[Gaming] The 405th's Destiny Clan (Caution: Spoilers)

[Fireryne]

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-queens-wrath-live-reactions-legendary-loot/1100-6422497/

 

[Fireryne]

Tuesday Raid Vault of Glass on XBONE 9/30 @ 6:30 PM, PST 9:30 PM last 2-3 hours

Leader Fireryne8389
Asst WOLFGANGTHOR

Team A
Fireryne8389- Titan- Defender
FearsomeScott- Warlock- Sun Singer
DaSlacker42- Hunter- Gun Sligner

Team B
WOLFGANGTHOR- Hunter- Gunslinger
Frozensnot- Warlock- Sun Singer
FairyRouge- Titan

Alt List


If you would like to be added to the alt list please reply to this post

 

[WandererTJ]

Just wanted to share this:


I came up with it yesterday but didn't have the chance to post it.
Hopefully it helps someone!

The only thing I really haven't added on the map is the times that Events occur.

B = Patrol Beacon
PE = Public Event

EDIT:
Well crap, somehow in the upload process the quality got reduced making some of the text unreadable.
While some of it is decipherable, one tidbit doesn't seem to be, and I will quote what I said on the image below:

Chest Running Area
Locations highlighted with small Red Boxes
Small boxes = Independent Locations
Large boxes = Rooms
(In rooms, make sure to check the far right behind the desk)

The Chest Running Routine is also great for farming Spinmetal

EDIT 2:
I replaced the image with one from photobucket.

Feel free to enjoy this as well:

 

[Zaff]

The "Loot Cave" no longer exists as of today's "hot fix." As Bungie put it, they didn't make this game so people could sit and shoot at a cave for hours, they made it so people would play and explore every corner, not just one cave. But, on the positive side they say they've upped the engram drops overall and plan on tweaking things further in the near future, particularly "de-trolling" the Cryptarch's probability range.

I'm finding myself in need of some high-level Fireteam members for the "Queen's Wrath" missions. I attempted one on my own and got stomped pretty fast. I currently have 10 Queen's Wraths stored up and I want to get as many of them done before the event ends as possible (still not even Queen's Rank 1 yet).

I also found something even more troll worthy than the Cryptarch. Exotic Bounties. Got one the other day, said I needed to complete 5 Strikes in a row without dying. Finally got that done and what's my "reward?" Bounty Part 2: get a K/D of 25 in the Crucible. If I could get a K/D of 25 in the Crucible I wouldn't NEED a freaking exotic weapon. Crazy.

 

[Remraf]

I'm pretty bummed that they removed all ascendant shards from dismantling queens wrath items. I agree that 3 was too many but they could have just reduced it or made it random.

 

[Demogorgon]

All exotic bounties have multiple parts to them, which was an unexpected surprise to me haha. The exotic Bad Juju pulse rifle is severely underpowered. I was very disappointed when I played with it. It looks and sounds amazing but has no power at all. Bungie said they are tweaking the exotics to make them more powerful without making them OP.

At least they are fixing the Cryptarch. I like how they had it before 2014, where the color of the engram was the color you would get, but changed it to the randomness it is today back towards the beginning of this year. They said it was more "exciting" this way. I think they misspelled frustrating

I'm still absolutely loving this game. I can't wait for the expansions to make their way into the game.

 

[Zaff]

Yea, they said they're planning on bumping up the Exotic weapons all around, and doing buff/nerf tweaks across the board for other weapons.

Honestly, I don't know if I'd consider the Cryptarch to be "fixed" until there's about a 75% chance of getting an item of the same class as the engram, and personally I'd prefer a better chance of going up than going down. I've had the good fortune of finding a total of about 8 or 9 Legendary (purple) engrams, from which I received one Legendary and one Exotic piece of gear..both for Titan and I play Warlock, one legendary handcannon (I've favored the scout rifle since day one) and a legendary HMG. Of the remaining 4 or 5, I got two Rare armor pieces that were both worse than what I already had, and the rest were strange coins or motes of light. So of the 4 that actually gave me anything "good" only one fit in with my preferred assortment (I favor the HMGs over the rocket launchers).

I just really wish they hadn't killed the Cave of Plunder. I get not wanting people to spend their first playthrough emptying clip after clip into the same cave for hours, but for achievements' sake you need at least three playthroughs going as far as it takes to master one subclass for each character class. and I'm not looking forward to having to repeat the grind twice more for Titan and Hunter. But on a positive note, is it just me or did the level 15 requirement for subclass changes disappear? I started up a Titan last night and by the time I made the first trip to the Tower (character level 2 I believe) I was able to swap subclasses. Being able to pick the subclass right out of the gate like that would be a welcome improvement. I'm not sure if it's a global change, or if I've encountered some sort of glitch in which my level 25 Warlock's unlocked subclass ability somehow got shared to my other character the same way glimmer and marks are shared.

Anyone happen to know mow many "tiers" there are to exotic bounties? Or does it depend on the bounty?

 

[elusch99]

snip

They are fixing the Cryptarch. From Bnet:

Cayde-6 took the Cryptarch aside and showed him a sack of doorknobs. He decoded that mystery pretty quickly.
Legendary Engrams will always produce Legendary or better quality items, including Materials or Exotics
Rare Engrams will always produce Rare or better quality items
Rare engrams will have an increased chance to produce Legendary quality items

This is good.

And for the exotic bounties, it depends on the bounty.

 

[Demogorgon]

-snip-

Once you reach 15 with one character, it unlocks all subclasses for all of your characters, no bug there.

I remember hearing bungie say "Destiny will be whatever you make it..." and now they're contradicting themselves by fixing the cave. I think it was a fun activity and should be there for the players that want to do that. I understand their point of view where they don't want players farming a black hole for hours on end, but if that's what they want to do, let them do it.

I'm so glad they are reverting the Cryptarch back to what it originally was. I'm fed up with getting rares from legendary engrams. I've gotten around 15 legendary engrams, 2 of which turned into legendary gear, the rest rare gear, ascendant shards, or motes of light. I don't mind the last two but getting rares from a legendary engram was a bit frustrating.

as far as the parts to the bounties, they all differ. You can google the bounties to see what all you have to do for them.

During the beta and for about the first 24 hours of gameplay, I absolutely loved the scout rifles. Now, I'm more of a hand cannon person. Because I aim for precision kills all the time, I need a weapon with high impact that will get me 1 hit kills. Luckily, the scout rifles will be getting a buff that increases impact rating so I might switch back, but for now all my gear is for hand cannons haha.

 

[Zaff]

I do like precision, but I also prefer range over impact. Hand cannons have great stopping power, but you have to get pretty close to actually trigger precision damage. My philosophy is that it's better to take out a target before it can realize it's a target. That's why I've stuck to the combination of scout and sniper rifles, with the HMG if things get too close too fast. I've started using the hand cannon more recently simply because it's a legendary ("The Devil You Know) and there's an achievement for fully upgrading a legendary. I've since added a legendary HMG ("Zombie Apocalypse") and a shotgun (don't remember the name but I want to say it's New Monarchy themed, what with the red paint and all).

I've got a question for the Playstation players: those timed exclusive armor sets, where do they fit on the scale? I can't help feeling by the time they become available on the Xbox (projected to be late 2015) they won't even be worth wearing for anything but the "stripped down" Crucible gametypes. Which would be a real shame because I'm digging the Warlock helmet in particular. Even if the perks/abilities aren't great if these are at least legendaries with sufficient Light stats, that would be worth swapping in.

