Oryx Challenge Mode

See also: King's Fall

Success Criteria

You must bring Oryx's health from full to zero in a single rotation (detonate at least 16 bombs at once without having detonated any bombs since the beginning of the fight or since the last team wipe). Do not detonate any bombs until after 4 complete rotations with no orbs lost, if a knight gets one, do an extra round before detonating at least 16 orbs at once).

Rewards

• Hard mode: 320 raid primary weapon or helmet + 320 Artifact
• Normal mode: 310 raid primary weapon or helmet + 310 Artifact. Normal mode rewards are also obtained when doing hard mode first.

If you fail the challenge but Kill Oryx, the loot for the challenge will remain available for another try, but you will have to get to the oryx checkpoint again.

Team Composition

You'll want at least 2 titans, at least 1 hunter, and 1 or 2 warlocks. 1 titan and 2 hunters is acceptable also for floaters (explanation to follow).

Gear

Specials: Everyone should have a high impact Sniper Rifle equipped (e.x. 1000 Yard Stare). The vendor version is great for this because it has triple tap. If you have a version with both Triple Tap and Casket Mag, its even better. The gunsmith eriene can come with triple tap and casket mag, so pick this up when he sells it if you're looking for a roll like this (get one with a low zoom scope ideally).

Primaries: Everyone else should use Touch of Malice as a primary (especially floaters). The main reason is to ensure enough firepower to consistently stagger oryx if something bad happens (people not paying attention when the chest is open, several people dead, etc)... You have plenty of time to switch to another primary for the shade phase while you wait for thrall and switch back after the shade dies. Red Death and SUROS Regime are great options to regain health inside the shade realm if you struggle in there or don't have a health regain helm. This switching method has helped me a ton and I now always switch between touch of malice and suros regime as a platformer (I find suros more effective for killing thrall than red death).

Heavies: Tracking launchers and machine guns are both good choices for heavy (explanation below). The runner should use Raze Lighter or a Legendary Sword to quickly deal with the vessel. Sleeper Simulant can one shot the lighteater knights at a high enough level (with a headshot), can also take down ogres very fast and can stagger oryx in 2 shots without help as long as someone else is constantly hitting oryx with any high rate of fire gun. This can also be a good choice for some players. Be sure to have a chest piece to "carry more heavy ammo" if you choose this (ex: Armamentarium, Starfire Protocol, Alchemist's Raiment)...

Armor: Absolutely EVERYONE should bring a helmet with the perk to regen health or shield when you pick up an orb. Its SUPER VALUABLE in the shade realm. If its the the raid helm with one of these perks, even better. The "Take that" perk will proc often for the titans when you pick up an orb and give you great bonus damage when killing ogres.The "shine on" perk is a better/more powerful version of inverse shadow (more super energy when killing minions of the darkness). Use gauntlets that will increase reload speed of your primary weapon. Use a chest piece that will give you extra armor for the subclass of your choice if possible (every little bit helps). Use chest and boots that give you extra sniper and heavy ammo for the guns of your choice ideally.

Exotic Armor: As a warlock I really like alchimest's raiment for the free grenade energy while my super is charged and my choice of extra heavy or special ammo (rerolled for solar armor). This also lets me benefit from the health regen on orb pickup perk even when my super is full. Heart of the Praxic Fire is another good option if you want to use your super regularly during the fight to make orbs. As a titan, I prefer the armametarium with void armor. As a hunter, I tend to run sealed Sealed Ahamkara Grasps for the extra melee (invis smoke).

Tips and Tricks

Most of this is written with the hard mode fight in mind. See some tips specific to normal mode at the end.

