Don’t enter the final, fiercest piece of content included in Destiny: Rise of Iron blind — learn what it takes to defeat every boss, and how to handle every difficult encounter with the complete ‘Wrath of the Machine’ raid guide.
In Rise of Iron’s high-level raid, six Guardians hunt down the SIVA Source and bring the monstrosity down for good. Like all raids, you’ll be dealing with multiple tricky encounters, each with their own special mechanics. Then there are the secret chests, hidden SIVA Clusters, and Cache Keys you’ll need to get the most out of this raid. Learn everything you’ll need to know, from locations to boss strategies, on our 100% complete Rise of Iron raid walkthrough.
Find even more Destiny: Rise of Iron articles on Gameranx:
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- Destiny: Rise of Iron – The Comprehensive Outbreak Prime Exotic Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – How to Beat All ‘Wrath of the Machine’ Bosses
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Wrath of the Machine | All Exotic Chest Locations
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Complete Achievements / Trophies Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Everything New | Exotics, Artifacts, Trophies & More
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Dormant SIVA Clusters Locations Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Play SIVA Crisis Playlist To Earn 350-365+ Light
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – How to Get the Iron Gjallarhorn Exotic | Quest Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – How to Get the Khvostov 7G-0X Exotic | Quest Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – How to Get the Thorn Hand Cannon Exotic | Quest Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Ghost Fragment Collectibles | Crucible Locations
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Rank Up at the Crucible Fast | Reputation Farming Guide
- Destiny: Rise of Iron – Increase Your Light Level With These Tips
Wrath of the Machine Raid Guide
NOTE: Talk to Shiro-4 in Felwinter Peak before going on this raid. Accept any ‘Wrath of the Machine’ raid quests they have to offer for even more completion rewards.
Part #1: Foundry 113 – Charging Up
Let’s get started. In the very first chamber of the Raid, your goal is charging up three generators — one is next to the spawn, while the other two are further ahead on the left / right corners from the center of the snowy area. They’re easy to spot, just look for the white objective circle.
Warning: Watch for Energy Eaters — these enemies will drain generators of their charge. Killing them is a priority!
To make this part more efficient, assign 2-Guardian teams to each of the three generators. Once everyone knows their roles and can protect / charge their particular generators, it’s time to take on this step.
Note: The respawn timer is reduced in this area. You’ll respawn in 5 seconds, instead of 30.
To charge a generator, follow these instructions:
- Charge up by collecting four pillars of light. Stepping into the light objects (randomly scattered around) will charge your Guardian.
- After collecting a light object, you’ll have 15 seconds to collect more. If you don’t collect another charge in 15 seconds, you will die.
- After grabbing four light objects, your Guardian will reach “Peak Charge” — look in the bottom-left corner of the HUD. That will let you know you’ve fully charged.
- After you’re fully charged, you’ll still only have 15 seconds. So move quick!
- Go to one of the generators and press [Square / X / Slam Key] to slam, charging up the generator.
- Each generator has a power display on the front. To complete this area, you’ll need to fully charge all three generators.
- By charging a generator and releasing the voltage, your Guardian won’t die.
- Completely charge a generator, and the device will begin to spawn SIVA Bombs.
One problem you’ll have to avoid while charging the generators is Vosik, the Archpriest. This invulnerable boss can’t be harmed — not until you get the SIVA Bombs.
- How to Defeat Vosik, the Archpriest [Encounter 1]:
- Vosik’s shield can’t be destroyed with normal weapons. You have to use SIVA Bombs.
- Recharge the generators by collecting the white light objects to increase your Voltage to x4, then slam the generators. Continue this process until the generator is completed charged, and it will spawn SIVA Bombs.
- Take the SIVA Bombs and throw them at Vosik to drain his shields. Once the shields are down, you can begin hurting him with any of your weapons — including those Exotics you’ve unlocked specifically for this raid.
- Damage Vosik enough and his invincibility shields will automatically recharge. Pummel him with more SIVA Bombs to drain those shields all over again to continue dishing out damage.
- It helps to have all three generators recharged and spawning SIVA Bombs. The more bombs, the faster Vosik’s shield will go down. You’ll have to recharge the generators every time Vosik’s shield returns.
Once you’ve taken enough health off Vosik, he’ll retreat into the raid location proper, opening the door inside where you can really get started.
- Raid Chest #1: The first loot chest is right in your path as you progress past the first Vosik encounter, but before hitting the jumping puzzle area with the hanging platforms suspended over the abyss with chains.
