Given that Destiny 2‘s Raids are its pinnacle-level content, featuring both mechanical and statistical difficulties, it is fairly self-evident that Raid bosses, too, ought to be equally impressive in more ways than not. Challenging, imposing, and memorable, Raid bosses are supposed to serve as the final obstacle to loot and other assorted goodies, but is that always the case? Or have some Raid bosses become overhyped Strike targets rather than top-end world-ending threats?
While we don’t aim to make any of the following Destiny 2 Raid bosses seem like outright pushovers, one could easily argue that that’s precisely what some of them are. Which ones are actually, genuinely compelling, though? Which ones can be taken down by less than a full fireteam of Guardians? Let’s try and rank them all based on how hard they are to take down!
Grading Final Destiny 2 Raid bosses based on how difficult they are
#14: Argos, Planetary Core
Though Argos was, at its core, an oversized Vex Hydra, it was a fun and lightweight boss encounter at the end of the Eater of Worlds Raid Lair. The boss fight consisted of two main phases: the one where Argos is shielded behind Arc, Solar, and Void crystals, and the one where it actively engaged the Guardians in combat. Though the fight certainly was challenging on day one, by the time the Forsaken DLC rolled in, Guardians were already well-equipped to handle Argos easily, and its simple mechanics meant that it couldn’t pose much of a challenge compared to other Raid bosses.
#13: Emperor Calus
The very first full-fledged Destiny 2 Raid boss was the dethroned Cabal emperor, Calus. Or, rather, a robotic replica of Calus. Much like Argos, this boss was a pushover in practice, but it was a bit more difficult due to the encounter forcing players into two teams with disparate mechanics: one team had to read symbols, while others had to activate them in a wholly different dimension, where Calus’s mental projection tried to take them down. Fun stuff, but not very difficult at all!
#12: Taniks, the Abomination
A legendary figure in the Destiny universe, it was perhaps inevitable that Taniks would end up a Raid boss in his own right. Having rejigged a massive Eliksni Shank into a nuclear hover tank platform – which, yes, does sound suspiciously akin to an actual Metal Gear machine – Taniks will quickly punish inexperienced Raid teams with a wipe if things go awry. Yet, the Abomination is a fun and engaging encounter where everyone gets a role and does something to help their team, which is more than could be said about some other Raid bosses.
#11: Nezarec, Final God of Pain
Once your Raid team gets to the bottom of his mechanics, Nezarec ends up one of Destiny 2‘s easiest Raid bosses by far. The boss fight itself was only ever challenging while Challenge Mode was active, to begin with, and it’s entirely possible for just three players to wrap the encounter up without too much hassle. This means Nezarec can’t really hold a candle to some of Destiny 2‘s more imposing Raid bosses, but it’s still a fun and engaging encounter, even if there aren’t enough mechanics for everyone to get wrapped up in.
#10: Atheon, Time’s Conflux
The infamous final boss of the Vault of Glass raid returns anew in Destiny 2, and it’s not as much of a weakling as some might’ve expected it to be! Atheon is a tough, punishing boss that becomes delightfully easy as soon as your Raid team figures out all the right callouts and combat roles. Due to the randomized nature of Atheon’s main fight mechanic – the temporal teleportation – each member of your fireteam needs to have a handle on every part of the encounter, but it’s still not a big deal to come to grips with it all. Until that happens, mind, it’s wipe-o-clock.
#9: Insurrection Prime, Kell’s Scourge
The final encounter of the now-sunset Scourge of the Past raid was Insurrection Prime, a Brig/Servitor hybrid equipped with Black Armory weaponry. Its end goal was even loftier still, lore-wise, as it was supposed to activate a nuclear bomb within the walls of the Last City. Its boss fight was appropriately epic, with players needing to spawn in actual tanks to whittle the mech down so that it could be properly damaged. The fight was the most challenging part of Scourge itself, as its many interlocking mechanics meant everyone had something to do at any given point during the encounter, but since the whole raid was fairly quick and easy, that’s not saying all that much.
#8: Oryx, the Taken King
The Taken King is no slouch in Destiny 2, as it turns out. The Hive god’s massive size in the raid underlines his importance as a foe, and though he does come with a number of gameplay mechanics that players must figure out to be able to damage him, Oryx is far from the game’s toughest Raid boss. Instead, players will discover that the fight itself is reasonably fun and challenging, and as soon as the fireteam members settle into their roles and learn the proper callouts, the whole encounter becomes a bit of a breeze.
