Destiny Flawless Raider Detailed Guide

Destiny Flawless Raider Detailed Guide by YeezyReddit

So when I made my post the other day about things that I had learnt during my extensive amount of play time required for me to achieve 100% achievement completion in Destiny (1000G on Xbox/Platinum on Playstation), there were many questions asked about how to complete a flawless raid and I promised that I would post a guide. So here it is. (I’m aware that there are a fair few of you out there who have already earned this achievement, but believe me, for each one of you that have there are a hundred that haven’t. Take that into consideration before berating anyone.)

The Fireteam

You don’t require specific classes, so I can say that much. But what definitely makes this easier is attempting to get the achievement on Crota’s End Normal Mode. Try to have everyone in your fireteam match up to the level of the enemies (Level 32) and have everyone able to communicate and know what they are doing. The slightest mistake can compromise the whole run, as I will show you later.

The Drop

The majority of our team’s restarts came from the initial drop into the raid, as quite a lot of the time it can bug out and kill someone either before they hit the ground or as soon as they enter the darkness zone. Other seasoned raiders will have experienced this also. To combat this if you are a small team, have each of you co-ordinate so that there is a person to each side of the hole in the platform. For instance, when the three of us ‘went down into that pit’, we positioned ourselves in a triangle formation around the hole and jumped in one after another. This gave us enough wriggle-room to escape the fate that would have indefinitely befallen us if we had trod on one another’s heads (which confusingly kills the person on the top). Also, if you do not give each other enough space when entering the darkness zone, it is known to kill you for no reason in particular. Try to cancel your jump before entering the darkness zone or upon entering to combat this.

The Abyss

Most like to have someone solo the Abyss when in larger fireteams, but if you are in an organised, smaller group, it is usually safer and a great deal more enjoyable if you run as a team. This usually means protective supers (Ward of Dawn) or area-denial supers (Nova Bomb/Fist of Havoc), and a lot of firepower. Ice Breaker usually suffices, and some sort of explosive-rounds primary always helps. There are many, many ways to complete the Abyss and the odds are that most people attempting to complete a Raid without dying know nearly all of the strategies off by heart, but I will be repeating some here anyway. If you are confident with a section of the raid, please skip to another section.

Titan solo – (Cheese/Non-Cheese):

With a maxed-ability build sporting an Increased Height jump, Titans are able to launch themselves from the second lantern onto a ledge much higher up, enabling them to skip around about half of the run. This can either lead inevitably to the person’s death if they are ill-practiced with the jump, or just simply speed up the run. I would not condone this method for a flawless raider run, personally, but it is whatever your runner is capable of. Without the method above, Titans can just as easily do it legitimately. To make things easier, I might suggest either using a high-agility/MIDA Multi-Tool build, enabling much better manoeuvrability from lamp-to-lamp and decreasing the effect of Weight of Darkness a considerable amount. You will run the Abyss the normal method this way, either Saint-14 bubble blinding or Striker smashing your way through the entire area. The other setup is quite general and requires the use of an explosive-rounds primary and an Ice Breaker, as stated earlier, which is easily a thousand times more enjoyable and much easier to get out of sticky situations (should you get into any).

Warlock solo – (Cheese/Non-Cheese):

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I believe Warlocks are able to make the jump from the second lamp to the ledge as well using a high-agility/Increased Height jump combination. This is slightly more challenging as the speed of the jump is a great deal slower and takes longer to accumulate the height required to get on top of the ledge. However, if you are comfortable with using that method then, again, I encourage it fully. Warlocks can have a much more interesting time in the Abyss, as technicalities play to their advantage a lot more. DoT grenades and the Vortex skill on the Voidwalker subclass all steer enemies away from you, enabling you to throw a grenade to the floor and stand in it when faced with a tricky situation. Unfortunately, as a flawless raider run, Fireborn has no place here. The Sunsinger setup is by no means redundant however, as its quick-response barrier-inducing melee can save you from time to time. Solar Grenades can force the enemies away from you while you progress uphill or onwards, and Radiant Skin provides you with a much higher tolerance to enemy attack. Voidwalkers with Bad JuJu/Obsidian Mind have a much more fun time here however, as they still have the DoT grenade capabilities, but lack sufficient health protection or regeneration. Voidwalkers here should focus on gaining their super quickly and consistently, and using it conservatively when you need to use it. Use Shatter for the wide AoE, and decide whether the rapid response TTK is enough to compensate for the lack of protection that Warlocks get coupled with the fact that they are the only class that cannot achieve an Armour/Agility split setup.