Edit: For anyone who hasn't figured out this weekend's game of "Where's Xir now?" he's in the hanger, lower level, way in the back (behind the bar/lounge area). When you come into the hanger, the steps are pretty much straight across from the hall, passed the Dead Orbit rep. And for once, I'm glad I was "trolled" by the Cryptarch. Had enough Strange Coin and Motes of Light that I was able to get not one, but TWO exotic helmets for my Warlock (the exotic helmet engram actually stayed exotic). He's also carrying an exotic helm for Hunters, an exotic chestpiece for Titans, and an exotic auto rifle.

 

[Twisting Neather]

Jumped in the clan a little bit ago.
As requested in post 1:
1) Twisting_Neather
2) Twisting_Neather
3) Xbox 360
4)See above (^.^)

 

[elusch99]

Okay, I think I requested a join.

1) Elusch99
2) Elusch99
3) Xbox One
4) Elusch21

Won't be joining the Xbox clan, as some friends and I already have one.

 

[Demogorgon]

We will be starting the 405th's first raid tonight at 6:30 PST / 9:30 EST. Watch us on Twitch! I'll be streaming from my Xbone.

My Twitch username is WOLFGANGTHOR - same as my GT.

Come join your fellow Spartans and watch us take on the Darkness.

 

[Zaff]

Got pulled into a group last night, some friends of a friend of my friend (in other words, nobody I actually knew) who were attempting (supposedly) one of the last parts of the raid (where half the group gets teleported to either Mars or Venus). We got our butts handed to us for over an hour because nobody had any idea what to do with anything there, and after the first half hour the two people who actually did have some clue dropped out. It didn't end well.

 

[WandererTJ]

Wanderer128's Raid Strategy Guide / General Tips
This is a list of advice you should keep in mind while going through the Vault of Glass Raid.
If you want to spend 10+ hours going in blind you can, but if not, these tips will help you.

Link others to this post: http://tinyurl.com/njylsr3​

Area 0: The Last City - The Tower
General Advice:
• Before starting, make sure that everyone in your group has a general understanding of what to do (at least for Area 1).
• You can use the Transition Sections and Checkpoints to talk about the next area to review what needs to be done.
• Make sure that everyone in the group has 3 hours on their hands before starting
• You should not need 3 hours, all you need to do is take things slow and steady and avoid letting yourself get frustrated.

Weapons:
• Bring Primary, Secondary, and Heavy Ammo Synthesis (Consumables bought from the Weapons dealer at the tower)
• Bring Void Weapons. Vex = Purple Shields = Void Damage is best

• Make sure you can do Medium/Long Range damage, bring a Fusion Rifle and bring a Sniper Rifle that are Void damage based.
• Your choice of Rocket Launcher vs. Machine Gun is up to you, just make sure it does Void Damage.
• If you are running around with the Fusion Rifle, consider switching your Primary to a Scout Rifle or Hand Cannon when necessary.
• Some say the Vex take more damage from Arc damage when their shields are down, but this is just speculation.​

Building a Raid Team:
• Building your team: You will want:

• At least 2 Titans (with Defender maxed)
• At least 2 Warlocks (with Fireborn for their Sunsinger / with Voidwalker and Sunsinger maxed if going for no deaths)
• At least 1 Hunter (with Gunslinger maxed)​

• Preferably, you want everyone to be above Level 26, but being at Level 26 is okay, especially if they have an upgraded Exotic Weapon that will be useful.
• For Running the Raid in Hard Mode, you will want to have all 6 players preferably up to level 29.
• The Primary Difference between Normal Mode and Hard Mode is that in Hard Mode, you CANNOT be revived. You come back when a checkpoint is reached.

Subclass Loadouts (Examples):
• Configure both of your Subclasses before starting. You will be switching between the two.

→ The following builds might not be perfect, but they should give you a good idea of how you should set yourself up.
Titan Subclasses:

• Striker: Flashbang Grenade, Increased Height, Shockwave, Amplify, Transfusion, Unstoppable
• Defender: Magnetic Grenade, Increased Height, Weapons of Light, War Machine, Gift of the Void (situational), Illuminated (situational)​

Warlock Subclasses:

• Voidwalker: Grenade (personal pref), Focused Burst, Lance (situational), Life Steal / Soul Rip, Annihilate, Embrace the Void
• Sunsinger: Grenade (personal pref), Focused Burst, Fireborn, Flame Shield, Radiant Will, Gift of the Sun​

Hunter Subclasses:

• Gunslinger: Incendiary Grenade, Higher Jump, Gunfighter, Knife Juggler, Keyhole, Over the Horizon
• Bladedancer: Flux Grenade, Higher Jump, Showstopper/Razor's Edge, Fast Twitch, Quick Draw, Hungering Blade​

Class Tips:
• Depending on your subclass, you should call out when you are about to use your Super Ability. For Defender Titans, ALWAYS give warning.
• If you are crowded together, call out when you are using your Rocket Launcher so no one walks in front of you.
• Warlocks, seem to be the most limited in terms of jump height, if you are platforming, it is sometimes best for Warlocks to be first in case your revive orb gets located at an impossible to reach area and so someone stays back to revive you. Titans and Hunters both have an Increased Height jump upgrade they can use, but Warlocks seem to lack it on both of their classes. Warlocks can still get to all the same places, they just sometimes seem to have a harder time.
• Don't use Blink, it really isn't necessary throughout this. Being able to see where you are going to land will help you a lot.
• Keep this in mind: if you get wiped (everyone dies) it also removes ALL ammo that was on the field prior to the wipe.

Area 1: Building the Tower

Spoiler

For this part of the Raid, you will need to construct a Tower that appears in the rear (rear = the side you spawn on) in order to open the door (at the top-front) to move onto the next section.
In order to build the Tower, the puzzle requires you to essentially play a match of Control against the Vex.
The only issue here is that if the Vex enter your Control Pad circles, they reset the circle fairly immediately and that also causes the tower in the back to be completely reset.
Subclass setup = Kill Kill Kill. Titans = Strikers or Weapons of Light Shields, Warlocks = Voidwalkers, Hunters = Do whatever you do....

• Split into 3 Groups of 2. Determine who wants to pair up with who before launching the Raid. Remember who you are with, it helps for doing Area 3.

Some subclasses compliment each other well while some players simply compliment each other well.
It is also a decent idea to split up based on the weapons you have available to you.
It might also be a decent idea to pair up lower leveled characters with higher leveled ones (26's and 28's together, 27's and 27's together)​

• The 3 Control Pads are: Left-Side, Right-Side, and Top-Side/Middle. Stand in your Control Pads until the border around it has fully lit up.

• Top-Side/Middle tips: [I have not played the Top-Side]

• If anyone is going to be providing support to the Left or Right sides, it will likely be the central group, I have yet to see anyone in the middle die.
• The Top-Side group team is basically support for both the left and the right sides.
• The Left and Rides sides both have spawns they have to deal with exclusively, and the Top-Side does not.
• These two players should keep Void Sniper Rifles equipped.​

• Left-Side tips: You have 2 spawns, 1 in front and 1 in back.

