Destiny 2 Season 18 is right around the corner and we still don’t know what the raid will be! While Bungie has confirmed it will be a raid from the original game, they’ve remained silent on whether it will be King’s Fall or Wrath of the Machine. Because of this, it can be a bit difficult to prep since both raids are quite different both mechanically and in length.
So I decided to take all of my knowledge from both games and put together the best weapon loadouts for each encounter. These are what I will be trying first and expect to be successful. Keep in mind that Bungie will most likely switch some mechanics up so there is always room for change. However, if you are unsure what to bring into the Season 18 raid with you here are some guns worth considering:
King’s Fall Raid – Season 18 Raid Best Weapons
Hall of Souls
My Loadout
- Deliverance
- CALUS Mini-Tool
- Gjallarhorn
For the opening encounter, you probably can get away with most add clearing loadouts. Unless Bungie has thrown in Champions, this opening section was rarely difficult and the only real enemies you had to face were at the end (and most ran by them). I suggest using weapons like Gjallarhorn, Corrective Measures, CALUS Mini-Tool, any grenade launcher with the Blinding Grenades perk, or even a sword. Most foes are going to be at medium to close range, so you should ensure you can swiftly dispatch them.
Totems
My Loadout
- Witherhoard
- Insidious
- Cataclysmic
Your loadout for Totems will be similar to the first room, but with one pretty big difference. Regardless of your primary weapon, you should have either a sniper or linear fusion rifle equipped. This is because Hive Knights using Boomers spawn on both balconies, which can be an absolute nightmare to deal with if you don’t have any range. Taking them down, even in the original Destiny, as quickly as possible was key to easing this encounter’s difficulty.
Warpriest
My Loadout
- Witherhoard
- CALUS Mini-Tool or Funnelweb
- Stormchaser
The first boss in King’s Fall, the Warpriest can be a pretty tricky encounter due to a mix of mechanics and the waves of enemies. To help mitigate this, I really like Witherhoard for this fight since you can fire, forget, and continue helping your fireteam deal with the Hallowed Knights that spawn. Once you eventually get to DPS (damage-per-second) you’ll want some range since the Warpriest doesn’t leave the massive platform in the back of the room. Stormchaser is the obvious choice since it’s the damage phase king right now, but Cataclysmic, Reed’s Regret, Hothead, and Gjallarhorn are good alternatives. Just remember to have one player use Divinity so you can get that damage bonus.
Golgoroth
My Loadout
- Izanagi’s Burden
- Insidious
- Stormchaser
Oh Golgoroth, the bane of many fireteams. Heavy on mechanics and light on enemies, this encounter is all about coordination. Because of this, you will want to run both a sniper rifle and a linear fusion rifle. This will ensure that you can deal maximum damage to this boss, which is going to be critical on day one. I also suggest running a medium-range primary weapon so you can help take down the hanging orbs regardless of where you are in the room.
Daughters of Oryx
- Izanagi’s Burden
- Insidious or Palindrome
- Stormchaser
Compared to the previous two encounters, the Daughters of Oryx are pushovers. Most of the enemies are pretty simple to take care of, which means the majority of your loadout should be dedicated to damaging the bosses. Similar to Golgoroth, I like a combination of snipers and linear fusion rifles since the crit spot for each daughter is pretty small. Plus this ensures you can damage from a safe distance and swiftly kill each of the sisters before their song is concluded.
Oryx
- Witherhoard or Izanagi’s Burden
- Insidious
- Stormchaser
Oryx is a unique boss since your damage is entirely tied to the mechanics and not the guns themselves. While you will need to have some great burst damage weapons, your biggest threat is four Ogres that appear next to the arena’s pedestals. Since you’ll want to kill them as quickly as possible a mixture of Witherhoard and Stormchaser should do the trick. If you don’t want to run Witherhoard then Izanagi’s Burden is the other optimal option. Not only will this probably kill the Ogres in a single hit, but this exotic will be quite useful when fighting the Shade of Oryx.
Wrath of the Machine Raid – Season 18 Raid Best Weapons
Foundry 113
My Loadout
- Deliverance
- Sweet Sorrow
- Gjallarhorn
The opening to Wrath of the Machine is a little more complicated than King’s Fall’s first encounter. You will need to kill large Shanks so they drop orbs, allowing you to power various machines throughout the arena. This gives you orbs to hurl at the boss, bringing down their shield and letting you damage him. Most of the fighting here is close to medium range, so you’ll want to prepare accordingly. I am going to rock Deliverance since it deals solid damage and can quickly burst down the Shanks without me wasting any rockets. Speaking of, Gjallarhorn is terrific for this portion since your team will be spread out and busy dealing with other enemies.
Vosik, the Archpriest
My Loadout
- Witherhoard
- Insidious
- Stormchaser
I am very torn about what to use for this fight. There are definitely a few potential DPS combos that can work against Vosik since he’s a big target and just stands still when you shoot him. While I want to default to Stormchaser since that gun is bonkers, Gjallarhorn, Izanagi’s Burden, Cataclysmic, Reed’s Regret, and Hothead are also probably going to be quite good for this boss. You will want to have at least two Witherhoards on your team since there will be a decent number of adds. This will ensure you have solid mob-clearing potential without compromising your team’s DPS phase.
Siege Engine
My Loadout
- Thoughtless
- CALUS Mini-tool
- Gjallarhorn
The Siege Engine encounter is all about speed and efficiency. There are no bosses in this encounter, so you can focus solely on killing anything bold enough to stand in your way. Gjallarhorn seems ideal for this since one rocket can kill a large group, but I can also see a strong argument for exotics like Xenophage, Thunderlord, and Lament. Truthfully, I also want to run The Other Half legendary sword solely to see what sword dashing is like during this battle.
Aksis Phase 1
My Loadout
- Deliverance
- Sweet Sorrow
- Xenophage
Aksis Phase 1 is a chaotic, close-range battle that requires you to kill Fallen Captains as fast as possible. This is because you’ll need to use their Scorch Cannons to destroy specific Servitors around the room. Personally, I think Xenophage is going to be remarkably strong in this fight since it was buffed in Season 16 and can quickly burn through the Fallen Captains. As for your Special weapon, anything that’s great at close range is ideal. So either rock a shotgun or a fusion rifle since those can help you tear through the hordes of enemies that spawn.
Aksis Phase 2
My Loadout
- Thoughtless
- Insidious
- The Lament
I thought a long time about what I’d run in this boss fight if this raid came back in Season 18. There are a lot of different ways to tackle this encounter in our current sandbox, but I desperately want to just hack away at Aksis with The Lament. Could it be the best DPS option? Maybe. Will it be the most fun? Absolutely. Outside of Aksis myself, the main threat in this encounter will be the abundance of Shanks and the Fallen Captains. Similar to Phase 1, you’ll want to quickly kill these enemies which are a project for The Lament. This will consume minimal ammo and let you save your sniper as a backup weapon during the damage phase.
Again, this is all just wild speculation. We still don’t know what the Season 18 raid will be or what changes Bungie plans to make to it. However, knowing that it will most likely just be small twists on the current mechanics, I do feel confident in my choices for damaging the different bosses in each raid. After all, I have yet to meet an enemy that my god-roll Stormchaser didn’t utterly demolish!
