Destiny 2 Nightfall Solo Guide: The Pyramidion

[brakion]

(Last updated: 2018/03/06)

The strike takes place on Io. It's one of the more interesting strikes, with sparrow-jumping, laser-dodging, and a lot of different mechanics and triggers.

Patch 1.1.3 and later: Kill everything before the boss. When fighting the boss, snipe the adds from cover, and don't die. Original guide is below. Esoterickk's guide is here.

If you have a Nightstalker Hunter with Graviton Forfeit, this is one of the easiest strikes to run solo. Thus far it has only appeared with one set of modifiers.

Recommended Loadouts

Equip standard loadout. The rocket launcher is frequently used on groups, so configure it for maximum blast radius.

Modifiers: Torrent + Timewarp: Zero Hour

You get 22 minutes in normal, 17 in Prestige.

This strike is a showcase for Nightstalker Hunter stealth, as there are large sections you can bypass with invisibility.
Warlock can either go Stormcaller/Conduction (top tree) with Crown of Tempests, or Voidwalker/Hunger (bottom tree) with Nezarec's Sin for Devour. Everything leading up to the boss strongly favors arc for damage output, but the boss fight might be easier with void for survivability. (Trivia: you can blink-jump through lasers.)
Don't hesitate to fire rockets for the first half of the strike. A lot of power ammo gets dropped.
If you're not being targeted by Hobgoblins, throw grenades while jumping up high, with a bit of a strafe. This will cause a lot of incoming fire to miss. Activation plates will continue to operate while you're airborne.
Pre-grenade spawn points whenever possible, especially with Titan.
If you're behind a Towering Barricade, jump up and throw over the top, rather than stepping around it (or, for the boss, just throw without jumping). You're less exposed, in terms of both surface area and time (instead of move-throw-move, it's just move-throw, and gravity does the rest). Your double-jump is canceled by the grenade throw, so you don't need to worry about hanging in air for an extended period.
The plates take about eight seconds to activate. This is the same duration as the augmented Nightstalker invisibility, which means you'll need to refresh your invisibility while standing on the plate.
Remember that you can throw grenades and use class abilities while in your super.

Walkthrough

Entrance

Convention: you are driving your sparrow northward.
To advance, you need to activate two plates and kill most of the enemies. There are initially two Quantum Goblins near each plate, and a shielded Harpy on the right side.
At first glance, it appears the fastest way through this section is to activate both plates as quickly as possible. In practice, the key is efficiently destroying the Vex. Wiping the room of enemies and then moving to the second plate can be faster than rushing the plate, because falling back to heal takes time and gives the Vex an opportunity to spread out. (If you can activate the plate quickly and manage the full set of enemies, you'll do very well.)
The combination of Quantum Goblins and Harpies is an effective one. The initial positions are somewhat random, making this play out a bit differently every time. Don't be surprised if you have to restart here a few times.
Aggressive Opening: select the rocket launcher before getting on your sparrow. The idea is to drive to the right of the entrance, jump off your sparrow, and land in the eastern plate, firing on the way down. The pattern with a Striker Titan is jump (to leave the sparrow), jump (to slow your fall), throw grenade at the Harpy, jump (to slow your fall), fire a rocket at the Goblins, jump before you hit. As soon as you land, jump up high and grenade the surviving nearby Goblin, if any, or the Goblins by the other plate.
Conservative Opening: veer a bit to the left as you drive in, and jump off onto the center peninsula. This provides some cover from Goblins, and allows you to throw grenades and shoot rockets downward. Grenade the Harpy, shoot a Goblin, grenade the other Goblin. Start with the plate on the right (east), so you're positioned in the west when the final set of summons appears.
This room drops a ton of power ammo. Don't be stingy with the rockets.
The key to staying alive is high-jump grenade throws. The Goblins throw rocks with AoE damage, which makes it risky to sit in cover. For stealth Hunter, you want to go invisible then throw at the top of your jump, so that the Goblin shots will target your elevated position. Alternatively, jump with movement rather than straight up.
The first completed plate summons two shielded Harpies in the NW and NE corners, two Quantum Goblins on the exit ramp, and two more in the NE corner. If you get caught between two groups you will likely die, so it's best to move west as soon as the plate finishes and jump up on the raised area near the second plate for a clean rocket shot at the spawning ramp Goblins. After you kill the NW Harpy, all enemies will be to the east/north of you. (The NW Harpy moves when you get near, but always to the same place, making it an easy target for a grenade.)
The second completed plate summons two more pairs of Quantum Goblins in the same general locations as the first set. No Harpies.
The final set of Vex appear on the exit ramp after both plates have been activated and you've killed 5+ enemies. You can't just activate the plates (sorry, Hunters). You must kill everything in this last group -- six red-bar Goblins and two supra-Harpies -- to advance. It's not necessary to kill all of the Quantum Goblins or red-bar Harpies, so if one is hiding in the east you don't need to chase it down.
If you move south after activating the western plate, and don't back up past the southern edge of the blocks, the eastern Quantum Goblins and Harpy will be unable to hit you and will stay in the east. (If you go too far south, the Goblins will move in.) Titans can pop a barrier and focus on the last set of enemies approaching from the north in relative safety. Hunters can move west to get a bit of cover from the Goblin hordes.
When the door opens, get on your sparrow, and collect power ammo. If a lingering enemy hits you, swap out your sparrow at the bottom of the ramp. You won't be able to summon it past this room.