After completing the jumping puzzle, you’ll land on a ledge that leads left from the main jumping puzzle corridor. Don’t continue just yet!
- SIVA Cluster Location #1: There’s a SIVA Cluster down at the very end of the jumping puzzle corridor. Follow the dark ledge, jump onto the higher platforms on the right, and you should get a good glimpse of the bright-red cluster attached to the wall and the end of the path.
Continuing on, we’ll encounter Vosik, the Archpriest in his lair and end him for good.
Part #2: Vosik’s Lair – Vosik, the Archpriest Boss
It’s time for Round 2 against Vosik. He has two layers of protection this time; a barrier and a shield — along with an endless swarm of Fallen pals you’ll need to take out while working on draining his shields. Lots of mechanics go into this battle, so here’s the breakdown of events.
- Start By: Splitting your team into three groups of 2-Guardians. One team on the left corridor, one team on the right corridor, and one team in the center.
Where to Get SIVA Bombs: This time, SIVA Bombs drop from the ceiling at random. Each 2-person team should select one Guardian as the designated SIVA Bomb thrower. Like in the first Vosik encounter, SIVA Bombs will drain his shield — his shield will not recharge (except at certain damage intervals) — but his barrier will recharge.
How to Damage Vosik’s Shields: The barrier makes this battle difficult. Coordinate with your team so you’re throwing 3+ bombs at him at (around) the same time. The first bomb will remove the barrier while any additional bombs will actually damage Vosik’s shields. Basically, you have to time it so one Guardian takes down Vosik’s red barrier with a SIVA Bomb, giving other guardians a shot at damaging his shields with more SIVA Bombs. The red barrier around Vosik regenerates in only a few seconds, so you have to move fast.
- WARNING: SIVA Density Critical
- While fighting Vosik, watch the large monitors displaying static against the back wall. Periodically, one of these monitors will glow — target and shoot the monitor fast!
- Any regular weapon will do, but make sure you shoot the correct monitor. Don’t shoot the wrong one or use an explosive weapon with AOE damage that might connect with the wrong monitor.
- If you don’t shoot the correct monitor, a message will appear that reads “SIVA Density Critical” — this attack can easily wipe your Guardian team.
- While fighting Vosik, watch the large monitors displaying static against the back wall. Periodically, one of these monitors will glow — target and shoot the monitor fast!
Anyone caught in the attack will die instantly, but there is a way to survive if something goes wrong.
- How to Survive SIVA Density Critical:
- From the entrance into Vosik’s Lair, look for two side-room doors directly left and right. When the SIVA Density Critical warning appears on your HUD, look inside both of these rooms.
- If there is a glowing device next to the door (from the inside!) everyone needs to take shelter here — shoot the device once everyone is inside to activate a shield.
- When the shield is up, you’ll safely ride-out the SIVA Density attack.
Now you know how to damage Vosik’s shields and how to disable the SIVA attack. Here are the basics of the battle so far:
- Split into three groups – left, right, center.
- Kill Fallen that spawn into the area.
- Collect SIVA Bombs — all at the same time to break the fast-recharging barrier first.
- Shoot the glowing monitors — use primary weapons for accuracy.
Save your Supers / Heavy Weapons to deal with bosses like the Splicer Reaver Captains that spawn every once-in-awhile.
When Vosik’s Shield is Down, Bring Out the DPS: Do as much damage as possible once the shield is finally down. Pop any damage-buffing Supers, use Heavy Weapons, do anything and everything you can to drain his yellow health bar.
- After a short amount of time Vosik’s invincibility shield will recharge. When it recharges, he will pop an automatic SIVA Density Critical attack.
- To avoid this attack, remember to retreat into one of the left/right side-rooms in the corners opposite Vosik. Once everyone is inside, shoot the glowing device next to the door to shield the room.
- Anyone caught outside the shielded room will die instantly when the SIVA Density Critical attack pops.
And that’s everything you need to know about Vosik, the Archpriest. Here’s a quick overview of everything you need to do to kill this boss.
- How to Defeat Vosik, the Archpriest [Encounter 2]:
- Collect SIVA Bombs that drop from the roof. Coordinate your throws — Vosik’s red barrier will absorb the first bomb thrown. If you throw three at once, coordinating with your team, only the second two bombs will damage Vosik’s shield.
- While depleting Vosik’s shield with SIVA Bombs, watch the monitors against the back wall. When one glows with cracked-red energy, shoot it with a primary weapon to disable the SIVA Density Critical attack.
