Destiny 2 The Vault strategy and how to reach the fourth encounter

How to reach the fourth encounter, The Vault

Like the previous phases, a large door will open behind Morgeth after the giant ogre meets its maker. You'll need to proceed through and continue until you reach the Hall of Two Souls.

As you enter the Hall of two Souls, you'll want to head straight up the stairs until you see a luminous plate on the wall. From there, you will need to look to the right and find a small gap in the wall.

Following this hidden path will bring you to a room with floating Taken Blights and a series of statues. In the middle of this room there will be an elevator that will send you upwards to the Vault.

The Vault strategy step-by-step

• Establish two teams: Runners and Decoders
• Start encounter by jumping on plates in the centre
• Decoders establish what buff they need to cleanse their plate (Penumbra if one of their fellow guardian's icon are to the left of their icon or Antumbra if a fellow guardian's icon is to the right)
• Runners Kill the Eye of Riven and pick up the Taken Essence
• Players establish which chamber the runner can escape from while the runner uses the tunnels to move from chamber to chamber
• Decoders kill the Might of Riven before it plants its sword in the their plate
• Runner exits the outer area and uses their buff to clear the corresponding plate with the grande ability (runner receives a debuff the prevents picking up Taken Essence for a set period of time)
• Runners kill the Eye of Riven and cleanse the appropriate plate two more times to complete the first section. (As more plates are cleansed, the number of Might of Rivens increases by one)
• Repeat the entire process from jumping on the plates and establishing which cleanse is needed to clearing all three plates two more times to clear the encounter

The Vault strategy in detail

As its customary in all raid events, you'll once again need split up your team of 6 in to smaller teams to conquer this phase. This time you'll want to assign three players to decode the device in the centre of the arena and the remaining 3 will act as runners.

Alternatively you can also split the team as three on the lock device plates, two runners, and one support role that will help clear enemies on plates for those who are struggling. No matter which of the two approaches you choose, the players on the plates will have to choose one (Tree, Rocks, or Temple) for the entirety of this encounter. Similar to the Shuro Chi encounter, each section of the Vault has a strict timer of 3 minutes.

Although the Vault is a mechanically heavy encounter at a blinding pace, it's fairly easy to explain and the roles are very linear in terms of goals. The biggest factor in this encounter will be your team's ability to rapidly and succinctly communicate the requirements of their plates as well as the opening for the runner to escape the outer rim.

Before you start the Vault, you will need to equally divide your team into runners and plate defenders - it is possible to run the encounter with four players in the plate room and two runners, but its strict on timing and should only be considered if players in the middle struggle with the Might of Rivens.

After splitting the team, every member should familiarise with the the chambers on the outer rim of the room: Temple, Tree, and Rock. Those responsible for the plates in the middle of the room should choose their plate based on what area is closest and remain in the vicinity of that plate for the entirety of the encounter. Where as the runners should await for the encounter to start before clearing one of the chambers.

When everyone is ready, the central guardians should jump on their plate. This will prompt a series of 3 icons to appear on the device in front of the them and a timer of 3 minutes to cleanse all three plates. Each player should take turns to describe their central icon and then listen for the other players to call their icon. After all three icons have been called, you will establish if any of the other two called icons are to the right or left of your central icon - this will determine what buff is required to clear your plate.

If one of the other guardian's icons lies to the left, you will require the Penumbra buff to clear your plate and if the icon lies to the right, you will need the Antumbra buff to clear you plate. Commit this to memory until this section is cleared.

While the players responsible for the plates are establishing the required buff to clear their plate, all of the runners should focus on killing the Eye of Riven that has spawned in one of the three chambers (Tree, Rock, or Temple).

As soon as the Eye of Riven falls, two of the players should back out of the room and the final player should pick up the Taken Essence and note which of the buffs they have: Penumbra or Antumbra. This will generate Taken Barriers in front of two of the chambers, leaving only one open for the player holding the essence to escape.

The players in the centre of the room should now call out which chamber the player holding the essence will be able to exit through. To get there the player must navigate some enclosed corridors and tunnels at the sides of the chambers to reach the exit. As these tunnels are filled with enemies, the runner should take care to clear enemies with haste using the shooting function of the Taken Essence.

As the player exits, they should call out which buff the possess and then run to a corresponding plate to cleanse it by using the grenade ability. As the player cleanses the plate, they will receive a debuff that prevents them from picking up an Eye of Riven for a set time, meaning that one of the runners without a buff is responsible for the next run.

During the runner's trip throughout the chambers, a series of enemies will spawn and amongst them will be a Might of Riven. If the Might of Riven reaches any of the plates at the centre and plants their sword in it, the encounter will fail. It's important for you to focus and kill these enemies every time a runner progresses around the outer circle of the arena.

Now that the first plate is clear, you'll need to repeat the process for the remaining two plates. Kill the Eye of Riven, call out the open chamber, prevent the Might of Riven touching the plate, and cleanse the plate. Then you'll have to repeat the entire process two more times to fully finish the encounter.

In total the Vault will require runners to have run around the outskirts of the Vault 9 times and those in the centre to have established the required cleanse for their plate a total of 3 times. The only deviance in the instance is the number of Might of Rivens that will spawn. When cleansing the first plate, there will only be one Might of Riven, but with each successive clear the number will increase by one until you start a new phase.

After you cleanse three plates, the number of Might of Rivens will reset to one. As this instance enforces a 3 minute timer for each section, the entirety of this encounter should take no longer than 10 minutes: 1 minute to establish roles and then 3 minutes to cleanse three plates x3. Should a runner use the wrong buff on a plate or the knight reaches the plate and plants their sword at any point, the entire team will wipe.

Once you're done, it's time for the final encounter against Riven.