Reach the Previous Level Cap
As is the case with previous Heroic versions of raids in Destiny, you’ll want to be as high a Light level as possible in Destiny: Rise of Iron’s Wrath of the Machine. Seeing as how enemies will be stronger, having more powerful gear on your Guardian not only allows you to dish out more punishment, but it also allows you to take more damage as well. This can often spell the difference between victory and defeat, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Thanks to the latest patch, it’s a lot easier to reach this once lofty goal. While this may mean that you won’t be able to jump in as soon as everything goes live, it’s a necessary grind if you want to have a better chance at completing the game’s newest challenge.
Beat the Raid on Normal
This goes without saying, but the best way to understand the basics of the Wrath of the Machine raid is to complete it at least once on normal. Heroic difficulty adds modifiers which can slightly alter certain parts of the activity, but the way they work is still relatively the same. Getting each section of the raid down in your mind will definitely help in the long run for this reason.
We have guides to help you out, of course, but we strongly recommend actually going through the motions. Certain segments, especially the final two encounters which pit you against Aksis, require careful placement of yourself and teammates, so try it out a few times if you can. You can still learn the ropes while just playing Destiny: Rise of Iron’s raid on Heroic, but why add on the extra headache?
Use Raid Gear If You Have It
Just like with previous raid challenges, Wrath of the Machine gear has special perks to help make certain aspects of the activity more manageable. Even if you haven’t been able to play through the entirety of the normal raid, you should have still been able to obtain a few pieces of armor and some weapons. All weapons in the raid provide extra damage against Fallen enemies, which are all you’ll find yourself facing when you enter Destiny: Rise of Iron’s raid.
The armor is even more useful. The boots allow you to move faster while running with a cannon, the gloves drastically increase Heavy Ammo drops, and the chest armor protects you as you carry SIVA bombs. The helmet and primary weapons only drop from the final boss, though, so if you want those tools you’ll need to at least beat the entire raid once. But even having just some gear is beneficial. You can balance it out with your favorite exotics and legendaries if need be.
Find a Team With Communication
If you’ve played Destiny: Rise of Iron’s raid at least once, then you undoubtedly learned that communication is the most important element of the entire Wrath of the Machine raid. You can be powerful, but if only one person messes up, it means failure more often than not in the most important segments of the raid. Knowing where Aksis is teleporting to, communicating dropped Siege Engine parts, and keeping an eye on monitors in the SIVA density room are all very important.
You can help your team out by having a mic or at least being able to follow instructions in hectic moments. Even better is if everyone on your Fireteam is on the same page when it comes to calling things out and covering objectives. While it is possible to complete the raid with complete strangers who refuse to be friendly, it makes a large portion of the entire challenge unnecessarily difficult.
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