When it comes to the final encounter in Destiny 2’s Leviathan Raid, coordination is key. Players will need to work together and communicate in order to ensure they get to the damage phase with the full team intact. Even then, the damage phase against Calus can prove a tricky nut to crack for Destiny 2 players that want to get through the final raid boss as quickly as possible.
The key to defeating Calus quickly is maximizing the Force of Will buff in the Shadow Realm. The more skulls the teleported players destroy, then the higher the buff and the more damage to Calus. But getting a Force of Will buff above 70 skulls requires some understanding of the section and some smart use of the available class abilities.
The Best Weapon for Damaging Skulls
First, it’s important to understand how the skulls actually work. For every skull destroyed, the team will earn 1 tick on the Force of Will multiplier. So the Shadow Realm team will need to use their best weapons for quick damage, which for most teams is the Coldheart exotic.
Coldheart is useful because it has a high ammo count and it fires a consistent and visible beam. That way players can track which skulls they are damaging without any guesswork. It also helps other players know where their teammates are focusing their shots.
But Coldheart on its own is not going to get the job done. Yes, it can deliver 60-70 Skulls, but the goal is 100+. If a team can get 100+ they are almost guaranteed to defeat Calus in one damage phase, which means less of a chance for failure as the encounter progresses.
Titans and Warlocks are Key
The other key element to getting as many skulls as possible is either the Warlock Arc Soul or the Titan Rally Barricade, or both. The Arc Soul is helpful because it damages Skulls consistently, but is only good for maybe a handful of extra skulls. The Titan’s Rally Barricade, on the other hand, is a huge boost because the three Shadow Realm players can instantly reload their Coldhearts and get as many skulls as possible.
Something Destiny 2 raiders may not know is that the skulls don’t actually need to be destroyed to count towards the Force of Will buff. Since the skulls are targeting a player, they will explode on contact regardless. And if a player has at least damaged that skull, its explosion will still count.
A Special Trick
So here is where players can get a little extra bang for their buck. By using the Warlock’s Healing Rift (with the Arc Soul), the three Shadow Realm players only need to hit as many skulls as possible, not destroy them. The skulls will destroy themselves when they make contact with a player.
Normally, this would damage the player and he/she would eventually die, but the Healing Rift should keep them alive. We still recommend trying to destroy the skulls, but it’s better to “spray” with Coldheart rather than focus on one skull at a time. Get as many hit markers as possible, and trust that the skulls are properly activated.
It’s a strategy that is going to take some getting used to, but one that can be very effective. More importantly, it will help when the Leviathan Raid’s Prestige difficulty releases on Wednesday. The Calus encounter is likely to be much harder with level 300 enemies so getting through the fight as quickly as possible will be very important. This is just one strategy that can help with that, but it’s one we think every fireteam should consider.
Destiny 2 is out now for PS4 and Xbox One. The PC version releases on October 24th.