1. Initial orb generation : At the start of the fight, wait for the thrall to come mid and have a hunter (or even better, multiple hunters) tether them with Black Hole and Light of the Pack to make the most orbs. Black hole allows tethering more thrall for longer and at a longer range (black hole's range is almost double). Your team will have plenty of DPS to kill them. Blood bound is not necessary. Optional : for additional orbs you can have a sunsinger use radiance and kill the tethered thrall by any means (grenades, guns, etc). Hunters should be standing on the middle of the daughters platforms to ensure the orbs are created in that area.
2. Floater/positioning and builds: Have both titans in the middle between platforms. One with Weapons of Light, another with Blessing of Light (obviously with running illuminated which gives extra shield for blessing and extra damage with weapons). Both titans should run bastion. Activate ward of dawn right after oryx slams. If you only have one titan, its possible to put a hunter in the middle with quiver and predator. He can put a predator tether on ogre locations 2, 3 and 4 when oryx slams. This is an acceptable replacement for weapons of light. The hunter dong this should be familiar with the strategy because you need to place the quiver/predator traps where the ogres spawn and also fairly quickly.
3. Platform callouts and knights: Players on platforms should call out when they are "up" on the platform (ex: "1 is up", "2 is up", "3 is up") and then help killing ogres with grenades and sniper shots (prethrowing a grenade as the ogre spawns works very well). Once your ogre is down, you can focus on your knight. Your knight is the one that spawns near the plate across from you (not the one that spawns near your plate).
4. Benefits of tracking launchers on platforms : Players on the platforms may consider using tracking rocket launchers. I almost always do this now. On the front side, you can fire tracking rockets to kill both the knights and acolytes simultaneously which is GREAT. I usually fire off 2 rockets just to be sure. If any do escape your rockets of death (rare), just finish off with touch of malice. Using rockets on knights also allows you to save sniper ammo for the shade which is awesome. Additional perk, you don't have to be stressed about killing your knights fast enough with headshots. The rockets will make very quick work of them. If using a rocket and not a machine gun, switch from touch of malice to another primary for the shade phase as described above (I like to use the suros for this), then switch back to your malice right after the shade phase is over.
5. Tips for sniping knights: If sniping the knights, players at the back of the arena (door side) should be standing AT THE VERY BACK OF THE PLATFORM. Imagine the platform is a clock and the front (where oryx spawns is 12:00). People on the back platforms should be standing/crouching at the 6:00 position to snipe the knights. This allows visibility of the knights.
6. Kill the acolyte eyes: Whatever method you use to kill the knights, also kill the acolytes and acolyte eyes** after until your runner gets the relic. Hunters who get in trouble on platforms can go invisible to protect themselves if they are being shot. This will keep your team much much safer. If you have titans dying mid, its most likely due to people on platforms not killing acolyte eyes. Also note that You WILL NOT get acolyte eyes spawn if there are no acolytes. They eyes can only spawn if acolytes exist. So if you can kill the acolytes before the eyes spawn, even better.
7. Be sure to communicate with your team if you need help killing a knight for any reason (ex: "need help with knight in the front", "need help with knight in the back". There are often many people available to assist you. This is especially true for knight 4.
8. Centurion projectiles can be shot If a centurion is shooting you on platforms, remember that you can shoot its projectiles to stay safe! Killing the projectiles is fairly quick and easy.
9. Generating orbs before oryx regains the favor of the darkness and avoiding thrall respawn : After clearing all knights and staggering oryx, kill only the ads that are shooting you. DO NOT shoot the taken thrall YET. Let them come to you. DO NOT KILL ANY OF THEM OR TETHER UNTIL ORYX REGAINS THE FAVOR OF THE DARKNESS. Everyone should stay in the center of the aura, so the thrall can't damage you. After oryx regains the favor of the darkness, tether and kill the thrall (optional: by a sunsinger who can immediately regain his super from the orbs on the ground for even more orbs). This will completely prevent additional thrall from spawning behind you (there's a limit to the number that can be alive at once). Killing some of the thrall too early will just make them respawn. You can take advantage of this wait time to switch from touch of malice to a different primary such as red death or SUROS Regime for the shade phase).
10. The thrall outside spawn in a FIXED ORDER during shade phase. They will always spawn RIGHT side first, then LEFT side, then LEFT side again and finally RIGHT side.** Adjust your attention accordingly. No need to watch a side where nothing is going to spawn.
11. Callouts and damage in the shade realm In the shade realm, call out where the shade is to teammates if possible - ex "left 90 degrees", "Right 90", "180". Look at the trail it leaves to see which direction it is going. If there's no trail, its a 180. Sniper headshots do great damage to the shade if you have enough sniper ammo and can hit your shots consistently (you should have plenty if you're on the platform and using tracking rockets on the knights, or if you're a titan and using touch of malice to kill ogres).
12. Shade charges and using a sunsinger to take the hit - IMPORTANT: when the shade charges, listen to the sound cue and call it out. A sunsinger warlocks should charge and jump over the shade's head or melee it causing him to slam quickly. If the warlock dies, its fine as they can self-rez. Others should run away from the shade at the edges of the arena. Anyone teleporting in when the shade is charging should quickly jump away. Note that the shade of oryx can drop exotic engrams when a 3 of coins consumable is active, so you might want to consider using one before the oryx fight starts.
13. Don't tether the shade while she's charging as this will make it do 3 hits instead of 1! You can tether the shade after it finishes charging/slamming if it still has high health. Also, don't blind the shade of oryx in any way (ex: flashbang grenades), helm of saint 14. When blinded, the shade will just wander around in the middle randomly and the slam will be more unpredictable.
14. How to regain health in the shade realm - If you are low health in the shade realm (you shouldn't be if people are killing thrall outside and sunsingers are charging the shade), tell your teammates and ask someone to make some orbs so that you can pick them up to regain health (with your helm perk), and/or kill a thrall with red death/suros. If anyone is struggling to stay alive in the shade realm, it can be a good option to drop a blessings bubble inside if you have enough orbs outside or an extra bubble titan. If too many thrall get inside, dropping AOE grenades or bolt grenades on the ground can be a very good idea.
15. Detonation phase When you are ready to detonate bombs, kill the important adds (especially centurions) have someone say "Run to your bombs" when the adds are dead and then "3, 2, 1, Detonate". Enter the bombs on detonate and move around a bit inside to make sure you get all of them. ** The 2 people who are still in the middle must continue shooting oryx in the chest, or the bombs will do no damage. If you wait too long to detonate bombs, they can also do no damage. Kill all the dangerous adds before going (centurions, acolytes, etc) but don't be too slow with the countdown either. If one bomb is far away from the others in challenge mode, send an additional person in the middle to get that one (5 detonators).
16. No need to wipe if one of the bombs got eaten If any of the bombs gets eaten by a knight at any time after the first rotation, do not wipe. Do an extra rotation instead. If you are a warlock and die while detonating a bomb, do not self rez until all of the bombs have been detonated, or you will be instantly killed by the other bomb explosions.
17. Alternate jobs for titans If one of your titans is not comfortable being a floater/doesn't have a touch of malice, you can have them on a platform instead, but make sure he leave his ward of dawn in the middle before going to his assigned platform. If a titan wants to run, they can also drop a bubble in middle before oryx slams.
18. Killing 4th knight/vessel : Everyone always should help with 4th knight/vessel if possible to get it down quickly and then shift focus to oryx. Titans will be the main ones responsible for the 4th knight and runner will be mainly responsible for vessel, but everyone can help. Always call out when 4th knight is down/vessel is down. Call if help is needed with one and/or the other.
19. Stay calm in the later phases of the fight. When you get too stressed, its easier to make mistakes. If one person does die in a later phase, you can keep going. I have finished the fight with 5 or even 4 guardians alive many times. If only 4 are alive during the detonation phase, the 2 on oryx's side must continue shooting oryx during detonation for the bombs to do damage!
20. A fast and consistent runner is key to success! The faster the runner is, the sooner platform guys can get off the platforms and run to safety if needed. The raid boots perk to increase agility is great. If a runner dies after grabbing relic but before slamming vessel, its actually possible for them to self-rez as a warlock and pick up the relic again. Or another person can pick the relic up off their body (the situations where this could help are rare but it might be helpful to somebody).
21. more tips for runners: If the runner is using raze lighter they should also have their touch of malice in their inventory and a high level legendary heavy. When you're on the round you'll be detonating, as soon as the runner gets the brand and is in front of Orxy, have them go into their inventory and switch to Malice and their heavy. They should hopefully be able to get out of the menu, just as his chest is open and then they can unload their Malice into Oryx with everyone else without worry in regards to reloading. This is can be extremely important when someone's down and the runner is stuck being the only person keeping the chest open on detonation. Second tip - Raze Lighter's upper cut one shots the taken knights that spawn. So after tethering the thralls, the runner can jump up on one of the platforms as the black cloud spawns and upper cut the knight as soon as they see. Even if they're pulled into the shade immediately, they typically will kill it (unless they're slow) and that means everyone else just has the other knight and remaining thralls to deal with. "
22. If you run into significant bugs/lag - go to orbit and come back Too much crap on the ground can cause lag/bugs. Also, doing this will make the game select the best host among the players in the fireteam and can improve connections speeds. I have a fiber wired connection and was red barring in one game and another guy was yellow bar, after going to orbit and coming back, everyone in the team was green bar. It may be worthwhile after loading in to check everyone's connection initially as well if the full fireteam didn't start from orbit. If some are bad, go to orbit and come back. When you load into the game session, the game will select the host as the person with the best internet among the fireteam and best connections to all other players.
23. Oryx's movements are fixed after the first phase. Oryx will randomly choose a side at the beginning but from that point on there is a pattern to his movements. Oryx half - Door half - Oryx half - Oryx half opposite side - Door half opposite - Oryx half.
24. Be careful even with a rez warlock on platforms If you die on a platform, the runner is still going to fall even if you have self rez. If you have trouble staying alive on platforms, the apotheosis veil can be a good solution. Use your super to instantly recharge your health if necessary. As a hunter, just invis OFC.