• It's a good idea to have 1 person watch the front and the 2nd watch the back and call out spawns when you see them.
• Either trade off who is going to take down the Praetorian/Minotaur shields or have someone be the designated shield-downer.
• Make sure you keep your Rocket Launcher / Heavy reloaded, call out if you need help to your partner because you are waiting on a reload.
• Only use your Rockets on the Praetorians/Minotaurs.
• Sometimes, enemies will spawn from the front and back simultaneously.
• Sometimes the enemies from the front spawn will go up the hill to the Top-Side group.

• If you see a Praetorian, try to drop its shields and call it out to the Top-Side group.​

• Right-Side tips: [I have not played the Right-Side]

• Refer to the strategy for the Left Side​

• After you have successfully defended your control pads and the tower has been constructed, the door up at the top will open.
• If you are considering to attempt the Raid without dieing, please keep in mind that enemies might still spawn after the tower is completed and some of your teammates think it is okay to take a breathe and dance. Make sure everything is clear before moving on.

You will be rewarded when the tower has been completed.

Area 2: Transition

Spoiler

This section is very straightforward, but try not to rush it otherwise you might take a wrong turn and fall to your death.

Chest #1 of 3:
Halfway through this section, you will come across a Chest. This is chest #1 of 3, and it is unmissable, but make sure that all the fireteam members have made it to that area before anyone opens it since chests vanish after a period of time.

After going through the pathways with the plant life and then finding the chest, the next portion of this is an area with lots of cubic shaped stones, and it requires very little platforming skills. Just make sure to look before you leap or drop down.

Once you come up to a jump that will place you onto a large structure with floating cubic stone towers around it, you will be at the area for the 1st Boss. Jumping down will start things, so this is a good time to pause, prepare yourself, and talk strategy.
I will be referring to this ledge/jump multiple times in the next area to try and provide a point of reference for certain things.

NOTE: If anyone falls to their death here, or disconnects and reconnects, their revive orb/ghost will be placed at the top of this ledge, which is unreachable once everyone else has jumped down.
NOTE: The jump down can kill you, make sure to save some boost for when you reach the bottom in order to dampen your fall.

Area 3: Boss 1 Area - The Templar

Spoiler

There is a checkpoint after successful completion of each of the following phases highlighted below.

Phase 1: Point-Defense
• Vex are trying to sacrifice themselves on structures you must protect. If 6 Vex sacrifice themselves, you fail and everyone dies and you get wiped.

• That does not mean 6 sacrifices on a given structure. Any combination that adds up to 6 will get you wiped.​

• Stay away from and avoid Melee-ing the Fanatics (glowing Vex).
• When Fanatics die, they will leave a green puddle where they were standing, stay away from it.
• If you become cursed by hitting a Fanatic or walking into a green puddle, it greatly reduces your damage and it also discharges/drains your super meter.
Subclass Setup: Personal Preference

Wave 1: 1 Team of 6. During Wave 1, there is only a single structure to defend, it is in the middle in the back, all 6 Guardians should focus on making sure no Vex enemies get near it.
Upon successful completion, the structure will vanish.

Wave 2: 2 Teams of 3. During Wave 2, structures on the left and the right spawn and must be protected. If you protected Left in Area 1, stay left, if you protected the Right in Area 1, stay right. For those of you that defended the middle, you will split up for this, one to the left and one to the right.
Upon successful completion, the structures will vanish.

Wave 3: 3 Teams of 2. During Wave 3, all 3 structures will appear, the middle, the left, and the right. For this, do the same as above, with the exception that the Top-Side group from Area 1 will reform to protect the middle structure.
Upon successful completion, the structures will vanish.

There is no reward for completing this portion.

Phase 2: The Oracles
The Oracles are being made up of light that glow brightly and make a chiming noise when they appear. During this part of the Raid, they appear Yellow.
Failure to kill all of the Oracles will cause you to become "Marked for Negation". If you do not "Cleanse" yourself before the next "Ritual of Negation", you will die.
In order to cleanse yourself, you must either kill the Oracle that marked you or go to the big glowing white circle in the middle of the map.
Subclass Setup: Personal Preference

If you play this properly and have good coordination between your Fireteam members, you should never become marked.

During this Phase, it is a fairly good idea to use Scout Rifles against the Hobgoblins and Fusion Rifles against the Harpies.
Don't stop moving. Ever. Don't give the Hobgoblins an easy shot.
When Minotaurs spawn, make sure to call them out. Use Heavy weapons if necessary.

There are 6 Oracles that spawn. They spawn randomly and make a noise when they do. Good communication must be established in order to complete this successfully. Don't call out "I'll get it", that means that you might not know where it is, you should instead call out "Shooting it". Team Members also need to shout out either the specific position or at least which side the Oracle is on.

Since there are 6 Oracle Spawns, that means you can each cover a single spawn. While doing so can be a good idea, there are Harpies constantly spawning and Hobgoblins off on the floating stones outside the map trying to snipe you. So you must consider that someone on your team might be hurt badly and might not be able to take their Oracle down as they are trying to regenerate their health. Make sure that you are at least split up 3 Left and 3 Right and you are slightly spread out, but not so much that it becomes a burden to run to any of the Oracles on your side. On your side, only worry about your side, do not shoot over to the other side unless absolutely necessary. You still need to protect your fellow guardians from Harpies and Hobgoblins on your side.

That being said, everyone needs to be familiar with where all the Oracles spawn in the case that an entire group gets wiped and the remaining defenders need to spread out. Only one will go to the opposite side, the remaining two will have to pick up the slack on their side. For this reason, it might be a good idea to ensure that each group has a Sunsinger on their side that can self revive when needed.

The Oracles:
Assuming that you are looking down from the Area 2 cliffside you initially jump down from to the area you are on, the Oracles appear in the following locations and should be called out using these names (or similar ones):

Right-Side Team:

• Soft Right → Right side, fairly in the middle
• Hard Right → Go straight right from the Soft Right Oracle, it hides behind a pillar. Guardians on the left side cannot hit this one.
• Deep Right → Deep in the back on the Right Side. Guardians near the cliffside cannot hit this one.​

Left-Side Team:

• Soft Left → This one is relatively in the middle
• Middle Left → To the left of the Soft Left Oracle, this one is hidden from the Right Side, it appears between several stone structures that stick up
• Deep Left → Further ahead on the left side [I'm not 100% sure where this one is since I always take take of the Right Side]​

You will be rewarded when this phase has been completed.

Phase 3: The Boss ("The Templar")
Once the Oracles have all been killed, there will be a relic shield that appears in the center of the map.
Grabbing the shield will initiate the boss battle. Wait.

Take a breathe and let your teammates do the same before grabbing the shield. This next part requires you do switch up your weapons, subclasses, and subclass perks.

NOTE: If someone happens to have an Overhead Map of this area, or any of the Raid areas for that matter, I would be glad to highlight where everything is.

Hands down, the best method for beating this boss is to get off the main platform and onto one of the platforms that Hobgoblins were spawning at.
This will allow you to turn your focus away from the Oracles which will continue to appear, but it still allows you to be Cleansed, and at the same time allows everyone to turn their focus towards the boss at the same time.
Do not waste your ammo on the Oracles during Phase 3.
Even though this is the safest method, there are some strategies and precautions you need to make use of in order to complete this successfully.

Subclass Setup:
Titans MUST switch to their Defender class.
Warlocks MUST switch to their Sunsinger class. (Generate Orbs for the Defenders and Gunslingers)
Hunters MUST switch to their Gunslinger class.

