Destiny Guide: How to Beat Aksis in Rise of Iron Raid
By Anthony Taormina 26 September 2016
By now most Destiny players are likely familiar with the Wrath of the Machine raid, the newest endgame experience added to Bungie’s popular shooter. However, while those people may know the “death Zamboni” and Kovik, they may have some questions about how to complete certain sections. More specifically, raid teams may be stuck on the final boss Aksis.
Beating Aksis in Wrath of the Machine is unlike any boss fight in Destiny thus far. It introduces new mechanics, new concepts, and it requires strong communication. Like any Destiny raid, callouts will be essential for beating Aksis in Wrath of the Machine, but players will also need to be well geared.
The Recommended Light Level
The recommended level for beating Aksis is 380, which is 10 levels higher than the recommendation for starting the raid so hopefully players have prepared ahead of time. Honestly, if any players are in the 360 range, they will likely have a hard time staying alive in the raid, although they can do decent enough damage.
Stunning Aksis
As far as the fight’s mechanics go, it incorporates elements from the previous fight as well as some new ones. Players will still need to destroy the elemental Servitors using the corresponding cannon, and another player will need to pick up the SIVA charge that drops from the Servitor and throw it at Aksis instead of runes around him.
Alongside this phase of killing the Shock/Null/Scorch Captains, three members from the team will also received a buff called ‘Empowered’. It’s important that the Empowered players call out where they are because there should be one on each side of the boss arena (right, middle, and left). Once some teammate switching has taken place the teams should operate as usual, taking the captains, then moving to the Servitor, and then throwing the SIVA.
Once Aksis’ shield is down he will teleport to one of four different spots: on the left side of the area, on the right side, in the middle of the room, or in the back of the room. Once he does so, an empowered player needs to jump on his back and hit the button prompt to stun him. Once Aksis is stunned, the team is free to do damage, but only for a short time.
The Damage Phase
At the same time as this is happening, the Empowered buff may switch to a new player, and the team should call out to make sure there is someone on the two sections Aksis is not on. So if he is on the left, an empowered person should be in the middle and on the right, for example.
After the first stun, Aksis will teleport and then the empowered player will stun him again. At this point, the team can do the most damage, as is stun phase is a bit longer. Again, some new players may get empowered so try to position them as best as possible. The empowered buff doesn’t always transfer, though, so try to keep aware when you do have the buff.
Also, Aksis will telegraph where he is teleporting right before he does so. So if you do happen to see a spot where he is going to be make sure to notify the team, and if an empowered player is not on that side they can move there.
Once the full stun and damage phase is complete, the feed will say ‘SIVA Density Critical’. This isn’t the first time players will have seen this prompt before, and like in past encounters it is up to the team to find protection. In this case that protection comes in the form of four pillars in the back of the room. Standing on these pillars will protect the player from the “SIVA wipe” but it will also get rid of the tower.
Protection From SIVA
With this in mind, it’s important that the team coordinate which pillar to go to at each wipe phase. Wasting two pillars on one run can be the difference between getting Aksis close to death and actually beating the raid.
Speaking of beating the raid, with all of the mechanics well practiced, the team only needs to execute a solid run to take down Aksis. It will be important to rotate and callout in case people die and need to wait 30 seconds to revive, but for the most part if the team is at a high enough level, Aksis should be down in no time. But wait, there’s more…
Final Aksis Damage
Yes, Aksis has a 1% phase just like Oryx, where he returns to the front center of the room (his starting place) and starts one last ‘SIVA Density Critical’ countdown. Here the team must unload as much damage as possible on him in order to complete the boss fight.
However, if you send him to 1% with too much health it may be harder to take him down. That’s why we recommend evaluating his health and the number of pillars remaining to see if it might be better to go another round. There’s nothing worse than a team wipe on the 1% phase.
With Aksis down, the team can now collect their endgame loot, which should include a SIVA infused primary weapon or helmet. Also, if a player has a SIVA Cache Key or enough SIVA Shards (10) to turn into a SIVA Cache Key they can open the chest that spawns for an additional loot drop.
Looking for even more tips and tricks for Destiny: Rise of Iron? Check out these other guides:
- Get Started in Rise of Iron
- Find all SIVA Clusters
- How to Get the Year 3 Gjallarhorn
- How to Get SIVA Offerings
- How to Raise Your Light Level Fast
- How to Beat the Wrath of the Machine Raid
- Find the Raid SIVA Clusters
Destiny: Rise of Iron is out now for PS4 and Xbox One.d
