Crota’s End raid guide

Crota’s End is the first raid from Destiny 1, and it returned in Destiny 2 on September 1, 2023, with Season of the Witch. Six Guardians descend through the Hellmouth on the Moon to finish off Crota, Son of Oryx. The Destiny 2 version is built around a single tool, the Chalice of Light, and how well your team passes it around decides almost every encounter. It comes in Normal and Master difficulty.

The core mechanic: the Chalice of Light

• The Chalice charges up while you hold it. Once it’s fully charged, a teammate has to take it within ten seconds, or the holder dies.
• Whoever receives the Chalice becomes Enlightened. Enlightened players power plates and lamps and can walk through green barriers, which disappear once you pass.
• During damage phases, an Enlightened player can Expunge on Ir Yût or Crota for extra damage.

The opening section is a quick introduction: charge the Chalice and deposit it on the plate to build the bridge into the raid.

1. Enter the Abyss

Move through the darkness from lamp to lamp. Weight of Darkness stacks up and slows you down, and standing near a lit lamp reduces it. Enlightened players light the lamps, and preserving the Chalice at a node switches on the next group of lamps.

A 60-second timer is always ticking. Lighting a lamp or preserving the Chalice resets it, and if it runs out, the team wipes. At the end, an Enlightened player steps on the plate to build the bridge.

2. Cross the Bridge

Split into three teams of two and always keep someone on a plate. Enlightened deposits on the middle plate build the bridge. Kill the Swordbearers: only Enlightened players can pick up their swords. Carry the swords across and kill the Gatekeepers, which only take damage from swords. Players cross in waves, and at the end you clear the remaining Gatekeepers with the stored swords.

Next comes the Thrallway, a hallway full of Thrall where you deposit the Chalice at the top.

3. Ir Yût, the Deathsinger

Split into two teams of three and kill the Blistered Knights to open the centre room. Enlightened players then search behind the green barriers for Wizards. Killing the Wizards strips Ir Yût’s shield, and that opens the damage phase. A wipe timer runs during the fight, so you need to get her health down to the next notch before it ends.

4. Crota, Son of Oryx

Clear the adds, then kill the four Boomer Knights. That brings in an Ogre and a Swordbearer. In this arena the Chalice can only be passed inside a small circle of light that moves around the middle, so the hand-offs need planning.

• Enlightened players take the swords and break Crota’s shield, which starts damage.
• An Oversoul spawns during damage, and an Enlightened player must shoot it down.
• After three damage phases comes the final stand, where an extra Oversoul shows up. Keep an Enlightened player ready for it.

Challenges

One challenge is active each week.

• Conservation of Energy (Abyss): alternate between preserving the Chalice and lighting one lamp.
• Precarious Balance (Bridge): nobody may stand on the bridge while it is fully built.
• Equal Vessels (Ir Yût): all six players pass the Chalice in the same order for the whole fight.
• All For One (Crota): break the whole shield at once.

Necrochasm

The raid exotic, Necrochasm, is an auto rifle, and it isn’t a random drop. You earn it through the quest Bottomless Pit, which costs Essence of the Oversoul. You get Essence from a full clear once per week, and it can also drop at random from encounters. The catalyst means two timed trials inside the raid with Necrochasm equipped, plus more Essence. The full loot table is below.