The fireteam might be back together for the first time in a long time, but all is not well. Zavala’s grief appears to be overwhelming him and he disappears, with our task being to track him down in Destiny 2: The Final Shape’s sixth mission, Dissent.
Though the first few missions in the campaign are relatively straightforward, the difficulty dials up quickly. This sixth mission is a staging post for the initial campaign’s ultimate conclusion, though we are expecting more after the raid is defeated for the first time.
Working hand-in-hand with Zavala’s Ghost Targe, we are tasked with working to understand why the Commander has decided to turn towards Darkness, and save him from this path before it’s too late.
With all that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about defeating the Dissent mission.
Full guide to Destiny 2: The Final Shape Dissent mission
Step One: Press forward and search for Zavala
Head underneath the enormous skull and follow the path forward. Jump and move upwards as far as you can. The route is linear and you will quickly arrive in a large open area with dead trees and various structures from across the Destiny universe.
There are some red bar enemies in this area and a Blistered Knight that need taking care of initially. After doing so find the Veiled Statue in the center of the room and interact with it. Zavala’s Ghost Targe will begin to get to work.
If facing the statue, turn left and defeat the Hive enemies. Watch out for the Shrieker that spawns and then make your way through to the Rally Point ahead. There are plenty of Cursed Thrall and Ogres in this next area, so stay elevated where possible and deal with them quickly.
Continue to press on and you will arrive at a desertified area with seemingly high winds. This gives a debuff called Howling Plague of the Witness, which prevents double jumping and healing, so avoid any combat in these areas when the debuff recurs later in the level.
Move inside the stepped pyramid-style structure, where you will be immediately faced with some yellow bar Scorn enemies. You will arrive at a room with another Veiled Statue, and this is where the first boss encounter will occur, so get ready.
Step Two: Defeat the Tempest’s Beloved
In this room, a lot of enemies of varying types will all spawn with the name Tempest’s Beloved. One of these is a huge Psion-style enemy with an uncomfortably large health pool. This is the one to prioritize, as the rest will despawn when it dies.
The room itself is fairly cramped, so make good use of the various areas of cover littered around. Crowd control is key here, so Stasis, Strand and Void abilities can come in particularly clutch. Don’t let the numbers build up, particularly on Legendary difficulty, as it can quickly become too much to manage in the limited space.
You will also need to become Transcendent in this section, as there are two Bound enemies that need to be dealt with. Fortunately they are relatively low health and easy to deal with once they are vulnerable to damage from other sources.
Save your Super for the boss, and it should burn down fairly quickly. From there, it isn’t too demanding, mechanically speaking. Just stay on top of your movements, and you should be fine.
Step Three: Allow Targe to commune with the Veiled Statues
Press on through the next area, where you will once again come under the effects of the Howling Plague of the Witness. There are Ravagers here, both inside and outside of the next structure, so burn them down quickly, as the lack of ability to double and triple jump can be a nightmare when avoiding their vicious melee.
After dispatching the enemies in the next building, you will see that there is another Veiled Statue. Climb up to the platform in front of it and allow Targe to attempt to commune once again. The next area will open up so proceed through. You will enter a no-respawn section of the level here, as well as picking up Howling Plague of the Witness once more.
Watch out for the Screebs in this section, as they will one-hit kill on both difficulties. There are also two Deranged Abominations to deal with here that hit like a train, so caution is the name of the game when moving through at this point.
Head forward and to the right until you come to the next structure. The first room has more Screebs, so take those out and head to the back of the room. Turn around and jump up to face more Scorn enemies, including a Tarnished Captain.
All of this is no-respawn, so take your time and dispatch enemies from range. You will then find another Veiled Statue, so allow Targe to commune once more.
After he has done so, turn away from the Veiled Statue and jump up to an area lit by orange light. You will once again emerge into a Howling Plague of the Witness zone. Follow the path around and then jump all the way down to the bottom (an area marked by a pink light).
There is another structure in front of you though two enemies will spawn outside. There is no health regen here, so be careful when fighting them. Head in and take out the enemies inside, including a Bound Chieftain who requires Transcendence to defeat. There is a pool at the back of the room for you to refill the meter.
