Looking for the Pit, the Bridge or Ir Yût Guide? Look here: [url]bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/94959551[/url] [u]UPDATE#1[/u]: non-commentary video walkthrough is now live! Thank you all for your continued patience! [u]UPDATE#2[/u]: Post has been modified to be more concise and helpful. Let me know if this guide helps any of you out! Welcome Guardians, This is [b]PART TWO[/b] of a two-part guide covering the necessary [i]Preparation[/i], [i]Strategy[/i], and [i]Execution [/i]of successful tactics to dominate Crota's End, Hard Mode. So let’s get started: [u][b]General Preparation[/b][/u] First, you'll need to prepare both your Guardian and your arsenal for the task at hand. If you're not already level 32, you should first dedicate some time to getting raid gear in normal. Level 31’s can’t even hold a candle to level 33 mobs, so level 32 is a must. 331 weapons are a must for newcomers and veterans, alike. VoG weapons are also acceptable here. You should also have gear, weapons, and abilities that proc health regeneration - as there is no chalice on Crota, and it is grueling without a way to regen. Don't be lazy about this; good preparation makes Crota significantly more bearable, and will cut down on the number of wipes, significantly. It is also worth noting that you should NOT expect to beat the raid within 30 minutes like you could in normal mode. This version is MUCH more unforgiving of mistakes, so bring your A-game, baby! ______________________________ [b][u]General Changes[/u][/b] If you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you’ve already been acquainted with normal mode and the basic mechanics and strategies; so, I will be using normal mode to reference the changes made to the raid's mechanics. [u]Basic Changes[/u] • All enemies are now level 33 - this means that enemies deal more damage to you and will take longer for you to kill. • A lot of mobs have been promoted to Majors, so be sure to be on the look out for them. ______________________________ [b][u]Walkthrough of Crota[/u][/b] [u][b](Crota)[/b][/u] Everything is painful at this point; you will not enjoy any of the carnage that Crota will indefinitely serve you - prepare for the river of tears you’ll leave along the way. [u]{Changes}[/u] There is NO Chalice - your survivability will truly be tested. You are responsible for your own health regeneration and you need to make sure you're on top of it - wipes aren't any fun. A Gatekeeper now spawns in middle, with the Thrall. He will tear you apart, so keep your distance. The Hallowed Knight that used to drop down to bridge has been replaced with a Hallowed Wizard that you’ll need to burn down before engaging Crota with sword. Ogre phase has been modified. A massive insurgence of Thrall now spawn from towers and will charge at you, relentlessly - no matter where you are. The single most important change is that Crota auto-enrages after losing enough health, roughly 15%. This means you have to be able to hit the threshold in the first part of your sword phase; this is to ensure that you have enough time to kill Crota before Oversoul kills you. It's not a [i]massive[/i] amount of changes, but it's still enough to make you question which strategy to use to take him down, effectively. [u]{Preparation}[/u] Your fireteam is going to need to split into 3 roles: 1 player on sword duty, 2 players on tower duty and 3 players on shield duty. [i]Sword duty[/i] is unchanged from normal mode; when the player has the sword, they’ll need to ascend the [i]left rock[/i] and call-out to players, on shield duty, when to drop Crota's shield. [i]Tower duty[/i] is more demanding now, since two shots from a boomer will kill you - forcing a wipe. As such, those on tower duty should ONLY be looking at left tower; this is to ensure constant lockdown on Boomers and Wizards. [i]Shield duty[/i] is a utility role where, unless burning down Crota's shields, they should be helping with tower duty and spawning orbs on stairs and near the left rock. The purpose of this orb generation is to help proc health regeneration, for players who need it, and to provide super energy to your player on sword duty – to maximize DPS on Crota. [u]{Strategy}[/u] For this guide, I will be explaining the left-stair strategy. After starting the phase, everyone should get on top of the door frames in the crystal room - as to avoid taking much damage. Clear both sides of the room then proceed outside, to the left; once outside, kill Boomers in left tower and start to Burn down the Swordbearer’s health. As you do this, a Wizard should spawn out of tower - if you killed both Boomers; burn her and the Swordbearer, near simultaneously. Once done, have your player on sword duty get on top of left rock and call-out when they are ready to burn Crota. Rinse and repeat once more, while sword is active, and you should be able to take out a 30-50% chunk of his health. [i]Noteworthy:[/i] Your player on sword duty should be adept at using the sword; [i]Bladedancers[/i] still reign supreme as sword-weilders due to their invisibility effects. My preference is still [i]Sunsingers[/i]; simply because [i]Fireborn[/i] is invaluable and a nice crutch to fall back on. Bladedancer strat is to jump up from rock, damage Crota while his shields are down, drop sword as he is about to stand up, melee him while spec’d into [i]Escape Artist[/i], then pick up sword again. From what I’ve read, this allows a player to get 2-3 extra hits on Crota during the second burn phase of a rotation – again, [i]invaluable[/i]. After Crota moves right, keep on top of Boomers and Thrall while waiting for him to move back to middle platform. Try to keep the Swordbearer's health low, while waiting, to increase the likelihood of 2 rotations on the next phase. Once Crota moves back to the middle platform, kill the Swordbearer and wait for the call-out to burn down Crota's shields. Rinse and Repeat once more and Crota should be near 30-40% remaining health. If performed quickly, there should be enough time to get another rotation in before Crota moves to left platform; but don’t do too much damage - as to avoid auto-enrage. Retreat inside crystal room before Crota moves left and prepare for Ogre phase. Players should be on the right stairs now, in a near-mirrored location to the position. Your objective here is to kill the Ogres quickly while avoiding the onslaught of Thrall that will come at you. Kill right tower Boomers and Wizards and survive until Crota moves middle again. While Crota is still on left platform, the insurgence of Thrall will come at you when the Ogres spawn; so, try to use any spare heavy on Ogres to quickly eliminate them - before they or the Thrall can cause a problem. Start on the right Ogre first. After the right Ogre is killed, retreat into the crystal room and back out to left side stairs. [i]Situational:[/i] • If left ogre is still alive, burn him ASAP, as the Swordbearer won’t spawn until he's dead and gone. • If you managed to kill both ogres you're back to phase 1 of the rotation. [b]Kill Phase[/b] Be smart about finishing off Crota's health. Don’t overhype yourself about the kill, and understand that if it's not going to be a 20%-0% phase, it's probably not worth going in for the kill just yet. Wait it out and be patient; you’ll get the kill if everyone executes their roles, as intended. And that's it!! [i]Noteworthy:[/i] Place a Defender Titan's [i]Ward of Dawn[/i], with [i]Blessings of Light[/i], at the top of the stairs. It serves as a wall between you and the Boomers; keeping you out of danger, as well as granting you a constant shield for the ward’s duration. Generate orbs as often as possible. Certain helmets proc a health regen when players pick up an orb. Orbs won’t despawn for a player until the player dies; they’re always useful to have around in the event of a crunch. Wisely manage your available heavy ammo and your synths . If you see 3 heavy ammo packs lying in the center area, be smart about how you get to them; greed can get you killed. Hope this helps some of you prepare for successful completion of Crota’s End, Hard Mode. Thank you all and good luck out there guardians!!! [i]Edit 1:[/i] What worked for me and my fireteam might not necessarily be what works best for you and yours - feel free to modify based on what you feel would work better for you and your team. Share your findings; I'm always open to new ideas! [i]Edit 2:[/i] I would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for your unified positivity.