Challenge of Elders and all its discussion

Kimbot

Find out the unique modifiers for this week’s Challenge of the Elders in Destiny and how to finish an Elders’ Sigil scorecard for the week in just two runs.

This week Destiny received the April Update, which added the Challenge of the Elders mode. This new variant of the Prison of Elders is one of the best ways added in the April Update to reach Destiny‘s new level cap of 335.

To get the most out of Challenge of the Elders, players need to pick up an Elders’ Sigil from Variks in the Reef. This is a scorecard that will track all of a player’s runs for that week. Each character can pick one up, so if a player has alts, that means three Elders’ Sigil cards per week. That results in three weapons and three armor pieces that can drop at up to 335 Light.

With the Elders’ Sigil, players will be looking to reach a High Score of 30,000 points that has to be accomplished within one run, as well as a Cumulative Score of 90,000 points that needs to be reached across multiple runs during that same week. Meeting the High Score rewards a weapon and the Cumulative Score awards an armor piece.

Every week, Challenge of the Elders will have different score modifiers that will help players hit those score thresholds. This week, the modifier is precision kills. The good news for players is this makes it incredibly easy to complete an entire Elders’ Sigil card — and if done right, it can be finished in two rounds. Here’s how.

The score modifier is precision kills, so make sure every single kill (or at least close to it) is a headshot. That will add the bonus points onto each kill. Hand cannons (now with buffed reserve ammo) and scout rifles are highly recommended here.

Challenge of the Elders is three boss rounds, with multiple waves of adds. When each round starts, focus on clearing the initial wave of adds. When they are all down, start damaging the boss. Once the boss is damaged enough, a new wave of adds will spawn.

Watch the lower left hand side of the screen. When it says that reinforcements are coming, stop shooting the boss and clear the next wave (with precision kills). But be sure to put solid damage on the boss after each wave. There is an internal timer going on that players cannot see, and if the boss isn’t down by the time it runs out, Variks will start deducting points from players’ score. It’s Bungie’s way of keeping players from farming endless points within a single run.

Once the boss’s health bar gets low, take it down to a sliver of health and clear the last wave of adds. At that point, the timer should be very close to running out. Kill the boss to end the round. If the timer runs out and the notification appears that the score reduction has taken effect, stop everything and kill the boss as fast as possible.

The other way to generate score — and a vital step to clearing a score card in two runs this week — is by generating orbs. Defender Titans and Nightstalker Hunters are especially good for this. Select perks that maximize orb generation and use those supers. Warlocks need to be careful about clearing too many adds though because precision kills are worth more than orbs generated.

Each round grants a score multiplier, so each round will award more. Here are some general score goals for each round.

Kimbot

Round 1: 6000-7000 points
Round 2: 20,000 or more points
Round 3: 40,000-45,000+ points
When my fireteam ran Challenge of the Elders (completing our cards in two runs) the first run ended up being 44,000 points, which meant our second run had to come out to at least 46,000 points to finish (remember, 90,000 is the Cumulative Score goal).

If, for some reason, your runs come up short, this method should at least get you close. If so, just jump into another first round until the rest of the necessary score has been earned, down the boss, then return to orbit to claim your reward at Variks.

One more note about level: the official in-game recommended Light level for Challenge of the Elders is 320 Light; however I ran it at 313 with two others who were 323 and 319. I held my own, and even was at the top of the scoreboard some rounds. Don’t let the 320 recommendation scare you. The mode is pretty easy in general, and players who are 310 and above will have no trouble at all completing it.


I robbed this from gamerant.com but is very informative for anyone wondering about the new CoE game mode.

We can use this thread to update modifiers and discuss the CoE.

SolvableKnave

Wall of text alert. Seriously, this thread needs a health warning.

Mitch Connor

Will be very interesting to see what the modifiers are for this week, and just how much they effect the ease at which 30k could be hit (personally I don't mind running it 3 times per char.... i'd farm it more anyway).

Certainly the week gone was an easy set - precision bonus and I think small arms was on too. Grenade kill bonus could be voidlock central, for example.

SolvableKnave

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Will be very interesting to see what the modifiers are for this week, and just how much they effect the ease at which 30k could be hit (personally I don't mind running it 3 times per char.... i'd farm it more anyway).

Certainly the week gone was an easy set - precision bonus and I think small arms was on too. Grenade kill bonus could be voidlock central, for example.

