‘Destiny’ Guide: 5 Essential Tips for Beating ‘Vault of Glass’ on Hard

By now most Destiny players have at least beat the Vault of Glass on normal. In fact, Bungie reports that over 500,000 had completed the raid in the first weeks. But how many of those players have gone through and beat Atheon on hard? 

There’s no question that Destiny‘s first raid is challenging on the hard difficulty, but it’s by no means impossible. It requires a lot of patience – especially if you’re playing with a team of unknowns – and a fair bit of understanding of how the raid works. That’s where this post should help.

But, before we get into the tips we should mention that these are strategies and suggestions for beating the raid without any overt exploits (i.e. pushing Atheon off the edge). There are some sections, namely the Oracle portion and the Templar boss fight, that can be beat very easily, but at the same time we feel like including those strategies in the list both calls Bungie‘s attention to them and gives this post a shelf life. We’d rather share tips that will be as useful today as they will two months down the road. So, without further ado:

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1. Be Prepared – Level and Weapons Matter

Although there are plenty of Destiny missions and Strikes that players can make their way through at lower than the recommended level, the Vault of Glass is not one of them. The higher the player’s level the greater the damage they can withstand from the level 30 enemies, and conversely the greater damage they will do. For example, where a level 30 might do 100-300 on Vex Goblin (with a max level weapon), a level 29 might do less than 100 per shot. They also won’t survive nearly as long either, and surviving is important since on hard their is no reviving teammates (only Warlocks can self resurrect).

Obviously, there will be players who can complete the raid (or portions of the raid) at level 28 or 27, but that is a steep uphill climb to make. Rather, it’s better to hold off on even thinking about the raid until hitting level 29. It may not be as appealing, but running the raid on normal to get raid gear is better than struggling through the raid on hard and not getting any drops.

Even then, it’s important to make sure that players also upgrade their weapons up to the max before trying the Vault on hard. It may take a few extra days of completing bounties and the daily story mission, but max level weapons make a huge difference. In fact, there are many Destiny raiders out there who will turn away random players (found using a site like DestinyLFG) simply because they don’t have max level weapons, or even the “right” weapons for that matter.

Now, everyone has their preference, but there are a few weapons that are extremely useful in the raid. Anything that drops during the raid will be handy because of the Oracle Disruptor upgrade, but there are plenty of non-raid weapons (Suros Regime, Gjallarhorn, Icebreaker) that will do just fine, along with any legendary machine gun, rocket launcher, or fusion rifle. Players just need to work on leveling them up first.

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2. Hide, Don’t Fight – Protecting the Confluxes

The first big challenge of the raid is the Conflux portion, where players must defend a series of totems (called Confluxes) from oncoming enemies. These enemies will try to sacrifice themselves to the Confluxes and it is up to the team to stop them, first by protecting one Conflux, then two, and then finally, three. While that’s a tall order in itself, things get trickier with a couple Praetorians and Hobglobin snipers running around, which is why having max weapons is important. It’s also important to separate the group based on level so that every Conflux has a strong player watching it. Then you can match up the level 29s with the 30s.

But the real tip for the Conflux portion comes when the Templar boss – the giant Hydra enemy – calls forth his legions. On normal, most players will simply ride this portion out fighting the Fanatics as they come, but on hard that adds unnecessary risk. Instead it’s better to hide during this legion portion and wait, because after a time the enemies will de-spawn. The team guarding the middle and the left Conflux can hide in the elevated cave on the left – the same one that holds the chest with the Spirit Bloom – while the right Conflux team can take cover on a small ledge in the far north east of the board. They just drop down and none of the enemies will attack them.

After the enemies de-spawn, players can return to their positions and protect the Confluxes until the next legion summon. Then lather, rinse, and repeat.

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Next Page: Top 3 Tips For Beating Destiny’s Vault of Glass on Hard

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‘Destiny’ Guide: 5 Essential Tips for Beating ‘Vault of Glass’ on Hard