The Cunning - Destiny 2 Guide - IGN (2024)

This section of IGN's Destiny 2: The Witch Queen guide features a walkthrough of the seventh Campaign mission titled The Cunning. Below you'll find requirements to begin as well as a full walkthrough of the mission.

The Cunning - Walkthrough

The Cunning is the seventh Campaign mission of Destiny 2's The Witch Queen expansion. After completing the previous Strike mission The Lightblade, you'll unlock The Cunning after heading back to Witch's Echo. This mission can be located in the Throne World destination. Simply head to the marked location on your map and interact with the banner to begin. Both Standard and Legendary difficulties have a recommended Power level of 1440, although Legendary offers better rewards.

To begin, head down into the tunnels to locate Sathona's Temple. Make your way through and shoot the Hive membranes to illuminate the darker areas when needed. You'll arrive back in the room with all the Scorn enemies. Defeat them and then enter the glowing orange portal at the back of the room.

You'll be transported to a new area and have an option to drop a Rally Banner if you need to replenish ammo or abilities before moving forward. Continue into the area below where you'll find a ton of Scorn enemies.

Clear them out and head underneath the bridges towards the large building where an Invasive Abomination will appear. Clear it out, as well as the second one on the bridge.

After all the enemies have been cleared out, grab your loot and proceed further into the Temple of the Cunning. As you make your way inside, you'll encounter a Deepsight orb. Use it to reveal five Hive runes spread out in front of you. You'll need to shoot each one to make them disappear, which will reveal the way forward. This is the main mechanic of this mission, and you'll be using it quite a bit.

Pass through the doorway and proceed down into the cavern. Use the Deepsight orb in the center of the room to reveal five more runes. There's one to your left, one beneath the central platform, two to your back left (one high, one low), and another behind the pillar on your right.

With the next area revealed, head through the cobweb-infested tunnel into the next room where you'll be facing some more Scorn enemies.

Once the room is cleared, head through the doorway on your left and you'll emerge into a massive cavern with the Temple far below. Jump down and be sure to break your fall with your jump to avoid dying.

You'll immediately be faced with more Scorn enemies so clear them out before pressing on. Once they're gone, interact with the Deepsight orb to the left of the bridge with the swinging lamps. It will reveal five more runes off to the left, and thankfully, they are all close to each other.

Once all five have been popped, platform your way across the rocks to the left to find another Deepsight orb at the end. Use this to reveal more platforms to reach the next large structure. Jump across and you'll have more Scorn to deal with, including some Abominations.

Clear out the enemies and utilize the Deepsight orb near the end to reveal some more platforms to cross the chasm. Inside, you'll find another Deepsight orb that will reveal five more runes. These runes are more or less all in a row, with the final one behind you on the wall.

Upon completion, platform up to the next Deepsight orb to reveal the path to the next area. Kill the Scorn waiting here and stand on the central plate to begin lowering the Drawbridge. You'll need to remain on the plate and hold off enemies for a bit until the bridge activation is complete.

Once done, cross the bridge and enter the building, killing the enemies on the way up. Cross the large bridge to reach the statue up ahead. There's a Rally Banner point that you can use to refill your ammo and abilities before heading into the battle. When you're ready, head towards the door at the back of the arena to start the fight.

You'll be facing the miniboss Termiiks, Invasive Warrant, along with plenty of Scorn enemies. The main thing to look out for are the Corrupted Chieftains as they can spawn totems that will make any enemies around it invincible, including Termiiks.

This is otherwise a pretty straightforward encounter. Stay mobile and keep moving around the arena. There are two rooms in the back corners that offer some cover if needed.

After the fight, grab your loot and inspect the Deepsight orb to reveal five runes on the left side of the arena. Shoot them to reveal some platforms. Hop up the platforms and use the Deepsight orb at the top to expose five more runes in front of the statue. Shoot them and cross over to obtain the worm familiar.

Boss Battle: Ahamkara Illusion

THAT'S RIGHT, BABY! Time to fight another Ahamkara! Thankfully, though, this one isn't as complicated as Riven of a Thousand Voices.

You'll begin on top of the platform where the statue stood. Jump down immediately as the Ahamkara Illusion will hit you with a devastating ranged attack if you stay too long in one place. Instead, hop down and use the base of the statue as cover. This is where you'll be hanging out for this entire fight.

This boss battle is not difficult, but it will test your patience as you have very short periods where you can do damage. Listen to the Ahamkara as it will make a sound while it inhales before it shoots out the projectiles. For a short period after the projectiles are released, the inside of its mouth will glow orange. This is your chance to deal damage before it shoots more projectiles.

Hang out behind the middle pillar and whittle its health down while moving from the left to the right side to dodge its projectile attacks. Once you've reduced its health by one-third, it will retreat and a bunch of Screebs will spawn in. Clear them out before they reach you and explode. Once they are gone, the Ahamkara Illusion will respawn. The strategy remains the same. Hide behind cover, avoid its attacks, and shoot its mouth when you have an opening. As its health gets lower, some more Scorn enemies will appear. Take the Ahamkara's health bar down to the one-third marker and it will disappear, with Abominations and Screebs spawning in this time.

Continue damaging the Ahamkara illusion and around 25-percent health, a couple of Corrupted Cheiftains will spawn in. Clear them out and continue dealing damage to the Ahamkara Illusion until the Deranged Abominations appear around the 5-percent health mark. Then, finish off the Ahamkara Illusion until it disappears with a sliver of health left.

After the fight, the world will return to normal, but you'll be engulfed in a Suffocating Haze, as indicated by the status on the left side of your screen. You have two-and-a-half minutes to escape or you'll die, so get to running! Don't worry about most of the enemies as you don't have much time to fight.

Interact with the Deepsight orb up ahead to reveal a path towards the exit. When you reach the room with the Pikes, hop on, and get ready to ride. If you haven't ridden a Pike, it's like a Sparrow that can shoot. Use this to clear the path as you ride out of the Caldera.

Try and save your boost for jumps to ensure you have enough speed to get across so you don't fall into the depths below. Thankfully, the path is very linear, so you shouldn't get lost. Once you reach the glowing green light at the end, jump in it to be carried back to the surface. Grab your loot and the mission will be completed.

Your next destination is the Altar of Reflection in Witch's Echo in the Throne World once again.