In Destiny 2 there are some triumphs that are difficult to achieve for most players, but they also entice with cool rewards. If you want to increase your drop chance for the new exotic “Heartshadow” in Season 17 and earn a prestigious badge, you need to master the dungeon Duality solo. To help you succeed, MeinMMO has compiled 5 tips for you.
Which dungeon is it? The latest dungeon in Destiny 2 is called “Duality” and contains not only some secrets and the new exotic “Heartshadow” but also many challenges. Among them is the seal triumph “Solo Thoughtstealer”.
However, while the “Flawless Thoughtstealer” can still be completed in a fireteam to increase the drop chance for the exotic “Heartshadow”, for many players the solo run might be the biggest challenge on the way to the seal. Without a plan, the new dungeon quickly becomes a frustrating grind full of bullet sponges with stressful mechanics.
MeinMMO has ventured into Duality and extracted a few tips and tactics from Calus on how you too can conquer the dungeon solo. However, if you want to know beforehand what to expect, just watch the official trailer:
Which class should you choose for a solo Duality run? You have complete freedom in this regard. Both Hunters and Warlocks as well as Titans are capable of mastering the dungeon, especially when equipped with the new Solar 3.0 buff “Restoration”.
As a Titan, you generally have better chances of surviving, especially if you use the exotic “Lorelei Splendor”, sunspots, and your little hammer. However, the other two classes can still keep up well with the right Solar 3.0 build.
Tip 1: “Restoration” is essential
“Restoration” is a buff that came into play in Season 17 with Solar 3.0. It immediately restores a portion of your health and shields upon activation. This is practically not interrupted by taking damage. If you also use the buff “Radiant”, it’s doubly beneficial.
- Restoration: When the buff is active 2x, it heals you very effectively through Solar light. You generate health and shields over time, which cannot be interrupted by taking damage.
- Radiant: Your weapons are empowered by the Traveler’s might and deal increased damage to enemies.
Essentially, this combination helps you withstand and deal more damage. In the new dungeon, this is extremely important, as depending on the encounter, hordes of enemies charge at you, and that doesn’t stop no matter how many Cabal you take down.
Additionally, appropriate resilience and a seasonal mod for Solar and Void resistance are highly beneficial in many parts of the dungeon.
- A resilience of 100 grants you a significant damage reduction of 40% since Season 17.
- If you additionally use the seasonal mod “Armor of the Dying Star” and “Sniper Resistance”, you will take a total of 67% less damage.
Tip 2: Utilize Timing and Time Advantages
If you’ve completed the dungeon a few times, you might have noticed some time advantages and timings you can use and trigger solo.
- If you want to save some time, you can skip a part of the first bell phase and jump straight into the last entrance. This saves some longer travel routes and gets you to the first encounter faster. In the PvE god Esoterrikk, you can see exactly how that works.
- While the enemies in the dungeon spawn endlessly, they do so with a specific regularity. Use this to your advantage and take out these waves before they spread throughout the room. Then you can more safely deal with the mechanics.
- For the final boss, you can gain more time for the damage phase by not only activating the mechanism of the large bell chain but also the small bell. This gives you about 5-8 seconds more time to clear the bell keepers.
Tip 3: Bring a Sword!
Besides the fact that you can also shorten some paths in the dungeon with a clever bell mechanic, the choice of weapons is crucial.
With rocket launchers, you would blow yourself up, and a linear fusion rifle has proven to be too inaccurate because the constant sniper bombardment often leads to missed shots. Therefore, a sword is actually useful in all encounters and has proven to be extremely helpful for us.
These swords and perks are recommended:
- “The Grievance” – The exotic sword deals Solar damage and heals the sword bearer through damage dealt to enemies. Intense attacks can easily be accomplished.
- “Half-Truth”: The legendary Arc sword came with the “30 Years of Bungie” expansion and can drop with the perk “Bold Blade”. This is especially helpful in the second encounter when you need to quickly deal with the paths to the bell keepers and the flag. However, it requires a bit of practice to sword-surf successfully.
- Optionally, a legendary sword with the perks “Whirlwind Blade”, “Unrelenting”, “Balanced Blade” and “Jagged Blade” can be an excellent option for more damage.
Tip 4: Better safe than fast play
In the dungeon “Duality”, a lot happens at once. You have plenty of enemies that won’t let up, plus time pressure and sometimes bosses that can harm you while you can’t harm them at first. It sounds like a lot at once, and it is.
In a fireteam of three, you can split the individual tasks of mob and bell keeper killing as well as two flag collectors well. But how do you do that when you have to do everything alone?
