Destiny 2's Season of the Witch brought more than just a Hive-powered Eris Morn. Longtime players were also pleased to see the return of one of the original Destiny's first raids, Crota's End. Taking copious notes over the years regarding the triviality of the original raid, Bungie has turned this version up to 11. Here are the best builds and load-outs for each encounter.
What are the best load-outs for Crota's End in Destiny 2?
Please note that "best" is entirely subjective. If you're able to add-clear just fine with something like PSI Hermetic V, then go slay. If you're willing to try something new, however, here are our recommendations.
The Hellmouth
The Hellmouth is where players will begin their journey into the depths of Luna's surface to take down Oryx's spawn. There isn't anything particularly difficult with this first encounter as it is the introduction to the Chalice of Light raid mechanic.
- Whatever you're comfortable with for clearing enemies like Thralls and Knights.
The Abyss
This encounter is all about forging ahead in the dimly lit corridor from the Hellmouth. Guardians will encounter Thralls as they manage their Light and Dark levels and light lanterns along the way. While dealing with the Thralls, Guardians will need to keep an eye out for the swinging weights and multiple holes. At the end of the hallway, Guardians will need to build another bridge.
Weapons
- Swords with Eager Edge increase grounded and airborne lunge distance and can help quickly evade the aforementioned weights and holes.
- The Other Half
- Half-Truths
- Unstoppable weapons and mods. There will be numerous Unstoppable Champions that appear.
- Unstoppable Scout Rifle Mod (Season 22 Artifact)
- Unstoppable Fusion Rifle Mod (season 22 Artifact)
- Bastion (Exotic fusion rifle)
- Devil's Ruin (Exotic sidearm)
- Leviathan's Breath (Exotic bow)
- Malfeasance (Exotic hand cannon)
Subclasses
- Warlock: Well of Radiance is almost mandatory for Warlocks when it comes to raiding. Aside from the damage buff, Guardians are nigh unkillable when standing in the well. This will be handy when building the bridge.
- Titan: Ward of Dawn is great in a pinch to throw up a bubble and turn a wipe into survival. Much like Well of Radiance, this is a great way to hold down a point.
Oversoul Throne Bridge
Yet again, Guardians will have to build a bridge to progress. One Guardian will stand on a platform to charge the bridge while two other Guardians are dedicated to standing on the Annihilator Totems. There will be a lot of back and forth in this encounter as the fireteam works across the bridge.
Weapons
- Hand cannons! These big irons have been buffed in Season 22 with increased damage against red bars by 20% and against orange bars by 75%.
- Lumina: Since half of the fireteam will be stuck on plates, keeping them healthy is a priority. Lumina can fire off Noble Rounds which heal allies and increase damage.
- Ace of Spades: With Memento Mori and Firefly working in conjunction, Guardians can literally blow up large groups of enemies.
- Machine guns are a great way to thin out mobs and work well against red, orange, and yellow bars.
- Anti-barrier weapons and mods.
- Anti-barrier Auto Rifle Mod (Season 22 Artifact)
- Anti-barrier Bow Mod (Season 22 Artifact)
- Arbalest (Exotic linear fusion rifle)
- Eriana's Vow (Exotic hand cannon)
- Revision Zero (Exotic pulse rifle)
- Wish Ender (Exotic combat bow)
Subclasses
- Warlock: You know what to do here. Well of Radiance is incredibly helpful when dealing with the hard-hitting Gatekeepers.
- Hunters and Titans: A Strand subclass is especially useful due to its ability to literally tie up foes. A Suspend build works wonders here.
Thrallway
The Thrallway tasks Guardians with juggling the Chalice of Light to pass through barriers. Once a Guardian has made it through the barrier, there will be a Shrieker that needs to die so the barrier comes down.
- The sky is kind of the limit here as the Thrallway is pretty short. Guardians simply need to be able to burn down foes and nuke Shriekers. It comes down to whatever you're comfortable with for these tasks. I'm a fan of machine guns for the Shriekers and a combination of a hand cannon and shotgun for everything else.
Ir Yut, the Deathsinger
The Ir-Yut encounter is full of all kinds of enemies. In addition to the hordes of Thrall, Guardians will be taking on numerous Knights, Shriekers, and Wizards. Finally, there are multiple damage checks for Ir Yut herself. Guardians will need to hit hard from the very beginning of the encounter and keep that going until Ir Yut falls.
Weapons
- Hand cannons: As stated above, hand cannons received a huge buff across the board and are great for ad-clear and, if you're using Lumina, buffing your allies.
- Shotguns: There are a ton of baddies with lots of health in this encounter. Shotguns will eat through that health quickly.
- Fusion rifles: Much like shotguns, Fusion rifles are great for devouring an enemy's health.
- Rocket launchers: For the big damage on Ir Yut, bring your rocket launcher of choice but make sure someone is rocking Gjallarhorn.
- Gjallarhorn: This is the go-to rocket launcher thanks to the Wolfpack Rounds and Pack Hunter perks. So long as one Guardian is running this and everyone else is standing around them with their own rocket launcher, the fireteam should clear the damage checks.
Subclasses
- Warlocks: I'm gonna give you three guesses but you'll only need one to figure out which subclass you're running. That's right, it's Well of Radiance! However, at least one Warlock in the fireteam will be pulling double-duty as a Heavy Ammo generator. Due to the massive amounts of damage required to clear this encounter, I recommend the following combo to generate tons of Heavy Ammo bricks for the fireteam.
- Cenotaph Mask (Exotic helm): This Warlock helm comes with the Exotic Perk, High Priority. This reloads the equipped trace rifle from reserves. When shooting a vehicle, boss, or Champion with the trace rifle, they are marked as a target. When an ally defeats the marked target, Special ammo is generated for you and everyone else gets Heavy ammo.
- Divinity (Exotic trace rifle): Despite being nerfed, Divinity will still weaken foes and stun them while creating a crit sphere for allies. You could pair another trace rifle with Cenotaph Mask but due to the number of yellow bar enemies, the debuff is super helpful.
Crota, Son of Oryx
You're finally here. In addition to the usual riff-raff, Guardians will have to deal with Hive Boomers, Sword Bearers, Wizards, and Ogres.
Weapons
- Fusion rifle: There is going to be a non-stop flow of Wizards with solar shields in this encounter. Having a fusion rifle that deals Solar damage is a great pick.
- Cartesian Coordinate: I like this Solar fusion rifle for this fight as it can roll with the Vorpal Weapon perk which increases damage against bosses.
- Tractor Cannon (Exotic shotgun): Every little bit helps in this fight. Tractor Cannon can be used to apply a 30% damage debuff for 10 seconds.
- The Lament (Exotic sword): Crota deals absurd amounts of damage. In addition to the extra damage from Banshee's Wail, Guardians can heal themselves with the Revved Consumption Aspect.
Subclasses
- Warlocks: I'm sorry that your only option in raids is Well of Radiance.
- Titans: Sunbreaker is the play here thanks to the Sol Invictus Aspect. This Aspect creates a Sunspot when killing enemies with Solar abilities, Hammer of Sol impacts, and Scorch effects. Your abilities will regenerate quicker and the Super lasts longer while standing in a Sunspot.
- Phoenix Cradle (Exotic legs): This doubles the duration of the Sol Invictus buff on Sunspots while also allowing allies to receive their benefits.
For more Destiny 2 goodies, check out How Good is Wicked Implement in Destiny 2? (Exotic Stasis Scout Rifle) on Pro Game Guides.