I've said it a few times, I think we where being handed an easy introduction to it, Small arms and precision. It will get harder, and I wouldn't be surprised if some weeks a full card could tip into a fourth run. They've designed it around 3 runs so some weeks will be more difficult. Plus the bosses in the rotation will dictate the difficulty level too.

Kimbot

From what I read online there is going to be 16 weeks with unique encounters before they have to push out a recycled CoE run on us :P

SolvableKnave

jonnycivic wrote: »

From what I read online there is going to be 16 weeks with unique encounters before they have to push out a recycled CoE run on us :P

Yep. 16 weeks before we see this weeks again.

Kimbot

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Yep. 16 weeks before we see this weeks again.

So 15 more adventures before I know for certain I can Solo the hell out of it again :P

SolvableKnave

This week.

Berserk
Catapult
Grenade kill bonus

Bosses:
Sylok
Val Aru'un
Seditious Mind

Mitch Connor

This is gonna be a cake walk to score high with a void walker.

Nothin Manacles mean I'll be chucking grenades out every second without worry. BOOM.

My titan will be swapping to sunbreaker with fusion grenades while wearing an armamentarium.

Hunter on Gun slinger with trip mines and whichever exoctic gives double grenades.

Mitch Connor

This is gonna be a cake walk to score high with a void walker.

Nothin Manacles mean I'll be chucking grenades out every second without worry. BOOM.

My titan will be swapping to sunbreaker with fusion grenades while wearing an armamentarium.

Hunter on Gun slinger with trip mines and whichever exoctic gives double grenades.

PetKing

Has anyone had CoE runs where Variks IMEDDIATELY starts deducting points as round one begins? I had one on Sunday morning.

SolvableKnave

Mitch Connor wrote: »

This is gonna be a cake walk to score high with a void walker.

Nothin Manacles mean I'll be chucking grenades out every second without worry. BOOM.

My titan will be swapping to sunbreaker with fusion grenades while wearing an armamentarium.

Hunter on Gun slinger with trip mines and whichever exoctic gives double grenades.

Mitch Connor wrote: »

This is gonna be a cake walk to score high with a void walker.

Nothin Manacles mean I'll be chucking grenades out every second without worry. BOOM.

My titan will be swapping to sunbreaker with fusion grenades while wearing an armamentarium.

Hunter on Gun slinger with trip mines and whichever exoctic gives double grenades.

Where you wearing your Armamentarium while posting this? :pac::pac:

Kimbot

PetKing wrote: »

Has anyone had CoE runs where Variks IMEDDIATELY starts deducting points as round one begins? I had one on Sunday morning.

Yes but I sat down in the spawn area waiting for my super to build so put it down to that :P

DeSelby83

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Berserk
Catapult
Grenade kill bonus

What do the first and second one mean?

Is there any particular good strategy for a warlock to use in regards to gear and stuff?

Kimbot

Beserk - Enemies dont flinch

Catapult - your grenades charge faster

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Is there a minimum light level for CoE?

Kimbot

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Is there a minimum light level for CoE?

Its got a recommended light of 290/300 i think, from what I remember if you were doing lets say the raid hm @ 310 Recommended then from 300 upwards you could join in so this should be the same.

syboit

The Cabal boss this week (middle round) spawns a psion flayer, you need to kill one of each element before the boss shields will drop. Found the armamentarium very useful again with double grenades

Mitch Connor

So one of the bounties for CoE this week is void ability kills - easy for a warlock. Titan with armamentarium and magnetic grenades should be ok - what are the Hunter void abilities like? Do tethered kills count or only if you kill them with the arrow?

syboit

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So one of the bounties for CoE this week is void ability kills - easy for a warlock. Titan with armamentarium and magnetic grenades should be ok - what are the Hunter void abilities like? Do tethered kills count or only if you kill them with the arrow?

Had the void one done on the titan after the first boss, double quick charging grenades are a god-send

Kimbot

The CoE isnt too bad this week, Im not happy about the lack of hammers I am using tho, my grenades have become my hammers :P Got my titan runs done on it yesterday so after work today I plan on doing it on my Hunter and Warlock so i'll be on from about 6 today :P

PetKing

jonnycivic wrote:

The CoE isnt too bad this week, Im not happy about the lack of hammers I am using tho, my grenades have become my hammers Got my titan runs done on it yesterday so after work today I plan on doing it on my Hunter and Warlock so i'll be on from about 6 today

My Titan didn't enjoy CoE at all. We were hitting high scores to finish but Warlock was outscoring me two to one. Lack of tracking grenades hurt. I got the Final Duty pulse with rangefinder, third eye, and a max stability roll, almost a copy of Nirwen's. Must take it for a spin later.

