Destiny 2: The Final Shape - Salvation's Edge Raid Guide (2024)

Destiny 2: The Final Shape marks the end of the Light and Darkness saga. After nearly a decade, the Darkness is finally here and ready to bring an end to everything. The Witness has created a fortress inside the Pale Heart of the Traveler, and it's up to your fireteam to stop it.

Salvation's Edge is the penultimate mission in the Final Shape storyline and should be played just before the Excision mission. It's a fairly mechanic-heavy raid, but clearing it will award you with some excellent weapons and some of the most breathtaking set pieces out of any Destiny raid. This in-depth guide will help you every step of the way, covering everything from encounter mechanics to all hidden chest locations.

How To Spawn The Red Border Chest

Salvation's Edge has a red border chest you can spawn by completing a series of puzzles throughout a full clear. You cannot spawn this chest if you skip to a later encounter, so keep that in mind. At the start of the raid, when you enter the monolith structure, look at the wall up the first set of stairs. You should see a series of columns with circle and triangle symbols. Look at the third column and record the symbols.

These are the symbols you'll need to energize each hidden conductor with, similar to how the third encounter works. Stand on the energized plate, wait for the second plate to receive the signal, step on it, and symbols should spawn. Pick up the correct symbol, shoot the conductor, then step on the plate again. If done correctly, the conductor will lock and award chest progress. There are three red border chest rooms you'll need to find.

If done correctly, the Witness will spawn a red border chest once they've been defeated. You can claim a red border weapon this way once per week. This is tied to your account, not your character.

Red Border Chest Puzzle #1: Before First Encounter

Run past the wall of symbols you just recorded and slide into the next area. In the next open area, make a sharp right and jump across towards the nearby staircase. Jump up to the doorframe, and slide under the wall to your right. Spawn the symbol you need, grab it, and then lock the conductor.

Red Border Chest Puzzle #2: Before Second Encounter

After you ascend the massive red gravity lift, climb up the slabs on your left and follow the path. Jump to the floating rectangular slabs across from you, run along the narrow wall, and then make a right U-turn. You should then reach the hidden red border chest room. Spawn the symbols, grab what the conductor needs, and then empower it.

Red Border Chest Puzzle #3: Before Third Encounter

Once you complete the third encounter, continue as normal until you ascend the massive red gravity lift. When you enter a spacious area with red slabs nearby, jump on top of those red slabs until you find the circuit plates. Grab the right symbol and empower the conductor. If done correctly, you should get a confirmation message on the bottom-left of your screen. Defeat the Witness to claim your red border weapon.

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How To Unlock Raid Mods

The raid mods for Salvation's Edge are also tied to the symbol wall near the start of the raid. Your fireteam must complete all five one-off challenges for Salvation's Edge. All five challenges are listed below.

After your team has completed these five Triumphs, two hidden conductor rooms will now be accessible. Similar to the red border chest, you simply need to activate the conductor with the right symbol. Do this for both rooms, defeat the Witness, and you'll unlock a new Salvation's Edge mod. Unlike the red border chest, there's no limit to how many times you can spawn this chest per week.

These two conductor rooms can be found in the following locations:

See Also

Destiny 2 Executioner's Hoard Triumph Guide | How To Complete The Memory Alembic QuestMemory Alembic quest - Destiny 2Destiny 2 The Witch Queen guide: Qualichor, Memory Alembic questDestiny 2: The Witch Queen Memory Alembic Guide: How To Find Qualichor And Finish The Secret Mission

1. Before First Encounter: It's a short distance from the first red border chest room. When you enter a doorframe and need to jump across a chasm, jump to the stairs on your left instead. Crouch down to find a gap in the wall.
2. Before Third Encounter: While ascending the monolith and avoiding the torrent of falling rectangular slabs, make your way to the second floor. Instead of going down the usual path, turn around and jump across to the open room in the inner monolith wall.