The tactic in the first encounter – “Bearer of Suffering”
Once you arrive solo at the first boss, you can choose between two paths, depending on how confident you are in the game and how quickly you want to finish. It’s important to remember that with the safe method, you will definitely take longer, which makes the phase more prone to errors.
The safe method: You take each of the flag essences individually and one after the other. This means you switch to the nightmare dimension, grab the first flag essence, defeat the bell keepers, and return to place the flag. Then you can clear room 1. Once that’s done, you shoot back over and clear the first wave of Gahlran’s manifestations so that he is exposed. You repeat this with room 2 to move into the damage phase. Time-consuming, but relatively safe.
The fast method: You switch to the nightmare dimension and grab both flag essences at once. When you return with them, you can clear the areas in both the normal room and the nightmare dimension more quickly and move faster into the damage phase. However, many things can go wrong with this method, which is why we recommend the safe route.
The tactic in the second encounter – “Vault”
In the second encounter of the dungeon, you now have 3 smaller bosses, but they are less of a problem because they can be easily killed. An anti-barrier weapon has proven to be effective here, as it helps against the many Cabal Phalanx shields.
Which weapons are recommended for the boss fight? Since the focus is more on the other enemies, you should equip mob killers like “Witherhoard” or add-clear weapons like a crafted “Calus Mini Tool” with the upgraded perk “Rampage”.
- The Titan can repeatedly use his little hammer excellently beside these weapons, heal, and use his barricade if his hammer gets lost.
- Hunters can catch a breather with improved invisibility and escape the adds.
- Stasis Warlocks use their turret to freeze the masses of enemies as well as Agers Scepter for the bosses.
To access the flag essences, you need some endurance since we recommend you only take one per switch between the dimensions and deal with them. This means you need at least 6 dimension switches solo in this second encounter to remove all boss shields and successfully finish it.
Keep in mind: First, always focus on the bell keepers and eliminate them. This ensures a smooth transition back to the normal dimension without risky fights against these fire demons. This also applies to the subsequent boss fight.
If you are not quick enough to reach your objectives, namely the bell keepers and the flag essences, use the sword “Half-Truth” with the perk “Bold Blade”. This will help you cover large distances better and shorten your paths.
Tip 5: Always focus on the bell keepers
Your focus should always be clear on the bell keepers during encounters. Even when you reach the boss.
First of all, every Guardian at the spawn point in the boss room always has the option to take a breather. Caiatl likely won’t get too far back, and the two platforms also offer you some protection. Use this to your advantage.
When it comes to classes, it can certainly be said that the Titan has an absolute advantage over the other classes in the final encounter since Solar 3.0.
- The Solar Titan can become immortal with his little hammer. Only pressure arises if he misses his throw and the hammer goes missing.
- Warlocks should trust the Solar Well with “Restoration” instead of Stasis in the final boss fight or the Nova Bomb with “Devour” and a sword.
- And Hunters ideally move more invisibly and evasively with their sword through the nightmare shadows to clear the adds and get away quickly.
Which weapon is recommended for the boss fight? Here again, we recommend “The Grievance”. With its healing, it is simply the best choice. This way, during the damage phase, you don’t have to worry too much about the Psion snipers. Especially since you’ll likely be busy positioning yourself optimally in the way of the fleeing Caiatl. If the opportunity presents itself, take out the snipers.
After successfully collecting and placing your 4 flag essences, position yourself best at the right or left bell in the boss room. This is important because from there you can see all six bell keepers in front of you, and you must clear all of them first. Hence, tip 1 comes into play:
- To gain more time for the boss damage phase, you should not only activate the mechanism of the large bell chain but also activate the small bell. This gives you about 5-8 seconds more time to clear the bell keepers.
Don’t forget: You can only deal effective damage to Caiatl if you receive the buff from the smaller bells. To do that, you need to be standing right in the mist of the bell during activation. If you’re too far away, save your ammo. After all, you have 3 damage phases to utilize.
In the boss phase, focusing on the bell keepers is crucial. If you didn’t manage to pick up all the bell keepers effectively, meaning they still block bells, then just focus on the bell that Caiatl goes to. There you can stun her and keep her “standing”. Use the time to free the last two bells. This way, you’ll miss only one damage phase, not all three.
The rest of the boss fight is then a concentrated repetition of this process until you gradually turn Caiatl into minced meat and your nightmare fades away.
Of course, these are just recommendations, but they might help you find a better, tactical flow for your personal runs. If you have any further tips, we look forward to your suggestions to the community in the MeinMMO comments below this article.