For Titan Defenders, you ideally want to have the ability to make sure someone's shield is up at any given time. Because of this, it is best to have 3 Titans, but it can be doable with only 2. Running in with 1 might be a struggle, but only if you are gaining a hunter instead of Sunsinger.

With 2 Titans, you want both to have Bastion and Untouchable. With more than 2, you can have all 3 with Bastion and Illuminated. Gift of the Void MIGHT be good, but I'm not sure if I ever saw extra orbs of light being generated by the shield while using it, so stick with Bastion.

Warlocks and Hunters, turn off Blink, pick a jump that lets you get higher than you normally would.

For your Primary Weapon, you will want an Auto/Pulse Rifle. More bullets + Higher Fire Rate = Better for removing the detainment barrier
For your Special Weapon, you will want a Sniper Rifle.
For your Heavy Weapon, you will want a Rocket Launcher, or make sure that at least 3 guardians have them.

Use Special / Heavy Ammo Synthesis after you swap out your weapons to replenish your ammo.

Defender-Titans are NOT allowed to carry the shield. Leave that job for a Hunter or a Sunsinger who doesn't have access to self-revive yet.

Once everyone is equipped for Phase 3, you need to make sure everyone knows how to get to the platform. Our goal is the one on the right side closest to the cliffside.
Remember where the Hard-Right Oracle was? If you go over to the Right Side and look at to the platforms the Hobgoblins spawned at, you will see one that is fairly low and relatively easy to jump to. After jumping over to the platform on the right (so you are now facing right from where you were), there will be a higher platform you can jump to on your right. Make sure everyone, including the person who will hold the Relic Shield can get up to it.

You will notice at the platform that there is a wall you can somewhat hide behind on its back-right edge (assuming you are facing the map from the original cliffside from Area 2), otherwise while on the floating platform, if you face the main platform, the wall you can hide behind is on the back-left of your platform.
Make sure to keep in mind that you can fall off that left edge as well as the back one, so when people huddle back there, you need to be courteous to not knock anyone off.
Do not knock the Relic holder off, make sure that they always get to be at the corner of the wall looking over at the main platform. There is also a slight recess a few feet ahead you can hide behind (sometimes).
Before starting, make sure that at least 2 of your Defender Titans have their Supers ready and that everyone knows the following things:
• Titans need to warn everyone before using their ability. Only use it when needed if the boss teleports to a position dangerous to the team.
• When Titans use their ability, they need to try to use it as far left and back as they can, because....
• When the Relic Holder is about to lower the Shield of the Boss, everyone needs to leave the Titan's Barrier, because...
• When the Boss's shield is dropped, he randomly detains 2 players with a barrier. Since everyone is so clustered together, everyone will be detained.
• When you are detained, you need to shoot your way out of the detainment barrier before you can shoot the boss.

• This is why it is suggested to start the sequence using Auto/Pulse Rifles (or a Fusion rifle if your best damage dealer is a Scout rifle).
• The Relic carrier can Melee the detainment barriers to remove them, but also needs to be careful to not fall off when doing so.​

• Once the detainment barrier is down, switch to your Snipers or Heavy weapons and unleash hell on the boss.

You have maybe 10 seconds to deal damage before the boss teleports to a different position and his shield is back up.​

• When the boss teleports, everyone needs to hide/take cover again AND reload ALL weapons.
• Rinse and repeat this successfully, and the boss should go down fairly quickly and without much frustration.

The Relic Holder:
• Since we won't be wasting ammo on the Oracles, the Relic Holder will only have to Cleanse everyone.
• Cleanse = Grenade Button (LB/L1 by default, RB/R1 on some configurations)

CAUTION: When you use Cleanse, it drains your Super Meter.
You can use Cleanse as a shield, but the longer you hold it, the longer it takes to get your super off.​

• Super Ability = Both Bumpers LB + RB = Shoots a ball of energy that lowers the boss's shield which allows your teammates to damage it.

You don't have to hit the boss directly in the middle, if he is partially hiding behind a pillar, you just need to clip the edge of the shield.​

• Melee = You do a dash forward like Bladedancers do, but you dash back after you do it. This can be kinda confusing/disorientating, so just practice with it.

Relic Holder: In-Depth Moves and Controls:

The following assumes that you are using the default controls for the Xbox versions of Destiny​

• Cleansing Shield = Grenade Button = [LB]

• You need to hold the button down for about 1.5s in order to remove debuffs (such as the Mark of Negation)
• The Shield Protects you from all direct damage, but splash damage can still sometimes affect those inside the shield
• Players inside the shield CAN shoot things outside the shield
• While using the shield, it slowly drains your Super Meter, so if you are trying to launch Supers over and over, use it sparingly​

• Dashing Shield Bash = Right Trigger = [RT]

• After using the dashing shield bash, you bounce back whether or not you connect with an enemy.
• The Shield Bash seems to always hit for at least 2000 damage
• This works great against the Templar's detainment barriers, but...

• It is possible to accidentally dash through the barriers without destroying them, which will kill you.​

• Ground Pound = Jump + Right Trigger = (A) + [RT]

• This is an AOE attack that works well against multiple enemies and can sometimes stagger your opponents
• The Ground Pound seems to leave a pulsing field like a Titan's Aftermath effect
• The Ground Pound is similar to a Fist of Havoc, but you are not propelled forward when you use it.​

• Super Ability = Both Bumpers = [LB] + [RB]

• Ranged projectile, very similar to a Warlock's Nova Bomb
• It has a slight falling rate, so you may want to aim slightly higher than you intend or jump before using it.
• Does massive amounts of AOE damage
• Required in order to take down the Templar's shield​

Boss Enrage:
• For those who are unfamiliar with Enraging, it is a mechanic designed to wipe out players for taking to long.
• Towards the end of the fight, the boss will Enrage if you take to long to kill it. When you are given the warning, you have 1 Minute until it Engrages.
• When the Boss enrages, lots and lots of Minotaurs and harpies will spawn. This can prove deadly if you are not prepared. It will be deadly if you are not using the platform strategy, and even then, it can cause some issues. The Minotaurs can lob their energy blasts up to you platform, causing splash damage and hurting everyone. When this is happening, have a Titan drop their shield as soon as possible, then you want to have someone jumping vertically out from the Titan's shield with their Rocket Launcher aiming down on the Minotaurs. If you try to only use your Sniper Rifle on the boss, you should still have plenty of Rocket Ammo for when the Minotaurs come. A maxed-out Rare Void Rocket Launchers can cause 3800 damage to a Minotaur which can 1-shot them if you get it close enough. Aim for maximum damage, try to take out multiple targets at once.
• When you are given the warning about enraging, as a Defender Titan, you might want to switch to the Illuminated Passive so that Weapons of Light deals more damage.

You will be rewarded when the boss has been defeated.

NOTE: There is a chest on the Boss's Platform that only appears after it has been defeated.
It is on the far back left, near the door. You will see an alcove/cave that you can jump to and you should see the chest. On the downside though, the chest seems to only ever contain Spirit Bloom.
It would also seem as though that during Phase 3, if you are hiding in this cave, that sometimes when the boss performs the ritual, it does not work on you and you stay alive even though you are marked.

If you changed your class up for the boss fight, take the time to pause, dance, and change your subclass' perks back to what you prefer.