Descent

Drive in, dodging at the bottom to mitigate fall damage. Alternatively, stick to the left side for a slightly gentler landing. Gun it in the first open area, then drive steadily through the rest. At the last big drop, aim to the left side, as it's a smooth wall; the right side has a protrusion that can flip your sparrow. It's possible to drop straight down the middle if you're lined up just right.
The difficulty in maneuvering may make it seem like the sparrow is slower, but even through the rough parts the sparrow will beat a runner.

Big Platform Room

There are some Vex on a ledge ahead of you, past which are three large platforms and a landing zone. The platforms are positioned to the left, then the right, then the left, with some overlap. The second and third have Taken on them, and the landing zone has Vex. They overlap enough that you could theoretically drive straight down the middle, but in practice you need to weave a little.
Power-drive down the tunnel and off the ledge, straight down the middle, turning to the left when you reach the edge. Let off the accelerator, turn 90 degrees left, and dodge left just before you hit to stop your momentum and avoid fall damage. You're briefly safe here, so take a second to settle and position yourself. You want to be a bit back from the edge of the platform so you have room to accelerate. NOTE: do not ram a Goblin on the way through, as these are tough enough to survive the hit, and will likely land on the first platform and destroy your sparrow. Also, if the edge of the platform is on fire from the Taken below, don't drive through the flames.
Approach #1: While on the first block, take up position on the mid-left side. There's a sort of low ridge you can line up on. Aim your sparrow straight ahead, and hit the accelerator (you can let up after you're airborne). You must dodge the instant before you hit or your sparrow will likely explode, killing you. If you do it correctly you should go nose-first into a raised block, which will shield you from the nearby nasties while you bounce. Steer around the block and hit the accelerator, dodging before you land. If you head to the left you can land on a raised area, which will help you shoot forward without bumping into anything.
Approach #2: Drive to each platform in turn. Angle slightly to the right and briefly thrust forward again. Just before you land, dodge to negate damage from the impact and incoming fire. Without pausing, angle back to the left and thrust, again dodging just before landing. Angle to the right and floor it.
Once down, pop the accelerator to clear the Vex, but release it so you don't crash into the lasers. You want to enter the laser field at an angle that lets you get all the way through without having to slalom. You want to go as far outside as you can though -- the lasers or your sparrow seem to have a wider-than-expected hit box. (See Esoterickk's or The HM05's video for an example.)
If you die on this section, restart the run. Death puts you back on the top block, which doesn't seem so bad, but you can't summon your sparrow, and unless you're a stealthy Hunter it's tough to run past the hostiles without dying. The rez timer plus the added travel time plus the combat time will wreck your run.
Trivia: It's possible to run down the angled block on the left side of the room, which is far enough out of the way that most enemies will ignore you. You have to jump between footholds or you'll slide off and die. It's also possible to drive a sparrow down it; see e.g. this video.
You can't drive your sparrow across the laser floor. Get off, jump across the field, and jump over the Taken Phalanx.

