Destiny’s Challenge of the Elders: How to beat Keksis the Betrayed

This Fallen Captain of the Devils deprives Guardians of almost all power, other than the will to fight and the ability to handle your gun.

Destiny: How to beat Keksis the Betrayed

This page is part of our guide to Challenge of the Elders, the Prison of Elders end-game activity included as part of Destiny’s April update. It’s updated every Tuesday and includes all the information you need on the weekly reset, modifiers and bosses.

The Prison of Elders Level 42 encounter with Keksis is considerably more troublesome than at Level 41, the Taken boss hurling his balls of darkness non-stop. He stomps all over the Fallen arena, ensuring that Guardians are kept on the move.

His main intimidation tactic is to summon explosives, in other words a Blight Bomb that he’ll later walk through to trigger (similar to the Light Eater Knights in the Oryx encounter). These bombs drain guardians of light, suppressing grenade and melee capabilities after exploding.

Owing to the above considerations, the tactic is to keep moving, disposing of Keksis’ Taken minions, that comprise Vandals and Thrall, occasionally putting DPS on the boss himself.

Keksis really is fast on his feet, and can be upon you in seconds if you don’t keep your wits about you. That said, the platform found in the far left corner of the arena is still a great place to defend for most of the time. It’s not the greatest place to boost your High Score or Cumulative Score, but it’s somewhere to fall back to and stay alive. Keksis will continue his pursuit, however, so be ready to evacuate!

Finally, Keksis being so keen to spend time by your side can be a good thing. It leaves him more susceptible to Heavy Machine Gun ammo to his head from close range. He doesn’t stomp, or hasn’t seemed to in our experience, so you can pound him until he’s too close for comfort. Just make sure that your buddies are clearing an exit through the adds.