Normal Mode vs Hard Mode

• You can resurrect people after 30 seconds in normal mode but do not resurrect someone just before the bombs are about to go off because the bomb explosions can kill them again if they are not in the protective aura provided by the relic holder.
• There are no lighteater knights in normal mode (just the vessel), so you don't need tracking rocket launchers to deal with knights. A heavy machine gun is recommended to use against the thrall and the shade (unless the player is comfortable sniping the shade)

Other Normal Mode Tips

• Assign one of the floaters in the middle to replace anyone who is dead during the platforming phase.
• People on platforms during normal mode should kill acolytes and acolyte eyes after their ogre is dead (until the runner calls out that its safe to come to the middle. If some people in the group don't have a touch of malice, they can use sniper rifles to stagger the shade.
• Some people doing the normal mode fight might not have a helm available to regain health in the shade realm ("regen health when you pick up an orb" or "shields start regenerating immediately when you pick up an orb"), using a primary that allows health regen is particulalry helpful in this case (red death, suros regime). They can use this for the whole fight if they don't have a touch of malice available or switch to it during the shade phase if they do.
• If the number of touch of malices in the group is very low, having one person with sleeper simulant can be a big help to stagger oryx consistently (2 sleeper shots will stagger oryx as long as at least one person is shooting his chest with a high rate of fire primary weapon.
• If you have only one high level player/sherpa in the group they are probably going to be best used as one of the bubble titans to help everyone take down ogres quickly.
• Also read the full guide above, but you can ignore any mention of "lighteater knights" which are not present in normal mode.