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Salvation's Edge has two hidden chests you can find throughout the raid, both of which are during platforming sections. These chests always drop five Spoils of Conquest and a random item from the raid you've already acquired; you can't earn new loot from these chests.

Hidden Chest #1: Before Third Encounter

Towards the end of the Monolith jumping section, when you're at the inner wall that's covered in amber slabs and protected by Dread forces, head right instead of the intended path. Head to the right-most cluster of amber. You're looking for a gap in the wall you can slide under. The other end of the room will have the chest.

Hidden Chest #2: Before Final Encounter

This chest is found during the climbing section that precedes the Witness encounter. After fighting the Scorn Chieftain and Cabal Colossus bosses, follow the path a short distance until you find a series of gray squares to your left. Jump to the squares on your left and follow the short path to reach the chest.

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Substratum

First Encounter Goals

• Deposit Resonance in the chest to delay The Final Shape.
• Split your team in half. Explore the edges of the chamber to find exits.
• Kill Hydras to open doors.
• Kill an Overload Minotaur in the third room to spawn a Tormentor in the center.
• Kill the Tormentor to activate conductors. Repeat one more time.
• Stand on active plates to send a signal to an adjacent plate. Another player stands on the adjacent plate to send the signal back.
  • Doing so spawns Resonance. Pick it up, but don't let it exceed three stacks.
• Once everyone has Resonance, damage the conductor and activate the plate to lock it.
• Kill the Subjugator in the center. Dunk your Resonance.
• Repeat until the encounter ends.

Substratum Roles

Substratum Guide

Before you start the encounter, split your team in half and ensure everyone has a way to stun Overload Champions. The goal of this encounter is to ping-pong an energy signal from two sets of plates in the arena, which will spawn Resonance energy that you can deposit into a chest near the center of the map.

Map created by u/chrlmain on r/raidsecrets. Labels were added by an anonymous user.

Once you've split your team up, have everyone enter the central chamber and pick up the Resonance shard. Deposit it into the chest to start the encounter. Avoid the Witness hand that spawns, and look for one of two exits. One exit will always be in a cardinal direction (north, west, south, east), while the second exit will always be in a corner. Assign a team to each room.

Each room will spawn a small army of Vex enemies, nothing a strong add clear build can't handle. Clearing out the room should open an adjacent room you can enter. Clear out these enemies to spawn a Hydra, which will unlock doors when slain. Be sure to kill this ASAP to ensure both teams can continue through the labyrinth. The third room will always spawn an Overload Minotaur for one of the teams. Kill it to open the central chamber.

Defeating an Overload Champion will spawn a Tormentor at the center. Ensure everyone is in the middle before you kill it, as the exits will close once it dies. Slaying the Tormentor will activate conductors around the arena, metal obelisks that must be powered by shooting them while affected by Resonance. Spawning this Resonance will require you to find charged plates, which is what you'll be doing next.

Repeat what your team just did, clearing three rooms of Hydras and a lone Overload Minotaur. But while you're clearing each room, keep an eye out for a plate on the floor that's radiating with orange energy. A room adjacent to this plate will also have an active conductor, denoted by bright yellow energy emanating from the center. Assign your conductor player to this room and the plate partner to the active plate.

Once you've slain the second Tormentor, it's time to spawn Resonance. Have your plate partners get in position. The person with a charged plate will stand on it to send an energy signal to the conductor player, shown with a flash of orange light on the floor. You must stand on the plate when this charge hits your plate. If you do it too soon or wait too long, the connection will break.

If done correctly, a Resonance shard will spawn in the room and central chamber. Use this time to grab the shard before the energy pulse returns. Add clear should grab the shards in the central chamber when they're able. Maximum Resonance will spawn after two plate cycles. Once you have enough Resonance, pick up three shards, no more. When ready, have the conductor player shoot their obelisk. Once they step on their charged plate, their conductor will lock.

Once both sides have locked their respective conductors, a Subjugator will spawn in the middle room, the same spot as the Tormentor. Kill the Subjugator to spawn the chest and deposit your spare Resonance as soon as you're able. Each Resonance you deposit gives your team an extra 20 seconds, although there seems to be a hard limit of 4:30 minutes. Repeat the process two more times to finish the encounter.

