With Under Siege beneath our belts, we’ll need to try to penetrate Calus’s stronghold around the Veil. And so begins the next mission in the Lightfall campaign. Here’s how to complete Downfall in Destiny 2.
How to Complete Downfall in Destiny 2
Storming Calus’s stronghold won’t be easy. But we’re the Guarding for the task. We’ll need to infiltrate the Fortress Ship. You’ll spawn on top of a roof, but right in front of you and slightly to the right is a long bridge. Head towards it and over it. Important to note is that you can use your Sparrow. No need to walk around like a medieval peasant.
Infiltrate the Fortress Ship: Get to the Ship
Eventually, you’ll hit Ahimsa Park and another damnable artifact with a Suppression Field. Move forward, and you’ll see a place to use a campaign banner. Do so, and you’ll be just out of the influence of the artifact. This is great because we’re about to get into a tussle.
Go a little forward, and a Cabal Drop Pod will fall right before you. You’ll be swarmed by a half dozen or so Psions and Legionary. The grenade launcher you just got from Nimbus, Dimensional Hypotrochoid, works very well here. It’s important to note that you don’t have to wait for the drop pods to open. You can start shooting the moment they hit the ground, and the enemies inside will take damage.
Go up the ramp to the left, and you’ll be faced with three large Incinerator Cabal. These three will shoot a lot. Keep your distance and whittle them away with long-distance weapons. Now is also a good time to try the new Bow exotic you picked up, the Verglas Curve. Or you can just use a Scout Rifle or Pulse Rifle. Whatever you do, don’t get too close while there are still three on the platform, as things can go from 0 to 100 very quickly.
Once all three are down, we can claim the checkpoint chest and open the door. Right above the chest, you’ll see a black rock slowly rotating. Shoot it.
Infiltrate the Fortress Ship: Advance deeper into the Fortress Ship
Head past the barrier, and you’ll enter the ship. Head deeper inside; there’s no way to get lost. You’ll hit a dead end. Turn right, and there is a door with an abrupt drop. Fall through, and you’ll be in the Typhon Imperator.
Head towards the two warrior Cabal statues and note that you can stand on the watery surface. To your right, there will be a balcony and a door. Jump to it from the watery platform. Head through the door, and there will be another drop. Fall down, and you’ll be in a room with three War Dogs. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to sneak past them. Once they’re down, look up. There will be a ridge and a door you can jump up to.
You’ll wind up on a narrow ridge. Using the square rocks on the ridge, jump up to the next highest walkway. But note a Scorpius is waiting to gun you down. Take cover immediately to avoid having to do this section again.
Go to where the Scorpius was, then look across the room to see a narrow door with a bit of light shining through. That’s our next destination.
Once you reach this door, you’ll immediately drop down into another room. But this room has a Phalanx, two Legionary, and several Wardogs in it. Kill them.
With them out of the way, head towards the corridor opening, which leads into a grand purple room. It’s very true to Calus’s aesthetic.
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Look up to the left of the chandelier, and you’ll see a door. Use the metal cubes all around you to jump up to it. Now, we’ll just need to platform our way to the other side.
Note that the door at the end is just a trick. On the last platform, turn right and look slightly up. There is a ridge you can jump up to. But to get there, you’ll need the smaller ridge just to the right of the false door. Jump up to that first.
You’ll then enter a room that features a giant gold statue of Calus. This room is crawling with Cabal. Expect two Scorpius, several Psions, plenty of Legionary, Incinerators, Phalanx, and an Esteemed Colossus. They’ve practically thrown a whole town at us.
Defeat them, then head up the stairs towards the statue. Turn right, and you’ll see two black diamonds. Shoot both to open the door.
Go stand on the lift, which will take you further into the ship. Some Cabal will shoot at you, but you’ll be gone too quickly for them to even do damage. Eventually, the lift will stop, and you’ll encounter… a Taken? I shouldn’t be surprised. We are fighting the Darkness.
Punch it (or shoot it), then head further inside.
There will be several platforms in front of you. Jump onto the first one, then look to your left and up. There will be a small platform you can jump up on to reach the ledge above you.
Jump across the pit, and make sure that the Taken pustule doesn’t explode on you, knocking your trajectory off. You’ll land and there will be a big door in front of you. Shoot the three black stones beside it to open it.