Taken and Vex

Convention: you enter from the south, and the warp gate is in the north.
You have to kill everything to advance. There are three Ravenous Taken Knights that shoot fire. One is at the bottom of the ramp to the west, one is directly north of where you enter, and one is NE on the raised area. Start with the one in the west, and kill the next-closest one before heading down the ramp.
Warlocks should super immediately. With the Crown of Tempests on, the super will likely recharge before the Vex warp in. Clear the bottom of the ramp, then run back south before the damage reduction wears off.
Titans can jump directly north and super. Immediately run for the ramp back to the start, stomping as you go, to take out the first two Knights. (Note: if you're far enough east you may trigger the first round of Taken spawns.)
Hunters can super the start, but it's pretty easy to get killed while hanging around. A better choice is to super the Vex, taking out the two orange-bar Minotaurs quickly.
As you move to the middle area, more Taken will warp in: a Wizard in the low area, a Ravenous Taken Knight in the raised area, and a pair of Taken Hobgoblins on the back wall. Pre-grenade the center area to kill the Wizard, and if you stand at the top of the short ramp on the low side you should have an angle for a rocket on the Ravenous Taken Knight. (This is an alternative opportunity for the Titan super -- when the spawns appear, hit the super to the west of the Wizard, punch it once to finish it, jump up to the raised area, kill the Knight, and stomp the second spawn of Acolytes as they appear.)
Moving forward, a second group of Taken will warp in, mostly shielded Acolytes.
When all the Taken are dead, the Vex will warp in by the gate. A good place to stand is on the northern ledge where the Taken Hobgoblins spawned in. It has good cover and throwing angles.

Three Plates

Convention: the warp gate is at the north end.
After running past some more lasers, you'll get to a room with three plates that you have to stand on to activate. You don't need to kill anything to advance.
For Hunter, just go invisible and stand on the plates. They take eight seconds to activate, so you will need to throw a smoke bomb and scoot at least once while standing on the plate. Each completed plate adds more enemies, so do the western plate last as it's the least exposed. The mobs will shoot at the position you were last seen in, so try to move perpendicular to the line of fire of the big darkness spheres when you drop your smoke bomb. Avoid double-jumping, as enemies may aggro and target the sound. If your health is low, take a few seconds to regenerate before stepping on. Don't stand next to the big guys when you refresh your cloak as they can one-shot you. Running around the edge of the ring seems to work well. (Skip the rest of this section.)
Warlocks and Titans have to kill stuff. Titans can hide a bit, but the darkness spheres from Taken Captains and tracking balls from Ravenous Taken Centurians go through and around barricades, respectively, so you really just want to kill things quickly.
You enter near some Vex, including an amped-up Minotaur. The middle area is full of Taken Psions, and there's a Ravenous Taken Knight on the west side in the "cave". When you advance to the northern half of the room, more Taken will spawn (Captains and Goblins), in the center and north.
The first activated plate spawns additional enemies near the other two plates, plus a few Psions in the middle. If you take the north plate, you'll get a Taken Centurion in the middle, and Captains + Goblins in the west. If you take the eastern plate, the Centurion appears in the west. If you take the western plate, you get two Taken Centurions, in the middle and north. (Suggestion: don't start with the western plate.)
The second activated plate spawns in more units near whichever plate you haven't taken.
The third plate spawns a handful of Vex near the gate that you can run past (or jump over).
Warlock approach: Advance immediately to the eastern plate after killing some units on the way in (ignore the mobs at the western plate). Healing rift, throw grenades. When the plate activates, pop your super, and run west to kill the Knight, Centurion, and other mobs at that plate. Activate it. A Ravenous Taken Centurion spawns in the north.
Titan approach: Clear the various enemies without moving far from the entrance, including the ones in the cave-like area on the left, then move north on the west side. This will initiate the spawn-in while you have some cover. When the enemies are mostly dead, activate the north plate, then run to the center plate. Pre-grenade the heavy Centurion spawn point right next to you, and put up a barrier facing west. Kill the Centurion with a rocket, then flee south after the plate activates. Even if you die here you've activated two plates and cleared everything but Taken Captains and trash.

More Lasers and a Small Party

The first person through the warp gate can run past the first moving laser, jump over the second, and slide under the third without stopping. Since you're solo, you get to be that person.
Hunters just run past the bad guys. Refresh your invisibility after passing the first laser.
Clearing the room takes 30 seconds, so it's better to just run through. If you're confident in your running you can run along the raised area to the right, jump through the first spinning laser, and just sprint non-stop through the spinners. For a more consistent approach, pop your super but don't attack anything. The super's damage reduction will prevent enemy fire from killing you. Jump past (or punch through) the Taken Phalanx at the end.

