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Destiny 2: The Witch Queen features a fully-fledged campaign we haven't seen since the Red War with Destiny 2's release. Guardians can expect a rather lengthy campaign with two difficulty variants: Classic and Legendary. Those who can brave the Legendary campaign will gain tons of Upgrade Modules and a set of 1,520 Power Level gear once the campaign is over.

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The first mission players will experience is The Arrival, introducing players to the Hive's new toys. This guide will go over the best loadouts for this mission, break down every encounter and what you'll face, and give specific tips for both the Legendary and Master variants of this mission.

Destiny 2 Le Monarque Ornament

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Find Savathun

Destiny 2 The Arrival Mission Start

Master difficulty features two Unstoppable Incendiors in this section—one at the very start, one at the Cabal base. Stun this enemy type before fighting the rest of the Cabal.

You'll start this mission on the red sands of Mars. Make your way past the Golden Age rifts towards a small Cabal encampment. It appears they're just as interested in Savathun's Ship as the Vanguard are. Use any long-range weapons in your loadout to clear out the small group of Cabal, focusing on the turrets first. If your loadout is more focused on CQC, use the rocks scattered across the area as cover.

One of the Cabal is an Incendior, wielding a flamethrower and somewhat large health pool. Break its Arc shield, then unload your weapons into its flame tanks. This will deal massive damage and cause the Cabal to explode on death, leaving behind a fuel canister. Grab the canister and deposit it at the fuel station beside a gravity lift. Psions and Legionaries will spawn right as you grab the canister. Drop it and kill the fodder enemies. Use the lift when ready.

Destiny 2 The Arrival Cabal Base

You should now be right outside a Cabal base. Use the nearby rocks as cover, taking out the small band of Cabal as you reposition. Take out the enemy on the overlook on a nearby platform, then make your way inside. Those on Master difficulty want to take this part slowly, as there's an Unstoppable Incendior inside the base. Like before, stun the Champion, kill the adds, wait to stun the Champion again, then quickly take the Champion out. Stock up on ammo, then hack the nearby console when you're ready.

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Find A Way Onto Savathun's Ship

Destiny 2 The Arrival Cabal Terminal

Your Ghost will begin collecting information about the Cabal base and the looming Hive ship. You must stand near the console to make progress, but we recommend taking this part slowly. Get off the hacking zone when enemies begin to spawn to prevent getting swarmed. Enemies will come in waves:

  • Wave One: Legionaries, Psions, Centurion (Solar)
  • Wave Two: Legionaries, Psions, Centurion (Solar)
  • Wave Three: Legionaries, Psions, Colossus
    • Legend: Colossus has an Arc shield and is a miniboss
    • Master: Colossus is a Barrier Champion
Destiny 2 The Arrival Cabal Refueling Station

Once you've cleared the third wave and collected enough information, your Ghost uncovers a way to get aboard Savathun's ship: launch yourself onto it from a Cabal cannon. But first, you'll need to prepare the cannon. Make your way outside the base and towards the nearby fuel station. You'll need to defeat two Colossus majors called "Imperial Mechanics" to open the fuel lines. Break their Arc shields, land the final blow, then grab their massive wrenches. You'll be slowed while carrying one, but they double as melee weapons if the Cabal get too close. However, for the sake of beating this mission flawlessly, we recommend dropping the wrench at the first sign of trouble.

Colossus enemies are Barrier Champions on Master difficulty. Unstoppable Incendiors are also present.

Now that the fuel lines are open, it's time to make your way to the cannon's generators. Follow the waypoint on your HUD to reach the generator room, clearing out the Cabal enemies that spawn from orbit. They shouldn't pose much of a threat if you're using a good add-clearing weapon like Le Monarque or Osteo Striga.

Destiny 2 The Arrival Cabal Generator Room

Inside the generator room will be more Cabal enemies and Incendior majors with Void shields. On Master difficulty, the Incendiors are Unstoppable Champions. You'll need to kill the Incendiors and use their dropped cores to kickstart the two generators. This room is claustrophobic with virtually no cover, so play cautiously here. You might want to fight outside on Master difficulty, activating a generator once you've cleared out the interior. Hunters can also use invisibility to safely deposit the cores. Regardless of how you handle this part, activating both generators will open the path to the cannon's control room.