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Dissipation

Second Encounter Goals

• Deposit Resonance in a chest to make the boss vulnerable to damage.
• Split your team into pairs. Cover each side of the arena.
• Kill an ultra on your side (Ogre, Wizard, or Knight).
• Spawn Resonance by juggling the plate signal.
• Have the "Call to Reckoning" players damage the boss' head to gain "Stolen Favor."
• Use "Stolen Favor" to figure out which Resonance shape is needed to charge each conductor.
• Charge all three conductors to spawn the chest. Dunk your Resonance.
• Kill the boss.

Dissipation Roles

Dissipation Guide

Dissipation takes the plate-juggling aspect of the last encounter and adds a twist: Call to Reckoning. Before you start the encounter, split your group into pairs. Make sure each player has a good add clear weapon and solid survivability, as you might be chosen to fight the boss directly. Swords are excellent for this encounter, especially if anyone on your team has an Ergo Sum with Wolfpack Rounds.

When the encounter starts, each side will spawn a handful of adds and some Taken Knights. Slay those enemies, and you'll be visited by a Taken Ogre, Knight, or Wizard, depending on your side. Take this enemy out as quickly as possible. This will empower your side's plate on the upper floor, allowing you to spawn Resonance.

It's at this point that three players, one on each side, will gain "Call to Reckoning." This buff allows you to fight the Herald of Finality in the middle of the map. It's at this point that your team has two options:

1. Send your reckoners to the middle. They'll gain "Stolen Favor" and figure out which Resonance symbols you need.
2. Spawn Resonance early by juggling plates. After two sets, intentionally fail to send the signal back. Kill the ultra that spawns. Send your reckoners to gain "Stolen Favor."

We highly recommend the second strategy for LFG teams and less experienced players, as it greatly streamlines the plate-juggling process. You effectively send the signal between you and your partner twice. Once the conductor player sends the signal back for the second time, let the signal fail. This will spawn an ultra near the plate as punishment, but you can easily kill them. In turn, you won't have to worry about spawning Resonance anymore.

Meanwhile, the person in your pair who received the "Call to Reckoning" must reach the center of the arena. When all three reckoners are ready, enter the pit. Your goal is to damage the boss' head enough to gain "Stolen Favor," a buff that lets you read the symbol on your conductor to deduce which Resonance you need. Destroy every Blight that spawns to make the boss vulnerable to damage.

Spherical Resonance. Shoot the conductor with this buff if it displays a sphere.

Now that the Herald of Finality has been damaged, return to your side and look at your side's conductor. The middle of the conductor will either display a pyramid or a sphere. Call out what you see. This determines which Resonance shards you grab. Grab the matching Resonance type, then shoot the obelisk to charge it. Step on the adjacent plate while it has a charge to lock it, same as before.

Once all three sides have charged their conductors, the dunking chest will spawn just above the boss arena. Head over there and dunk your Resonance. This will start the DPS phase. Get inside the pit and damage the boss. You have roughly 20 seconds to damage the boss, so make it count. Swords and burst Supers are ideal here. When the DPS phase ends, return to your side and repeat the process. You have three tries before the boss is enraged and automatically wipes your fireteam.

Lowering the boss' HP past the threshold will trigger a final stand, which will simply spawn two Taken Ogres beside your fireteam. Ignore them, burn the boss, and you'll emerge victorious.

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Repository

Third Encounter Goals

• Deposit Resonance in a chest to open the next room.
• Split your team into pairs. Cover each lane.
• Have the conductor player eliminate their Tormentor to read conductor symbols.
• Spawn Resonance by juggling plate signals.
• Conductor players grab matching Resonance. Other players grab spare Resonance.
• Activate conductors. Dunk Resonance at the chest.
• Repeat two more times. Note that plates shuffle in subsequent rooms.
  • R2: Left and middle swap partners.
  • R3: Left plate → middle conductor. Middle plate → right conductor. Right plate → left conductor.

