Destiny 2 Desert Perpetual Raid Guide

Welcome to the most complete Desert Perpetual raid guide for Destiny 2. We’ve gathered all the details about the raid, including information on the Day One challenge and the Contest Mode. You’ll also find a full walkthrough of every encounter, detailed mechanics explanations, and the raid’s loot table.

If you want to claim the highest-tier rewards, we can help you with Desert Perpetual Day One Run or Desert Perpetual Contest Mode Challenge at Skycoach. We guarantee the best price you can find on the market and get the newest Edge of Fate raid cleared easily. Get the Day One badge and all the necessary loot before most players even get a chance to try out this activity.

Check out our other Destiny 2 guides:

• Best Edge of Fate Exotics
• How to Get Graviton Spike
• How to Get Tier 5 Gear
• Armor 3.0 Guide
• Kell's Fall Exotic Mission Guide

 

 

When Does Desert Perpetual Raid Start?

The Desert Perpetual raid starts on July 19 at 10 AM PT / 7 PM CET. During this time, you can earn the Day One emblem if you manage to complete the activity within the first 24 hours. The Contest Mode will also be active, which means you have 48 hours to finish the raid to get exclusive rewards.

Desert Perpetual Requirements

In this part of the guide, we’ve gathered all Desert Perpetual requirements to unlock this raid:

• Contest Mode: Complete the Edge of Fate campaign and reach at least 100 Power Level
• Normal Mode: Complete the Edge of Fate campaign

After a full revamp of the leveling system, things have changed. But the main requirement of reaching a particular Desert Perpetual power level remains. This is especially true for the Contest Mode, as you won’t be able to enter it if you’re underleveled.

To learn more about the new leveling system, you can read our separate Destiny 2 Power Level Guide, containing all the necessary information for you.

Desert Perpetual Walkthrough

The following section of the guide is a complete Desert Perpetual walkthrough that includes all boss encounters, puzzles, mechanics, as well as directions for you to follow. Currently, we don’t know much about the encounters prepared for us, but we’ll keep this section updated hourly. We only know that you’ll have a total of four boss fights to deal with. Stay tuned and wait for more information to come as the activity goes live today.

We’ll explain how to do Desert Perpetual step by step and describe every encounter. This description will include the main mechanics, as well as abilities, and other useful tips for you to complete the raid.

So far, we've discovered that there are three possible first boss encounters you can engage in. It depends on what route you pick when in the central hub area. Here are three possible bosses you can encounter in your first fight:

1. Iatros, Inward-Turned
2. Agraios, Inherent
3. Epoptes, Lord of Quanta

We guess that you'll be able to fight the fourth and last boss only after you defeat the first three in any order you want.

Encounter 1: Iatros, Inward-Turned

Iatros is the more manageable boss in the Desert Perpetual raid. He’s a massive Vex Wyvern locked in a tight arena packed with enemies. This fight isn’t loaded with brain-twisting mechanics. It’s a survival gauntlet with strict timing and a big damage check.

Before starting the encounter, assign three players to handle platforms and pillars. Each of them should have a unique pillar assignment. When ready, step into the arena to trigger the first wave.

1. Clear enemies, including several Time’s Burden Minotaurs.
2. Killing them drops purple puddles called Chronons.
3. Every player grabs 1–2 Chronons and jumps through the purple hoop on the outer platform.
4. This action fills an hourglass, starts a phase timer, and spawns a Vex crystal below the hoop.
5. Destroy the crystal to proceed.

After the crystal breaks, two players receive the Absolute Temporality buff from nearby lattice-work plates. These are your platform jumpers.

1. Other teammates shoot the bottom Conflux Cube to spawn climbable platforms.
2. The buffed player jumps up and collects the first glowing energy orb on platform 3.
3. Their teammate then shoots the middle Conflux Cube to summon a second platform set.
4. Repeat the process and collect the second orb.
5. Finally, shoot the top Conflux Cube and grab the third and final orb.

