Destiny 2: How to Complete the Gatekeepers Encounter in the Vault of Glass
Destiny’s first ever Raid activity, the Vault of Glass, returns in Destiny 2 with fresh takes on the classic encounters. After defeating the Templar and navigating the Gorgons’ maze, players will eventually arrive in the Glass Throne and will have to get past the Gatekeepers.
In Destiny 2, the Vault of Glass recently got an even harder Master difficulty mode which allows players to pursue Timelost variants of the Raid’s weapons. Each Destiny 2 encounter has its own challenge mode which will award players with an extra loot chest if it is completed when it is active.
Once Destiny 2 players have got through the Gorgons’ maze, they will eventually arrive at the entrance to the Glass Throne, which is the arena for the final two encounters of the Raid. The first of which is the Gatekeepers encounter which runs in two phases. Both phases introduce players to the portals that lead to different locations that Destiny 2 players often refer to as Venus and Mars and combines the conflux and Relic shield mechanics from earlier in the Raid.
Here is a basic rundown of all the steps to overcome the Gatekeepers in the Vault of Glass:
- Two players need to immediately stand on and defend a plate each to activate the corresponding portal. Meanwhile, the other four Relic runner players will need to destroy the first Gatekeeper to get the Relic shield.
- One player will pick up the Relic, while another two go through the portals to defend the confluxes from incoming Vex. The remaining Relic player will stay in the throne room and help with defending the plates and destroying any Gatekeepers that appear.
- A Praetorian Minotaur will spawn at one of the portal locations. The current Relic player needs to go through the right portal and use the Relic to destroy the Praetorian before it can sacrifice itself at the conflux.
- This player will then drop the Relic so that the player that was originally defending the conflux can take it and go back through the portal to the throne room.
- The spare Relic runner in the throne room must then collect the Relic from the current Relic holder and then take it through the other portal to destroy the Praetorian that has now spawned there.
- This relay with the Relic repeats until six Praetorians have been destroyed, and then phase two will begin.
- All players need to head towards the new conflux that will spawn in the central area of the throne room.
- The team must defend the conflux from the incoming Vex.
- Three Praetorian Minotaurs will spawn in the arena and can only be destroyed by the Relic holder.
- Once the Praetorians are destroyed, three Wyverns will spawn and must be destroyed.
- When all the Vex are dead, the conflux will disappear, and a loot chest will appear nearby.
Since this encounter is a more complex version of the confluxes encounter, players can use a similar loadout that uses a range of weapons that are useful for clearing weaker enemies and strong minibosses. The Relic runners will need solid primaries and special weapons that can take out lots of enemies quickly. An Auto Rifle or SMG, especially the IKELOS SMG with Warmind Cell mods, pairs well with a special ammo Grenade Launcher for getting rid of the regular Vex that move towards the confluxes. Any hard-hitting heavy ammo weapon will be good for taking out the larger enemies.
The Relic players should also use Stasis Subclasses, especially the Shadebinder Warlock and Revenant Hunter, since their slowing and freezing abilities can slow down the Vex as they approach the confluxes, including the otherwise invincible Praetorians which will buy the team lots of time. Specifically, the Shadebinder’s Bleak Watcher Aspect is excellent for keeping almost every enemy frozen in place for a long time, but any Stasis Grenade will also be helpful.
As for the two plate defending players, any support Super Subclasses such as Well of Radiance or Ward of Dawn will help those players stay alive and more easily defeat the invading Vex. For weapons, these players will have to destroy Overload Minotaurs and Gatekeeper Hydras so a powerful heavy weapon with good range will be very useful. An Overload Rounds Mod is also essential.
This encounter is definitely one of the most complex in terms of the number of small mechanics it has, but most of them are similar to ones from previous encounters. Destiny 2 players will have been introduced to Vex sync plates in the Waking Ruins area before the vault has even been opened. In the Gatekeepers encounter, standing on these plates will activate and hold open a nearby portal that leads to a specific location.
Importantly, whenever a player goes through a portal, they will be hit with a debuff called “Teleport Destabilized” which prevents the affected player from using a portal for 45 seconds. This mechanic is the reason that the Relic must be passed between players so that it can always be used to destroy the Praetorians.
