Destiny 2: Warmind's new Raid Lair, the Spire of Stars, has been available for about a week now and proven itself to be a worthy challenge. While the likes of Clan Redeem were able to conquer the Spire of Stars quite quickly, the raid lair has managed to vex many guardians who've taken up its challenge. It wouldn't be a Destiny raid encounter if it didn't have its own unique brand of frustration, but fortunately, there's help available.

Since the Leviathan raid's Calus encounter is currently afflicted with a shield glitch and the Spire of Stars is newly arrived on the Destiny 2 scene, plenty of guardians are available to take it on. New raid encounters being what they are, though, putting together a knowledgeable team capable may still take some doing. For those who don't yet know how the Val Ca'uor encounter works or would just like a basic strategy, then they need look no further than one of Destiny's top experts, Datto.

Datto starts off his guide for this encounter by recommending classes and a minimum power level. He states that most sub-classes are viable, but that Sunbreaker Titans, Gunslinger Hunters equipped with Celestial Night Hawk, and Orpheus Rig Nightstalker Hunters are particularly solid choices. According to Datto, the minimum recommended power level is 370. However, he states that the encounter will still be incredibly tough at that level.

A typical cycle for Destiny 2's newest boss starts with a very large number of adds spawning into the battlefield. Datto states that this is where a tether or an Arcstrider super would be useful. About a minute later, the entire group will be de-buffed ("Engulfed) and an energy orb will spawn. Touching the orb will remove the de-buff, so the orb needs to be passed around to each member of the raid team. The last person to have their debuff cleared needs to throw the orb at Ca'uor to start the next phase.

For this phase, three guardians will be buffed with a status called "superior retainer," which means they're able to survive being pulled by a tractor beam into space. To activate the tractor beam, players must stand on each of the four outermost plates. The plates are active when part of the rings glow orange.

Next, one Superior Retainer player jumps into the tractor beam, and calls out the symbols on the ships waiting in space. After that, two orbs will launch onto the field. Two players must pick up these orbs, run over to the buff plates above the weapon doors, stand on the door plates corresponding to the symbols the scout called out, and throw the orbs into the slog behind those doors. One player will also stand on the third door plate in order to ensure that they all open. (This is already harder than Eater of Worlds, isn't it?)

Once this is done, two more orbs will spawn. Two of the "superior retainer" players must grab these and run into one of the buff plates above the doors while the other four players must stand on the plates. The retainer players then jump into the tractor beam and throw their orb into one of the ships to destroy it. Next, three orbs will spawn one after another. Players must grab the first one and then run to a buff plate to start charging. These orbs take time to charge and apply a debuff, called "greed", while they are held. Once "greed" stacks to x10, the guardian holding it dies.

To avoid this, pass the orb between guardians, and repeat the process with the other two orbs as they spawn. It's like a deadly game of hot potato, and having an assigned partner to pass the orb to is highly recommended.

By the time all three ords have been charged, the Calus robot behind Ca'uor will start hovering above him. Once he starts glowing purple, throw the orbs at his hand and he'll break Ca'our's shield.

Now it's time for damage, which is a challenge in and of itself. Ca'uor will fire rockets at certain intervals while vulnerable, so the team will need to take cover and be mindful while doing damage. Some recommended weapons for DPS include rocket launchers with cluster bombs, Sleeper Simulant, or DARCI. A Golden Gun shot with Celestial Nighthawk is also a great DPS option. If the team is having a little trouble doing damage, it's also worth using Tractor Cannon (and void weapons) or Melting Point to debuff Ca'uor.

Repeat everything seen above and/or in the video until he is finally defeated. Congrats, hopefully, the team remembered to grab the Spire of Stars' secret chest before reaching the encounter.

Many may feel that raid lairs are a poor substitute for a full and proper raid, but at least they manage to provide endgame players with a challenge in the meantime. Bungie appears to have become more open to listening to fan feedback ever since the Destiny 2 Summit that was held back in April. They've laid some groundwork with Warmind and have a clear roadmap laid out for the rest of 2018. Indeed it all looks and sounds quite promising. It's just a matter of whether or not Bungie is willing or able to stick to it.

Destiny 2 is currently available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.