- Once Vosik’s shields are completely depleted, DPS him with everything you’ve got. After a short amount of time, Vosik will unleash an automatic SIVA Density Critical attack. Retreat to the back-corner side-rooms and shoot the glowing device near the door to shield yourself.
- Rinse and repeat to deplete Vosik’s recharged shields. Shoot the glowing monitors, shoot Vosik, and avoid the SIVA Density Critical attack. Continue this process until the boss is finally dead.
Grab all the great loot you can find here, and don’t miss out on the second Exotic Chest that spawns after clearing the boss battle.
- Raid Chest #2: The chest appears on the platform in the center of Vosik’s arena. To open it, use the SIVA Cache Key consumable you acquired by completing the Rise of Iron story campaign. If you don’t have a SIVA Cache Key, you can convert 10 SIVA Key Fragments into 1 SIVA Cache Key.
Ahead, you’ll enter a second jumping puzzle area. There are two things you won’t want to miss here; a second SIVA Cluster and a third Exotic Chest.
- SIVA Cluster #2: In the second jumping puzzle corridor, look left for a pair of pipes connecting to the wall on the left from down below. Just beyond these pipes, jump onto the vent creating a narrow platform attached to the left wall, allowing you to get on top of the cable winch holding a platform ahead. From here, you can jump to a large vent-like air-conditioning unit thing straight ahead. On top of this, you’ll find the second cluster. Only two more to go.
There’s also a hidden chest in this same area. To find it, follow these instructions:
- Raid Chest #3: From the pair of pipes (mentioned above for the second SIVA Cluster), look to the right wall. There’s a series of linear hallways. Follow it up the steps, then up a shaft until you reach a square room with four red columns. The chest is located between two of the columns on the left in this room.
Continuing on, you’ll reach the top of the Cosmodrome wall and encounter another major raid boss. Yes, it’s a Zamboni from Hell.
Part #3: Cosmodrome Wall – Siege Engine Boss
At the top of the wall, an army of Splicer Dregs will spawn — start picking them off fast. Split your team so anyone with DPS can takeout the Dregs while your other three teammates can start shooting at the massive Fallen vehicle before it crushes everyone. To defeat this phase of the fight, follow these simple steps.
- How to Complete Phase 1:
- Destroy the two turrets [left and right] near the ‘head’ of the vehicle. Smash each turret, one at a time.
- After both turrets are destroyed, the ‘head’ will open and reveal a glowing orange core. Shoot this core.
- Watch for the “Hull Breach” alert — this means a section of the vehicle’s exterior has broken off. Jump through this breach and ride the vehicle into the next phase of the section.
Stay on the lower section of the vehicle. As it busts through the wall, you’ll take damage if you’re on the highest platform. Once you’ve broken through to the second arena, quickly deal with the Splicers, and especially focus on the Splicer Reaver Captain located beneath the Fallen ship.
PSA: This entire sequence features an invisible time limit. If you don’t complete it fast enough — moving the vehicle parts and repairing the Siege Engine — you’ll experience a full team wipe.
- Next Step: Carrying the Vehicle Parts
- This is where things get annoying. After killing the Splicer Reaver Captain, three vehicle parts will drop. You’ll have to carry these parts to the Fallen vehicle and place each at the right location.
- Carrying an engine part will encumber your Guardian. After a few seconds, you’ll become exhausted and stop moving completely. Moving these engine parts is extremely slow, and while carrying a part you cannot shoot or defend yourself.
- What to Do: Assign 3 Guardians to carry the parts while 3 Guardians kill Fallen reinforcements. Swap teams once the group becomes exhausted, then rinse and repeat until you’re back at the vehicle.
WARNING: Just like with Vosik, Splicer Reaver Captains will spawn into the area often. Save your Supers / Heavy Weapons to take care of them quickly or you’ll have problems.
- How to Complete Phase 2:
- When all three parts are in front of the massive Fallen vehicle, the ramp will raise. Jump onto the machine and target the massive glowing core on the back-side of the “head” — check the dials that show the core’s health.
- Do enough damage and a Splicer boss will spawn named “Meksis, Splicer Engineer” — kill him fast. Damage the core enough and kill the engineer to lower the ramps.
- Place all three vehicle parts in the correct locations:
- Drive Shaft: Insert to the right, near the top of the ramp leading onto the Siege Engine.
- Engine Block: Placed on the scavenged truck in the back-left of the Siege Engine.
- Warhead: Around the right-hand corridor of the Siege Engine, in the middle of the center platform platform. Look for a conspicuous tube.