Repository Roles

Repository Guide

Repository is a slightly more complicated variant of the first encounter, this time featuring Unstoppable Champions and far more Tormentors. Now is a good time to equip a good Tormentor counter like Forerunner or a Sniper Rifle. Split your team into pairs, one for each lane. The goal of this encounter is the same as the last two: get Resonance shards deposited into a chest.

Upon the start of the encounter, three Tormentors will spawn near the back of the room, one for each lane. Have your conductor players land the killing blow on each Tormentor. This will give you a buff that allows you to read your conductor symbol. It will display one of three symbols: cube, pyramid, or sphere. This will determine which type of Resonance you'll grab.

Like previous encounters, you must juggle plate signals to spawn Resonance on your side. Send the plate between you and your partner to start spawning shards. Once again, we suggest the forced fail strategy where you stop sending the signal after the conductor steps on their plate a second time. This will spawn all the Resonance you need and give you time to grab shards. A Subjugator will spawn, but they shouldn't give you much trouble.

Have all players run around the map and grab Resonance, with conductors grabbing first to ensure they get the symbol type they need. Once all players have grabbed Resonance, lock your conductor. All three conductors must be locked to spawn the chest. Deposit your Resonance, reach the end of the room, kill the Unstoppable Champion, and then proceed to the next room.

The next two rooms play out in the same fashion, although there's one key difference: plate routes are shuffled.

Both the left and middle lanes will have to swap partners. You can either swap your partner or change the plate you're covering, whichever's easier. Either way, repeat the process like before. Kill the Tormentors, figure out what symbols are required for each conductor, grab those symbols, and charge the conductors.

The last room shuffles everything to the rightby one lane. Everything else is the same. Repeat the process one more time to finish the encounter.

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Verity

Fourth Encounter Goals

• Solo Players: Give symbols to your fellow solo players. Create a 3D shape that doesn't have the 2D symbol your Guardian is holding.
• Dissect Team: Ensure each solo player is holding a 3D shape that doesn't have the 2D symbol their Guardian is holding.
• Save Guardians by bringing their Ghost Shell to the matching pedestal near the Rally Flag.

Verity Roles

Verity Guide

This encounter is frequently regarded as the most complicated raid encounter in all of Destiny, but it's really not that bad. To put it simply, you are trying to rescue your solo players by creating 3D shapes. The process of creating said shapes can get a little confusing, but that's your guiding star for the entire encounter. Create the right 3D shape for each solo Guardian, get them home, and complete a short puzzle where you match Ghost Shells with Guardian statues.

Before we explain the encounter, make sure that your Guardian has a distinct appearance and Ghost Shell. Fashion is the real endgame in Destiny 2, and this time, we aren't joking. You need to be able to tell who's who at a quick glance. Hunters should wear a distinct cape, Titans should wear unique shoulders, and Warlocks should focus on wearing a distinct helmet or robes.

Near the Rally Flag will be six pedestals that project each fireteam member's appearance. Once again, make sure your character is as distinct as possible. The opposite end of the room has three pedestals, each projecting one Guardian holding out their hand. When the encounter starts, this will project a shape, either two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D). Solo players manage 2D shapes, while the Dissection team deals with 3D shapes.

There are a total of nine symbols that can appear in this encounter, split between three 2D shapes and six 3D shapes. For our strategy, you only need to worry about three of those six 3D shapes, the mixed ones. They are as follows:

When the encounter starts, the three players on the frontal pedestals will be teleported into isolated rooms. We refer to this group as the solo players. Everyone else will stay in the same room, known as the Dissection team. Before your group does anything else, look at the statues at the front of the room. Each statue will be holding a symbol. Record it. Solo players will see 2D shapes, while the Dissection team will see 3D shapes.