Hunter solo – (cheese?/Non-Cheese):

I was told once in the comments section that it is possible to make the jump as a Hunter using blink, but I haven’t yet seen evidence of this so I won’t go into it any further. Hunters make excellent use of their Bladedancing abilities in the Abyss, as they intermittently change between visible reality and everyone’s dream superpower. The usual armour of choice are the Exotic gauntlets ‘Don’t Touch Me’s and every available invisibility perk in the skill tree. It really is quite simple to do this part as a Hunter, so there isn’t much to say. Use the MIDA Multi-Tool.

The Bridge

Once your team is successfully placed into the next section of the Raid, you will hear the echo of “Guardian Down”. Not entirely sure why it does this, but rest assured that it most definitely does not count as a down and will not affect your achievement in any way, shape or form. I’m going to recommend cheesing this part, and you really don’t have much choice in how you do it. Send people up to the top of the right-hand tower and when they have despawned build the bridge and send someone across, or perform those actions in the reverse order minus the bridge building. It’s all preference but I can say it is without a doubt easier to cheese this part. Ice Breaker the Ogres, and don’t make the ridiculous mistake of running across the bridge too early. I mean, come on. Scout for heavy ammo packs that may be hiding on the opposite side to you, as they are almost essential for the later parts of the raid.

The Thrallway

Push forward slightly to activate the spawn on the first Shrieker. Rain fire upon it, preferably not with a proximity-exploding or tracking rocket launcher, as the Thralls just below your scope will have you meet your demise in any way they see fit. When the Shrieker detonates and excretes its death blasts, cower in fear behind the initial entrance of the Thrallway and watch as the pretty fireworks fail to coax you into an early grave. Push forward further until the second Shrieker spawns. If you are to fire a rocket, now would be the time, but AFTER JUMPING HIGH ENOUGH to avoid any mishap with the Thralls. When the second bout of death blasts come towards you, retreat again to the safe zone. Now, with the Shriekers dealt with, it is pretty much a straight-forward path to Ir Yut, with only a Cursed Thrall or two standing in your way. Don’t die to a Cursed Thrall. You can see when they’re there. Just don’t die to them, it’s rather disheartening.

The Deathsinger

No solo tips here, sorry. I haven’t provided myself with the misfortune of tackling this beautiful lady alone, and I may not intend to either. This post is primarily focused on fireteam completions. Large fireteams can take heed of the steps below and if you don’t have people stupidly rushing inside before she begins her liturgy, you shouldn’t have too many complications. Small fireteams (2-3 players): Send 1-2 players to the left-hand side and one to the right. Draw out the Wizards and retreat to the second-tier of the boomer tower that is accessible through normal play. Kill the Wizard by whatever means possible and attempt to decimate the Shriekers whilst the coast is clear. If you kill the two fast enough, the overwhelming amount of adds that usually appear there won’t cause you too much trouble. If you do not take care of the Wizard/Shrieker combo wicked quick, it’s not too much of a problem. 9 times out of 10 you can simply jump over the adds or turn invisible while they all blindly shoot one another. Enter the crystal building through the right-hand side (usually a lot less adds) and prepare to set up shop in the small, circular room where you draw out the Wizard. Being in here will prevent Hallowed Knights to spawn directly behind you, but you will get a group of three Thralls spawn twice which are easily disposed of. Bubble up if possible and prepare yourself for when she starts the liturgy. If you haven’t disturbed Ir Yut, she should be in the prime position of gazing out of her window facing where Crota would be (awww). If she begins her liturgy here, you can very easily fire upon her with rockets and sniper shots even before the Knights get to you. As soon as she crumbles, race out of the right-side exit and cower in fear inside the second-floor of the boomer tower. Swap to Ice Breakers and deal with adds accordingly, therefore starting clean-up duty. Take no prisoners.