The Leap of Faith
With the boss killed, make your way back to the main platform. There is now a door open that you can go through in the back of the platform.
After going through the door, you will eventually reach a ledge. You are now entering The Gorgan's Labyrinth. Progress as far down as you can... or just jump. Make sure that you use your jump ability before reaching the bottom or their is a 99% chance that you will die.

If you want to be a true pro, make sure to assassinate an Elite before you hit the ground.
Oh wait... that might be from a different game. I think someone at Bungie takes great pleasure in us jumping off cliffs like lemmings.

Area 4: The Gorgon Maze and Platforming Section

Spoiler

The Labyrinth
• Everyone should alter their active subclass' passives to maximize Agility for this section. Do not forget to switch back at the end of this!!!
• Do not use any of your abilities, not even Double Jump, Blink, or Invisibility/Stealth until the point(s) where it is stated that it is okay.

Chest #2 of 3
To reach this chest, it is okay to use your Double Jumps, technically, we are not entering the maze yet.
After taking the Leap of Faith, turn around and go left. Somewhere in the cliffside there is an alcove that you need to platform up to and it contains a chest.
Going left, you should see a steep hill, and a way to platform into the cliff-face to the left of it. As you platform your way up, you will see a triangular shaped hole in the wall that leads you into a tunnel that eventually leads to the chest.
The landmarks are hard to identify for this, so I cannot provide a jump-by-jump list of what you need to do to get into it, but know that the cave is there, and the entrance isn't really easy to see.
Once the chest and the path to it has been found, make sure everyone is next to the chest before activating it so that everyone can get their reward.

Chest #3 of 3
From the cliffside, notice that you are standing in a small pool of water/liquid. There is a thin stream that leads away from the pool of water you are in. If you can't find it, it is on the left side of the large ramp-shaped rock that you can easily walk up.
As you follow the stream, you'll see glowing red, this means you are headed in the right direction.
Follow the stream until it leads to a cave with purple fire, instead of going into the cave, you will step off on the right side of the stream and continue to follow the left wall. Beware of the Gorgons and beware of the fact that there are "windows" in the rock formations they might see you through.
As you follow the wall, you will come up to a room with a glorious chest in it. It is okay to Double Jump up to the chest.
Use the same courtesy as before and make sure that everyone has reached the room before you open the chest.

With the chests out of the way, you want to follow the path in reverse back to the cliffside. I recommend this because otherwise you can get disorientated and turned around.

Once you are back at your lovely pool of water and your large ramp-shaped rock, follow the stream forward again.
This time you want to go towards the left. To do so, follow the stream, there will be a large rock on the left side of the stream before you reach the red light.
For a speed run, assuming you let yourself get wiped after finding chest #3, you will run forward down the stream, and navigate around the rock counter-clockwise. This keeps you behind a Gorgon that comes from that position. Following it forward, it will veer off to the right. Just keep going straight. You will see a large rock in front of you that you can jump up to the top of and it has a left and a right path on either side of it that Gorgons like to float around.

From this point forward, it is okay to use Double Jump.
Once everyone is on the rock, at the top on the far end, you want to double-jump forward and to the left onto the rock-ledge ahead of you. You can continue to make forward progress above the Gorgans by jumping to the cubic stone structure. Follow it around the 90° turn and jump to the next platform. Still facing the direction you are in after jumping, turn right 90°. Look down and be weary of the Gorgans.
At the bottom on the wall across from you, there is cave/tunnel you can enter that will take you to the Platforming section.

The Platforming Section
Get out as far as you can and look out. You will see platforms appearing and disappearing. Start making a mental note of their pattern.
There are some that appear almost on the same level as you, ignore these.
Looking down, you will see more appearing. You will eventually see that down below, there are 3 platforms that form a right-most path.

When you decide you are ready, jump the second you see the platform appear, to not try to hover or anything, just get to it, try to pad yourself with a little boost just before you land, as this will almost kill you. Immediately get yourself to the next platform, the one you are on is already disappearing beneath your feet. You are only a hop, a skip, and a jump from making it across the chasm now, you just have to be quick to get across the subsequent platforms.

Bladedancers: Since we all know you like to cheat, all you have to do is use your Super Ability and you can dash your way across the entire chasm.

After making it across, you will notice that you are on a shallow ledge. Follow it down with your right shoulder to it. Eventually you will approach a very small section of the ledge that seems to have become damaged (like 3 feet wide at most). If you simply try to walk past it, it will cause you to fall to your death.
If you look up above you, you will see a small lip that sticks out, if you try to double jump past the little falloff section, the lip will push you out away from the ledge, also killing you. Take a few steps back to before when the ledge gets very narrow and try jumping past the section from there.
(As a Titan, using Increased Height, you can easily jump around that somewhat dangerous section and avoid falling to your death.)

Once everyone has made it, if you continue to follow the right wall, you will end up finding a door. With everyone present, the door will open, revealing the final boss area to you.

Remember to switch back to your preferred passives before entering Area 5.

Don't walk through the door yet!

Area 5: Boss 2 Area - Atheon, Time’s Conflux

Spoiler

Everyone has their particular role when it comes to taking down Atheon. When you are split into teams, you only get to see the strategy of one perspective, you don't see all the tricks and strategies the other side has to employ. Because of this, I will do my best to explain all the positions.

So concluding Area 4, but before starting Area 5, it is extremely important for everyone to know what the strategies are and what their roles are for the upcoming boss fight.
There are not any delays between each of the phases. While you get checkpoints, it's always a good idea to at least aim for a Wipe-free playthrough. Since there are no delays and you cannot pause, everyone needs to know their roles and strategies for each phase ahead of time, not halfway through.

So that all your team members are clear, it is important to clarify what is the left side and what is the right side of this map.
Some people will immediately just know which is which and some may need a little help.
When you enter, you will see 2 Vex Portals as well as a Portal Control Pad for each of the Vex Portals. Standing between these landmarks, the map basically ramps up in the far back and converges into basically an arrow head.
Facing the far end of the map, your Left and Right sides can be established.
So now, Left = Left, Right = Right, Back = Far end of the Map, Rear = Behind you.

Phase 1: Killing the Gatekeeper
There are no tricks to this part, it is pretty straightforward.
• Step 1: Clear out the Dormant Vex / White Vex
• Step 2: Kill the Gatekeeper

Phase 2: Collect the Relics and Defend the Structures
Chaos immediately follows Phase 1.
In order to complete this section, you must seek out the Gatekeeper who has teleported itself into both the past and the future. You must kill the Gatekeeper to collect the relics it drops, return them to the present time, and finally protect the "Keymaster" in order for the final boss to appear. The "Keymaster" is simply a structure that appears in the middle of the map that must finish being constructed in order to move on to the final phase.

This phase requires you to incorporate some of the strategies from both Area 1 and Area 3. It is a combination of the Control Pad protection of Area 1 and the Point-Defense from Phase 1 of Area 3.

Initially, you will split into 2 groups of 3, but you will have to split into groups of 2 fairly quickly, so making sure everyone knows who their partners are and who will be splitting up is very important.

NOTE: During Phase 2, the enemies spawn from both the Rear side and the Left side of the Left Control Pad and they spawn from both the Rear side and the Right side of the Right Control Pad. There is also a spawn in the Far back of the map that you need to keep in mind, especially after getting your 1st relic.
The Left Control Pad seems to see A LOT more Praetorians than the Right Control Pad does, this is a very crucial aspect to keep in mind when forming your strategy.