Record these symbols as their 2D parts—for example, you'd record a prism as "TS," as it's made up of a triangle and a square. All you're trying to do is create a 3D shape that does not have the symbol your solo player calls out. In my run, my team got triangle, circle, and square. The Dissection squad saw a prism, sphere, and another prism. Record them somewhere you can easily reference later.

Solo Player Checklist

Solo players acquire symbols by killing Knights. They will drop a 2D shape on their corpse. What the Knights can currently drop is displayed as a shadow on the wall in front of you. If the shadow shuffles into the same object, then the Knights can only drop one symbol. If no symbol appears, they can't drop anything. Your goal is this:

1. Deposit the matching 2D shape at the Guardian statues excluding your own.
   • For example, if your statue is holding triangle, do not pick up triangle. Pick up the other symbol and dunk them at the matching statue.
2. Every player should now have two of the same shape. Kill your Knights, and give your shape to the other two solo players.
3. You should now have every symbol except your starting one. Kill your Knights one more time.
4. Pick up both symbols; do not give these shapes away. You can now leave the room once Dissection team is done.
   • Run through the wall at the back of the room to escape.

In simpler terms: kill → dunk at matching statues → kill → dunk at both statues (not your own) → kill → grab both symbols (do not dunk) → leave. That's it for the entire encounter. It isn't any more complicated than that.

Dissection Explained

The dissection team also acquires 2D shapes by killing Knights, but their usage is a little different. Once you collect a shape, interacting with any of the front pedestals will perform a dissection. This alone does nothing, but once you dissect a second statue, then the shapes you dissected will swap between the chosen statues. A dissection swaps the chosen 2D shapes around. Keep swapping until the original 2D symbol is no longer in use.

For example, my first set of symbols were prism (TS), sphere (CC), and prism (TS). My team needed to create 3D shapes that didn't have a triangle (first player), circle (second player), or square (third player).

• Prism (No T): Create a cylinder (CS).
• Sphere (No C): This is a byproduct of the other two symbols (TS).
• Prism (No S): Create a cone (CT).

The process of creating these shapes was fairly straightforward. Sphere needs to be completely replaced, which will take at least two swaps.

• Swap #1: Dissect triangle (left prism) and circle (middle sphere).
• Swap #2: Dissect square (right prism) and circle (middle sphere).

With both dissections done, each Guardian is now holding a 3D shape that does not contain their original 2D shape. Solo players can now make their complex 3D shape and escape.

Saving Guardians

Randomly during the encounter, the Witness will notice your efforts and decide to petrify the solo players. When this happens, Ghost Shells will spawn in the Dissection team's room. Solo players must use the inspection camera to look at the pedestals at the back end of the room. One of the pedestals will showcase a Guardian who's petrified. Call this out.

The dissection players must each grab a Ghost Shell and free a petrified Guardian by interacting with the correct pedestal. The solo players can each see one petrified ally, so you'll need to coordinate to figure out which pedestal belongs to each player. We recommend labeling the pedestals one through six for easy callouts.

This same encounter will also occur upon a successful rescue attempt. When the fireteam is regrouped, all but one player will get petrified. Whoever isn't frozen must free at least one player. Grab their Ghost, coordinate with the frozen players to see which pedestals have which player, and deposit the Ghost at the right pedestal. Repeat until everyone's free, then repeat the encounter from the beginning two more times.

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Zenith

Final Encounter Goals

• Assign a player to each Witness hand: lasers, pyramid, and bees.
• Hand players will stand in telegraphed attacks and shoot the bracelet on the Witness' hand. This will reveal a color.
• The color indicates which buff you need. Stand in the correct attack telegraph to gain the buff.
• Return to your original hand and break its bracelet. You now have Glyphbreaker.
  • This will sometimes start a wipe mechanic. Create the right shape in front of the Witness.
• Shoot the buttons on the Witness' jacket. This spawns two Subjugators.
  • Do this inside the central Traveler pool to remove Resonance stacks.
• Break all six buttons to start DPS.
• Kill the Witness while avoiding telegraphed attacks.

