Destiny 2 - Break the Barrier, and what to do with Vex Carnium cannons

Destiny 2's Break the Barrier is the start of the Eater of Worlds Raid Lair that's part of Curse of Osiris, after you complete Escape the Reactor and Delve Deeper.

If you want help on other parts of the expansion, our Curse of Osiris walkthrough can help, including how to solve Lost Prophecy Verses.

Break the Barrier encounter explained

The first phase of the Argos boss has you break the barrier to attack it. Like Raids from the first Destiny, this is actually a preview of the steps you'll be doing when facing the boss itself, minus one or two mechanics.

Here's a summary of the steps required to take down the barrier:

• There are three sides to the barrier, each facing out in one of three elemental altars - Solar, Arc and Void - each with three torches
• Between these altars are two Vex Cranium 'cannons' that spawn, which can be deposited at the torches to charge them up
• Use these charged cannons to take down the corresponding elemental mines that appear on the side of a barrier
• Once all three sides are done - with mines appearing only on one side at any given time - the encounter is complete

Break the Barrier encounter in detail

When you begin, break your team down so that two players are at each of the elemental altars surrounding the barrier.

In these pairs, split your team into two - one looking after cannons, the other taking care of the enemies that spawn at the altar.

When the encounter starts, one of the three sides of the barrier facing these altars will see mines spawn. These will be the same colours as the altars - Void, Arc or Solar.

To take them down, you must pick up cannons (or as the game calls them, Vex Craniums) - that spawn in-between the altars and deposit them in the flames of the altar that match colour of the mines. So if there are some Solar mines, then charge a cannon in the Solar flames for each one.

After 30 seconds, the cannon will be charged to be taken away and fired at the mines. Meanwhile, the other person in that pair stays at the altar to kill the enemies that appear.

Looking for more help? When you're not looking forward to Destiny 2's Crimson Days event, our Curse of Osiris guide and walkthrough can explain everything with the recent expansion, including the new Eater of Worlds Raid Lair and how to get Lost Prophecy Forge weapons, new Destiny 2 Exotics and Masterworks weapons and armour. We can also help you reach the 330 / 335 max Power level cap , decide what to spend Glimmer and Legendary Shards on, how Mods, Infusion, and Engrams work, plus a full walkthrough of the Destiny 2 Leviathan Raid.

It's as simple as that, but obviously requires a degree of communication to work out which cannons are needed for which side, since four of the six players cannot see the mines that are active.

When a set of mines appear, call out the side ("Void side") and the mines active ("Two Arc, one Solar"). This will inform those other sides they need to charge that many cannons and bring them over to the Void side.

Two cannons will appear in-between each set of altars, and so there's only a finite amount of cannons to go around. If multiple are required from one side, get them both charging before you set off - otherwise you'll be waiting even longer for the second. There is a set amount of time before mines detonate, so you must be reasonably efficient.

A rule we also set was only taking a cannon from the left of your altar - that way you can easily keep track of which cannons have been taken, and so you don't pinch another pair's cannons.

As for the enemies that spawn, expect a large volume streaming in, including some particularly nasty Minotaurs, so have Supers and Energy / Power weapons ready to go.

With all three sides of the barrier done and all out the way, it's time to take on the Argos boss - and the final part of the Raid Lair.