Generic Dreadhead

The Nothing Manacles / Energy Drain build makes it nigh on impossible to better the Voidwalker. I was throwing grenades as fast as the animation was allowed, each kill gave me a new grenade. It was insane.

SolvableKnave

Cormac... wrote: »

The Nothing Manacles / Energy Drain build makes it nigh on impossible to better the Voidwalker. I was throwing grenades as fast as the animation was allowed, each kill gave me a new grenade. It was insane.

Yeah, you almost hit the 30k mark on your own last night. I felt like I was holding you back.

On the plus side, we now know you can 2 man it, so long as one is Voidwalker. 2 Voidwalkers? :eek:

Generic Dreadhead

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Yeah, you almost hit the 30k mark on your own last night. I felt like I was holding you back.

On the plus side, we now know you can 2 man it, so long as one is Voidwalker. 2 Voidwalkers? :eek:

Yeah, I was a bit of a Glass Cannon though, if I mis-threw a grenade and clipped a wall next to me I was dead. The points you gain for killing versus the points you loses by Variks getting impatient meant we could just farm.

I'm trying to go to bed earlier so hence why I bailed, 2 manning it while farming each round was a fun challenge but it took a bit of time :P

Generic Dreadhead

Got a 335 (yay!) Queens Sidearm (yay?) but with a TERRIBLE roll (boo!)

Mitch Connor

Have one more run of this to do over the week - on my hunter, not looking forward to that one. Don't think their void abilities are up to much - so I'll be happy when that bounty is done and I can switch to double trip mine grenades.

Got a 335 Fusion (infused into 1KYS), 335 Rocket (infused into Raid LMG), a 335 Chest and a 335 gauntlet.

nevelator

Cormac... wrote: »

The Nothing Manacles / Energy Drain build makes it nigh on impossible to better the Voidwalker. I was throwing grenades as fast as the animation was allowed, each kill gave me a new grenade. It was insane.

I was using that build last night. It. Is. Amazing.
It was the first time I veered from max int/dis for my voidwalker. Went with max dis/str. If you miss a kill with a grenade, a melee will recharge the grenade and away you go again. I was using my nova bomb only when I thought I would die - as it triggers the energy drain (life steal) with a kill.

SolvableKnave

Cormac... wrote: »

Yeah, I was a bit of a Glass Cannon though, if I mis-threw a grenade and clipped a wall next to me I was dead. The points you gain for killing versus the points you loses by Variks getting impatient meant we could just farm.

I'm trying to go to bed earlier so hence why I bailed, 2 manning it while farming each round was a fun challenge but it took a bit of time :P

Ah no worries there. Got a 327 scout for the 30k and 328 boots for the 90k. Finished the card off with Bashful and Con.

The Cabal room is the hardest aspect of the run this week, with the changing burns.

PetKing

SolvableKnave wrote:

The Cabal room is the hardest aspect of the run this week, with the changing burns.

Hadn't a CLUE when I first entered this room what was going on.

runawaybishop

Cormac... wrote: »

The Nothing Manacles / Energy Drain build makes it nigh on impossible to better the Voidwalker. I was throwing grenades as fast as the animation was allowed, each kill gave me a new grenade. It was insane.

Sounds like fun, i need to break out my lock so later. Is it just voidfang/nothing manacles required, no special perks on gear?

Generic Dreadhead

runawaybishop wrote: »

Sounds like fun, i need to break out my lock so later. Is it just voidfang/nothing manacles required, no special perks on gear?

I used "Ashes to Assets" but apparently the "increased grenade energy from killing minions of darkness" does the same, you just need to ensure your built to proc Energy Drain no matter what ya do

runawaybishop

Cormac... wrote: »

I used "Ashes to Assets" but apparently the "increased grenade energy from killing minions of darkness" does the same, you just need to ensure your built to proc Energy Drain no matter what ya do

Well now. Didn't have gear with either of those perks but didnt have any issues with grenades, as long as my aim wasn't ****e. Got 23k points myself for a 47.6k total. Used nova bomb as a panic button to heal, was pretty fun.

