Destiny Rise of Iron Heroic Raid Guide: How to Beat Aksis, Archon Prime

The final encounter in the Wrath of the Machine raid in Destiny: Rise of Iron has two phases. It’s a somewhat tough fight, but it is manageable if you’re patient and pay attention. Before we get into what you need to do, let’s get the basics down.

You’re going to come into a large arena and when you do, split into three pairs again then cover left, middle, and center. There will be Shock, Null, and Scorch captains, as well as Servitors of the same burns. There will also be panels in front of the Aksis that you’ll need to keep an eye on, as well.

As far as prep goes, good weapons to go in with are Exotic Swords, since their special attacks absolutely melt through captains and groups of adds. If you don’t have one, just go for your most trusted weapons and you’ll be fine. Definitely go for high power, though.

Other than that, any classes are good. You don’t need a Sunsinger warlock, though, so you should go for damage from either the Stormcaller or Voidwalker. Otherwise, you’re good to go. 

Phase 1

The first phase is relatively simple just like in Normal mode. You have three rounds where you need to get SIVA charges in order to take out the panels in front of Aksis. To do this, you’ll have to take down a different amount of plates each time. In order to take out the plates, you’ll have to get rid of the captains, then run to the servitor that matches your burn. Kill them (charge the shot and SIVA bombs will appear for you to chuck at the panels).

• Round 1 – 2 plates
• Round 2 – 3 plates
• round 3 – 7 plates

The major difference on Heroic as opposed to doing this on Normal is the fact that there are respawning turrets in each section. They’re easy to take down and they don’t do much damage if you take them down quickly. As long as you do, you’re fine. Surprisingly enough, this is the only change on Heroic other than extra damage, so not too bad.

If you survive all three rounds, you get to move on to the second and final phase.

Phase 2

Heroic makes this last part a lot trickier by requiring even more bombs to be thrown at Aksis before you can kick off a damage phase. The silver lining is that the turrets from the previous phase are no longer around to torment you. Basically, you have the exact same fight as before, only more damage, just like all of the other situations.

In case you don’t remember how from the Normal mode, or never did it; at first, follow the exact same routine as phase one. The major difference is that Aksis will actually leave his area. Also, some players will receive an “empowerment” buff. That is used to stun the boss, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Another thing that you need to know is that it has a mechanic similar to that of the Warpriest during the King’s Fall raid. After each damage round, all players will have to stand in one of four pillars of light behind the arena. That pillar will be disabled for the remainder of the fight, so if you split up, you will have no cover later on. Now to get down to business.

Like we said, the phase will start just like the previous one. The only difference is that instead of panels you’ll be throwing the SIVA charges at the boss, which will cause him to get up out of his central panel. The player with the buff will need to stun Aksis by jumping above him and slamming down. All of the players will have to use everything they have to damage the boss as much as possible.

The trick to stunning him is to have one person with the buff in each section. He will teleport randomly, and you all must be ready to get over him and slam down with your empowerment. This will help trigger a damage phase. It will be very short and he will teleport again. After the first person slams down, all other empowerment buffs are random. So even if you had it before, you may lose it and it will go to someone else. You must slam on him three times to get a longer, full damage phase.

When the damage phase is done, rush to one of the lights, wait it out, and rinse and repeat. At the very end, Aksis pulls an Oryx. That means he’ll teleport to the center for one last damage phase. You will have to light him up and hope to kill him there. If not, you automatically fail, just like during King’s Fall.

If all goes well, you will have completed the Wrath of the Machine raid and dominated Destiny: Rise of Iron. Well, for now.

Safe travels, Guardian. For more Destiny: Rise of Iron help, be sure to check out our wiki for guides and tips!