Mesmerize is a mission you’ll need to tackle when working your way through the week 3 steps of Destiny 2‘s A Rising Chorus: Act I questline. In it, you’re chasing down Saint-14, who has Osiris worried because he’s headed down to Nessus alone and won’t respond to any communications.
You can start Mesmerize from the Director in Destiny 2 by opening the Nessus map. I went into this mission just over the recommended power level of 1945, but it was still incredibly difficult. The Vex throw everything they have and the kitchen sink at you, so be prepared for a big old fight with multiple stages to battle through. I used The Call because it’s an incredible weapon, but as long as you’re using something you’re comfortable with, you should be in with a chance.
How to complete Mesmerize in Destiny 2
Below, I’ve broken down the Mesmerize mission in Destiny 2 into easy-to-follow steps. This mission has a few mechanics you’ve got to manage in stressful situations, so read through to get your bearings before going in.
Step 1: Fight your way to the Well of Flame against Lydrion, Symphonic Mind
This mission wastes no time in pitting you against insurmountable enemies. No sooner than you’ve landed on Nessus does the boss, Lydrion, Symphonic Mind, spawn to mess you up. This enemy has five chunks of health you must grind down, and it’s a real bullet sponge. Fighting this thing actually reminded me of the original Destiny.
You don’t need to kill the boss outside, though. Don’t you worry. You’ve just got to damage it enough to push it back three times, with each push being a chunk of its health bar. This means you’re trapped in segments of the map until you’ve dealt enough damage to the boss, but if you use the terrain as cover and move methodically through the enemies, you shouldn’t die too much.
The biggest pains for this section were the Cyclops enemies. Four or five of these are in each area of the map, and they deal a tonne of damage. You’ve got to work your way up to each one to avoid taking damage from the others or the boss. This way, you can take them all out without dying repeatedly.
Eventually, you’ll make it to the entrance to the Well of Flame, where Lydrion is hanging out on its third chunk of health. Deal all the damage you can, and it’ll disappear inside. Now you can enter.
Step 2: Upload data
Drop into the Well of Flame and go through the portal. The next area has restricted respawning, meaning you’ll need to restart the encounter from this checkpoint if you die from here on out. This is an incredibly long encounter, and dying will be a huge problem if you have limited time, so take things slowly and carefully from here on out.
You need Failsafe’s help, so you’ve got to upload data from three platforms around the arena. Each platform has a bug Vex Minotaur guarding it that you’ve got to kill before you can stand on the platform for a minute or so to complete the upload process.
When you stand on a platform, Vex will spawn in and make your life incredibly difficult. Don’t be afraid to move around to get some space and survive. It’s better to clear out all the Vex and restart the upload than die and restart the entire checkpoint.
I recommend leaving the upload platform on the tall podium until the end. This one summons Harpies and is the easiest to complete. It also puts you in a fantastic position to target Lydrion because the boss spawns as soon as you’ve completed the final upload.
Step 3: Damage Lydrion
Once Lydrion has spawned, get a little closer to it and begin dealing damage. This phase is easy because you just need to deal damage. It’s better to get through this quickly, so pull out your power weapon or Super and blast through that health as fast as you can.
Step 4: Defeat the Cyclops trio
As soon as you get through the first of Lydrion’s remaining two chunks of health, a trio of Cyclops will spawn that you must kill before you can finish off the boss. These enemies are harder to deal with than the boss itself, so find good cover to maintain your health and take potshots and the Cyclops around the arena.
This is a great opportunity to build up your Super, which will make short work of the boss in the next phase. I popped my Prismatic Energy for this phase because it makes you deal slightly more damage and helped me control the massive swarm of Vex that kept trying to sneak up on me while I was blasting away at each Cyclops.
Step 5: Kill Lydrion and find Saint-14
After killing all three Cyclopse, you can finally defeat the boss. I used my Super and dealt with it in three swift shots, which felt amazing. The floor will then open up, and you’ve got to jump inside. At the bottom of said hole is SAint-14 inside a Titan bubble, but he’s wearing a scary Vex collar.
Listen to what Saint-14 says here because it’s going to have big lore implications in Episode Echoes. After every character has teleported away, you’ll be invited to return to the H.E.L.M., but this marks the end of what is a pretty exciting and intense mission.