SolvableKnave

I'll be looking to do 2 full runs later for the Lock and Hunter if any1 wants in. Hoping to be on around half8/9 or there abouts.

runawaybishop

Any particularly synergistic setup for a hunter? Was using swarm grenades but they sucked, void wall grenades seem ok but you have to be spot on with placement.

nevelator

runawaybishop wrote: »

Any particularly synergistic setup for a hunter? Was using swarm grenades but they sucked, void wall grenades seem ok but you have to be spot on with placement.

I ran with Gunslinger and the exotic gauntlets that give you an extra tripmine. Scavenger perk reduces the cooldown of grenades.
Also set myself up with Knife jugger & Gamblers dagger (2 throwing knives & precision kills resets cooldown). A precision kill with a throwing knife gets you the melee and precision kill, so is decent option if you have no grenades.
Also you feel like Steven Seagal a legend getting 8 or 9 kills in a row with throwing knives.

Kimbot

Challenge of Elders

Modifiers
Exposure - Guardian shields are increased but do not replenish.
Trickle - Recharge of abilities is significantly reduced.
Melee Kill Bonus - Melee kills are worth more points.

This week modifiers

Generic Dreadhead

Use the Ram! :P

Mitch Connor

One of the bounties for this week is kills with solar abilities - so running as a solar guardian will be required.

Kimbot

Mitch Connor wrote: »

One of the bounties for this week is kills with solar abilities - so running as a solar guardian will be required.

Im running my titan with hammers and I bet my score will still be high enough even Solo'ing it

Generic Dreadhead

Mitch Connor wrote: »

One of the bounties for this week is kills with solar abilities - so running as a solar guardian will be required.

Not it won't be required. It will be required if you want to run THAT bounty. I straight up ignored the Void Kills (on my Titan) and all 3 Primary Kills bounties last week. I'm not going to bend myself out of shape over getting them done. Running that hunter was zero craic

PetKing

jonnycivic wrote:

Im running my titan with hammers and I bet my score will still be high enough even Solo'ing it

Can't remember which perk you pick, it's the Sunbreaker one that instantly refills your melee after a melee kill?

SolvableKnave

Cormac... wrote: »

Not it won't be required. It will be required if you want to run THAT bounty. I straight up ignored the Void Kills (on my Titan) and all 3 Primary Kills bounties last week. I'm not going to bend myself out of shape over getting them done. Running that hunter was zero craic

Clear the bounties as you run PoE 41 for the Sterling Treasure, then just concentrate on clearing the scores in CoE. PoE 41 is a bit of a cake walk, ideal for getting the bounties done.

SolvableKnave

PetKing wrote: »

Can't remember which perk you pick, it's the Sunbreaker one that instantly refills your melee after a melee kill?

Stoke the Forge. Reduces Sunstrike Cooldown. Getting a killing blow will instantly recharge it. This will help go towards the Solar ability kills bounty.

Kimbot

PetKing wrote: »

Can't remember which perk you pick, it's the Sunbreaker one that instantly refills your melee after a melee kill?

Oh some of my raid gear is set for Orb drops on Punch kills. But "Stoke the forge" would be the perk used for hammers on this, a sunstrike kill instantly recharges your sunstrike.

nevelator

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Stoke the Forge. Reduces Sunstrike Cooldown. Getting a killing blow will instantly recharge it. This will help go towards the Solar ability kills bounty.

That and simmering flames (Full super charges grenade & melee twice as fast) is why I am veering towards sunbreaker.

SolvableKnave

nevelator wrote: »

That and simmering flames (Full super charges grenade & melee twice as fast) is why I am veering towards sunbreaker.

Yes. This sounds the most viable option for Titan's. 2 runs possible for 90k?

nevelator

Cormac... wrote: »

Use the Ram! :P

I thought that the Ram just triggers Life steal and gives you more armour. Why use that over the claws of ahamkara. Am I missing something - does it also trigger the energy drain effect ?

nevelator

nevelator wrote: »

I thought that the Ram just triggers Life steal and gives you more armour. Why use that over the claws of ahamkara. Am I missing something - does it also trigger the energy drain effect ?

Forget that last question, I am an Idiot! Melee, get health back and repeat - there's not much more to get really

runawaybishop

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Yes. This sounds the most viable option for Titan's. 2 runs possible for 90k?

Defender titans by a country mile. Orb generation on melee.