In Destiny 2, an inconspicuous raid mod significantly boosts the damage against Atheon. This way, the final boss of the Vault of Glass is no problem even in just one damage phase.
The iconic raid Vault of Glass from part 1 has been playable in Destiny 2 for some time now, and soon the hard mode will even be available. Players are constantly looking for new ways to master the various encounters as quickly as possible – especially in the final fight against Atheon. In this context, a mod is currently attracting attention. When used correctly, the raid boss in normal difficulty is almost a joke with it, and the mod could prove to be an interesting option for the upcoming Grandmaster difficulty.
This is the mod in question: The mod is called Superstructure Defender and originates from the aforementioned raid “Vault of Glass”. The mod drops randomly from the hidden raid chests. It can be equipped in Void armor pieces with the appropriate slot and costs only 1 energy.
What you need to know about the mod
What does the mod do? The mod has a rather unremarkable description: When equipped and standing on a sync plate or near a conflux, attacks with weapons that hit powerful Vex enemies have a chance to weaken these fighters.
In practice, it looks much more exciting. Specifically, it means: You have a chance to inflict a 30% debuff on strong Vex enemies, meaning that the affected enemy takes 30% more damage – including Atheon.
You can actually use multiple instances of this mod (up to 5), stacking them to increase the chance of triggering the effect. Additionally, the duration of the debuff also increases with the number of mods used.
The special thing about Superstructure Defender:
- For one, the entire fireteam benefits from this debuff; all team members deal more damage even if only one person uses the mod.
- On the other hand, the weakening effect can stack with all other debuffs in the game – including Divinity, Tractor Cannon, or the powerful seasonal artifact mod Breach and Clear.
If you combine the effect of the mod with Titan light-based weapons, Breach and Clear, and the exotic grenade launcher Anarchy (or the Witherhoard), each tick of damage-over-time effect from Anarchy (or Witherhoard) deals approximately 128% more damage. If you additionally incorporate the Warmind Cell mod “Rasputin’s Might”, you can even increase the damage by a total of 150%.
By the way, Anarchy is currently among the 10 most popular and best weapons in Season 14.
How many mods should you use? Using 4x Superstructure Defender is a good choice. With damage-over-time ticks from weapons like Anarchy or Witherhoard, you shouldn’t have any problems reliably triggering the debuff and can still equip an exotic armor piece.
How to use Superstructure Defender against Atheon
This is how to play with the mod – the strategy against Atheon: What exactly do you need to do for this to work? At first glance, it may sound a bit complex, but in practice it proves to be relatively simple and easy to manage after a few attempts.
- Step 1: Ideally, your team has access to a Warlock Well and a Titan Bubble; one of the two Guardians should also use the Superstructure Defender mod. The rest of the team can use whatever subclass they prefer. Strong options are, of course, things like Stormcaller with the “Glass Needle” exotic ornament. You have quite a bit of freedom with weapons as well; any meta choice is valid.
- Step 2: When the third and final Oracle wave occurs in the actual fight, the Titan should place the Bubble in front of the portal. The Titan then jumps back onto the Conflux pillar (Vex Plate).
- Step 3: As soon as the buff “Vengeance of Time” appears on the left side of the screen, you give Atheon some Anarchy. It’s best to place 2 shots on the boss and stay on the pillar, as you should not move too far away.
- Step 4: The Warlock sets up their Well (of course with “Lunafaction” boots) and the team deals damage. The relic holder should leave the relic in the center of the platform.
- Step 5: The Bubble Titan picks up the relic, jumps back to the pillar, and alternates between the debuff, Anarchy, and relic.
- If you follow the steps, one-phasing Atheon is easily achievable.
You can also trick a bit by having the Well Warlock and Bubble Titan jump to their deaths before the actual encounter. They will then self-revive and are guaranteed not to be teleported away – allowing for more time to prepare. Alternatively, you can use multiple of the mentioned supers to have enough time before the damage phase.
You can watch how this works in this video by YouTuber Above:
Have you already been aware of this mod and strategy in the fight against Atheon? Or will you try it out? Do you know of any other effective means to bring the Vex giant down in just one phase? Let us and other readers from MeinMMO know in the comments.
Oh, and not only in the raid will it get exciting through the hard mode soon: Destiny 2: The new mid-season update will be bigger than ever – the important buffs and nerfs