The Heir to the Osmium Throne

With the last remnants of the Deathsinger struggle disposed of, have your fireteam make their way over to the crystal room and have them prepared with Heavy Ammo that hopefully dropped from the previous encounter. Designate a swordbearer, which does not necessarily even mean a Hunter. Any class can do this so do not let this be a complication. TAKE YOUR TIME killing the initial round of adds. If you take damage now, you may not be able to hold the Chalice until the Ogres spawn if you’re not the swordbearer. Have a secondary source of health regeneration readily available to you. Kill the adds, collect your orbs, synth your ammo and prepare to leave the crystal area through the left-hand side exit.

Phase One

SWORDBEARER: Run straight down to where the Chalice spawns and retrieve it. Better players do not need the Chalice but this forces the spawn of the Swordbearer so always retrieve it. Retreat slightly backwards towards the back-middle, but ensure that the Swordbearer is still in your sight and you are ready to help drop him. SHOOTERS: Run straight out via the left-hand side exit and near enough hug the wall to your right until you come to the centre ledge. Position yourself here and prepare yourself to fire upon the Swordbearer with SNIPER SHOTS. When the Swordbearer is dead, while your swordbearer is running towards the sword to pick it up, shoot and kill both boomers in the right-hand side boomer tower. This is ESSENTIAL.

Phase Two

SWORDBEARER: Retrieve the sword and make your way to the right-hand side of Crota’s platform. Position yourself on the rocks where you cannot be affected by Crota’s attacks. Have faith in your fireteam and tell them exactly when you want them to fire their rockets at Crota. You should compensate for mic-delay and deliver the first hit to Crota as he is starting to kneel. Get 3 hits in per down just to be safe and don’t exceed this if you are not completely confident. If you fail on a fourth hit, then it is entirely your fault that your fireteam have failed this run. Play it safe. Exit through the right or use the Jackknife ability (Hunter) to melee Crota and turn invisible after dropping the sword, then retrieve it again as your fireteam delivers the second bout of rockets. 3 hits. Exit through right. Stay underneath the crystal room where it is safe. SHOOTERS: Keep calm and shoot the amount of rockets needed to down Crota. For Gjallarhorn users, Normal-mode Crota requires two rockets to hit him to completely down him if all wolfpack rounds connect. Fire off some primary ammo at Crota just in case. It is never safe until the damage starts to come up as ‘Immune’. Listen to your swordbearer and don’t fuck up. This is essential, the two teams cannot coexist if you do not listen to one another. DO NOT be stingy with your heavy ammo synthesis, use everything you’ve got if you have to. When your swordbearer returns down below, if there is heavy ammo inside, then feel free to go back inside through the left-hand side entrance, but risk being shot at by boomers. If not, then meet your swordbearer below you and prepare for the second attack.

Phase Three

SWORDBEARER: Repeat exactly the same as last time. You will either kill him in this sword or return down below for ogres depending on your accuracy. Either way, do not worry. If you’re at this point the odds are that your team is organised enough to pull this off with no problems. SHOOTERS: Repeat exactly the same as last time, with the exception of not being able to go back inside if it comes to ogres. Meet your swordbearer down below and set up an area in the very back where you dropped down from the Thrallway. This means making use of bubbles. If you are to fire rockets at the ogres, MAKE SURE TO TELL THEM that you are doing so and go in front of your team mates to avoid unnecessary deaths. I prefer BoL to WoL for Ward of Dawn here as it removes the need to ‘faff around’ with the Chalice.

Phase Four (Not always applicable)

SWORDBEARER: Finish off Crota with the same tactics as demonstrated previously. SHOOTERS: Finish off Crota with the same tactics as demonstrated previously. SWORDBEARER AND SHOOTERS: Dance and bask in the glory of your 65G / new trophy and tell all of your friends what a bamf you are. Oh, and thank Yeezy for the amount of time he put into this guide for getting you there ;)

Thanks for reading!