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Reach The Control Room

Destiny 2 The Arrival First Encounter

Encounter Breakdown

Objective

Collect Override Codes from Imperial Engineers

Notable Enemies

Cabal Colossus

Shields

Legendary: Void

Master: None

Champions (Master Only)

Barrier

What Is A Campaign Encounter?

Encounters are sections of a campaign level where respawning is restricted. Should the fireteam wipe, you'll need to restart the encounter. All encounters have a Rally Banner you can use beforehand to restock on ammunition and Super energy.

On Legendary difficulty, all players get one revive token. Should an ally fall, you have 90 seconds to revive them before you wipe. This timer does not reset when all allies are revived.

You'll find yourself in a rectangular room with a Colossus miniboss on each side. The goal is to kill each boss to collect their codes. There isn't much cover, and tons of enemies will spawn at each corner of the room. This is why we recommend to stay near the encounter entrance for this encounter, using the nearby terminal for cover.

Focus on clearing one side of the room at a time, preferably from medium range. Kill the Psions and Legionaries first, then go for the Colossus. These enemies deal immense damage on Legendary and Master, capable of killing you in less than a second. Always have a piece of cover between you and the enemy. Should you need to enter the room, stay near one side; fighting near the middle will get you killed. Clear each side of the arena, grab the codes, then head up the elevator. You'll enter the cannon and enter Savathun's ship. Make your way inside to start the next encounter.

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Collect Tribute

Destiny 2 The Arrival Tribute Encounter

Encounter Breakdown

Objective

Collect tribute from slain Hive

Notable Enemies

Hive Knights and Wizards

Shields

Legendary: Arc, Solar

Master: Solar

Champions (Master Only)

Barrier

The path forward is blocked by multiple Hive runes. To unlock the door, you must collect five shards as tribute. Hive Knights and Wizards spawn throughout the encounter and drop a tribute shard when slain. They act just like Motes from Gambit, despawning if you don't grab them quickly enough. Once you've grabbed a tribute shard, stand on the plate outside the exit door to deposit your shards.

Similar to the defense section earlier, this encounter is broken up into multiple waves:

  • Wave One: Acolytes, Thrall, and a Knight (Arc, Barrier on Master)
  • Wave Two: Acolytes, Thrall, and two Knights (Arc, Barrier on Master)
  • Wave Three: Acolytes, Thrall, and two Wizards (Solar)

Waves cannot spawn unless tribute is deposited, so only deposit when you're ready for the next round. The first wave will spawn the second the encounter starts. Acolytes and Thrall will spawn to the left and right of you, the Knight protecting the tribute pool. Kill the Knight to grab its tribute shard, then deposit the shard to spawn additional Hive.

For the second wave, a Knight will spawn on each side of the arena alongside a small army of fodder units. Stasis users should lock down the spawn points with grenades, and Void subclasses can use this moment to get a few easy grenade kills to proc Volatile Rounds. Once again, kill the Knights as soon as you can. Deposit the tribute only when you're ready.

The final wave has Wizards instead of Hive Knights. These Wizards hit like a truck if you're caught in the open, so stick to cover during this part. Like before, one will spawn on each side. The left side seems to spawn their Wizard first, so burst that one down before the second spawns. Grab the tribute, deposit, and the encounter will end. Continue your way through the ship to find a peculiar statue.

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Investigate The Statue

Destiny 2 The Arrival Statue Path 1

Deeper into the ship, you will come across a band of Hive units protecting a strange room. Take out the Hive Knight first by breaking its Arc shield (or Barrier on master difficulty) before laying into its massive health pool. Clear out the rest of the supporting units.

To reach this room, you'll need to do a little platforming. The path can be found below. Beware of the Hive Moths that dot the path; they will rush your location and explode, dealing massive damage on Legendary or Master difficulty.

Destiny 2 The Witch Queen Glowing Moth

Moths become vulnerable to damage when they start glowing. Shooting near their glow will magnetize your bullets to their small body, causing the Hive Moth to explode. The explosion deals major damage to nearby enemies.

Destiny 2 The Arrival Statue Encounter

The statue room itself was an ambush of sorts. Right after grabbing the object floating near the statue, you'll be rushed by multiple Acolytes and Thrall. The real concern is the next wave of enemies that spawn to the left of the statue. You'll be pushed by an Ogre (an Unstoppable variant on Master difficulty) and multiple Acolytes at this part. Ogres deal absurd damage on higher difficulties, especially Master, so play around cover. Sources of suppression and blinding work exceptionally well against Ogres, so make liberal use of those effects here. When the path is safe, make your way outside.

