Destiny: Rise of Iron – How to Beat Aksis, Archon Prime

With the release of Bungie’s latest expansion pack, Destiny: Rise of Iron, a ton of new content, weapons, and gear were added to the game. Included in this content was a new raid, the Wrath of the Machine. In the raid players must face off against the SIVA-infused Devil Splicers. In the final part of our Wrath of the Machine coverage, we’ll show you how to take down the raid’s final boss, Aksis, Archon Prime. Keep reading to learn more about this encounter.

Aksis Phase One Tips

• Split the squad into three teams of two, one team should take each area of the arena – left, middle, and right. 
• Designate a player from each team to be the bomb thrower, and the other to be in charge of the Cannon.
• Attack adds until a Scorch Captain appears in your section. Kill the Captain, then have the player collect the dropped Scorch Cannon, and take note of the element it holds.
• Wait for three Servitors to drop into the arena. Call out their element types, and have the Cannon wielders go and destroy their associated Servitor. This will drop SIVA Charges for the bomb throwers to pick up.
• Have the bomb thrower pick up the SIVA Charge in their area, and throw it into one of the nodes in the center of the arena. 
• Unlike previous encounters, timing doesn’t matter here.
• Repeat the process three times, with a new Servitor appearing each time (the Servitors will eventually drop in three at a time). This means you’ll need to be quick about killing them and grabbing their bombs, and throwing them at the closet nodes. 
• There will be nine nodes to destroy at the end of the phase.
• If you successfully destroy all the SIVA nodes, you will finish Phase One and move on to the next portion of this battle.

Aksis Archon Prime Phase One Walkthrough

Much like the other portions of the Wrath of the Machine raid, split the Fireteam into three groups of two. Have one team go to each section of the arena – left, middle, and right. Once all teams are in place, start up the encounter and make sure to designate each player’s role. One player in each team should take on the role of bomb thrower. They will be responsible for grabbing the SIVA Charges dropped by each Servitor that the Cannon Carrier kills. The other player in each team will be responsible for grabbing and using the elemental Scorch Cannon that each zone’s Scorch Captain will drop.

Clear enemies out of each area to finish up the first wave of attacks and spawn a Scorch Captain. Take the Captain out as quickly as possible, then have the Cannon Carrier pick up the Scorch Cannon that it drops. This player should take notice to the Elemental type of the weapon, as it will be important in a moment. Do not use the Cannon just yet.

Soon after the Captains have dropped and been taken out, a Servitor will drop into each area. You will need to take notice of their Element type, and then have the Cannon Carrier with the appropriate Element take them out. Upon their death, the Servitors in each area will drop a SIVA Charge. There are a total of three charges in the first wave. The bomb thrower must pick up the SIVA Charge and throw it at one of the SIVA Nodes that appear on either side of the boss. There are only two nodes in this first wave, so don’t worry too much about the third SIVA Charge.

During the second wave the cycle will repeat. Kill adds until the Captain spawns, then kill the Captain and take his Scorch Cannon. Wait for the Servitors to drop, then destroy them using the Cannons and take their bombs. There are three nodes this time, one on either side, and a third in the middle, below the boss. Take them all out to complete the wave.

The final wave of this phase amps things up quite a bit. Instead of one Servitor, each area will have three Servitors drop into the arena. The Cannon Carriers will need to use your Scorch Cannons to take out all nine of the servitors, then the bomb throwers will have to throw nine SIVA Charges at nine different SIVA Nodes. Three nodes are in the center of the arena, where they were in previous encounters, and the others are lined up along either side. If all nine SIVA nodes are destroyed in time, the encounter will end and the second phase of the battle can be started.

Aksis Phase Two Tips

• Just like the last sequence, split players into three groups of two. One goes left, one goes middle, and the last group goes right. 
• Stick with your previous roles if possible. One player will be in charge of throwing SIVA Charges, and the other will take care of carrying the Scorch Cannons dropped by Captains.
• Avoid Aksis and kill adds until the Captains drop in. Kill the Captains and grab their Scorch Cannons.
• Clear adds until the Servitors drop in. Kill Servitors with the appropriate elemental Scorch Cannon.
• Throw the SIVA Charges that drop at Aksis to lower his shield.
• At this point Aksis will warp around the arena and three players will become “Empowered”.
• The three players must jump on Aksis’ back to stun him. Once he is stunned, damage him until he warps back to center.
• Once back at the center, Aksis will trigger a SIVA Density Critical attack. To avoid this, your group should run to the pillars in the back of the arena, and jump on them. You’ll be safe from the attack and the pillar will vanish after it completes.
• Reset your positions and repeat the process until you take Aksis down. There are five pillars that shield you from the SIVA Density Critical attack, so be sure to take him down before you use all five.

Aksis Archon Prime Phase Two Walkthrough

This second phase of the boss fight is very similar to the first, except this time there are some other mechanics thrown in. We’ll discuss each one as it comes up, so be sure to pay close attention.

Split into three teams of two and split into each area – middle, left, and right. From here each team should designate one person to grab and throw SIVA Charges, and one person to grab and use the Scorch Cannons dropped by Captains. Once you have your roles designated, ignore Aksis and begin kill adds.

After a certain point a Captain will drop into each area. Take him out and pick up the Scorch Cannon. Take note of its element, and then kill more adds until the Servitors drop into each area. Take out the Servitor using the appropriate elemental Scorch Cannon, and then have the bomb throwers pick the SIVA Charges up and toss them at Aksis to take his shield down.

If you fail to take down Aksis’ shield the squad will wipe. Do not miss.

At this same point three random players in the squad will become “Empowered”. This state allows you to jump onto Aksis’ back at certain points and stun him using a slam dunk attack similar to what you used to charge the spinners in the first encounter of the raid. We suggest positioning one player on each side of the arena when they become Empowered, as it will allow you to easily jump on his back and stun him.

Each time he is stunned you will be able to deal a small amount of damage to him. Once he recovers, however, another set of players will become Empowered, and you’ll need to stun him again. On the third repeat of this process, he will be stunned for much longer, and this is where you will do most of your damage to the boss. Once he recovered fully, and the Empowered phase is over, Aksis will warp back to the center and begin a SIVA Density Critical attack. At this time your team should run to one of the four pillars in the back and jump onto it. These will protect you from the attack, allowing you to continue. Since the pillars disappear after each attack, your entire squad should all go to the same pillar. We recommend going from left to right, or right to left to avoid any confusion, and allow everyone to know where to go.

You’ll need to rinse and repeat this process until you get Aksis down to around 10% health remaining. At this point he will warp to the very front of the arena, where you will need to burn him quickly to finish him off. If you manage to kill Aksis, you will have completed the raid. Grab your gear drops, and make sure to use your SIVA Cache Key (if you haven’t already used it). If you need help with any other portions of the raid, be sure to head over to our Wrath of the Machine walkthrough for more information and details.

This concludes our guide to completing the Wrath of the Machine raid in Destiny: Rise of Iron. We’ll have more guides covering this raid once the Hard Mode variation releases, so be sure to check back often for updated guides and walkthroughs to help you complete your missions. Destiny: Rise of Iron is now available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, so be sure to pick it up and become an Iron Lord today.