Once the third orb is collected, damage phase begins immediately. This part needs clear coordination. There’s a colored ring around Iatros showing the correct damage order based on color:

• White Ring: Shoot in this order → Mid → Bottom → Top
• Blue Ring: Shoot in this order → Bottom → Top → Mid
• Red Ring: Shoot in this order → Top → Mid → Bottom

This rotating ring mechanic hasn't been confirmed to be strictly required, but following it has helped most teams succeed. Repeat the full sequence three times to complete the encounter. Each round includes Chronon collection, platform climbing, and damage.

During DPS, new Time’s Burden Minotaurs spawn in the outer caves.

• Two players must kill them, collect Chronons, and bank them at the outer hoops.
• This extends the damage phase and prevents the wipe mechanic.

Watch the Diastole gauge at the top of the screen. When all four squares fill, the boss unleashes a massive attack that can wipe your entire team.

Encounter 2: Agraios, Inherent

Agraios brings coordination chaos. It’s a full-team mechanics test, with buffs, portal runs, and a boss that plays keep-away. Expect rotating duties, memory checks, and a very mobile target. 

The fight begins with three players stepping onto the glowing middle plates to receive one of three buffs:

• Constant
• Cyclical
• Absolute

Each buff matches one of Agraios’ split forms. These three versions of the boss will each hover above a separate plate located around the arena, with their names floating above them. The goal: line up the right buff with the right version. While adds spawn, clear the field until a Hydra shows up. Deal with it quickly. Then, watch for a new threat — one Agraios clone begins using a laser mechanic called Variable Elimination. It’s a one-shot wipe if you’re caught standing in their line of sight. Whoever has the matching buff for that version of the boss must head to that plate and dunk the buff, completing the alignment.

With the alignment complete, it’s time to play tag with portals. Two Minotaurs called Time’s Burden will spawn. Kill them and collect their Chronons — glowing purple energy orbs.

You’ll notice the five portals around the arena now have a charged, stormy look. The two players who received a buff but did not dunk will each now see two of the five portals dimmed or unlit. These are the target portals.

Now comes the portal charging loop:

1. Four non-buffed players (not the one who dunked or the two calling) each grab a Chronon.
2. They run through the portals called out as dimmed by the buffed players — these must match exactly.
3. Buffed players cannot run through the portals they see.

Here's an example of how it works:

• If Player A sees portals 1 and 2
• And Player B sees portals 3 and 4
• The runners must hit 1, 2, 3, 4
• No one touches portal 5 yet.

Once all four portals are charged, they light up and stabilize. At this point, the player who originally dunked their buff will see all five portals active and will gain a new buff shown by a row of five boxes in the UI. 

That player, now holding the activation buff, must do the following:

1. Run through all five portals, in any order.
2. After the fifth, their grenade ability will change into a detain field.
3. Stand in clear view of Agraios and use the grenade just before being sniped.

Doing this blocks the snipe and pulls Agraios down into the arena, starting the DPS phase.

Damage begins immediately after the detain bubble lands. During DPS:

• One random player gets the same activation buff with boxes.
• They must repeat the five-portal gauntlet and trigger another detain grenade.
• Doing this extends the damage phase and keeps the boss from teleporting away.

This extension can only happen twice per phase, so make it count. Agraios floats back up if the mechanic isn’t refreshed in time.

Encounter 3: Epoptes, Lord of Quanta

Epoptes offers a much more technical encounter than Iatros. The mechanics revolve around syncing movements, passing buffs, reading visual patterns, and reacting fast. This took many teams significantly more time to complete compared to Iatros, for example.

Divide your fireteam into three squads: left, right, and center. Each side needs two players. Assign which players will enter the side rooms (left and right), and which will stay in the middle to handle callouts and add control.

As soon as you enter the arena, Time’s Magistrate Cyclopses will spawn on the left and right. Clear all ads, then destroy the Cyclopses.

This triggers two Constant Temporality buffs, one on each side plate. Step onto the plates at the same time to activate them. One player from each side picks up the buff and enters their respective Hydra rooms, while their partners follow for assistance.