#7: Crota, Son of Oryx
The legendary and revered Son of Oryx returns triumphantly as one of Destiny 2‘s more difficult and compelling boss encounters. With Crota’s End back in the active Raid rotation, Guardians must contend with a rather hard-hitting boss with a substantial health pool. In other words, the margin for error is small when dealing with Crota, and the boss fight is a tad punishing until all members of the active fireteam know precisely what to do and how to avoid his attacks and the wipe mechanic.
#6: Val Ca’uor
Though the Spire of Stars Raid Lair has now been sunset, veteran Destiny 2 players may recall just how strangely complex the Val Ca’uor boss fight was back in the day. This may well be the most mechanics-heavy Raid boss Destiny 2‘s ever had, with players having to go through seven different gameplay stages before finally opening Ca’uor up to take damage. Relying on gameplay mechanics to such an extent was quite novel back during Destiny 2‘s first year of content, which meant that Val Ca’uor blindsided many players who expected to see something along the lines of Argos, instead.
#5: Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer
Gahlran was one of the most difficult Raid bosses in Destiny 2 due to the players needing to juggle several different buffs and debuffs during the fight. On top of that, juggling status effects wasn’t enough on its own, but players had to carefully time their switches so that everyone could pull their weight during the fight. Gahlran could also spawn Deceptions that players had to take down before damaging the monster itself, adding extra layers to a challenging fight.
#4: Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness
Rhulk is, to this day, one of the best Raid boss fights Destiny 2‘s ever had. Dynamic, engaging, and tense in all the right ways, the Rhulk fight stands out from most others simply because it features a boss that moves around the arena and will easily one-shot players silly enough not to evade his attacks. The mechanics of the encounter aren’t overly complex, granted, but the grand finale of the Vow of the Disciple Raid will quickly wipe out a fireteam that doesn’t take the fight seriously enough.
#3: The Witness
It finally happened: the Guardians have taken the Witness down for good through not one, not two, but three final encounters with the creature. First, you damage the Witness in the campaign, then you damage it more as part of the final Raid encounter, and then you kill it proper through the unique post-Raid 12-man matchmade Excision game mode. Great fun, that! The second-to-last fight with the Witness as part of the Salvation’s Edge Raid is no less impressive, though, and though it’s not necessarily the hardest fight in the entire franchise’s Raid history, it is definitely going to keep you on your toes. Especially during the damage phase, mind: conceptually the fight is similar to that with Rhulk, but way, way more aggressively paced and somewhat time-constrained. The Witness deserved no less, I feel!
#2: Riven of a Thousand Voices
Some would argue that the Guardians’ clash with Riven is Destiny 2‘s most difficult Raid boss fight, and the curious bit is that they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. The fight itself – as Bungie designed it – leaves virtually no room for error when the going gets tough, and the legendary wish dragon will easily rampage through the fireteam if the opportunity shows. It’s great fun, too, and may be one of Bungie’s best boss fights ever. What scuttles Riven from spot #1 to spot #2 is that the vast majority of fireteams will cheese the fight in its entirety, ignoring key gameplay mechanics by simply targeting Riven’s legs with melee weapons.
#1: The Sanctified Mind
The Sanctified Mind of the Garden of Salvation Raid is, therefore, #1 difficulty-wise. The bit that elevates it beyond any other Raid final boss is that its mechanics are relatively complicated and remarkably fiddly, making it all too easy to mess up an entire damage phase’s worth of progression by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Every single player needs to understand what’s going on with the Sanctified Mind at a given point in the encounter, and a misstep is more than enough to ruin the encounter. The complexity of the tether mechanics also lends itself to excessive bugs, making the whole thing that much more difficult.
That summarizes all of Destiny 2‘s Raid boss encounters at the time of writing! Bungie’s got plenty more to offer over the coming months and years, of course, which means there’ll be more Raids and Raid bosses for us to rank against all the ones already featured on the list. To that end, you can expect consistent updates to this article as more Destiny 2 content emerges. The next big Raid is expected to launch alongside the Final Shape DLC, for example, early in 2024. It’s possible that The Witness will be the final Raid boss at the time, and if that ends up being the case, it’s going to be interesting to see whether the big bad of the Light and Dark saga will be more difficult than, say, Riven of a Thousand Voices!
