(Update 6.2.5.3 / Season of the Plunder)
This list will comprise of the most used and most effective loadouts for raids, nightfalls, and dungeons for the most consistent one phases or effective damage possible. Each loadout can one phase bosses as long as you build your teams correctly and most of all, just practice.
I will be breaking it down into 2 categories per encounter if possible, sometimes just 1 as the strategies will be the same. There will be “One Phase” and “Efficient” categories, “One Phase” will be what is used for mathematically the most damage/DPS possible to kill a boss/encounter and “Efficient” will just be what is best for a normal run. The Loadout/Subclass section will only be for Efficient as I will go into more detail for One Phase.
I will update this info as time goes on if it gets used and people want it.
We’ll begin with raids as they are the commonly played PvE activities and often the ones where damage matters.
This is also assuming that the mechanics have been explained or the fireteam already has experience in the raid/dungeon.
Last Wish
Most of Last Wish is fighting a boss, so bringing high damage is important. Or was, but as time continues that window gets wider and wider.
One Phase Kalli
As for Kalli, the first boss, the best strategy to one phase is to not do the encounter like you’re supposed to. Begin by having 1 Warlock near Kalli before the encounter starts using Witherhoard and Necrotic Grip with Celestial Fire or Anarchy. Have the other 5 people be near any plate. Begin the encounter by having 1 person step on the plate, at the same time the Warlock by Kalli will have to watch closely and pay attention to her knockback attack, after about 3 seconds, the shield around her will disappear and she’ll teleport away. After her shield disappears but before she teleports, the Warlock must hit her with Anarchy, or Witherhoard + Necrotic Grips. This applies a constant DoT and will break her AI. Once she teleports away, she’ll go to the plate where the 5 people are currently at. It will be the Warlocks job to continue to apply DoTs to prevent her from teleporting. The other 5 members will be using Heritage with Reconstruction/Auto-loading Holster and Recombination, First in Last Out with Auto-loading Holster and Vorpal, and Parasite, while 1 of those 5 runs Tractor Cannon.
The 5 on DPS will need to know how to quickly hotswap between double slugs and also apply the 10% Parasite buff to themselves. This can done by running Ophidian Aspect if you’re a Warlock, or Quick Charge mod for +50 Handling to all shotguns. Tractor Cannon will also grant a massive Handling buff to all weapons.
Team Composition/Subclasses.
2 Warlocks with Well is best, this allows for a Well the entire damage phase. As the other 4 can run Marksman Golden Gun Hunter with Star Eater Scales or Titan with Thundercrash and Falling Star. If running 4 Hunters, you should be able to Golden Gun loop basically nuking her out of existence in just a few seconds.
Efficient Kalli –
Do the encounter as normal, 1 person per plate. A plate will finish after 4 blight explosions. As for damage, 5 Izanagi’s Burdens w/ Catalyst and a Cataclysmic with Fourth Times the Charm and Bait and Switch will be the best option. Both are easy to obtain and Cata can be crafted. Do damage from center of the circle area instead of near Kalli, as she can use her knock back attack causing missed shots.
For assigning doors, my personal recommendation is doing it by Roster, top to bottom and 1-6. This way everyone knows their number and can easily check roster if they happen to forget or wasn’t able to hear.
For Kalli and Shuro Chi, then have a unique x2 crit multiplier, so Divinity will prevent effective damage against these two, and so Tractor Cannon is used instead.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
Well and Witherhoard
Hunter
Marksman Golden Gun with Star Eater Scales w/ Izanagi’s Burden and Fourth times the Charm + Bait & Switch Cataclysmic.
Titan
Thundercrash with Cuirass of the Falling Star
Shuro Chi
Shuro Chi isn’t much of a boss as she is a speedrun test. Your goal is simple, just go as fast as possible. My personal recommendation here is 5 Izanagi’s Burden, 5 Forbearances, and 5 Eager Edges. 5 Izi shots should be enough to just instantly end damage and progress, Forbearance to clear quick, and Eager Edge to zoom. The 6th will be a Titan/Extra Hunter using Tractor Cannon and Double Slugs.
For puzzle room, you can do speedrun method on which 1 Warlock uses a healing rift/Well in middle plate and 4 other people stand on the 4 corners. Proceed to have the 4 “sliders” slide across to their next plate and it’ll count as you standing on 2 plates instead of 1, allowing you to instantly complete the puzzle without any effort. This however is not really needed other than just speedrunning.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
Well with Forbearance + Izanagi‘s
Hunter
Marksman Golden Gun with Star Eater Scales w/ Izanagi’s Burden or Heritage/Fortissimo
Titan
Falling Star Titan/Heart of Inmost Light Storm Grenades with Tractor Cannon and Double Slugs
Morgeth
Force Cleanse right strat is the most consistent, in which Left Side people pick up only 1 Taken Strength, and the cleansers will be on Right side with 1 person picking up 2 Strengths. Morgeth takes the person with highest amount of Strengths, so you can predict who will get stuck first. For second cleansing, you can either stall left side until 2nd Stuck happens, or if the 2nd cleanser is confident then left side can grab immediately and 2nd cleanser can go cleanse whoever got stuck.
