes on theotherside of your pillar. Partner will tell you which ones to break.
Shield players use this callout to break a triangle floating above their Epoptest clone’s head, ending the lockdown.
Protect one of the shield players. You’ll be assigned left or right side.
Kill Cyclops enemies ASAP to light up constellation plates.
Epoptest is a communication-heavy encounter that requires constant callouts. Make sure your fireteam is comfortable talking or can type quickly.Before you start, split your group into three duos.Each pair will be assigned a side: left, middle and right.
The goal of this encounter is tobreak Epoptest’s shield by exchanging callouts with the opposite side.You’ll start the encounter by defeating Vex Minotaurs and a pair of Cycolpses near the middle of the arena.Defeating the Cyclops enemies will activate constellation plates on each side.One player on the left and right pairs should stand on the plate to gain the temporality buff for 90 seconds, allowing you to damage Epoptest’s shield.
These temporality players will head into their respective side’s room to find a copy of Epoptest inside. There are two things worth noting:
Whoever has the temporality buff mustcall out the diamond they seem on their grid. The callout the other side gives you is what you’ll pop on Epoptest’s shield.For example, if the left side says “bottom left,” the right side would break the bottom left eye. Right would call out what they see, and the left side would break that corresponding eye. Repeat as quickly as possible—you can typically break four eyes before you get locked out.
After you break a few eyes, Epoptest will trigger a lockdown sequence that must be overridden by the middle group.The players in the middle group must defeat two Cyclopses, stand on constellation plates, then stand near Epoptest’s shield to be within the light.This will activate two different pillars near spawn, one close to each side (left and right). You’ll see three hollow diamonds, two of which are glowing.
Call out the diamond that isnotglowing.Whichever one your partner calls out is what youwon’tbreak. Reposition to see the other trio of diamonds on the same pillar and break the two you need.
Shield Players Only
The triangle’s orientation is from theentranceof the room. If you’re on the other side of the room, left and right are flipped.
Meanwhile, the left and right groups will see a triangle spawn above their Epoptest clone’s head.Whichever callout you heard from your side’s middle pillar is what you need to break.For example, the person who popped the pillar closest to the right side is who the right duo would listen to. If they say “right,” then you’d break the right-most eye on the triangle above Epoptest. If done correctly, you can continue to break the boss' shield.
Breaking the shields for both Epoptest decoys will destroy them, allowing you to regroup in the center of the arena for the damage phase.Two shields will be active on Epoptest that will emit a light. Get the temporality buff one more time and break the shield by standing in the light.This will start the DPS phase.
Epoptest will have two shields circling around itself for most of damage.Tworandomplayers will be selected with the temporality buff.These players must walk to the shield that’s actively emitting a light, stand inside the light for a few seconds, and then break the shield when the eyes appear. Breaking both shields will extend the DPS timer. You can do this three times before damage ends.
Beyond that mechanic, this is your typical Hydra.Aim for the head, and consider moving alongside the shield to maintain a clear shot of its weakpoint. Just about every damage strategy works well here:Lord of Wolves,Thunderlord,The Queenbreaker, et cetera. If you don’t kill the boss in one phase, you’ll need to repeat the encounter until you kill Epoptest.
Absolute
Players: 1
Use Temporal Oculus to view mine colors. Look for whichever color Absolute calls out.
When the boss tries to fire a laser, break its cannons to spawn Temporal Oculus pools.
DPS:Collaborate with Cyclical to determine which Vex cube matches both your perspectives.
Use Temporal Oculus to view which mines are real. Glowing ones are real; dull ones are not.
Pick up Chronons dropped by popped mines and dunk them into the hourglass. You need 6 to start DPS.
DPS:Collaborate with Constant to determine which Vex cube matches both your perspectives.
Use Temporal Oculus to view the color of the hourglass hoop. Call this out to your squad.
Break whichever mine Cyclical confirms is real.
DPS:Interact with the Vex cube Constant or Cyclical tells you.