Destiny 2 The Arrival Outside Path

You'll need to run across a narrow walkway and a few platforms to reach the other side of the ship. The platforming is easy enough, but immediately backtrack once you land on the walkway. This will cause two Knights to spawn, each buffed with Moths that grant overshields. You'll want to break their overshields as soon as possible to make the Moths vulnerable to damage. The Moth explosion deals Arc damage, dealing great damage to the remaining shields each Knight has. Break the shields, finish the enemies, then make your way to the next platform. Like before, backtrack to the previous area, widdle them down from a distance, and proceed. Kill the final Knight (a Barrier variant on Master) on the landing platform, then make your way across. Follow the path to reach the next encounter.

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Defeat The Lucent Knight

Destiny 2 The Arrival Lucent Knight

Encounter Breakdown

Objective

Defeat a Lucent Lightbearer, then open a portal to Savathun's Throne World

Notable Enemies

Lucent Knights, Ogres, Wizards

Shields

Legendary: Void

Master: None

Champions (Master Only)

Barrier

While technically a prelude to the actual encounter, the Lucent Knight is so different from the rest of the Hive that it deserves its own section. The Lucent Knight is a variant of the Hive Knight that uses the Sentinel subclass, featuring the same abilities as a traditional Titan. It's not a proper boss, but it has the same suite of attacks you'd expect from a Sentinel Titan in the Crucible. Here's what a Lucent Knight is capable of:

Your best bet with this fight is to fight behind cover, using the slits near the stairs to get a few shots on the Knight. Do not maintain line of sight when its Super is active. Wait for the Super to end before using your weapons and abilities to damage it. You'll need to kill the Knight twice and crush its Ghost to finish this part of the encounter.

Destiny 2 The Arrival Knight Encounter

Now that the Lucent Knight is dealt with, it's time to open a portal to Savathun's Throne World. As with the previous encounter, you must collect tribute shards off slain Hive to charge the portal. The tribute deposit plate is right beside the portal at the center of the arena. Rally the nearby flag, then stand on the plate when you're ready.

Once again, there will be three waves of enemies in this encounter. Only one enemy drops tribute in each wave, and the subsequent wave's tribute must be deposited for the next to spawn. Take it slow, stick to cover, and don't enter the room across from the portal. We recommend backtracking to where you originally came from and fighting enemies from there. It offers a good vantage point and plentiful cover.

Each Hive wave can be broken down as follows:

  • Wave One: Acolytes, Thrall, Knight (Arc, Barrier on Master)
  • Wave Two: Acolytes, Cursed Thrall, Wizard (Solar)
  • Wave Three: Acolytes, Ogre (Unstoppable on Master)

Once again, try your best to distance yourself from the enemies. Backtrack to the upper platform you came from, or use as much cover as possible. Thrall and Cursed Thrall should be taken care of first, then the Acolytes, then the miniboss or Champion. Only deposit when you've cleared the entire wave—excluding the final wave, where you should deposit immediately to end the encounter.

The Master variant of this mission ends here. Legendary campaign players following this guide still have one more encounter before the mission is over.

Savathun's Throne World

Destiny 2 The Arrival Savathuns Throne World

You've now entered Savathun's Throne World. The outskirts of the nearby building will be protected by a few Hive enemies. Do not push forward. Take the enemies out from a distance before proceeding. Moving up a little bit will spawn an Ogre buffed by a Moth. Use cover and play cautiously. The final encounter is up ahead.

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Defeat Savathun

Destiny 2 The Arrival Final Encounter

Encounter Breakdown

Objective

Defeat Savathun and her Lucent Brood

Notable Enemies

Savathun, Cursed Thrall

Shields

None

If it wasn't obvious by this being the first mission, you don't actually kill Savathun here. Focus on dealing as much damage to Savathun as possible, avoiding her attacks and Cursed Thrall minions. The Acolytes don't pose much of a threat, so focus on the Cursed Thrall and Savathun herself. Dealing enough damage to her will end the mission, so give her everything you got. Heavy, Supers, and Special weapons should melt her health bar quickly. Just remember to take cover whenever she pops a Super, similar to the Lucent Knight encounter earlier.

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Next: Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Complete Guide And Walkthrough