- Once all three parts are inserted, jump off the Siege Engine itself before it self-destructs.
Wait for the Siege Engine to tumble off the wall, and the way forward will be clear — yep, you need to jump down onto the rock bridge far below.
- Raid Chest #4: As you land on the rocky, snowy path beneath the Cosmodrome wall following the Siege Engine battle, you’ll find a chest or two right in the clearing. They’re hard to miss.
From this chest, you can also find the third SIVA cluster.
- SIVA Cluster #3: From the chest location, move forward and look down from the right-hand ledge until you can spot a hidden platform below. Land on this to find an alcove with the next cluster.
Now you’re free to move through all the new areas, dropping through cave shafts and exploring the server room. The exit to the servers is found in the back-right area. Keep pushing through Splicers until you reach the final encounter with SIVA.
Part #4: Perfection Complex – SIVA Source Boss
Once you reach the Perfection Complex Dark Zone, the SIVA Source will appear. This is the final area, although you’ll have two bosses to contend with. This is a large section of the map, and you’ll want to cover all three angles.
- Covering Corners: Split into three 2-Guardian groups. Station your groups on the left/center/right. The center is the most dangerous spot — use the large columns for cover.
Things get tricky here — you’ll need to kill a specific Splicer, collect Elemental Cannons, kill Elemental Servitors, and collect the SIVA Bombs they drop to destroy SIVA Containment Cores attached to the SIVA Source’s platform. That’s a lot to take in all at once, so here’s a breakdown of the steps.
- Getting the Elemental Cannons:
- Kill the Splicer Reaver Vandal at the start of the SIVA Source encounter.
- Splicer Captains armed with Elemental Cannons will appear. One for each type of cannon.
- One Guardian from each of the three groups will need to collect one Elemental Cannon.
Elemental Cannons are a big part of this battle. Don’t drop them unless you absolutely have to — keep the Cannons equipped and use charged shots to destroy Servitors with the matching Element. Remember, you can charge Elemental Cannons by holding fire for several seconds — fully charged shots will kill Servitors in one hit.
- How to Spawn SIVA Bombs:
- Collect Elemental Cannons from Splicer Captains. There are three types; Void, Scorch, and Shock
- Use the corresponding Elemental Cannon type to destroy Elemental Servitors; the Void Cannon for the Void Servitor, the Scorch Cannon for the Scorch Servitor, and the Shock Cannon for the Shock Servitor.
- SIVA Bombs will only spawn when you destroy Elemental Servitors.
- Assign Guardians that are NOT CURRENTLY equipped with Elemental Cannons to collect SIVA Bombs. Dropping the Cannon causes a status effect that won’t allow that Guardian to collect a SIVA Bomb for 30 seconds.
What are the bombs for? Well, destroying SIVA Containment Cores. The SIVA Containment Cores are glowing red diamonds attached to the platform where the SIVA Source is situated. It takes one SIVA Bomb to destroy a single SIVA Containment Core.
- The Containment Cores / Servitors / Bombs appear in waves.
- 1st Wave: Two Servitors will spawn. Destroy them, collect two bombs, and destroy the two cores.
- 2nd Wave: Three Servitors will spawn. Destroy them, collect three bombs, and destroy the three cores.
- 3rd Wave: Five Servitors will spawn (in two sets). Destroy them, collect five bombs, and destroy five cores.
Destroy all the cores to complete this combat sequence. Don’t miss out on the chests that spawn!
- Raid Chest #5: The Raid chests spawn in the center of the SIVA Source arena. You can’t miss them.
Moving on, you’ll face the final challenge of Wrath of the Machine.
Part #5: Aksis, Archon Prime Final Boss
Warning: Splicers in the final boss sequence spawn at 380 Light level. Be prepared for a tough fight.
Like the previous boss battle, follow the same formation; 3 groups of 2, covering the left / center / right of the arena. This time the boss moves around. He switches locations by teleporting, so watch his location and be prepared to take cover at all 3 stations.
- Avoid the SIVA Mites Debuff: Watch for the red arcing SIVA launches — these drop swarm debuff zones. Stepping into the red circle will slow you and cause damage-over time. Getting caught in these circles is deadly.
Many Shanks will spawn during this battle. Make sure you take your eyes off the boss every once-in-awhile to destroy the Shanks. Too many spawn to ignore here. Destroying them will also trigger the next step of the encounter.
- Empowered – What Does It Mean?: After killing Shanks, some of the Guardians on your team will become Empowered. Your screen will glow blue, and a small alert appears on the lower-left corner of the HUD. This is very important.