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There is another Veiled Statue in this room, so it’s a case of rinsing and repeating with Targe. After you commune with the statue, the veil of Darkness will disappear and allow you to move on, with a rally point appearing in its place. This marks the start of the next major encounter.
Step 4: Defeat the Devoted Acolytes
When moving into the next area, you will see three Devoted Acolytes who will quickly disappear. They are the first part of a two-stage boss fight, with a Tormentor known as the Devoted Commander to deal with immediately afterward.
Essentially, these Acolytes have moved into different areas, with one on the right, one on the left and one in the are behind the central zone. We recommend dealing with the two in the wings first, before taking out the one behind. The latter is a much more enclosed space, and enemies can filter in from behind if they haven’t been killed first.
Each room has a different set of adds protecting the Acolytes. One has two Shriekers that need to be burned down quickly and another has Knights that should be easy to CC. The third room has Cursed Thrall so just be aware of that before you barrel in there.
The Acolytes themselves are relatively easy to defeat, so you are arguably better saving your Super for the Devoted Commander (depending on how quickly it regenerates). To do this legitimately, the best thing to do is cycle between the different rooms using the pillars for cover.
There is a cheese of sorts, in which the Devoted Commander stands still if you remain on the pillar in the left-hand room. Though he may eventually snap out of it, we were able to burn through 90% of his health without reply by using this method.
After killing the boss, proceed back to the central room and drop down the huge hole that has appeared to collect your latest Prismatic reward.
Step Five: Make your way through to the Rally Point
The next part of the mission is relatively simple, just pay attention to where you put your feet. Path linearly until you come to a huge open space with floating cubes. Jump up and follow these around until you are overlooking a huge platform with some enemies on. You can take them out from here with a Scout Rifle to make your arrival less risky.
From the main platform, head left and proceed up the stairs, where you will come across a Bound Wizard. Kill it, and then continue to use the floating blocks until you arrive at yet another Rally Point.
Step Six: Subdue the Pillar of Devotion
This final boss fight is against a Scorn enemy known as the Pillar of Devotion. At the start of the fight, he is shielded. We need to break this by killing two Subjugators of the Devoted (one of which is found at the back left of the arena, with the other being at the front right.)
The first phase of this is relatively easy. Simply head over and burn them down with high damage output Heavy weapons (I used the Taipan, and it worked well.) They will have a few trivial adds with them, so just be aware of your surroundings.
After killing the Subjugators, you will see the Granted Aegis buff appear at the top of your screen. This means that another shield of light has spawned in the center of the room near the boss. Grab it and use it to destroy the Pillar of Devotions shield, then you can begin your damage phase.
Pop your Super and Transcendence (if you have it) for the highest damage output possible, but don’t waste it once the boss is approaching 50%. This is because once it reaches half health, its shield will return, and it becomes immune to any damage sources.
Essentially, we are going to rinse and repeat the first phase; only this time, we will be taking on Bound Subjugators of the Devoted. Fortunately, pools of Prismatic energy will spawn so you should be able to fill up your Transcendence meter easily. Having this resource available actually helps significantly with adds, even if the Subjugators are harder to kill.
After taking them down once more, the Granted Aegis buff will appear and the boss will once again become vulnerable after you destroy his shield. The Subjugator platform at the front right of the room is a great place to deal damage. For some reason, the Pillar of Devotion does have particularly good gun pathing when you’re up there, and it’s easy to stay out of trouble.
After killing the boss, the game won’t give you a moment to rest, so be ready.
Step Six: Run!
The name of the game after conquering the boss is simply to escape with your life. Run up the ramp/step construct at the back right of the arena. The path is relatively linear, but move quickly as these platforms will start to disappear beneath your feet.
After sprinting like Indiana Jones through the rapidly collapsing section of the Traveler, you will eventually emerge outside. There, you will find Zavala staring into a shifting wall of darkness that appears to have him in a trance-like state. Walk up to him, and the game will play the mission’s closing cutscene. This will lead to the Final Shape’s next mission – Iconoclasm.
Make sure to take a look at our full mission list for The Final Shape and if you need to change up your build, this list of new Exotics may help. If you’re yet to commit to buying the expansion or are thinking about upgrading, we’ve got a guide to each edition as well.
