The Abyss is the very first encounter in the reprised Crota’s End raid in Destiny 2. Despite being a fairly simple encounter, it can get frustrating. The goal of this encounter is to just traverse The Abyss till the very end where you will need to build a bridge to enter the next encounter. Completing the encounter requires teamwork, communication, and a little sense of the layout. Other than that, you will need to understand a few buffs / debuffs. In this guide, we have detailed everything you need to know about completing The Abyss encounter in Destiny 2: Crota’s End.
Destiny 2: Crota’s End The Abyss Encounter
Before we begin, remember that there is a Secret Chest in this area. It is recommended to open it before progressing to the next encounter.
Chalice of Light
Upon entering The Abyss, you will be met with the main mechanic of Crota’s End i.e. the Chalice of Light. This is a basically a buff that one player needs to collect. Once acquired, it displays a bar on the left that slowly fills up — defeating enemies causes it to fill at a faster rate.
Aside from the Chalice of Light, you will also have Weight of Darkness and Engulfing Darkness.
Weight of Darkness is a stacking debuff which hinders your movement once it reaches 10 stacks. Engulfing Darkness, on the other hand, is a one minute countdown. If it reaches zero, the entire team is wiped.
To prevent both of these debuffs, the person with the Chalice of Light must let it fill completely. Once it is full, the person will get the Engulfing Light debuff with a 10-second countdown — the person holding it will die if this countdown reaches zero. In order to prevent that from happening, another person must claim the Chalice of Light and repeat the same process.
As for the person who was just relieved of the Chalice of Light, they will become Enlightened.
Enlightened
Once you are Enlightened, you are able to illuminate various lanterns in The Abyss. Aside from resetting the timer of Engulfing Darkness, you should be able to reset your Weight of Darkness if you stand next to an illuminated lantern. Please do note that these lanterns explode after a while so you cannot camp there forever.
There are a few things that you need to bear in mind when it comes to being Enlightened:
- If you are Enlightened, you are unable to claim the Chalice of Light.
- In order to get Enlightened, you need to let your bar fill up completely before someone claims the Chalice of Light.
- Whenever you use Enlightened to illuminate a lantern, you will get the Drained of Light debuff for 45-seconds which prevents you from claiming the Chalice of Light.
Preservation
As you are traversing The Abyss, you will come across little canisters near some of the lanterns. These canisters allow you to preserve the Chalice of Light — doing this also resets the timer for Engulfing Darkness. Another important thing that you need to know is that you do not need to be Enlightened to preserve the Chalice of Light.
Even if you preserve the Chalice of Light after you bar is completely filled, you will not become Enlightened as it requires someone to claim the Chalice of Light from you.
You must preserve the Chalice of Light in every single canister in The Abyss or you will not be able to complete the encounter. Also, do note that these locations are completely randomised.
Avoiding the Traps
Aside from all these things mentioned earlier, you will need to deal with different traps. Here are some tips to help you avoid them:
- Pendulums cannot one-shot you. If you are hit, toss a Healing Grenade at your feet.
- You can turn up your Brightness to avoid potholes.
- Things such as Amplified, Grappling Grenades, etc. can be immensely helpful here.
- It is exponentially easier to traverse The Abyss if you stay with the team and play a little slow.
- Be sure to Enlighten the plate at the end to build the bridge leading to the next encounter.
- You will not get Weight of Darkness if you are standing on a plate.
- There are some Unstoppable Champions at the end — be sure to prepare for them.
This is everything we have on how to complete The Abyss in Destiny 2: Crota’s End. If there is anything else that you would like to add, be sure to let us know in the comments below!