The first challenge in Destiny 2: The Final Shape‘s Salvation’s Edge Raid, known as Substratum, is designed to test your Fireteam’s coordination and puzzle-solving skills right from the start. This guide will provide a detailed walkthrough to help you navigate the complexities of the first encounter and set your team up for success in The Witness’ monolith. While not a traditional boss encounter focused on heavy damage output, Substratum is an endurance and mechanics test that demands precise execution and clear communication.
Optimal Loadouts and Gear for Substratum
In Substratum, you’ll primarily be battling a mix of Vex and Dread enemies. Expect to encounter Minotaurs, Supplicants, Hydras, Subjugators, Tormentors, Weavers, and Attendants, alongside standard Vex units. Since this encounter lacks a traditional boss with a significant health pool, focusing on heavy DPS weapons isn’t essential. However, given the presence of Tormentors and mini-bosses, weapons effective against tougher enemies, such as a reliable machine gun, will prove invaluable for efficient enemy clearing.
Survival is paramount in Substratum. Expect moments where you’ll be isolated and surrounded by enemies. Preparing for these situations is crucial. While a strong offense is beneficial, prioritizing area-of-effect weapons for rapid enemy clearing is recommended. Consider Exotics like Sunshot or a Forbearance Grenade Launcher with the Chain Reaction perk. Furthermore, incorporating healing elements into your build, such as Solar healing grenades and armor mods like Recuperation or Better Already, can significantly enhance your survivability.
Understanding the Substratum Encounter Map
The Substratum encounter unfolds as a large-scale puzzle within a labyrinthine structure. This area consists of a central chamber connected to eight smaller rooms arranged like points on a compass. Visualize the layout with a central room and rooms extending in North, West, East, South, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast directions.
These rooms are not only linked to the central chamber but also to their adjacent rooms, allowing for circular movement around the central area. Each of the eight outer rooms contains a square plate with energy wires extending to plates in neighboring rooms. Additionally, each room houses a tall, grey conductor pillar. Initially closed, some conductors will open as the encounter progresses, playing a key role in the mechanics.
Substratum Phase 1: Initial Setup and Room Clearing
To initiate the Substratum encounter, your entire Fireteam must gather in the central chamber. Once grouped, the doors to the plate rooms will seal shut. Shortly after, an orange pick-up and a chest will appear in the center. A designated player should collect the pick-up, granting them the Pyramidal Resonance buff. Dunking this buff into the chest begins the encounter.
Upon dunking the buff, a 4 minute and 15 second timer will commence. One of The Witness’ hands will materialize in the central chamber, unleashing area-of-effect (AoE) attacks around the room. Simultaneously, two of the eight doors will open, granting access to the outer rooms.
Divide your Fireteam into two teams of three. Each team should enter one of the open doors, being cautious of exploding Vex Supplicants upon entry. Eliminate the Minotaurs and Hydras within the room to open pathways to the next rooms. In one team’s third room, an Overload Minotaur will spawn. Once defeated, a Tormentor will emerge in the central chamber. Both teams should converge in the center to quickly eliminate the Tormentor.
Defeating the Tormentor will cause the plate in the room where the Overload Minotaur was defeated to light up. However, teams must complete another cycle of room rotations to ensure each team has a lit plate available. After clearing three more rooms each, defeating a second Overload Minotaur, and another Tormentor, both teams of three can return to the rooms with their illuminated plates, ready for Phase 2.
Substratum Phase 2: Conductor Puzzle and Resonance Management
In Phase 2, communication and timing are critical. On each team, one player should identify the adjacent room with an open conductor and position themselves near that plate. Another player should stand on the lit plate in their current room, and the third player should prepare to move between their teammates and the central chamber.
When the Guardian on the lit plate steps onto it, a burst of orange energy will travel along the connected wires towards the plate with the open conductor. A shrinking orange circle will appear on the destination plate shortly after the energy arrives.
The player positioned at the plate with the active conductor must step onto the plate while this orange circle is visible. Stepping too early or too late will cause the plates to lose power and reset the process.
If timed correctly, the orange energy will bounce back towards the starting plate. Players must continuously bounce the energy back and forth between the plates to generate more Pyramidal Resonance. After the initial bounce, Pyramidal Resonance orbs will spawn at each active plate and one in the middle chamber. Between bounces, plate players should collect the Pyramidal Resonance in their room to accumulate stacks of the buff. Ideally, each player should aim for three stacks of Pyramidal Resonance. Exceeding this will result in instant death.
Non-plate players should focus on eliminating enemies, prioritizing Weavers. Weavers can use Strand abilities to pull players off their plates, disrupting the puzzle. Between enemy spawns, non-plate Guardians should head to the central chamber to collect their three Pyramidal Resonance orbs that appear there.
Once players have acquired their desired buff stacks or are nearing the encounter timer limit, the final step is to lock the conductors. To do this, the Guardian at the active conductor plate must shoot the glowing Crux within the conductor while the energy is en route to them. Immediately after shooting the Crux, they must step onto the plate’s circle one last time. Successfully locking the conductor will cause the plate player to lose one stack of Pyramidal Resonance, and the entire conductor will begin to glow brightly. If a plate player misses a bounce at any point, a Subjugator mini-boss will spawn in the starter plate room, and those plates will be locked until the Subjugator is defeated.
If both teams successfully lock their conductors, the entire Fireteam must quickly return to the central chamber and eliminate another Subjugator mini-boss. After defeating this Subjugator, the chest from the start of the encounter will reappear. Dunking all accumulated Pyramidal Resonance into this chest will extend the encounter timer, allowing you to repeat the conductor locking process. Completing three sets of conductor locks will successfully finish the Substratum encounter, paving the way for the challenges ahead in Salvation’s Edge.