The plates and their portals are found on either side of the throne room arena. The left plate activates a portal that leads to Mars, and the right plate activates a portal that leads to Venus. These locations have identical layouts but are visually quite different. Mars is orange and brown in color, with sandy, desert-like features. Meanwhile, Venus is green in color, and features lots of plants making it look like a jungle.
In the centre of both locations will be a conflux that functions exactly like the ones in the earlier encounter. Vex will always march towards it to sacrifice themselves, however they spawn in predictable waves that loop and occur at the same time across Mars and Venus. There are always two waves of Goblins, followed by either a Praetorian or a Wyvern, with the next cycle including whichever enemy did not appear the first time. If a Wyvern spawns, it can be killed immediately, but the Praetorians can only be stopped by the Relic holder. The location of the Praetorian alternates each time, and there are six in total, so three will appear on Venus and three will appear on Mars.
For this encounter, players can allow a few smaller Vex enemies to sacrifice themselves before it causes a team wipe. However, if a Praetorian or Wyvern sacrifices itself, that will cause a team wipe. A conflux also appears in the second phase of this encounter that functions in the same way, although the wave structure of enemies is different. Three Praetorians will appear one after the other around the arena, and once they are dead, three Wyverns will spawn around the arena.
The Praetorian Minotaurs are the most important enemy type in this encounter as they now have white shields that make them completely invincible. The Praetorians’ shields can be destroyed using any damage from the Relic, including its melee attacks. For this encounter, the Relic is only needed to destroy the Praetorians. The Relic also still has the 10-second countdown that starts when it is dropped, so players need to be quick at picking the Relic up during the relay.
Finally, during this encounter, large Gatekeeper Hydras will occasionally appear on the floating block in the middle of the throne room. These Gatekeepers will instantly close the two portals, but the portals will reopen as soon as the Gatekeeper is destroyed. One Gatekeeper will be present at the beginning of this encounter, and it drops the Relic once it is destroyed, allowing players to begin the encounter properly.
Before starting this encounter, the Raid team needs to decide on roles. Two players will have the sole job of keeping their portal open, which means they need to defend the plate from Goblins and Overload Minotaurs and defeat any Gatekeepers that appear. The other four Destiny 2 players will be the Relic runners. They must decide who grabs the Relic first, who will defend the Mars and Venus confluxes first, and who will stay in the throne room for now.
Once this has been decided, the players can begin destroying the Vex in the throne room, including the Gatekeeper Hydra so that the chosen player can grab the Relic. Meanwhile, the two plate defenders need to immediately stand on the plates to activate their portals so that the players defending the confluxes can head into Mars and Venus.
After a while, a Praetorian will spawn in one location and a Wyvern will spawn in the other. The conflux defenders need to call out which location has the Praetorian so that the Relic holder can head through the correct portal and destroy the Praetorian. The player in the other location just needs to continue defending their conflux until it is their turn to take the Relic.
Once the Praetorian is dead, the current Relic holder can drop the Relic and take over defending the conflux. The other player then needs to pick up the Relic and head back through the portal to reach the throne room. This Relic holder needs to pass the Relic to the player that stayed in the throne room initially so that they can then take it to the other location to defeat the Praetorian that should have spawned there.
The Relic players can use their Stasis abilities to slow down the Praetorians at any point and buy the other players more time if they need it to pass the Relic, especially with the destabilization debuff. Destiny 2 players need to keep passing the Relic around until six Praetorians have been killed. At this point a conflux will appear in the central area of the throne room, and all players are needed to defend it.
Whoever is holding the Relic should continue to hold it once they re-emerge into the throne room to avoid further confusion. This phase is also densely packed with enemies so all other players can use their Supers to clear out the Vex as quickly as possible. Obviously, the Relic is needed for the Praetorians, so the other players should call out and guide the Relic holder to the Praetorians as they appear.
The Gatekeepers encounter is quite long and difficult as it requires good communication and timing, but it nicely sets Destiny 2 players up for the final encounter of the Vault of Glass, the boss fight against Atheon, Time’s Conflux.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light and Season of the Splicer are available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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