Koregos is an amalgamation of every previous encounter. While there are a lot of moving parts in the final fight, it’s a shockingly easy encounter once your team assigns roles.Before you start, assign the following roles: three Constant players, two Cyclical, and one Absolute.Your goal is to destroy the correct mines in the arena to spawn Chornon buffs that can charge the hourglass in the middle, allowing you to start the damage phase.
Upon starting the encounter, a handful of Vex Minotaurs and Hydras will spawn. Defeating the Hydras will activate the constellation plates on the upper half of the arena.Position your players so that they get their assigned buff.Locations are as follows:
Throughout the encounter,Koregos will target a random player and begin attacking them.This giant beam attack may be interrupted by Constant players by damaging the four cannons on the corners of its chassis. Destroying all four will stagger the boss and stop the laser attack. If you see a beam rapidly approaching, get to cover. Once the boss starts deploying floating mines in the arena, you can start the mechanic.
Constant Temporality
Constant players have two jobs:stun the boss, and reveal the color of each mine you see.When you grab this buff, stunning Koregos will cause four pillars in the arena to emit a white aura. Climbing on top of them will grant Temporal Oculus for 20 seconds, allowing you to see information in the arena. In your case, you’ll see each mine as one of three colors: white, teal, or red.
Temporal Oculus
Multiple players can grab the Temporal Oculus buff simultaneously. Time your jumps to minimize buff usage.
Whoever is Absolute will tell you the color you need to mark. Use a Trace Rifle or any fast-firing weapon to shoot the mine displaying the listed color. Cyclical players will tell you if the mine is real or fake. Absolute players will shoot whichever mines are correct, and the Cyclical players will grab the accompanying Chornon buff to charge the hourglass in the center.
Absolute Temporarily
Absolute players similarly have two roles:state which colored mine your team needs, and shoot the correct mines.When you grab the Temporal Oculus buff, you will see a color surrounding the hourglass ring where you dunk Chornon buffs.Call this out to your fireteam. Your Constant and Cyclical players will then tell you which mines to shoot. You only need tobreak two mines per cycle.There are three cycles, totaling six mines per DPS phase.
Destroying the wrong mine will reduce any deposited time in the hourglass. Be careful.
Cyclical Temporarily
Cyclical players have two priorities:state which mines are real, and dunk Chornon buffs into the hourglass.When you grab the Temporal Oculus buff, you will see all mines with either a bright glow or no glow at all.Glowing mines are real.Whenever a Constant player sees a mine they see, they check if it’s real or not. If it’s glowing, state it’s real so the Constant player can pop it.
Process Of Elimination
Mines always spawn in sets of three. Two of them will always be real; one is always fake. If you find the fake mine, the other two have to contain Chronons.
If done correctly, a Chornon buff will drop where the mine was destroyed. Run over and collect the buff. When both Cyclical players have a buff,have both players deposit them into the hourglassto fill up your DPS timer. Dunking six buffs will allow you to start the DPS phase, totaling three mine cycles.
Now that you’ve charged the hourglass, break the Vex diamond separating both halves to start the damage phase. Platforms will erupt from the sands below to give you a path to Koregos.Brass pylons will be surrounding Korego’s core and must be disabled.Once again, your temporality buff determines what you do here.
If you interact with the correct cube at all six pylons, the damage phase beginsimmediately.Use everything you have to damage the Harpy’s core until the phase ends or you hit final stand. Lasers will sweep the arena throughout DPS; mind your footing. Have someone call out where to stand if your team is struggling to stay alive.
Throughout the DPS phase,portals will appear on the sides of the arena with no warning.Chornons will spawn next to the portal of different colors.Grab the correct color and dunk it inside the portal to extend the DPS timer.You can do this a total of three times. We suggest having two players assigned to this task so the rest of your fireteam can focus on damage.
Final stand is the same as normal but with a rapidly-moving critical weakpoint and a much shorter DPS window. You have roughly ten seconds to finish the fight; make it count.