Defending the Control Pads:
If the Praetorians get too close to the Portal Control Pad, it will close the Portal, causing the Time Travelers to become "lost in time", which results in a team wipe.
This is similar to the mechanics of the Control Pads in Area 1, if an enemy enters the circle, it gets reset. With the Tower in Area 1, you could rebuild it if it got reset, but with the Portals, if you fail, it results in being wiped.

I strongly recommend the team who will be staying in the present time to protect the Control pad to all have Void Fusion Rifles or at least a Void Sniper Rifle (which you will switch to your primary after lowering a Praetorian's shield with the sniper.)
Save your Heavy ammo and your Super Abilities for the Praetorians. Communicate with one another and call out all the spawns, and if you are about to use your Super or a Rocket Launcher.

Part 1: Clearing the Gatekeeper out of the Past
The Past is the Left Portal. For this, you will split into 2 groups of 3.
You want to start working on this immediately after clearing Phase 1, so having everyone already on the left side is going to be very important.

3 Team members will go into the portal and 3 have to stay outside and defend it.
You can be successful sending only 2 individuals into the portal, but for clearing the Past Timegate, you want to be fast and efficient.
Only having 2 people inside the portal means that you have to deal with the Praetorians on that side for a longer period of time.

Why do the left side first?
It is critical that you do it first, because after you complete one of the portals, the Keymaster appears, and now you have to divide your attention split among dealing with 3 things instead of just 2. What this means, is that when this happens, you don't just want to have 2 players trying to fight off all the Praetorians around the Left Control Pad, you REALLY want to have 3 otherwise it can be seemingly impossible.

Obtaining the Relic:
When you kill the Gatekeeper in a Timegate, it drops a Relic you need to pick up.
Grabbing the relic resets your Super Meter, but it also causes it to be recharged rapidly.
When someone picks up the Relic, it causes a debuff called the "Mark of the Void" to be applied to all those who are within the Timegate. While the Mark of the Void is active, you must cleanse yourself periodically to avoid dieing.
Mark of the Void will stay active once you leave the Timegate back through the portal. You need to cleanse yourself and your partner(s) again in order to clear yourself of the debuff. It will not reactivate itself in the present time after doing so.

* * * REMINDER * * *
Please refer to Area 3: Phase 3 (above) for in-depth details on the Relic Shield Controls​

Make sure that when you exit the Vex Timegate Portal that you walk through, not run, as it seems that running can cause the game to glitch and you can get stuck inside the portal.

After returning from the Portal and cleansing your partners, everyone immediately needs to switch their roles up and their positioning for the next part.

Part 2: Clearing the Gatekeeper out of the Future AND Protecting the Keymaster
The Future is the Right Portal.
Your original 2 teams of 3 must now break up into pairs.
• Pair #1 = The Relic Holder from the first portal and one of his original partners.

• This pair's mission is to retrieve the 2nd Relic​

• Pair #2 = 2 of the Control Pad protectors from the first portal

• This pair's mission is to keep the Right Control Pad open for Pair #1​

• Pair #3 = 1 of the Relic Holder's original partners and 1 of the original Control Pad Protectors will split and form a new team.

• This pair's mission is to protect the Keymaster from the enemies that spawn from the far back of the map.​

Upon entering the 2nd Portal, have the Relic Holder perform a Super on the boss.
To perform a super with the relic, hit LB + RB. This will shoot a projectile similar to a Warlock's Nova Bomb just like it did against the 1st boss.
The Relic Holder's Partner will need to use Heavy weapons, grenades, etc in order to finish off the rest of the enemies and continue to damage the boss. An LMG could be used, but a Rocket Launcher is recommended so that you can damage all the remaining enemies and the Gatekeeper at once.
Make sure to have the Relic Carrier cleanse himself and his partner as they continue their assault on the Gatekeeper.

Once the Gatekeeper has fallen, the partner of the original Relic Carrier will grab the 2nd Relic.
Carefully make your way through the portal and have everyone regroup at the Keymaster (the structure forming at the center of the map) to defend it.
At this point, all you have to do is continue to kill the enemies until the Keymaster finishes constructing itself and the Phase ends.

NOTE: Keep in mind, that if the Relic Carriers are killed and the Relics are dropped at any time, it will result in a wipe.

Phase 3: Killing Atheon
In order to kill Atheon, very good communication with your team members needs to be established. You really need to know what your strategy is coming into this. Everyone needs to know their role, and everyone needs to know everyone else's role in case they find themselves playing it. If you are going for a deathless run, you need flawless execution, just like you do with every other section, but this section is even less forgiving than all the rest (with possibly the exception of the vanishing platforms).

You will be split into 2 groups of 3, the game will do this forceably, so if people are out of their positions, it can cause a lot of unnecessary chaos.
Your 2 groups are:

• The Vex Timegate Travelers, and
• The Portal Protectors​

The 3 players who are the furthest away from the boss will get teleported. If you are not on the Vex Timegate team, get away from the ones that are. Go forward towards the boss over by the portals.

Splitting up the Team:
For the best results, I recommend that the Timegate team have 2 Gunslingers and have 1 of the Titans be the Relic Holder with their passives set for maximum armor and/or recovery.
On the outside, you'll have the Portal Protectors be 2 Sunsingers and a Defender Titan.

While any mix of classes can work for the Timegate's team, it is best to make sure that the two players who are with the Relic Holder have ranged Super Abilities, so the Voidwalker and Gunslinger are great here. A Striker would also work well, but they will always be in the rear if they are in the group, rather than switching off with whoever is in the front.

Portal Protectors:
You will divide up, 1 left, 1 right, and 1 support in order to open up the Return Portal Pads for the Vex Timegate team. Besides opening the Portals, you need to kill off all of the exploding Harpies that spawn from the back of the map behind Atheon. These will 1-shot you if they explode too close to you.
As I mentioned above, it would be a good idea to have Sunsingers for this portion. Have them play as the fixed Portal Protectors, with the Titan playing the Support Role. The only time I would mix this up is if the Titan has better equipment for dealing with the Harpies.
Sunsingers are the best choice for this part because if they die, they can come back.

When the Timegate team gets teleported, they need to inform the Portal Protector team whether they have entered the past or future (left or right). When this happens, the Support player will jump to the side in which the portal needs to be opened if they are not already there.
The guardian that is defending their side solo does not need to worry about opening a portal, they need to only focus on cleaning up Harpies on their side and surviving.
For the 2 guardians on the side that the portal needs to be opened, it is better to keep the Titan up the ramp by the portal and the Sunsinger down below by the Portal Control Pad. When the Time's Vengeance buff activates, the Titan should deploy his bubble shield near the portal, so that the Timegate team can make a safer return without as much fear of worrying about a Harpy exploding in their face as they walk through the portal.

The Vex Timegate:
Desert = Brown = Past = Left Portal needs to be opened
Forest = Green = Future = Right Portal needs to be opened
There are 7 Oracles
If you don't kill them all, you get Marked by the Void.
If you DO kill them all, you get Time's Vengeance.

Time's Vengeance = 30 second Damage Boost + Max Super about every 3 seconds; awarded for killing all 7 Oracles.
At the end of each Time's Vengeance, Atheon will reset the Portal Pads and destroy the Relic, so you have to grab it again the next time you go in.

