Io
Enemies Encountered
- Taken: Psions, Phalanxes, Thralls
Objectives
- Determine what the Red Legion is doing on Io (continued).
- Defend yourself against the Taken.
- Rejoin Ikora.
Bunker Busting
Super: Optional
Grenades: Optional
Warning!: Restricted Zone
Venture down the connecting corridor into the Excavation Site II, and begin to explore the linked caverns. Strange rifts in the walls are a prequel to the problems you’ll soon face; the Taken have arrived on this moon, which explains the Cabal’s quick departure! Avoid or shoot the Taken ball-like traps, or run through them before they expand and slow you down.
Head into a cavern with a ledge ahead and above and an exit ahead of you. The ledges aren’t your main concern; it’s the multiple dimensional shifts announcing the rival of around a dozen Taken Psions, who have the ability to replicate themselves, and should therefore be priority targets. They fire rapidly and are more ferocious compared to the Cabal Psions they possessed. It’s important to stay behind cover (or Movement Mode to the upper ledge), tackle closest threats, and gradually remove enemies from the cavern. If you want, you can back up and lob a grenade to catch the Taken just as they warp in.
Exit the cavern at ground level, moving up the steps of the linking chamber beyond. Go up to a second storage cavern, where multiple Taken Psions are stationed. Again, the cover affords you protection so you can drop foes at both close and far ranges. There’s also a platform above and to the left. Use your Movement Mode to get up here (stay away from the edge of the platform), and you can whittle down the Psions before peeking over the lip of the platform to deliver more carnage down below. This is easier than charging across the ground.
The upper storage chamber wraps around and down to the initial cavern (waypoint #2), though the enemies you encounter on your return are yet more vicious: Taken Phalanxes! Remove them before attempting to escape, as a group of Taken Thralls soon overwhelms you. These slightly mindless foes act like their Fallen variants but have a quick and short warping teleport (meaning grenades are tricky to land), and they can very easily crush you. Jumping out of their grasp, backing up, and performing headshots is the plan here.
Continue down to the passage with the Taken traps and the strange glowing blue floor. Slow your progress so you can drop the Taken Thralls milling around here, as you don’t want to face them near any unexploded traps. When the coast is clear, pass through into the initial orange-hued rock cavern where you can face or flee from Taken Psions and a Phalanx. As the Taken are about to open a portal, it’s time to retrace your steps, out of the area and onto the surface again.