- Empowered is used to stun Aksis after taking down his shield. He will spawn to a random location, so keep your Empowered Guardians spread out — that way they can quickly reach Aksis if he teleports to the left, right, or center.
- The more times you can slam Aksis with Empowered, the longer you’ll have to damage him while he’s stunned. It’s just that simple — if you’re fast, you can slam / stun Aksis three times each round.
Once again, you’ll need SIVA Bombs to damage the boss, Aksis. To get bombs, follow these steps. They should be familiar by now.
- How to Get SIVA Bombs:
- Kill Shanks until some of your team becomes Empowered.
- 3 Elemental Captains will spawn. Each Elemental Captain carries an Elemental Cannon.
- Just like before, kill the Captains and assign one Guardian to each Elemental Cannon. You’ll need all three; Void, Scorch, and Shock.
- Elemental Servitors will spawn into the area. Use charged Elemental Cannons of the matching Element to kill the Servitors. Shock Cannons kill Shock Servitors, Void Cannons kill Void Servitors, and Scorch Cannons kill Scorch Servitors.
- Each time a Servitor is destroyed, a SIVA Bomb will drop. Use the SIVA Bombs to target Aksis.
Once SIVA Bombs begin to spawn, you’ll want to target Aksis, Archon Prime. Three successful bomb hits will disable Aksis’ shields. Now he can be hurt. Unload DPS onto Aksis — but that isn’t enough.
- How to Hurt Aksis (After Removing Shields):
- Now that Aksis is vulnerable, it teleports to one of four locations — his left shooting spot, his right shooting spot, in the center of the arena, or at the back-center of the arena.
- After teleporting, Aksis will remain stationary for a moment. Jump onto his back with an Empowered Guardian and slam [Square / X / Slam key] to unleash your empowered energy.
- This will stun Aksis, giving you time to DPS his. No reinforcements will spawn during this sequence.
- Aksis will teleport three times in total. If you miss the slam, his shield will recharge completely. You can score up to three slams if you’re lucky, but always shoot for two.
Once Aksis, Archon Prime recovers from the stun, he’ll return to the regular formula — teleporting, shooting, launching SIVA mites and calling-in Shanks. His shield will completely recharge. Whether you hit all three slams or not, Aksis will summon a massive SIVA insta-kill attack.
- How to Survive SIVA Density Critical:
- This attack is unleashed after Aksis’ shield recharges. To avoid it, look for large pillars rising up from the abyss in the back-left or back-right of the arena, opposite Aksis.
- Retreat to only ONE of these pillars and stand on it until the SIVA event is complete. This is the only way to survive — anyone outside the pillar will die instantly.
- Why Only Use One? Each pillar will only protect you from ONE SIVA Density Critical event. The pillar will burn-out after one protection. Standing on multiple pillars will burn-out multiple protection spots — you need all four pillars to survive long enough to defeat Aksis.
That’s everything you need to know about Aksis, Archon Prime. To defeat him, rinse and repeat all the steps above. To refresh, here are the basic steps to defeat the final boss of the raid.
- How to Defeat Aksis, Archon Prime:
- Kill the Splicer Shanks until three allies are Empowered.
- Kill the three Splicer Captains and collect all three Elemental Cannons; Void, Shock, and Scorch.
- Use the Elemental Cannons to kill matching Elemental Servitors.
- Destroyed Servitors drop SIVA Bombs.
- Hit Aksis with 3 SIVA Bombs to drop his shields.
- Slam Aksis with an Empowered Guardian to stun him, making him vulnerable to attack.
- You can slam Aksis up to three times.
- Retreat to one of the glowing pillars in the back-left / back-right expanse of the arena.
- There are four pillars. Only use one pillar per turn to protect your team.
Repeat the steps until Aksis, Archon Prime is finally down. Save your Supers / Heavy Weapons for his vulnerable state, because you have a limited amount of time to defeat him. If you can’t kill Aksis in four rounds, you’ll have no escape from the SIVA Density Critical attack.
Two Raid chests will spawn in the center of the arena, directly beneath Aksis.
- Raid Chest Location #6: Don’t miss the two chests in the lower section, at the center of the arena, right next to Aksis’ boss platform. The second chest is a SIVA Cache Key chest — you can craft the key with 10 SIVA Key Fragments.
That’s everything you need to know to complete the Wrath of the Machine. There’s plenty we don’t yet know about this high-level raid — weird mechanics or secret strategies — but these are the basics you’ll want to smoothly complete the raid.