This article will show you how to defeat Qodron, Gate Lord while competing in the Prison of Elders. This challenge boss is often referred to as the Forever Eater, and can appear as either the level 32 or level 34 final boss on any given week. As far as boss fights go, this is by far one of the toughest in all of Destiny, but not because Qodron himself is hard to kill. The challenge portion of the fight is the part that tends to throw players off.
Defeat Qodron – Gjallarhorn Method
This method will require three players that have fully upgraded Gjallarhorns, and it doesn’t hurt to have a Titan running the Defender subclass. This subclass should be set up so that Ward of Dawn is modified to give all players who pass through the bubble Weapons of Light. This will allow all Guardians in your Fireteam to deal increased damage, upping the likelihood that you can take Qodron down before he initiates his challenge.
Ensure that all three members of your Fireteam have a full supply of Heavy Ammo ready to go, and can pop an Ammo Synthesis (meaning it’s not on cool down). When you exit the airlock, have your Defender Titan throw up Ward of Dawn with Weapons of Light. Quickly pass through the bubble, and then have all three of your Fireteam members start peppering Qodron with Gjallarhorn rounds. Of course, you will quickly run out, so all three members need to pop a Heavy Ammo Synthesis, and then start hitting him again. This should take you about 25-30 rockets, possibly a few less if Weapons of Light is in play.
Defeat Qodron – The Intended Method
For this method you will need your Fireteam to exit the airlock and move all the way to the left. This will take you to an alcove that gives you some cover from Qodron, and will allow you to shoot back when the time is right.
Shortly after you begin the fight a message will appear onscreen that says Qodron searches for targets, and a few seconds after that, targets marked for annihilation. It’s at this point that players will be trapped inside a bubble that will continually hurt them unless they break out. This is where Qodron’s Eye comes into play.
Qodron’s Eye are basically just Vex Goblins, but they tend to glow a little. When you kill one of these you will be given a 30 second buff called Jail Breaker. This buff will give you the ability to shoot your way out of the bubble that Qodron puts you in about every minute. The problem that players run into is that there are often not enough Qodron’s Eye enemies running around for everyone to get the buff. In fact, sometimes it’s difficult to find even one.
The counter to this is to wait for the moment just before Qodron traps you and huddle together with the other two members of your Fireteam. As long as one player has the buff, that player should be able to break all three of you out. Once this is done your Fireteam can go back to clearing out adds, dealing damage to Qodron, and looking for the next Qodron’s Eye to kill and give you the buff.
Before we move on from Qodron’s Eye completely, try to time it so that you kill this enemy about 10 seconds before Qodron traps you. The reason for this is that the buff only lasts 30 seconds, so if you get it too soon you might not have it long enough to break out of the bubble, and you may not be able to find another Qodron’s Eye to kill. If this happens there is a good chance Guardians will start to die.
Your Fireteam of three should be broken up into various roles. First of all, you need at least one member of your team to work strictly on killing adds and spotting Qodron’s Eye. This role exists only to make sure that the buff is active when everyone is trapped, and that your position is not overrun by enemies.
The second member of your Fireteam will be the floater. This person can work on adds, help to spot and kill Qodron’s Eye, and deal damage to Qodron when the opportunity is there. Their job is to ensure that the other two members of the Fireteam always have what they need to do their job, and to offer support so that nobody fails at their task.
The final member of the Fireteam should be the person who is rocking a level 34 Guardian, and has all the shiny weapons that make most Guardians jealous. We’re talking about the Ice Breaker and the Gjallarhorn specifically. The former is a great way to pepper Qodron with critical hits, while the latter is the Rocket Launcher of choice for any problem in Destiny that needs to get solved. If nobody in your Fireteam has one or both of these weapons, just make sure to keep hitting Qodron with critical hits from a Sniper Rifle, or some other long-range option. Ideally your weapon of choice will deal 365 damage.
If everyone is able to perform their role well, Qodron should be dropped without much fuss. The only point that could throw your team off is if you can’t find Qodron’s Eye when you need to kill one, and this is a problem. It is likely the single most frustrating part of this fight, and it’s what makes this fight one of the most difficult in all of Destiny. Sometimes you get lucky and find Qodron’s Eye all over the place, and other times you don’t and you end up wiping. Unfortunately, it has a lot to do with luck.
Once Qodron has been dropped you can make your way back to the airlock, and then on to the Treasure Room for a crack at some goodies. You reward will depend on whether you completed this at level 32 (Armor Core) or level 34 (Etheric Light, Weapon Core). If you killed Qodron on level 34, you also have a shot at the Elder Cipher Exotic Bounty, and can then work your way toward the Dreg’s Promise, Lord of Wolves Shotgun, or the Queenbreaker’s Bow.
If you’ve got other bosses to lay a beating on, try perusing our Destiny: House of Wolves Walkthrough and Guide.
