Battleborn Taken King Guide

Oryx Hard Mode (No Knights)

Remember how I said in the last page how you're now ready to face Oryx in hard mode? Well......probably not. First off you'll probably need to do a couple more runs to get your light level up. Second off, you need a Touch of Malice.

The Touch of Malice

Hopefully you've been paying attention to the Eris Morn hunger quests. If you haven't, start doing them, and collect yourself 45 Calcified fragments. Eventually you'll end up with a Touch of Malice.

This gun looks pretty cool! But it's more than that. If you fire until you reach your last bullet, it will keep firing, yea! However it will drain your health, boo! But it will also double your damage, hell yes!

Now let's think for a second, where could we safely utilize that double damage without killing ourselves?

Yes, you in the back? That's right! Two places:

• Shooting at the Daughters/adds in the invincible bubble.
• Shooting at Oryx/adds in the invincible bubble.

So this will make killing the Daughters, and staggering Oryx much much easier. You'll go from just barely staggering Oryx to quickly doing so.

So now that we're properly equiped, let's talk about hard mode.

What's new in Hard Mode

Well, obviously the adds are tougher. But that's not the problem. The problem comes from one, very tiny change. When you kill the Ogres, a red bar knight will spawn in the corner across from the plate. That doesn't seem so bad, does it? Well he will eat your blight if you don't kill him.

And that, is what makes Hard mode a pain in the ass. That and you can't resurrect. That sucks too.

You see, the Ogres are tougher, and you'll take more time taking them down. And the adds are blasting at you, and the ship is coming to blast you, and Oryx is going to open his chest soon. Add that all together and fitting in the time to kill the knights seems impossible. However do not fret, this guide will give you two different ways to handle it! Since your light level is probably at the lower end of hard mode at this point in time, we're going to introduce you to a strategy that takes advantage of one little other detail you haven't noticed yet in normal mode.

It's best if you see it yourself. In normal mode, or hard mode, when you stagger Oryx do not detonate any orbs. Just sit in the bubble and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

You get the point? You have a lot more time than you think. We're going to take advantage of that. The basic premise is that you will not kill any Ogres until after Oryx is staggered. You will then kill them and detonate them in one motion so the knights don't have a chance to make your life hell.

Feel free to make faces at the knights while you demonstrate just how much they have failed.

How it's going to work

Keep the roles that you had before. However each role acts a bit differently.

Ogre Killers (now Ogre Hurters)

Ogre killers, you're going to change your position. Instead of being in the center, you'll start on the Daughter's platform opposite from where Oryx slammed. You'll then hit the Ogres as they come up in the same order you did before, but when they stagger, stop hitting them.

Q: How do I keep from dying when hurting Ogres?

A: Having a Titan up top with a Blessing bubble will help you here. Keep dipping back into the shield between Ogres.

Q: I'd like to do damage faster? Can I use the Malice here?

A: Why yes you can! You should notice when you use a Blessings bubble, the Malice drains your blessing first, then your health. So if you keep dipping back into the bubble you'll be fine.

Q: Help! I killed an Ogre! What do I do?

A: You must immediately admit your shame, then have your spouse smack you across the face loud enough to picked up on your microphone.

Q: Really?

A: Or you can just take a second and snipe the knight that comes out. Make sure you tell your partner so they understand why you're not helping out. As long as it's just one knight, you should be able to handle it.

Platform Holders

You're going to jump up on your plate as normal. However you'll just immediately move to the back of the plate, and duck. And do nothing else until the runner yells pineapple.

Q: But I still throw a grenade at my Ogre right?

A: No

Q: Hit him a couple times with my gun?

A: No

Q: Look sternly at him?

A: NO

Q: OK! OK! What do I do when the runner calls pineapple?

A: Jump to the Daughter's platform where your Orge hurters are standing and cower in their bubble. Don't go along the ground, jump straight there.

Q: The Ogre hurters are diagonal from me and I can't make the jump! What do I do?