Zenith Roles

Zenith Guide

Thankfully, the 3D mechanic from the last encounter is nowhere to be found, but now you'll be dealing with a new mechanic: bracelets. Before you start the encounter, make sure your fireteam is equipped for mid-range precision DPS. Explosives and close-range weapons are ill-advised. We suggest Sniper Rifles (notably Still Hunt) and/or Linear Fusion Rifles.

The goal of this encounter is to break the six Glyphs on the Witness' chest. They look like buttons. Breaking all six will start the DPS phase, but before you can do that, you'll first need the Glyphbreaker buff. Assign three players to combat the Witness' hand attacks. Everyone else will focus on killing adds.

Instead of fighting you directly, the Witness will manifest limbs that will attack you throughout the fight. There are three types:

1. Lasers: Three hands lace their fingers together and unleash a stream of energy, similar to Rhulk's attack in Vow of the Disciple.
2. Pyramid: Floating hands will conjure a pyramid zone that detonates after a lengthy delay.
3. Bees: Hands will sprout from the ground and erupt Darkness shards that crash into the ground, similar to the Caretaker encounter in Vow.

One person should focus on each hand. All three hands will telegraph their attacks with a faint orange zone before they strike. Stand inside the telegraph and shoot the bracelet on your hand. It will explode and reveal a color: red, green, or yellow. The color determines which type of Resonance you'll need to destroy the bracelet.

For example, if you see a red bracelet, then you'll need to stand in the telegraph of the laser hand to gain Hexahedron Resonance. Once you have the right Resonance type, head back to your hand, briefly step in the attack telegraph, and pop the bracelet. Be careful not to stand in the attack for too long, as this can override your Resonance type. And once again, if you exceed three stacks, you die.

Breaking a bracelet will grant the Glyphbreaker buff, which allows you to break one of the buttons on the Witness' jacket. You can break it from anywhere, but we suggest standing in the pool of Light first. Breaking the Glyph here will release a cleansing wave to those within the pool, removing all Resonance stacks.

A successful Glyph break will wipe the Glyphbreaker buff and allow you to continue the fight. Break all six Glyphs to start the damage phase. It's also worth noting that you lose the Glyphbreaker buff when you die, so be sure to use it. You should also avoid breaking bracelets while you have this buff—it'll spawn duplicate hands.

The Witness Tests You...

Whenever the Glyphbreaker buff is acquired, the Witness might decide to test your fireteam's memory. "The Witness Tests You..." signals the start of a wipe mechanic. You must shoot the floating objects in front of the Witness such that they leave a pattern. The pattern in question depends on the last hand that was broken.

• If you broke the laser hand, create a square.
• If you broke the bee hand, create a diamond.
• If you broke the pyramid hand, create a triangle.

You have roughly ten seconds to create the shape. If done correctly, the text "The Witness' trap is foiled" will appear on your screen. The Witness will then flash yellow and unleash a wipe attack. Immediately jump once you hear the audio queue. You'll need to do the same thing during the DPS phase, so get used to it now.

DPS Phase

After you break all six Glyphs, the pool of Light will begin to ascend and empower your fireteam, allowing you to damage the Witness' chest for a short time. During the damage phase, the Witness will unleash a barrage of attacks that will alternate between both halves of the platform. If it attacks the bottom-right half, the second attack will always aim for the top-left half. Keep this in mind while dodging attacks.

Additionally, the Witness will periodically unleash a wipe attack. Wait for the audio queue before jumping, or wait for their eyes to flash yellow. The Witness will perform three strings of attacks before your damage window ends. DPS ends once the Witness slams the plate with his right hand. If you're standing on the plate when it happens, you'll instantly die. Jump off beforehand.

Final stand is effectively the same song and dance, although the Witness is much faster this time. Try to burn the last chunk of its health bar as fast as possible here. With any luck, it'll be just enough to take them down. Congratulations, you've just beaten the Witness. Take the fight to them in the Excision mission to end The Final Shape once and for all.

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