If you want more forgiveness on the encounter, once you pick up the first Strength to start the encounter, run back to the edge of the bridge and go underneath to find a broken railing section and you’ll hit a Joining Allies, this will despawn the strength from the game and will give the team an extra hand if something goes wrong.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
Well with Witherhoard, Cataclysmic, and Starfire Protocol
Hunter
x(2-3) Parasite Hunters with SES Blade Barrage
Titan
Falling Star Titans with Izanagi’s + Cataclysmic.
Vault
The Vault encounter is another speed test and not much to it, however there is a effective method on making it go faster and ideal loadouts.
All 6 members should be using Tractor Cannon.
Defenders should be running Heritage or First In, Last Out. If you do not have either of these, Fortissimo from Vanguard rank ups also works very well. Tractor Cannoning the Knights will prevent them from moving/teleporting, swords tend to bug them out and causes the knights to teleport.
Readers/Runners will be Tractor Cannoning the captain to kill them and continue to run. Tractor Cannon gives a big movement speed buff and can be used to very quickly get through the encounter.
For Callouts, use 2 instead of 3. Logic dictates that 2 of the 3 callouts will be the same, so needing all 3 is pointless information. If using text chat to remember callouts, make sure to use something that all 3 readers can understand. My personal preference is…
S, T, and R. Stairs, Trees, and Rock.
L and R, Left and Right.
So the callouts will look something like,…
RR TL
SL RR
SR TR
In example #1, Rock is Right (Ant) and Trees is Left (Pen).
In example #3, both sides are Right, so you know that Rock is Left.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlocks
Astrocyte Verse and Novawarp
Hunter
Celestial Nighthawk Marksman Golden Gun
Titan
HOIL Arc Titan/Dunemarcher Void Titan
RIVEN
Time for Riven, and most importantly, Riven Legit.
Riven Legit is known to be the “hardest encounter” in Destiny for a few reasons. It’s unforgiving, a large amount of the Destiny community still doesn’t know how it actually works, and most won’t even try at it. This time however, I will be assuming you do NOT know how Riven Legit works. So, let’s begin…
At this point, your loadouts should be ready and your builds set. Begin with rallying and stand on the plates.
You will split off into 2 teams of 3, one team going to Crystal and other going to Trees, split the Warlocks apart and each team should have 1. Continue forward until you enter the big rooms as they begin to spawn Taken adds.
You will notice 4 Hobgoblins, a few psions, and a Taken Captain.
The Taken Captain will be an important role here in a second. Begin killing everything except the Taken Captain as fast as possible.
After a few seconds, Riven will show up in 1 of 2 forms. Whichever team gets Riven first, you are now Stun Team. You will have Dragon Breath or Tentacles for her forms. If you get Dragon Breath, Riven’s mouth will begin spitting fire out, this attack does heavy damage and if took head on will either kill or almost result in death, once she finishes spitting fire her mouth will begin glowing orange. Shoot her mouth until she staggers. If you get Tentacles, 4 of them will come out of her and begin piercing the ground if you get too close to them. You will need to bait out the piercing attack and shoot the tentacle while it’s in the ground. After a bit of damage, she will stagger and begin retreating.
While she is staggering and retreating, one member of the team will have to watch her Eyes and callout which 2 are glowing white. There are 2 types of callouts for this,…
L1-5 and R1-5, or 1-10.
I would personally use 1 through 10 as it’s easier to call out and cleaner for text chat.
After the eyes have been called out, Riven will now go to the other team. After she gets sent to the other team, it’s time to deal with that Taken Captain.
Kill the Taken Captain and have 1 member pick up the “Eye of Riven”. Similar to Vault encounter, you are now the Cleanser and will have to “cleanse” a symbol located within the room that you can not see. Once you pick up the Eye of Riven, look at the the pillar and you’ll see a column of 1 symbol, call this out to your reader then face the black taken curtain where Riven came out of, this will help you and the reader be facing the same direction so you both have the same Left and Right.
There will be a pillar in the middle of the room with a plate. 1 member of the team will jump on the pillar and begin seeing symbols all across the room. There are a total of 12 symbols within the room, your job is to guide the Cleanser to the correct one. Guide them using the callouts Left, Right, Ledge, and Pit. Left is left set of stairs, Right being right set of stairs, Ledge is upper part where the Taken Curtain is at, Pit is the lower section.
Cleansers can see the location of the symbols by walking near the symbol spot as they will begin having a glowy white circle around them. They however can not see the exact symbol.
After the reader has guided the cleanser to the correct symbol, the cleanser will press their grenade button and cleanse the symbol, if you cleanse the wrong symbol, the cleanser will die and you will need to repeat and find the correct spot. Once the symbol is cleansed, head to the back of the room behind the pillar to find an elevator waiting for them. You will now be on phase 1.5.
