Destiny: Wrath of the Machine guide and walkthrough

The arrival of a new Raid is one of Destiny's most anticipated moments, and Rise of Iron's Wrath of the Machine is no different - especially when it was a whole new year since the addition of King's Fall.

As before, the six-person activity rolled out a few days later on September 23rd, and again, was beaten swiftly by the game's community - in just a couple of hours by some of the best players.

Don't let that fool you though - it's a challenging, fun encounter that lasts a lot longer for first timers, with lots of secrets and surprises to discover, and we'll be explaining everything there is to know in the coming days.

This Raid - alongside others in the game - have been brought back at 390 Light as part of the Age of Triumph and the Weekly Featured Raids playlist.

Remember that on select weeks there is a Vosik Challenge and Aksis Challenge available, which we explain on that page, and for those playing at earlier light levels, we have a guide to Hard Mode as well.

Destiny: Wrath of the Machine walkthrough and guides

Wrath of the Machine walkthrough:

Destiny Wrath of the Machine Vosik boss - How to beat the Archpriest, Voltage Rising, Voltage Maxed, SIVA Charge and Core explained
Here's how to progress past the first part of Rise of Iron's Raid.

Destiny Wrath of the Machine Siege Engine boss - How to repair, use engine parts and travel down the wall
Survive getting crushed and use the Engine yourself to get off the wall.

Destiny Wrath of the Machine Aksis boss - How to beat final boss Archon Prime, Cannons, Servitors and Empowered explained
What to do with those Cannons, Servitors and later, all those Empowered players.

Wrath of the Machine Hard mode:

Destiny Wrath of the Machine Hard mode - Differences and what's new with each boss encounter
Here's what you can expect from the tougher Rise of Iron Raid.

Wrath of the Machine Challenge mode:

Destiny Vosik Challenge, Aksis Challenge strategies in Wrath of the Machine
How to complete each Challenge Mode introduced in the Rise of Iron Raid.

Wrath of the Machine gear and secrets:

Destiny Wrath of the Machine - Hidden Chest locations and other Raid secrets
Here's what you might miss in Rise of Iron's Raid.

Destiny: Isenfyre Token - How to use it to open Felwinter Peak's doors in Rise of Iron
How to use the Raid drop to reach a new area in the social space.

Destiny Outbreak Prime quest - How to solve the monitor puzzle and start Rise of Iron's Challenging the Corruption quest
The monitor puzzle inside Wrath of the Machine has finally been solved, and the path to a new Exotic weapon begins.

What you should know about Destiny's Wrath of the Machine before your walkthrough

As with Vault of Glass, Crota's End and King's Fall before it, there's plenty of benefits to running the Raid. Here's what you need to know about it:

• Wrath of the Machine's recommended Light level is 370, though the first encounter is 350 and scales all the way up per boss encounter. In our experience, you can get away with some players in the 350 range provided some are just over to start with; without spoiling things, those under levelled characters can concentrate on the more mechanical side of things, while those with the Levels can concentrate on damage. By the end, though, you might want to get a few levels up for the final encounter so you can stay alive longer and deal more damage.
• Similarly, don't worry about classes too much. While we found having a Titan for the Weapons of Light bubble was helpful in damage phases, and the Hunter's tether helped with groups of enemies, on Normal mode there isn't much that depends on a specific class or sub-class. Same with Destiny's new Artifacts, too, though they might come in more use in the coming weeks.

• Before you get playing, make sure you pick up the Raid Quest 'Metal and Flesh' from Shiro-4 in the Iron Tower. He won't have a notification marker above him, but talking to him should trigger the start anyway. Completing it will give you two SIVA Cache Keys and completed moment in the Rise of Iron Record Book.
• As well as loot drops from each boss completion, you can spend a SIVA Cache Key on a chest to get additional loot; note that the Hard mode have two chests to open, one for Normal and one for Heroic loot; with the loot table different for each, make sure you select the one you need!
• To make a SIVA Cache Key, you need 10 SIVA Key Fragments, which are received for completing a boss (1 on normal, 2 for Heroic) and possibly from hidden chests throughout the Raid. There is no limit to the number of SIVA Key Fragments you get from boss completions (boss drops and hidden chests are capped at once per week per character) or SIVA Key Fragments you can spend, giving you (some) incentive to return once per week.
• Shiro-4 will allow you to turn SIVA Cache Keys back into SIVA Cache Fragments. This is particularly useful as SIVA Cache Keys cannot be transferred between characters, whereas SIVA Cache Fragments can.
• There are four hidden Dormant SIVA Cluster locations as well as five hidden chests and monitors to start the Outbreak Prime quest to activate and find between boss encounters.
• We found that enemies could drop Splicer Keys, so make sure you shift your inventory around before entering so you can collect them.
• Before release we heard Wrath of the Machine would clock in a little shorter than previous Raids, according to game director Chris Barrett with an interview with Edge (via Eurogamer), and Bungie was right, taking a high level team over two hours going in blind. In our experience, with a team in the 360 range, it's around 90 minutes to two hours for the first two sections, and about the same again for the challenging last hurdle.

• Wrath of the Machine is one of the few activities in Rise of Iron that drops max Light level gear and weapons. Normal will drop up to 385 loot, whereas Hard mode drops up to 400 Light.
• One of the rewards from Wrath of the Machines is exclusive 'Spliced Cosmoclast' armor, one of the few that players can adorn with Rise of Iron's new Ornaments - but only in sets that drop when the Hard mode arrives.

Want more Destiny: Rise of Iron guides, tips and tricks? Then read our Wrath of the Machine walkthrough and guides, complete list of all Dormant SIVA Cluster locations, tips on how to reach Destiny's max Light level, how to complete the Exotic Gjallarhorn Quest, Khvostov 7G-OX Quest and Thorn Quest and new modes Vanguard Elite Strike Scoring and SRL.

• There will be two Trophies to unlock from Wrath of the Machine; one for completing it on Normal difficulty, and another on Heroic / Hard.
• Wrath of the Machine also has a dedicated page in Rise of Iron's Record Book, which we won't spoil here for those who want to discover the mechanics first time. Most of them are progress rather than skill based, so as long as you're willing to run the Raid reasonably often, you should get them all easily by the year's end.
• Wrath of the Machine will offer Challenge modes - which debuted with King's Fall, giving players extra rewards for completing bosses a certain way - before the end of the year.
• As with previous Raids, producer Scott Taylor told Eurogamer confirmed there will be no matchmaking, though it is something Bungie has "talked about" for future Raids.