Yesterday I completed the Prison of Elders, Level 35 challenge mode with great success. The rounds were tough, the struggle was real, but with a team of fully equipped 33's we were able to triumph both the first 4 rounds and the last boss, Skolas. [b]Here's where the conspiracy comes into play:[/b] [u]We've all seen the videos of people NUKING the last boss, Skolas[/u] (http://youtu.be/KTFeGM9CHDk). This strategy involves strictly using Gjallarhorn at a 365 attack value with Weapons of Light (still undetermined by data sources that WOL affects rockets) and all team mates simply fire away. Of course the strategy involves waiting for 5 mins for your synth to recharge, because you will need to fire an entire heavy ammo reserve, refill, and fire it again - this 5 min downtime is obviously worth it compared to the hour+ you will try otherwise. [i]HERE'S THE CATCH[/i] Our fire team went into the level 35 so excited it was insane. We had trumped the hardest part of the game and knew that with all of us having Gjallarhorns that this was possible with ease. [u]We decided to play devils advocate and test the waters of how the encounter actually works.[/u] There is only one word that comes to mind when recalling those feeble attempts - INSANITY. The boss fight isn't realistically feasible. The timers create a need for burst damage, his health creates a need for high quantities of said burst, the critical events are close to impossible with solar burn, the event is so scattered with enemies just pillaging your fire team - it actually gave me anxiety. [u]So then we tried the Gjallarhorn technique modified to give us a disadvantage.[/u] We decided that clearly the "Full Gjallarhorn Burst" is the only logical method for completi the fight. It has to be done quick and dirty like most other solar burns. However, we wanted to see the minimum parameters on damage output to see the allowable tolerances for lower geared groups. This was in an attempt to figure out exactly the minimum damage needed to kill Skolas. [i]We tried every variable imaginable. Here's where it gets technical.[/i] Options we tested: -Everyone downlevel to 33 (CONSTANT) -Two (2) Hunger of Crotas 365 *failed -One (1) Hunger of Crota 365 *failed -One (1) Solar Machine Gun 365 *failed -Unequip heavy ammo raid boots *failed -Two 365, one 331 Gjallarhorn *failed -One Truth 365 *big fail I can keep going.... [u]Summing up the conspiracy[/u] So if you consider the constraints above, anything in those damage categories simply isn't enough for the nuke Skolas' world apart strategy. No matter how many times we waiting for my Weapons of Light bubble and our synths, how many different combination of high powered solar weapons, there was only one option - [b]Three (3) Gjallarhorn 365 @ Full Level 33 [/b]. However it's not just about the Gjallarhorn. The developers are hinting at this being the intended strategy. There is no way to beat Skolas without insane top of the line gear. This includes: -Gjallarhorn -Exotic shard for upgrade of Ghorn -Raid boots with heavy perk -Abundance of heavy synths -Time and Effort All of the above require vast amounts of time to obtain. Even if we discredit the entire list, a Gjallarhorn is still 100% necessary for completion. - people have been playing since day 1, every day and still don't have this weapon. It is the only weapon in the game that outputs damage that high. Bungie will never sell it via Xur. Thus, the only way to beat the final Prison of Elders (35) is to have an incredible disposal of weapons, armor, consumables, etc - all which require an immense amount of play time and even furthermore, luck. This was Bungie's intent. They want the game to be played as much as possible and only when you have all of the items and time in will the ball be in your court for this final boss fight. Otherwise, slam dunk for Skolas. Every. Single. Time. [b]End.[/b]