This is a comprehensive guide for players who have never done the Vault of Glass raid before and want to get a general understanding of it's base mechanics before diving in. I will not be discussing suggested/popular strategies. Let's starts with terminology. [b]VoG[/b] - Common short hand for Vault of Glass. [b]Wipe[/b] - Just an FYI for brand new raiders, a wipe is any time the entire team dies and you have to restart from the last checkpoint. [b]Sync Plate[/b] - Think back to the Eye of the Gate Lord story mission. Remember that circle you had to stand in to summon the Gate Lord? That's a sync plate. Much like control points in the Crucible sync plates can be captured by Guardians, but they can also be recaptured by the enemy. Players do not have to remain within in a sync plates radius to keep it, only to capture it. [b]Praetorian [/b]- Tougher, yellow health bar Minotaur. These Minotaurs have a special ability that no other Vex has, they can recapture Sync Plates for the Vex. Other than that and being tougher than normal Major Minotaurs there's nothing really special about them. Praetorians capture sync plates by standing within their radius. [b]Conflux[/b] - You may have seen a public event unique to the Venus patrol "Prevent Vex Sacrifices." The big, sorta cube like, white glowing thing the Vex are sacrificing themselves to is a Conflux. VoG Confluxes work exactly the same way, if a Vex unit gets close enough to it it will start sacrificing itself to the conflux. The Vex unit will glow white and begin to disappear. It is possible to prevent a sacrifice after it has already begun, but you must be quick. [b]Templar[/b] - The Templar is the VoG's mid-boss. This giant Hydra has a perfect 360 covering shield that is impossible to get past by normal means. Like all Hydras it has a strong Void attack which it can fire through it's shield so be cautious when standing in it's line of sight. [b]"Marked by the Void" "Marked for Negation"[/b] - Being marked can mean two different things in VoG, depending on what checkpoint you're at. For now just know that it isn't good and should be avoided if at all possible. [b]"Cleansed"[/b] - If you are marked there is a way to "cleanse" yourself of it. Again, this can mean two different things based on what checkpoint you're at. For now just understand that there is a way to remove the marked effects. [b]Fanatics[/b] - Fanatics are headless Goblins that glow bright green. Like all beheaded Goblins they will run at you recklessly while rapidly firing their main gun, this is however not the main threat they pose. If a Fanatic gets close enough to you it will self-destruct. Anytime a Fanatic dies, either by a self-destruction or when killed by a Guardian, it leaves behind a small pool of green glowing stuff. Avoid these green pools at all costs, touching them at all will have you marked for negation. [b]Oracles[/b] - Oracles appear as brightly glowing cubes of light with little data streams coming out of them. There are two types of Oracles, yellow and red (not health bars, actual appearance) in VoG but they effectively do the same thing. An Oracle will appear and if it is not killed fast enough the entire team will be affected by a debuff. Yet again, the exact debuff depends on which checkpoint you're at. Either way, just kill them fast. All VoG weapons have a special perk called Oracle Disrupter which allows these weapons to cause additional damage to Oracles. [b]Relic aka Shield aka "Aegis"[/b] - This white glowing shield can be picked up by a guardian and used as both a weapon and a vital utility. It is imperative that you learn how to use this Relic, you may not ever have to, but it's for the best if you do. Beware, during stages which a relic exists a Guardian must be holding the relic. If the relic is dropped for any reason you will have 5 seconds to pick it up before the whole team wipes. The controls are similar to the Sword of Crota and the Bladedancer's super. The camera is pulled back to a third person view. The controls are as follows: - Your melee button will do just that, a light quick melee attack, both when on ground and in mid-air. - Your fire gun button will do a stronger slower melee attack while you're on solid ground. - Pressing the fire gun button while in mid-air will do a heavy downward slam attack. It's not a direct 90 degree drop so expect to move forward as well as downward. - Holding down your grenade button while standing on solid ground causes a bubble to appear around you, about the same size as a Defender Titan's Ward of Dawn. This Bubble blocks incoming attacks from enemies but does not block shots fired from Guardians. The bubble can also be used to cleanse players of the marked by the void effect. This bubble must recharge between uses, if you hold the bubble too long it breaks and the recharge will be significantly longer (painfully so), this should be avoided at all costs as it can often be the cause of a wipe. While Guardian gunfire can pass through, explosives (rockets, grenades, etc) do not, use with caution around a cleanse bubble or risk damaging and/or killing yourself. - The relic has a super as well, using the super will fire a white ball of energy in a straight line. This ball of energy is the only thing that can bring down the Templar's shield so, while it can be used to cause damage, it should really only be used for this purpose. [b]Detainment Fields[/b] - At certain points during the VoG raid you will encounter what are called detainment fields. These mostly clear bubbles appear around players and prevent them from moving. You can damage a detainment field with gunfire and relic shield bashes to eventually break it and release yourself or others. Do not use any explosives (rockets, grenades, etc) while trapped in a detainment field, the splash damage will hit you and will likely kill you, so be mindful of when these fields are about to pop up. [b]Gorgons[/b] - A unique type of Harpy, Gorgons appear with white glowing tips, tails, and eyes. Trust me, you'll know them when you see them. Gorgons are perhaps the most dangerous enemy in Destiny. True to their name, if a Gorgon catches you in it's sight you and your entire team will soon die and wipe. Making too much noise will also attract a Gorgon's attention. It is possible to kill a Gorgon, with a very large amount of heavy fire, but unless you're trying to get the grimoire card any and all contact with Gorgons should be avoided. They are only found within the Gorgon's Labyrinth, I'm sure you can imagine what this section of the VoG is like based on this description. [b]Vex Gate[/b] - I'm sure by going through Destiny's main story you've encountered Vex gates, the large circular plates that generate portals through which the Vex spawn. There are two such gates in VoG which players themselves can pass through to other areas, although it may be more correct to say other times. Both of these gates appear in the final room of VoG and each one is kept active so long as Guardians control their respective sync plates. [b]Gatekeepers[/b] - There are 3 normal sized Hydra mini-bosses called Gatekeepers. Other then not having any sort of rotating shield like normal Hydras there really isn't anything special about them, just kill them quick as you can. [b]Precursors and Decedents[/b] - These odd looking Vex units are tougher then their normal counterparts, but are otherwise nothing special. Just kill them. [b]Supplicants [/b]- Harpies that will try to get close to you and self-destruct. This can easily kill players in one blast so be careful to stay away. [b]Atheon[/b] - The big end boss. Hard to miss, Atheon himself isn't really that threatening. The encounter with him has a multitude of things going on that you will need to take care of. Just watch out for his Torch Hammer. I believe that's all the terminology you'll encounter, now let's actually talk about objectives and boss fights... Part 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/120783642 Guide Nexus, where links to all my guides can be found. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138484088