Inside each Hydra room is a shielded boss Hydra. On its shield are seven glowing eyes — six in a hexagonal ring, one large eye in the center. Above each Hydra is a pattern of seven squares matching the eye layout.

When a buffed player enters, one square lights up in each room. Both players call out which square is glowing. But here’s the twist: you don’t shoot your own Hydra’s eye. You shoot the eye that was called out from the opposite room. That means left shoots what right sees, and right shoots what left sees.

Repeat this call-and-shoot exchange four times, each time stepping on the plates again to refresh the buff if needed. If you shoot the wrong eye, you’ll see the message: “Epoptes seeks a different state.” That means the sequence resets. Stay focused.

While the eye-shooting is happening in the side rooms, the middle team has an important job. Step into Epoptes’ central light shield to trigger the next mechanic – a symbol check.

You’ll see three large stone slabs surrounding the center. Two of them will light up. The missing symbol is key.

Call that missing symbol out to both side teams. Above each Hydra, a triangle of spheres will appear. Buffed players need to:

• Identify the triangle above their Hydra
• Match the missing slab’s symbol to a position
• Shoot the correct sphere in the triangle

The triangle does not rotate, so keep a shared mental image of the orientation. Once both side rooms land the right shot, regroup at the center.

Return to the middle to start round two. Clear another set of Time’s Magistrates and grab your Constant Temporality buffs again by stepping on the plates. Then it’s back to your Hydra rooms.

This time:

• Shoot the two remaining outer eyes from the original hex
• Then shoot the central glowing eye on each Hydra

Once all eyes are destroyed, the whole team moves to the central arena. Buffed players now:

• Shoot the matching glowing eyes on Epoptes’ main shield
• This triggers the damage phase

During DPS:

• Epoptes randomly gives the buff to two players
• These players shoot new eyes as they appear, including a final glowing middle eye
• The rest of the team focuses fully on damage

When the phase ends, reset and repeat until the boss dies.

Encounter 4: Koregos, The Worldline

Note: This part of the guide is currently under development. We’ll keep updating it the very moment we get confirmed details. Stay tuned and don’t miss anything important with Skycoach.

Desert Perpetual Loot Table

The latest Edge of Fate raid brings exclusive items and gear. You’ll find one Exotic weapon, six Legendary guns, three full armor sets, and several cosmetic items. Here’s a complete Desert Perpetual loot table:

• Whirling Ovation – Strand Rocket Launcher
• Intercalary – Stasis Auto Rifle
• Opaque Hourglass – Arc Combat Bow
• Finite Maybe – Solar Fusion Rifle
• The When And Where – Stasis Rocket Launcher
• Lance Ephemeral – Strand Sniper Rifle
• Antedate – Arc Submachine Gun

As always, we’ve got a special Desert Perpetual exotic, named Whirling Ovation. There’s also a bunch of Desert Perpetual weapons tied to this raid. Opaque Hourglass Arc Combat Bow looks especially promising compared to all other loot you can get.

These are all Desert Perpetual rewards we know about so far. All the legendary weapons have been discovered thanks to leaks even before the raid was released. You can also expect emblems, as well as a new title called Atemporal. As expected, every class (Hunter, Titan, and Warlock) gets its own raid armor set. Stay tuned and learn more about them as we get more confirmed details. BLOG20

 

Desert Perpetual Secret Chests

We’re expecting several Desert Perpetual secret chests scattered around the raid location. We highly encourage you to take the time and always check every corner to find one.

Note: The Skycoach team will do our best to discover them for you. Until then, this section of the guide remains in development. Stay tuned and don’t miss out on the upcoming updates!

Conclusion

This wraps up our Destiny 2 Desert Perpetual guide, Guardians. It’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting endgame experiences yet. From its Vex-flavored setting to its sleek loot pool and secret chests, there’s a lot to chase. With Exotic rewards, exclusive emblems, and high-tier gear on the line, this raid will be a must-run for all players. Sharpen your builds, grab your fireteam, and get ready to dive into the new Edge of Fate raid.

F.A.Q.