While Stun Team is doing their cleansing, Damage Team is up next. After Riven retreats and the eyes have been called out, damage team will now have to do their job. 2 Members of damage team will be shooting her in the mouth, while the 3rd member MUST get ready to shoot eyes. You have about 15-30 seconds of damage before Riven activates her wipe mechanic and if you shoot the wrong eye, it will wipe the team. This member must shoot the 2 eyes that were called out by Stun Team and she’ll stagger and retreat for a brief amount of time.
After she staggers and retreats, Damage Team will now also have to do Reading and Cleansing. It’s the same process as mentioned above.
If both teams are successful, you will now be on the 2nd floor which will look similar to previous room. If you were on Stun Team, you are now Damage Team. If you were Damage Team, you are now Stun Team. Repeat the process once more.
If successful, the elevator will now be in the center of the room and you’ll return back to the main room where you placed the Rally Flag. You will have to work together for this next part.
This part is almost the same as the previous segment, just much faster and more. Riven will come out of the Taken Curtain and spawn Taken Goblins and Ogres. Begin killing the Taken Goblins and Ogres as fast as possible, then perform and stun and read her eyes. You’ll get 2 numbers, then proceed to her next location. Repeat with killing the Taken Ogres and Goblins, get a stun, and get another 2 numbers, then for a third time. Kill, get stun, get 2 more numbers.
This will begin a Damage Phase mechanic but now you will have 6 eyes to shoot, have 3 members of the team callout which ones they are shooting. It is best to assign people numbers based on their location. Example,…
If you get numbers: 3, 5, 4, 1, 8, 7
Reorganize it to: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8
Regroup that to: (1,3) – (4,5) – (7,8)
Those will be the pairs that the 3 members will shoot.
After you have your members selected and each have their pairs, perform a countdown. “3, 2, 1, go!” works just fine, as long as everyone shoots on go. If you are too slow on shooting eyes, you will wipe.
If you’re successful, she’ll retreat again from the result of 2 things, either A. You killed her or B. You are now going into Phase 2.
If you did not manage to kill her, you are now going to enter the Pimple Popping stage.
After she retreats, quickly kill any adds that are still up then return to the plates you stood on to start the encounter. You will fall down like previously, but instead, Riven will fight back.
You will see Purple Spots all over Riven as you will have to shoot them to break them, however be careful as popping them will spawn Axion Darts. Proceed to shoot the pimples as you float down, once you land, return to your sides and begin to go again.
Once you get her down to about 1/10th of HP, you will now be sent to the Ascendant Realm to finisher her off. Continue through the jumping puzzle until you find the Taken Strength and collect it. You will now be sent back to fight Riven’s Final Stand. You must deal that 1/10th of HP and finish her off. Her mouth will open as the team will enter and proceed to shoot her heart to complete the encounter.
This is Riven Legit and if you happen to do it, congrats!
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
2 Well locks both with Xenophage and Rain of Fire
Hunter
Hunters are mostly free to use what they wish, Marksman GG with SES will still be best in damage.
Titan
Loreley/Synthoceps Solar Titans
1K Voices, Taipan/Reeds/Cataclysmic
Riven Cheese
Riven Cheese is the boring method of the fight, but here we go.
It’s not overly complicated, just have a Lament with Lucent Blade, high damaging supers, and 1 Tractor Cannon.
If members have Lucent Blade, do NOT use a Well of Radiance for damage. If people don’t, then use Well of Radiance.
(For Lucent Blade option, pop a Well away from her foot so Star Eater Scale users can get their orbs)
Do the cheese strat as normal and Rev up the Lament once her foot comes out of the curtain, then perform a full combo when she’s damageable and go into a Light attack. With Tractor and the 35% damage buff from Lament and all the super damage increases, you should have no problems melting her.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
1 Well Warlock/Slovabomb Warlocks with Lament
Hunter
Blade Barrage SES Hunters with Lament
Titan
1 Tractor Cannon (Others with Lament) and Cuirass of the Falling Star
Queenswalk
Nothing too special here other than speedrun strats. 100 mobility is highly recommended as you can not sprint with the Heart.
Titans can shoulder charge the heart holder to push them a decent distance with minimum risk. If you Eager Edge, you can push them great distance, but high chance of killing the heart holder.
Once you reach the Vault section, you can use Salvations Grip and have 1 person jump over the Taken Wall, the heart holder can then hug the Taken Wall and drop the heart inside the wall. The person who jumped over the wall can pick it up and skip having to go through the tunnels.
After they jump down, they can dunk and finish the raid.
Loadouts/Subclasses
Warlock
Icarus Dash
Hunter
Shatter Skate
Titan
Shoulder Charge
armor builds destiny 2 garden of salvation Improving last wish leveling meta morgeth raid raids riven cheese sanctified speed run speedrun stats
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