Marked by the Void = If you don't kill an Oracle, especially before going back through the Portal, everyone will die.
Not sure exactly how long you have before you get auto-killed

When you get teleported/time travel, it can be disorientating and sometimes the game likes to spawn you facing the wrong way every time.
• When you spawn on the Forrest side, look for the tree.
• When you spawn on the Desert side, look for the cubic stone structures (not the tall angled ones you spawn under)

Timegate Walkthrough:
There is more than one strategy for dealing with the Timegates, there is the Defensive strategy and the pure Offensive strategy.
• In the Desert, you will face 1 Goblin and 2 Hobgoblins.
• In the Forrest, you will face 2 Goblins and a Praetorian.

That 1 Praetorian can be the hardest part of this entire phase. Make sure to keep a Void Fusion Rifle and Rockets on hand, you might need them.
When the enemies are taken out (which should be done very quickly), the person in the front needs to help the person who stays in back take out the Oracles while the Relic Holder continues to Cleanse everyone periodically.

Defensive Strategy:
For both Timegates, you will want to be in a line that has someone with a ranged super up front (Gunslinger), the Relic Holder in the middle, and your 3rd person behind him.
The person up front is in charge of taking out the enemies down below as the player walks to the front of the staircase you have to descend, while the player in the back is in charge of clearing the 1st Oracle that appears over the top of everyone and picking any up while the Front-Man finishes off the enemies. If the enemies make it up the stairs, the Shield can be used to melee the enemies, and if there is a Titan in the back, they can use their Fist of Havoc to finish the enemies off (hopefully).​

Offensive Strategy:
I have seen the Praetorian survive 3 Rockets, a Fist of Havoc and 2 Ground Pounds from the Relic Holder. Only after a 3rd Ground Pound did it die.​

* * * REMINDER * * *
Please refer to Area 3: Phase 3 (above) for in-depth details on the Relic Shield Controls​

I think that the best Offensive Strategy combo makes use of a Hunter Gunslinger and a Titan Striker in addition to the Relic Holder.
When you are about to get teleported, switch to your Rocket Launchers, inside the Timegate, immediately rush over to the stairs, jump up and rain down one of your Rockets onto the enemies below.
Make sure to switch back to your primary after firing your Rockets (and bring Rocket Launchers that can hold 2+ Rockets)
The Gunslinger will stay near the top of the stairs while the Titan will continue their jump over to the enemies, ending in a Fist of Havoc. After using it, the Titan will immediately turn towards the Gunslinger, killing the 1st Oracle above them and retreat back up the stairs, then they need to turn around to focus on the remaining Oracles with the Gunslinger.
The Gunslinger has the option to use their Super on the enemies below or to use it on the Oracles.
While all the above is going on, the Relic Holder should be following shortly behind the Titan, jumping in with a Ground Pound and protecting the Titan's retreat back to the stairs. Repeatedly using Ground Pound seems to be superior to using the Shield Bash against the Praetorian.
After the Praetorian and all the enemies are down, the Relic Holder needs to immediately get back to the staircase and cleanse everyone before they work on making their way forward down the rest of the staircase and through the area as they kill the remaining Oracles.​

Once you have cleared out the Vex Timegate area and approach the portal, make sure that you Walk through. If you don't walk, you can glitch it so that you are stuck inside the portal.... which then kills you.

Make sure that the Relic Holder Cleanses you after you exit the Portal, otherwise the black-screen effects continue until you die.

Damaging Atheon
This is where most Guardians fail to succeed even though they have everything else down.
With Time's Vengeance active, everyone needs to jump onto the square platform in the center. The Relic Holder will keep the Cleansing Shield up to negate incoming damage while 4 of the 5 other players focus on damaging Atheon and the 5th man focuses on taking out the evil exploding Harpies so that the Portal Protectors can safely return to their posts.
When there is about 5 seconds left over, have a Defender Titan spawn a shield while the Vex Timegate team jumps to the rear area to be teleported again and so that the Portal Protectors are also fairly covered returning to their positions.

NOTE: When Time's Vengeance counts down to 0:00, you have maybe 1 second before 3 people get sent back into the Timegate. Make sure everyone is where they need to be for this. The Portal Protectors should jump towards the Portals (rather than the Control Pad) when they depart from the central square platform to try and avoid causing any confusion for the game in terms of who it will send into the Timegate.

Remember that at the end of each Time's Vengeance, Atheon will reset the Portal Pads and destroy the Relic, so the Portal that needs to be opened will need to be opened/reopened and the Relic will need to be picked up once again.

If your Portal Protectors are extremely efficient at killing the Harpies on their own, you can be extra efficient at damaging Atheon by having all 5 players focusing on damaging him instead of just the 4 with the 5th killing Harpies.

If all your team members are good about checking the remaining time (or you can just have the Relic Holder call out the remaining time, or just say "MOVE NOW"), you can be extra efficient at damaging Atheon by getting a few extra seconds of damage in. You want the Portal Protectors to go ahead and jump out first when there is 2 or 3 seconds remaining on the timer, and have the Timegate Travelers turn around and jump back when there is 1 second remaining. The Relic Holder should already be facing the rear side, ready to jump, but they should always check the front side when they get on the platform to make sure everyone is covered. The Timegate Travelers should attempt to reload their Rockets (if they have emptied all their rounds in previous Timegates) while they jump back to the rear section.
If you find yourself blowing through your Rockets, or even your primary ammo, the best time to use an Ammo Synthesis is likely while Time's Vengeance is active and you are protected under the shield, but keep in mind that while you do this, you are sacrificing a lot of precious boss smashing time.

Critical Hits on Atheon:
There are several rumors going around currently on how to score critical/precision hits on Atheon. Some people have been saying that you need to shoot the Cables that lead to Atheon's stomach core to score a precision hit while some have even said that he can just turn it on and off.
I haven't noticed a particular pattern to get successful precision hits while using a sniper rifle, so it's hard to judge what is best.
I will say though that the Portal Protectors might like to switch to LMGs during the battle (or between wipes) because Atheon does move around a lot which can cause you to miss with a Rocket.​

There are 8 minutes until Atheon enrages.
Enrage is Near = 1 Minute until massive spawn of enemies
You should be able to kill him before that happens. If you can't, either you have members dieing, you have players that aren't high enough in level, or you are using weapons that are not as upgraded as they need to be.

Vault of Glass Raid on Hard

Spoiler

Hard mode can be accessed once Normal mode has been completed.

For Running the Raid in Hard Mode, you will want to have all 6 players up to Level 29, AT LEAST.

The standard Vault of Glass on Normal is a Level 26 Raid, while on Hard it is a Level 30 Raid.
What this means, is that you will be seeing enemies starting at Level 29 and reaching up to Level 32.

For those who might be unaware, part of the formula for damage calculations against your enemies has a multiplier based on your level difference. While I do not personally know the formula at the time of writing this, there is a sharp reduction for every level higher an enemy is compared to yourself. This is why it is imperative that you want to be at least Level 29, but preferably Level 30.

The Heroic Modifier is enabled for Hard Mode. For those who are unfamiliar with what this means, it means that you will be seeing more enemies than usual.

