The recently released Act 2 of Destiny 2’s Episode Heresy introduces an exhilarating new activity on the Dreadnaught. Players must gear up to face the resurgent Echo of Navigation, Oryx, the Taken King, through an exciting new challenge known as the Court of Blades. This boss-rush event draws similarities to the Rushdown activity featured in this year’s Guardian Games, offering players a fresh and engaging experience.
While the Nether offers opportunities to loots from the Dreadnaught, it is essential to note that the only avenue for acquiring the new weaponry unveiled in Act 2 is via the Court of Blades.
What is the Court of Blades?
The Court of Blades is a rogue-like boss rush challenge, reminiscent of the Court of Oryx from Destiny 1. However, unlike a public event, this arena pits your fireteam against bosses in a private setting.One notable advantage of the Court of Blades over the Nether is the absence of limited healing resources.
You can locate the Court of Blades node within The Last City on your Director. Here, you can decide between playing the Standard or Expert mode. Both options feature identical mission modifiers, yet Expert mode presents tougher adversaries with increased health and damage. Furthermore, the factions encountered in Expert mode alternate periodically.
If you seek the rare Adept and polished variants of the new weapons introduced in Act 2, you must play in Expert mode. The Standard version lets you explore freely; however, the bosses are less challenging, making it an ideal space to experiment. To ensure your survival and maximize damage output, equipping your most proficient gear and loadout is highly recommended.
How It Works – Overview
In both Standard and Expert modes, the core gameplay remains consistent: acquire upgrades, vanquish bosses, and claim your rewards.
The activity begins at the entrance to the Court of Oryx, where you will encounter a few enemies. Defeating them grants you the ability to stand on one of three circles marked on the ground.
You can find a hive worm in the underpass as part of the quest for the Barrow-Dyad exotic weapon.Standing on one of the three circles activates the activity, opening a portal for passage.
This portal transports you to one of three distinct arenas: Rathmore Subterrain on Europa, Remnant of Silver on Io, or Hive Warship in Unknown Coordinates. Within your chosen arena, you will face a boss challenge, which may involve several yellow-bar enemies or a single formidable boss.Once defeated, another boss challenge will commence.
After each encounter, you’ll have 45 seconds to replenish your ammo (note: the ammo crate does not fully refill your reserves, but you can enhance that at the shaping slab).During this time, you can purchase armaments or opt to initiate the next encounter by standing on the circles again.
You have a total of 10 minutes to defeat as many bosses, termed Challengers, as possible. Once time is up, the ongoing round will be your final chance to collect loot. Notably, if you manage to take down all 13 Challengers within the time limit, you will receive the greatest loot rewards, and possibly even some sought-after god rolls and shiny weapons.
At the conclusion of the activity, you can also deposit five Metastasized Essentia into a small dark podium to unlock extra loot.
Modifiers
Between encounters, you’ll return to the Court of Oryx to restock your ammo and purchase upgrades.
During this intermission, you’ll spot Hive statues placed on either side of the area. Each statue can hold one or two flaming balls, totaling a maximum of four, which represent the modifiers affecting the upcoming encounter.
These modifiers can intensify challenges or dramatically alter the battle dynamics.
Augmentations
Unlike the typical damage-focused gameplay, Augmentations introduce random changes by bestowing bosses or enemies with unique characteristics or events. Successfully tackling these challenges yields Runes within the designated timeframe.
- Adapt: The boss will possess an elemental shield that only takes minimal damage from non-matching elements.
- Bound: You will battle two bosses who gain immunity while near each other. To make them vulnerable, stand on a marked area to draw one away.
- Descend: Giant hovering blights appear and ascend; destroy them to proceed.
- Sharpen: The boss has a robust damage-resistant shield, which can be removed by finding a kneeling knight and a Hive crystal.
- Bulwark: A large Taken blight will spawn, granting the boss additional damage resistance; you need to destroy smaller blights to eliminate the larger one.
- Miasma: Be wary of Taken goo that covers the floor; stepping in it grants the boss immunity.
- Burst: Manage a detonating Ogre’s bomb to breach the boss’s shield.
- Banish: Eliminate casters before they can ensnare you in the Ascendant Realm.
- Swarm: Face additional enemies, including Grim, and eliminate 45 foes to complete this Augmentation.
- Ritual: Stand near corresponding glyphs for the boss to become vulnerable.
Hazards
As the title suggests, Hazards introduce treacherous elements that heighten the fight’s difficulty. Players must exercise caution and strategic thinking when confronting these challenges.
Although there isn’t an exhaustive catalog of Hazards, make it a priority to remain vigilant about their presence during encounters. Failure to recognize a Hazard can lead to unexpected defeats.
One notable Hazard is the Gaze of the Deep, where giant eldritch eyeballs emerge. Keeping them on-screen increases the Suffocating Terror debuff, which can be fatal if it reaches 20 stacks. Avoid building up these stacks by breaking the line of sight.
Runes
Immediately before entering the Court of Oryx, you’ll encounter six Hive statues that provide Armaments—permanent buffs throughout your run, purchasable with Runes.
The left side of your screen displays a meter indicating the Rune count needed to upgrade Tiers.The higher your tier, the greater your options.
Runes can be earned by completing encounters as well as fulfilling bonus objectives during Augmentations. Performance determines the collected amount, which accumulates to upgrade your Tier.
During downtime, Runes can be used to acquire Armaments, with Tier 3 Antiquated Runes unlocking all available options. Note that purchasing an Armament will deplete your Rune stock. Therefore, it’s essential to weigh your choices carefully.
Tips and Tricks
Come prepared with optimized loadouts and ensure a solid mix of add-clear and DPS weaponry, including at least one ranged weapon. A pure melee build might falter against certain foes, like Shriekers.
If you main a Titan, leverage the potency of Bolt Charge alongside Storm’s Keep. Alternatively, a Synthocep build optimally suits the activity’s close-quarters nature.
A Stronghold build with any sword equipped with Flash Counter enhances a Titan’s durability significantly, whereas Warlocks can benefit from a Prismatic build with Bleakwatcher and Devour for constant health regeneration and grenade return.
Another effective setup for Arc Warlocks involves Geomag Stabilizers combined with an Ionic Sentry and the Delicate Tomb fusion rifle.
For Hunters, the Void Hunter Gyrafalcon or Prismatic with Gifted Conviction builds are reliable options to employ.
Be sure to purchase Court of Blades upgrades from the Runic Enhancement tab at Eris’s Apartment to amplify your gameplay experience. With time, you’ll acquire enough resources to implement all available runes, so prioritize these ones initially:
- Sigil Rune
- Armament Rune
- Echelon Rune
- Paid Runes
- Adamantine Rune
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