Destiny: The Dark Below guide – The Wakening

Destiny: The Dark Below is all about the Hive, so of course we had to venture into the darkness at some point.

The Wakening takes place on the Moon, and is available at difficulty level 26 and up.

You start at the usual Moon spawn point, and there’s nothing to do but head for the Temple of Crota. The Temple is curiously silent, so wander in and begin the spiralling descent to the room with the Hive Seeder. When you’re nearly there, Eris will comment on a horrible sound, and you’ll know you’re close to the first encounter.

There are swarms of Acolytes ahead. Don’t be tempted to keep moving forward; pick them off patiently. As you approach the other side of the room the doors will open, spilling out huge numbers of Thralls. You don’t want Acolytes at your back when this happens, trust me.

Push on and you’ll enter the World’s Grave and hear more creepy sound effects. A Shrieker awaits; take it out with a rocket, then run far away to escape its deadly final missiles. In this area, groups of three Cursed Thralls spawn continuously, so just keep pushing forward. Headshotting one will usually take out all three.

Another Shrieker awaits you around the corner. Take it down and advance, continuing to mow down Cursed Thralls. When you reach a rack of swords, pause; this doorway ahead is deadly. An enormous pack of Cursed Thralls will emerge as you approach, and then another turns up as soon as you enter, including a few Majors (yellow). There’s also a Shrieker inside.

Once everything is dead, push on through to a new area. Exciting! You’ll soon enter a Darkness zone.

Ahead you’ll see a Vigil on the floor. You can run through them, but if you linger they’ll do severe damage. Across it, in the dark, you should see an Acolyte; snipe him then jump over.

There are multiple Vigils in the next area so your best bet is to go slow and careful. Be wary of side paths offering what seems to be a safer router; you’ll almost always be ambushed, but they’re still the better option.

In the next area the Hive put up a token resistance – Acolytes and Thralls. You’ve faced worse today. You have nothing to worry about until the music kicks off – then you’ll face a Major Ogre. He’s easy to take out, even alone, thanks to a sneaky side tunnel on the left as you face him; if you nip inside, he’ll focus on your last known location. Pop out the other end and smack him a bit, then go back through and do the same from the other end. They never learn!

Now it’s time for the boss fight. If you have a solar scout or sniper rifle, start by taking down one of the four Wakers – but then don’t try to cheese. A Vigil will spawn at the entrance to the tunnel, and if you hang about, a very, very, very nasty Major Knight with an Arc shield will pop up behind you. And then another one. And then another one. Just go through; trust me, it’s easier, and the Knights will leave you alone.

Inside the Chamber of Night you’ll face a couple of Knights, many Thralls, and the Wakers. It’s a mess. The best approach is to go in hard and fast; drop the Knights immediately, then clear the thralls and pick the Wakers off one by one.

When the last Waker is down, you’ll have to destroy Crota’s crystallised soul. At first it just sits there, but then it begins firing huge, slow and very nasty projectiles. The chamber will gradually fill with Acolytes and Cursed Thralls if you wait, so just hit the crystal with everything you have – Heavy ammo synthesis may be required – and end this farce.

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