A: Oh for @#$@'s sake. Do I have to spell out everything? Jump to the nearest Daughter platform, then jump across. Idiot.

Orb Runner

You jump platforms like last time (don't fall). After you steal the shield, get back to the Daughter's platform where your team is assembled. Either run along the ground to the center and jump up, or jump to one of the corner platforms and jump up.

Btw, the team might want to practice jumping to the Daughter platforms before you start it off. Make sure you agility is set high enough.

The Gang's All Here!

OK, while the team is assembled and waiting for the runner, there a couple of things you should do:

1. Check on the Ogre closest to the platform you were on, feel free to drop their health a bit more (without killing them).
2. Hide in the Blessing bubble after the shield is stolen because Oryx is going to shoot at you once or twice.
3. Take pot shots at the Vessel after his shield has been stolen.

Once the runner has joined you with the shield, try to take down the Vessel before Oryx slams. If you don't, not a huge deal, but he moves around so you'll have to find him again.

Once Oryx's chest opens, stagger him (duh).

Once staggered, everyone look at the Ogre closest to the plate they would normally detonate a blight at. Have someone start counting down at 5. When the count hits 1, the Ogre should die and you should be running to the blight.

Let's be clear here. Ogre dies at 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, and 5 is right out. Do not start shooting your Ogre at 1.

Go straight to the blight and detonate. The knights will be heading towards you, but don't worry about them. As soon as you see your name in the lower left, go "meep meep!"" and take off for the middle.

Runner, after they take off, drop to the center and keep hitting Oryx in the chest.

Q: My ogre still has a lot of health! Am I allowed to mail bomb the Ogre hitter's house?

A: That's.....extreme. You've got plenty of time up top, you can start hitting your Ogre before the countdown if need be.

Q: My ogre was really far away, and I died getting back to the center. What do I do?

A: That's the reason we have the 5 count. In this case, go ahead and drop your Ogre at 2 and go so you have time to get there. Same thing if your Ogre is really really close. Drop your Ogre at 1, but wait a few seconds before entering the blight.

Rinse and Repeat

The rest of the raid is exactly the same. Air Raid/Shade, then Platforms/Ogres again. What could go wrong?

What could go wrong

• Dying when you're up top due to Oryx or Eyes or Ogres:
  • Fix by exercising constructive cowardice. When your blessing disappears, be back in the bubble immediately.
• Dying because you didn't make the jump to the Daughter's platform:
  • Fix by practicing before kicking off Oryx.
• Dying because the Ogre decides to pay attention to you cowering on the platform:
  • Call out to the Guardian across from you to hit the Ogre in the back. The Ogre will hesitate, and that should get you enough time for the runner to grab the pineapple.
• Dying because the ship blasted you:
  • As much as I hate to say it, your runner probably isn't fast enough. If your runner isn't getting to the Vessel pretty much as soon as he appears, you probably need a faster runner. But don't hurt their feelings. Sneak over to their house and cut their internet connection. Then find a replacement when they don't show up.
• Dying on the edge of the bubble running back from detonation:
  • That's frustrating. You're almost there, and bam! Yell out to your runner when you're running back if you think you're running out of time. They might be able to move the bubble towards you.
• Misjudging getting an Ogre down on time.
  • Basically if you run into something where you know it will be really tight to get to your Ogre because you're running late, don't go. Just stay in the bubble and let your teammates know. You'll have to go another round though.
• Frustration over giving up after someone dies.
  • You can do this with 5 people. Remember the top Ogre hurters are helping out, but they aren't completely necessary. The platform people will just have to do more work when they get up top. Doing it with 4 is tricky, but doable. I recommend if someone dies in round 1, go ahead and wipe. Otherwise see how far you can go, practice makes perfect.

After doing a couple of raids doing the no knight strategy, you'll be close to ready to change it up. In preparation for the challenge mode, we'll talk about the a strategy where you kill the knights.