Story 21 – The Black Garden

 

 

STORY MISSION 21: The Black Garden

 

Recommended Lv: 18

 

 

Objective: Head to the gate

 

Ah, the final story mission is finally here folks. It starts off with a little open world jaunt across Mars to the huge vex gate we saw in the first Mars mission. When you arrive you will encounter you'll run into a fair array of enemies waiting for you (minotaurs, hobgoblins and a hydra). But once they all hit the floor, the gate will pulse with power and open into another place.

 

Objective: Enter the gate

 

Sprint through to arrive at the Black Garden.

 

 

Objective: Explore the garden

 

Kinda beautiful and creepy at the same time isn't it? Deactivated vex line the walls of the lush passages. However, as most suspicious players have already guessed, they aren't all inactive. Look for the telltale red glow to discern the live vex amongst the inactive ones. They will also be backed up by spawning enemies (harpies and minotaurs) at one point. At the end of the hallway area will be a large room full of broken columns.

 

As you enter this room, another group of harpies and a minotaur will try and stop you. Take the fight to them and bring them down before moving on. A small group of goblins will be the next hallway encounter. Once you enter the next large room, harpies, hobgoblins and a minotaur are there already. A little more travel and you will cross into a darkness zone. Pretty early in the mission, but it is the final mission I suppose.

 

Keep trudging along and shortly afterwards you will see an eerie green light. Follow it and you will end up outside, looking out over the surface of the vex home-world (surprisingly lacking in huge machinery and metal). Follow the trail along the nearby cliffs to stumble across a transfer gate guarded by hobgoblins. Deal with the gate quickly and then turn your attention on the machines guarding it. The small channel underneath the gate has several wandering goblins, so take care of them as well before moving forward.

 

 

Your next opponent will be a cyclops, waiting to spawn enemies and make life difficult. Follow the usual tactics of powerful shots to the eye and it will die quickly. A little further along the path, your objective will update.

 

Objective: Destroy the vex

 

More hallway walking will spit you out into a relatively small room with plenty of goblins and a yellow health hydra. Deal with the goblins first before using strong weapons or abilities to bring down the hydra. As you pass where the hydra was originally, you will finally get the real objective for this place.

 

Objective: Find the garden's heart

 

Keep following the lone path, dealing with the enemy squads along the way (goblins, hobgoblins, harpies and minotaurs). After a little while, you will encounter a large open are filled with vex and you objective will update.

 

Objective: Scan vex clusters

 

Both markers point to a cluster, so you can head towards whichever one you wish first. Plenty of goblins, harpies, minotaurs and a hydra will all try their best to bar your way. The battle may be fierce, but by now your tactics against the vex should be polished to a fine shine (and later they will need to be). Interact with both clusters to create a conflux in the center of this area.

 

Objective: Activate the conflux

 

Approach the new conflux, taking out the few stragglers in your way. Plug in your ghost to open the doorway and enter the true heart of the black garden. When you do, a short cut scene will take over.

 

 

Objective: Annihilate the vex

 

First things first, we need to take out the goblins and hobgoblins who were worshiping the heart. Use your height advantage to bring them down fast, or drop down and engage them at their level. Once the air clears, the heart will show some true power.

 

 

Objective: Kill the sol progeny

 

Ah, this is the real end boss fight people. Unfortunately, it's a boss fight you need to do three times. My advice (besides the whole tactics thing) is to put on a kick-ass music track or two. Think of the sol progeny as huge minotaurs with all that entails. Their plasma blasts are very damaging, they can move fast and spawn allies after set durations. The best bet for players is to maneuver through the debris in front of the progeny (killing spawned minions when necessary) and firing on them through the gaps. Unlike minotaurs, the glowing core they have is actually a weak point and will take increased damage.

 

Use all your powers, weapons and equipment here as it is the final story mission (it's easy to restock in an earth patrol mission afterwards if needed). Play defensively when you can (this is a darkness zone, remember?) and just keep pelting away at the awakened statues. Aside from that, there isn't really much to say as this is the culmination of your skills and experience to this point. Taking down the minions should be little challenge and good players should be easily able to dodge the blasts of the progeny while firing back. After the third one is defeated, the heart is out of power and thus so are the vex. Watch the fireworks and the final mission will finally end.

 

 

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