The Four Towers

Hunters can just hack the four network towers while invisible. You will be unable to use your melee while the ghost animates, so cloak near the tower, run to it, activate it, run away. (Skip the rest of this section.)
Warlocks and Titans should kill all of the enemies in the upper area. There are some more in the lower area that can be ignored.
The trick with the lower tower is to kill the units immediately around it from above, jump directly down to it, activate it, and then jump back up. This avoids getting in a fight with a bunch of Taken Acolytes that won't bother you otherwise. Note the walkway on the left (facing from where you enter) is lower than the walkway on the right, so jump up to that side.
Once you advance to about the midway point, additional Taken will spawn in. Notably, two Taken Hobgoblins on sniper perches, and a bunch of units near the last two towers. Traveling to the second (lower) tower will initiate this, so if you want to pre-grenade spawn points or kill Hobgoblins before they get shielded it's probably best to do that first, then run back for the second tower.
Snipe Goblins with a scout rifle to prevent them from shielding others, then throw grenades at towers 3 and 4 while jumping. The stealth Taken Minotaurs throw rocks that hit hard and do AoE damage. A pulse grenade stuck to the side of the tower will usually hurt the tower guards, so your grenade aim doesn't have to be perfect.
When the hack is initiated on the fourth tower (or possibly as you approach the fourth tower), a powerful Taken ("Gralk, Gauntlet of Savathun") appears in front of the gate. It's not necessary to kill him, but he's tricky to run past without dying, and he drops heavy ammo. The warp gate takes about 12 seconds to open after the last tower is hacked, so you don't actually lose much time by fighting him. He's fairly good at dodging rockets, and he fires tracking missiles (Axion Darts) that you need to shoot down. Jump constantly, throw grenades, shoot projectiles. Sometimes you can stun him a bit with a Pulse grenade and just run past.

Before Boss

You can't sparrow, so just run. Ignore the Goblins lurking around the edge.

Boss Fight: Brakion, Genesis Mind

Weapons used:
- Line Rifle (right arm). Used while health is above 20%. (Hobgoblins use a weapon with the same name.)
- Void flame thrower (left arm). Used while health is above 20%.
- Machine gun (right arm). Used when health reaches 20%.
- Stomp attack.
Convention: the place where Brakion first appears is north.

There are several phases, mostly in the form of mechanics to work through:

Stand on the plate in the north. Brakion appears and walks up.
At 90% health, he teleports to the southwest corner. About five seconds later, a one-way force field goes up that prevents damage but allows Brakion to shoot you. A group of Goblins spawns in the south, between Brakion and the south plate.
Stand on the south plate to activate the SW plate. More Goblins spawn in, between Brakion and the SW plate.
Stand on the SW plate to drop the force field. Brakion will move around a bit, but won't leave the corner.
At 70% health, he teleports to the southeast corner. Five seconds later, a one-way force field goes up. A group of Goblins and an aggressive Minotaur spawn in.
Stand on the SE plate to activate the south plate. More Goblins and two more Minotaurs spawn in between Brakion and the south plate.
Stand on the south plate to drop the force field. Brakion will move around a bit, but won't leave the corner.
At 60% health, he teleports to the north. About five seconds later, 4 Goblins and 6 Harpies will spawn.
At 50% health, he teleports to the middle of the map, where you initially dropped in. He no longer teleports, but will move around quite a bit.
At 40% health, he staggers, and a second round of adds appear. This includes Fanatics, Goblins, and a couple of Quantum Goblins. Cover elements will appear and disappear.
At 30% health, a third round of adds appear. Harpies, Goblins, and Fanatics. (There's a small fourth round with a few Goblins and Harpies that may be triggered by elapsed time.)
At 20% health, Brakion's head pops off, and the crit zone moves to his abdomen. He goes into "berserk" mode, charging straight at you. His gun does less damage but fires continuously. Cover blocks will appear and disappear.