There’s a campaign rally point in front of you. And you know what that means. Get ready for a fight.
Boss Fight 1
We’ll need to overload the conduits in order to stop the ships from taking off. Jump down, then head to the circle on the far right.
You’ll need to stand in this circle for a period before an orb (Dark Resonance) spawns at the other side of the room. Cabal will be spawning aggressively the entire time, so move frequently and try to cull the crowd where you can. Do not use your Super and try to conserve your heavy ammo.
Once you pick up the orb, return to the platform where you stand in the circle. Remember that you can drop the orb at any point to start shooting! Doing so is a very good idea because the Cabal sure do love shooting you.
At the platform, insert the resonance into the tall artifact and kill the Cabal. Once the Cabal is gone, a Tormentor will appear. Maintain as much distance as possible and unload as much damage (Super, Heavy ammo) into him. At first, he’ll keep his distance and use his long-range scythe attacks. But as he gets closer to dying, he’ll start aggressively coming for you, leaping into the air to try to close the distance. When he jumps, you should immediately run or jump away to avoid his attack.
He will also periodically summon Taken, which you should try to take out as quickly as possible. But always prioritize keeping distance from the Tormentor.
Once the fight ends, pick up your chest loot, then shoot the black stones by the adjacent door. Turn left, and you’ll see a doorway bathed in green light. Jump to it. Use this as a jump point for the next ledge across from you. You’ll be weaving across the void with these platforms until you arrive at a hall with another lift.
Take the lift. I hate the lift. It gives me motion sickness.
You’ll enter a room full of Taken Psions. Kill them, then approach the door. To open it, turn around, and you’ll see a hidden stack of black rocks. Shoot them to open the door. Immediately, a Legionary will try to jump on your head like you’re a Goomba. Kill him, then make your way slowly through the next room.
There are plenty of Cabal enemies on the platforms above you. But we’ll need to ascend these platforms to get to the door at the top. I cannot overstate how useful a Scout Rifle or long-ranged weapon is in this section. Especially against the Honored Incinerator and Colossus on the very top platform.
Once you make it to the top platform, shoot the four black rocks and enter the corridor, which will lead you to another lift. We’re almost done now.
We’ll go into the Shadow Legion… gestation chamber? I guess? There will be a clear path to the platform right in front of you. Land on it, then turn right. You’ll see an open corridor with stairs. A door at the end of the corridor will open for you. Which is never a good sign.
Destroy the Radial Mast
Enter the room.
There is a massive suppressor artifact in the center of the room. But now we know its name: the Radial Mast. We’ll need to destroy it.
But don’t jump down yet. You’ll notice that the room has a circular walkway against the wall, which extends out into four platforms. Head left towards the nearest platform. You’ll see a golden circle here and some Cabal. Kill the Cabal and stand in the golden circle. Stand there long enough, and a Darkness Resonance orb will unlock.
Again, don’t jump down. In fact, spend as little time down there as possible. Two war dogs and a Legionary will spawn near your position, kill them, then wait for Calus to summon his Champion. His Champion will meander close to you on the ground near the Radial Mast. It’s much, much easier to kill him from a distance.
Once Calus’s Champion is dead, jump down to grab the orb on the platform. Taken will spawn. Kill the Taken, then take the Orb to the nearest deposit point. Then jump up on the next platform. If the platform you’re on doesn’t have a gold circle, keep walking around the walkway until you find one that does.
It’s usually the one with all the Cabal on it.
Repeat the same cycle, and Calus will summon another Champion. Kill this one too, grab the orb, and deposit it.
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Now, jump back up on the platform and clear out the colosseum. Once you get close to defeating everyone, Calus will summon his last Champion… who can’t be killed. He has an impenetrable shield. Run towards the marked platform once “coordinates” are sent to you. You’ll get a bit of dialogue from Caital, Calus’s daughter.
Once Caital starts talking to you, head toward the golden barrier. The barrier will be dropped, and you can get on your Sparrow.
Escape the facility
You have 1:30 minutes to escape the facility. The best way to do so is on your Sparrow. Try to avoid taking as much fire as you can. But if your Sparrow starts burning get off it. It will explode otherwise, leaving you with close to no health. Instead, kill a few enemies and wait a few seconds. When you get back on your Sparrow again, it will be fully recovered and you should be able to escape.
And finally, the mission is over. It only took ten thousand years.