Other than the difference between the levels of the enemies you were facing in Normal Mode compared to Hard mode, there is really only 1 difference in terms of the game's mechanics.
The Primary Difference between Normal Mode and Hard Mode is that in Hard Mode, you CANNOT be revived. You come back when a checkpoint is reached or everyone wipes.

For most of us, this shouldn't really be that big of an issue since typically when anyone dies everyone gets wiped out anyways.
That being said... if you are having members die against the Templar's battle on Normal, then you and your team will need to try practicing against the Templar until you can complete it without dieing. To increase your challenge while practicing on the Normal difficulty, consider unequiping some of your Light equipment until you are back down to Level 26.

As for the battle with Atheon, if you are still with your same team that completed the Normal Raid, everyone should already have their roles established and you should know that it already takes a nearly flawless playthrough to finish Atheon on the Normal Difficulty.

Don't be afraid to wipe yourselves if things aren't going well or if someone dies early on after a checkpoint was reached. There is no sense in trying to make it through an entire checkpoint down a man.

Tips/Guidelins:
• Be Lv.30, or at least Lv.29
• Practice on Normal while aiming for the Flawless Raider achievement
• Fully Upgrade all your Weapons and Equipment
• Bring Raid and Exotic Weapons. (If they regenerate ammo, awesome!)
- - • All Raid Weapons give a bonus to damaging Oracles
- - • Use Field Scout for your weapons, it increases magazine size and reserve ammo.
- - - - • If you are the team member focusing on Oracles, use it on your Primary
- - - - • At least use it for your Special/Heavy Weapons, extra ammo for them will really help.
- - - - • The only Raid weapon without Field Scout is the Rocket Launcher, Hezen Vengeance
• Raid Gear will make things easier
- - • Raid Gauntlets include a perk that gives you bonus damage against Praetorians or Oracles
- - • Raid Helmets include a perk that rewards precision kills on Vex with Orbs of Light
- - • Raid Chest Armor includes a perk that allows you to carry more special ammo.
- - • Raid Boots include a perk that allows you to carry more heavy ammo.

Strategies:
Areas 1, 2, and 4 will all require the same strategies as before.

Area 1 will be a little harder, but you shouldn't notice a significant difference.

Area 3's difficulty is increased due to the Oracles having their health buffed up.
• In order to combat this, Raid's Normal mode often rewards players with Legendary weapons that deal bonus damage to Oracles. Hard mode is a great time to make use of those weapons.
• One strategy that you can implement during Area 3 is keeping 2 snipers up on the ledge from Area 2 before dropping into Area 3. If they don't have the Ice Breaker Exotic Sniper, make sure they bring lots of Special Ammo Synthesis to replenish their ammo.

Area 5's difficulty receives a similar increase that Area 3 received; the Oracles have been buffed up with more health here too.
In order to combat this, after your Portal Protectors have cleared out the nearby enemies, one of them will want to jump into the portal with the Timegate Travelers to help them kill off all the Oracles (and the Praetorian if they are transported to the Future).

Another item to note is that the Timegate Traveling team will start with a detainment barrier just after they teleport which needs to be addressed before anything else.

This Guide has also been posted on Trueachievements.com as a solution to the Raider achievement.
The Solution page can be found here: http://www.trueachievements.com/a190001/raider-achievement.htm

NOTE: This Guide has been written by a player who uses a Titan with both subclasses maxed out.
I have yet to have played from the perspective of every position in the Raid, which I hope to eventually do, but until then, my roles included:
In Area 1, I take the left side, in Area 3, I take the right side, and in Area 5, I am on the team that gets teleported.​

 

[WandererTJ]

We will be starting the 405th's first raid tonight at 6:30 PST / 9:30 EST. Watch us on Twitch! I'll be streaming from my Xbone.

My Twitch username is WOLFGANGTHOR - same as my GT.

Come join your fellow Spartans and watch us take on the Darkness.

I'll probably be done before you guys, but my group sadly is not a 405th group because I can't seem to find anyone on the Xbox360 who plays as hardcore and at the same times that I do.
I think VengeanceBeard is the only exception in my friends list.

No offense intended to any of you guys, I'm a hardcore achievement hunter, so when I get home, I play non-stop.


Our goal tonight is to try to get to the final boss without a single wipe.
I think next week I'll probably have a team going for the completion without any deaths achievement (assuming we all get ourselves up to Lv.28)

 

[Demogorgon]

WandererTJ

No offense taken at all. I'm also a hardcore gamer and a long time MMO player so I know what to expect in the raid and the teamwork required.

We plan on going in blind and figuring it out ourselves. We feel it would be more challenging and exciting for us. I'll definitely be reading through your guide though after the raid.... or if we get stuck haha.

Also, Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-osssAKgEc - Leaked map locations due to bug in game

 

[Zaff]

Thanks for the guide, TJ. Seems the group I had been pulled into last night was on the last section, but we didn't know anything about what to do (or not do). We didn't even know how to use the relic's cleanse function, so those who got teleported all succumbed to the "black screen of death" and those left in the chamber would either die from the suicide gliders, or get wiped because the teleported team died. We never survived more than ten seconds passed the teleportation.

 

[WandererTJ]

Well I didn't get a chance to run the Raid last night, I did the Nightfall instead.
Kinda glad I wasn't doing the Raid though because I think everyone got Caterpillar + Cattle last night. That could have easily caused some groups to fall apart.

On the downside, my group got the errors at the boss in the Nightfall, on the plus side, when we beat it, I got the Mida Multi-Tool, the first Exotic I didn't have to buy with strange coins!
Turns out RNGesus might not hate me after all!
I wish I could change the sight on it though.... it has one of those ( ^ ) arrow styled reticles and I can't seem to hit a barn door with it.

I actually finished out the achievement for Suited for War last night after I bought some Legendary boots, so I'm excited about that.

For all of you Titans out there, I just want you to know that you don't have to be jelly of the Warlocks and their glowing armbands. When I was working on the Raid last week, one of the chests gave me a Legendary Titan's Mark (Class Item) that is both transparent and it glows blue. It also happened to be my absolute favorite style of Titan Mark. It has the long hip flap with a front and back loincloth. I have made sure that all my teammates are always aware of my glowing dickflap as I like to call it.
On the downside, on Bungie.net, it does not show up at all, and on the mobile app, it isn't transparent and it doesn't glow, it is just simply a solid grey color. I understand it is hard to render transparency, but it still makes me sad I can't see it on my computer or my phone.

Demogorgon, once you make it through, feel free to add tips where I may have forgotten them or expand on what I've already said, I don't mind being critiqued, and anything that helps the guide will be beneficial to anyone who reads it.
Once I have written out a guide on how to kill the boss, I'll be posting it up on Trueachievements.com.

Also, yeah going through blind is totally cool, that's why I made sure to put all the steps into Spoiler boxes. I figured knowing what to grab from the tower would just be good to know if you are going in blind or not, and I figured it wouldn't hurt for people to see the names of each of the steps...

Zaff, yeah, that final boss can be really annoying if you don't have a good team. Everyone needs to know what they need to do if they get teleported or don't get teleported, but obviously you want to have a team dedicated as the teleporting team and everyone else as the portal openers.

 

[geijin]

Just joined on Bungie.

1) Your 405th Username -- Geijin
2) Playstation PSN -- geijin-MiA-
3) What console(s) you will be playing on -- PS3
4) Username in regards to Bungie's website/forum -- Geijin