STRIKE MISSION 04: The Nexus
Recommended Level: 14
Objective: Descend into the academy
You'll start off the strike directly across from the academy buildings, so jump over the railing and head for them. As you near the entrance area, you'll run into a vex and fallen skirmish which you can ignore or participate in. It's up to you. Enter the building and wind your way through the corridors covered in verdant growth until your objective changes.
Objective: Stalk the servitors
Aha, a slightly intriguing objective that just translates into…. shoot more enemies. Sigh. I know this is a first person shooter Bungie but you could have varied up the objectives a little. As you enter the large open room, you'll cross into a darkness zone and be attacked by fallen. Vandals, dreg and shanks will rush down the stairs to greet you. You can either stay at the entrance to the room (useful later when the servitors spawn) or head inside and engage them in closer proximity.
After the initial rush of enemies, the first servitor will spawn in one of the small rooms of the area (usually the one directly opposite the entry doorway). As usual, the servitor will be flanked by a large group of fallen troops (dreg, vandals and shanks). Whittle down the escort and then whittle down the servitor. Not much strategy involved here, folks.
The other two servitors will both spawn at nearly the same time after the first one is defeated. One will spawn in a side room (to your right when you enter the room) and the other will appear in the middle of the large open area. This, combined with their minions all instantly appearing can kill off unprepared fire-teams.
Smart players will retreat to the entrance doorway and fire from there (or risk getting flanked in the open). Thin the ranks, blow up the servitors and then head for the indicated stairs.
Objective: Find the nexus
Be warned that a group of three melee vandals are waiting just above (a well placed grenade can produce physics defying results here). Head to the upper landing and peek inside to see a couple of shanks in the middle of the room and four vandals on the upper walkway at the rear. Depending on your characters jump skills you can either leap up to the walkway or climb the stairs (and get shot in the back).
Once the room is empty, head into the corridors beyond. Cross the suspicious open area and descend into the Dig Site 4 area. In the adjoining room, a vandal will be examining the floor. Help him with that by feeding him a grenade. Dreg and a trio of vandals in the room beyond will be alerted and will open fire. Take them to the cleaners. In the large area beyond you will meet the first vex forces of this level (oh yeah, wasn't this strike supposed to be about the vex?), along with a few dreg trying to combat them.
The small group of goblins should only take a few seconds to plough through. Trot past their remains and down the nearby stairs to find a bunch of harpies. Due to the small number they shouldn't pose much of a threat.
The next open area however, does. A large number of goblins, supported by hobgoblins and a pair of minotaurs are waiting here. Focus on taking out the hobgoblins quickly (their sniper fire hurts) before teaming up to deal with the minotaurs quickly. Once the coast is clear, cautiously head for the rock tunnel lit with a blue light. A group of goblins will be waiting just inside. A well placed grenade will take the bunched up group out in one shot.
Beyond the rock tunnel is… a rock tunnel. But this one is dark, so it's completely different. Follow the roped off path using your ghost as a flashlight until you reach another lit section. Just over the rise here is another clustered group of goblins, so have that grenade or an AoE super ready. Boom.
Just beyond the recently deceased goblins, you will arrive on a ledge overlooking a very big chamber… I'd even go so far as to say enormous. Depending on your skill level and weaponry, weaker guardians of the fire-team should remain up here temporarily. Why? Because five yellow health minotaurs are stalking the area below and they bloody hurt.
When you are ready to drop down keep this fun fact in mind: Falling from this height can kill you (or leave you severely damaged). Intelligent people will use their secondary jump or float ability to slow their descent and land safely.
Battle the minotaurs defensively, stick close together to revive players quickly (but not too close that they can hit multiple guardians at once) and try to engage one enemy at a time. Once the minotaurs are no more, the strike boss will appear.
Boss: Sekrion, Nexus Mind (vex)
Weak spot: Core
Now we get to the real meat of the strike. Sekrion has two attacks (like most strike bosses) plus a rotating shield that is immune to all damage. The first attack is an AoE that he uses if guardians get too close. Generally, trying to melee this enemy is nearly impossible due to the shield and the one shot kill of his AoE attack. The second attack is a twin cannon purple pulse blast that it fires rapidly and extremely accurately towards the guardian dealing the most damage.
This attack makes dealing damage difficult and as a result, dangerous without sufficient cover. There are two firing points I would suggest. Both on opposite sides of the area, so the fire-team can be doing continuous damage despite the shield of the boss. One is a raised platform with a wall and pillars in the way on the left side of the area. It also has a small alcove that is a good spot for healing and protection against the spawned minions.
The other spot is directly opposite and is a small lower area with several pillars and boxes. The cover isn't as good here, but it can be used by careful players. Essentially the strategy is, deal damage when you can. When he turns to you put a couple of rounds in the core of the boss and then retreat to lick your wounds. Repeat. Sounds simple right? Well it is, but it can be significantly complicated by his minions.
Once the boss has taken significant damage (around the 50% health mark) he will start summoning his troops. These consist of two large groups of goblins, harpies and hobgoblins spawning and then attacking the nearest guardians. This can be very dangerous if the guardians are split up or in poor cover as the boss will keep firing during this.
When this happens, try and cluster together to revive quickly and use your offensive abilities to bring down the swarm fast (grenades, supers and even rocket launchers if necessary). Hobgoblins will be (as usual) the biggest threat, so concentrate fire on them when possible.
Once the wave is down, you will have a limited amount of time (around a minute) to recover and continue damaging the boss before the next wave spawns. Keep at it, work together and make sure to be ready for the minion spawns.
Eventually, the strike boss will fall and you can all celebrate.
