Anyone who has dealt with the history of all previous raids in Destiny 2 has probably come across the name “Kingsfall”. This cult raid was one of the best raids in Destiny 1 and now it is back. But why was it so popular? We will show you.
What is the Kingsfall raid about? In the Destiny 1 expansion “The Taken King” appeared Oryx, one of the three Hive Sisters in the Guardian’s solar system, to make short work of them.
He wanted to avenge the murder of his son “Crota” by the Guardian and the Traveler. After completing the TTK campaign, many Guardians thought the nightmare was over after the final battle when they fought and defeated Oryx. But that was not the case.
Watch the trailer for Oryx’s return here:
Oryx was able to cleverly escape thanks to his Dreadnought and save his life. For understanding: Powerful beings often use so-called Dreadnoughts in Destiny to save their selves upon sudden death and to reappear stronger. Oryx used the same tactic to outsmart the Guardians.
In this case, however, the powerful Hive God did not have a separate parallel world like Savathun or Mara Sov, but a huge Dreadnought. He used this as a mobile Dreadnought and also for critical situations. However, the Guardians saw through his plan at that time.
A team of six Guardians was assembled to destroy Oryx once and for all on his ship. And this raid quickly became one of the most popular activities in Destiny 1.
Oryx finally offered the Guardians what they wanted: Variety
Variety was an important part of Kingsfall: To understand why the return of the Kingsfall raid is so special, you need to know how it was structured. Overall, the raid had a total of five phases – more than usual. These were:
- The Glyph Phase with the Totems
- The Warpriest and his stone tablets
- The Ogre named Golgoroth, a rather unique beast
- The fight against the Deathsingers, also known as Oryx’s Daughters
- And the decisive final battle against Oryx himself
There were thus four different bosses you had to face before you could call yourselves “Godslayers”. In addition, there were two challenging “jump and run” sections, followed by a labyrinth and a pre-phase to delve deeper into the Dreadnought.
When you consider all the phases that Guardians have to go through, your mouth waters. There was so much to do and a lot to explore.
The raid thus offered a huge amount of diverse and non-repetitive content that had never been seen before in a raid of Destiny 1. Even the Vault of Glass or the “Wrath of the Machine” raid didn’t offer anywhere near such a level of variety.
Kingsfall showed the Guardians how puny they are
A raid must stand out from many activities to shine. The simple 6-Guardian scenario in a longer PvE mission is simply not enough. The Oryx raid that Bungie now brings to Destiny 2 offered just this shine. In the Dreadnought, one felt lost, overwhelmed by its seemingly endless size and the constant dangers lurking around every corner.
Once you finally managed, after hours, to have the opportunity to confront the Taken King, the next goosebumps moment followed. As soon as the Guardians dared to activate a floating Light Sphere in the middle of the arena, the gigantic Oryx appeared out of nowhere and reminded the Guardians just how puny they actually are. The Hive God is truly a powerful boss, as described in the book.
The Taken King signified a tremendous danger that was hardly stoppable at that time. With his raid, this danger was further intensified.
Hardly any boss in Destiny’s history could top his epic appearance.
When the Guardians then successfully survived the four Ogre phases with the dark Taken bombs, it was time for the Final Stand. There, you needed all the available ammunition to shoot into the tainted heart of the demon. So you either had to give it your all or Oryx would give you a deadly applause and ruthlessly erase you.
Anyone who has managed to defeat Oryx once and for all has also put him in a petrified state. Some Guardians still tell today that his remains are allegedly still floating near Saturn to witness the brave deeds of these first, brave Guardians.
When can you play the raid? Now it’s time for the new Guardian generation in Destiny 2 to face Oryx in the Kingsfall raid and prove themselves. Already on August 26 at 7 PM, the Dreadnought will open its gates again. Anyone brave enough can then try to prove themselves against this legendary raid boss for free.
This was our nostalgic look back at the Kingsfall raid. Did you expect Bungie to bring this icon to Destiny 2 in Season 18? And are you already among the legends who faced this raid in Destiny 1? Was it as cool as we described, or did you find other raids to be much better? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
