Destiny guide: Earth Old Russia Cosmodrome Devil's Lair Strike walkthrough

Destiny guide: Devil's Lair Strike walkthrough

Destiny players come together in a spirit of jolly co-operation in Strike missions - or they should, anyway. Here's our guide to beating the first of these challenges.

Destiny's first Strike mission is called Devil's Lair, and it's available on Earth, in Old Russia's Cosmodrome, after you've completed the initial story missions. It's a level eight mission on normal difficulty, but if you're confident and skilled you can tackle it at a much lower level.

As this is the first Strike mission, let's go over a few general tips:

• As with all strikes, it's most fun with a full fire team of three. But if your mates drop out part way through you can even finish it solo, because the difficulty adjusts to the number of players. A replacement may drop in later.
• If both of your comrades are downed in the same spot, don't revive them. Just concentrate on staying alive for 30 seconds, so they respawn. Chances are something nasty is standing over them.
• Bring a mic if you have one; communication really helps, especially if it's anybody's first time.
• Strike battles are long and you may run out of ammo, so be mindful and switch weapons appropriately. If all else fails, sue melee, grenades and Supers to take down weak enemies. You cna buy ammo refill packs from vendors on the tower, if necessary.

Now! Onto the Devil's Lair. The Strike is divided into three sections: one wave battle and two bosses.

Taking down the security mesh

The Strike begins on the outskirts of the Rocketyards, where the Fallen and Hive are going at it like a pug on the vicar's leg. The enemies here are constantly respawning, so unless it amuses you to do so, don't bother fighting them; just follow your radar to the corridors leading into the Refinery. It's worthwhile pausing right at the start to collect Dead Ghost #12, though.

You'll battle a couple of knot of enemies in the corridors, but the real fight starts when you come out into an area where the Hive and Fallen are, once again, having a good smack at each other. Knock down all the baddies and you'll be asked to deploy your ghost (hold Square on PlayStation or X on Xbox when prompted) to begin the wave battle. take a breather before you do; reload your weapons, check your ammo, and be ready.

You will face multiple wavs of both Hive and Fallen which increase in difficulty. How your team approaches this depends on your class and equipment, but lots of players like to have at least one Hunter on the catwalk above the Ghost, sniping and providing cover for Titans on the ground.

It's very important to take out the sniping Vandals at the back of the room; several of them wear optic camouflage so keep your eyes peeled.

The Wizards aren't much challenge for a fireteam as they go down rapidly in the face of crossfire, but the Captains can really ruin your day; remember, headshots do nothing till their shields come down.

Towards the end of the final wave, watch out for Stealth Vandals, as they'll jump up onto the catwalk and slaughter your Hunter unawares if left unchecked. The Hunter may want to reserve grenades for this moment, but that comes at the cost of generating orbs of light for Titans and Warlocks to put to use on the frontlines.

The battle ends with a fight against a souped-up Captain, although you may need to pick off the remaining foes.

When you've finished, don't go through the unlocked door just yet; look around for a large logo emblazoned on one wall with a dark doorway beneath it. Enter to find Dead Ghost #13. Do not confuse this door with the tunnel to a Hive lair.

The Devil Walker

This fight seems daunting but is easy once you know what you're doing. The first thing you'll want to do is take shelter from the Walker's attacks. A blue light means it's about to fire a barrage of lasers, which hit hard but can be dodged, whereas a red one means a devastating area of effect attack that frequently passes through cover - move, Guardian. Now.

Once you're safe, pick off all the baddies in the middle of the arena and those making a beeline for your shooting at you in your hidey holes. These will respawn regularly so make sure you're aware of your surroundings at all times.

There are several good places to attack the Devil Walker from. Facing it from the entrance, there's a tunnel on the right hand side that gives you an excellent view and an easy retreat to safety. On the left hand side of the map, there's a concrete pillar that makes pretty good cover - but you need to be extra wary of minions here. Some people like the buildings in the centre map, but I personally find this spot too exposed to cross fire from minions, and too distant to effectively damage the Walker when it exposes its weak points.

My favourite configuration is one behind the concrete pillar; one in the tunnel; and one just beside the tunnel, darting back and forth around the edge of the building to distract the Walker from the guy in the tunnel. But whatever works for you.

Basically, you want to shoot the Devil Walker in its legs. Try to focus on the front pair until they explode, then the next pair, and so on, so you're taking each one out - not just spreading the damage evenly among them. The reason for this is that when the Walker takes enough damage, it will fall over, opening its armour to expose its core. Shoot this for massive damage. Watch out, though; minions almost always spawn at this inconvenient time.

You and your crew should establish a rhythm were first one side, then the other, attracts the Walker's attention and evades its attacks, so it wastes a lot of time swivelling between you. This gives everyone a chance to damage the Walker.

Once you beat the Walker, there are four things to bear in mind. First: the door behind it will open, spewing enemies out, so don't be sitting there with no shields and no ammo. Second: there's a Vandal sniper above the tunnel who you may not even have noticed throughout the fight. Take him down before he gets a sneaky kill in.

Third: you should run around and gather as much ammo as you can, while also looking for loot drops. Fourth: Make sure you explore the side passage to find Dead Ghost #14.

Defeating Sepiks Prime

The Machine God is a piece of p**s for experienced Guardians like yourselves. You can handle him much the way you handled the Devil Walker, by splitting up and establishing a rhythm of attack, evade, rinse, and repeat.

When you first enter the Devil's Lair, Sepiks Prime is invulnerable; you need to kill off all the Fallen here before he'll fire up and start taking - and dishing out - damage.

Like smaller Servitors, Sepiks Prime takes extra damage in the eye, so don't both shooting him anywhere else. Don't try to melee or shotgun him; he has a very nasty, close-range area-of-effect attack that is very hard to evade once triggered.

The biggest danger here is that you'll be flanked by minions. Don't spend the whole Strike staring down your scope; every time you evade an attack, check the radar and glance around. Shanks are a constant threat, but you may also encounter knots of Captains, Dregs and Vandals; on the highest difficulty setting, these can be very tough foes indeed.

I find it useful to switch between my primary and secondary weapons. For example, as a Hunter I'd use my sniper rifle on Sepiks and my primary on minions, if I have the ammo. As a Titan, I'd use my primary on Sepiks and my shotgun on minions. (As a Warlock, I'd hide and spam powers.) In all cases, I'd reserve my heavy weapon and grenades for emergencies, like getting pinned down, while using Supers liberally.

When or before the battle ends, make sure you duck down to ground level and search under the platform to find Gold Chest #5.

Head over to our Destiny guide for more tips and info.