General notes:

A hit from Brakion's Line Rifle will take off about 40% of your health in Normal mode, 60% in Prestige. The void fire spray will overpower healing rifts, but won't punch through Titan barriers. It does penetrate a little, though, so pop the barrier and then take a step back.
The boss holds his Line Rifle in his right hand, so when standing behind cover you always want to peek out the right side. You can hit him in the head, but his shots will hit the cover block.
The best time to fire a rocket (pre-berserk) is when he's pointing his gun. Otherwise he's fairly adept at dodging.
The Minotaurs that spawn in for the second round of plate activations are nasty. They aggressively close to melee range and teleport frequently, making them harder to target with grenades and rockets. It's probably wise to take them out, even for a Hunter. One way to deal with them is to throw a grenade between you and them, just far enough away that you don't get hurt by the initial blast, and then move forward so that the Minotaur has to stand in the grenade pulses to melee you. They'll get a hit in, but the grenade plus some gun fire should drop them quickly.

Fight strategy:

The boss is briefly invulnerable when he appears, but you can pre-throw a grenade as he walks up. Two additional grenade hits will damage him enough to send him to the SW corner. You can toss a grenade before the force field goes up to do a little extra damage.
Stand on the southern plate, and pre-grenade the spawn point. Stay in cover. Be prepared to move off if he uses the void fire weapon.
When the plate activates, throw grenades at the SW position to catch them as they spawn. Kill as many as possible for heading over. When traveling to the SW plate you will likely be hit by Brakion unless you time it well, so don't jump across unless you're at full health.
At the SW plate, stand on the side closest to Brakion, and crouch. The Line Rifle shouldn't be able to hit you through the block. Stay to the right side so you don't get bumped when new cover elements appear.
When the force field drops, you can run straight south towards Brakion and stand right at the edge of the platform he's standing on. His sniper shots and void flames will miss, and you can throw grenades and head-shot him at leisure. (You may need to crouch.)
When you move to the southeast plate, you have a similar situation but less cover and a nasty Minotaur. There's usually one Goblin who likes to come around the left side of the nearby cover, making this even more interesting. The biggest risk is Brakion's gun, so you need to stay in cover. Pre-grenade the spawn area, then when the Minotaur gets close, throw a grenade at the right edge of the nearby block and move against it. You want the Minotaur to stand in the grenade pulses while it tries to melee you.
Once the SE plate is activated, kill the spawns at the southern plate with grenades and your scout rifle. The Minotaurs are easier to kill if they're not teleporting. (This is a good idea for stealth Hunters too unless you're adept at dodging crazed Minotaurs.)
If you die during this sequence, always go back to the SE position. If you try to go through the SW corner, the Minotaurs will charge you, and Goblins will start moving north to flank you.
The cover near the southern plate is poor, but you can stand on the very northern edge of the plate without getting sniped (but watch out for void fire).
When the force field goes down, you start another one-on-one damage phase. Use the nearby block for cover. (In theory you can press up against the edge of the "stage" to the right of the staircase, but this seems a bit more fidgety when it comes to the void fire. Definitely crouch here.) Hit him until he teleports.

Post-Force-Field Phase - Stealth Hunter

Throw a grenade at the boss, hide. Shoot a rocket at the boss's feet, hide. Repeat until victorious.
Focus on staying alive, rather than maximizing grenades per second. If you take significant damage, stay invisible. Every time you uncloak you'll take a beating. Remember that Brakion can do significant damage with one shot, especially on Prestige.
Jump before throwing grenades. Goblins seem to be able to fire the instant you become visible, so you'll take a lot of damage if you're not moving.

Post-Force-Field Phase - Titan

As soon as Brakion teleports, run all the way north, to the place where Brakion first appeared. You'll see a circle on the ground. Place a barricade a bit back from the southern edge of that. Brakion will move south and west. Throw long-distance grenades and fire rockets until Brakion dies.
Keep at least two partially-overlapping barriers up at all times. Stand a step back so the void fire doesn't hit you, but no more than that (some goes over the barrier and hits behind you). When he goes berserk, he will run up and stomp, but the stomps won't penetrate the barrier. It's very important to keep the barricades up, so remember which one you put up last, and refresh the other one before it drops. Every time you throw a grenade, check your barricade cooldown.
He's hardest to hit with grenades after he teleports to the middle. Save your rockets for this part. Try to fire when he's aiming at you so he doesn't dodge.
Save your super in case you die and need to run back. The adds will vaporize you quickly without the damage reduction. You can pop it at the very end for a stylish finish.

Post-Force-Field Phase - Warlock

You can't hide, and the cover elements disappear at inopportune moments, so you need to clear the adds while Brakion snipes you. This is difficult. Remember that adds appear as you do damage to the boss, so clear each wave of adds before doing more boss damage.
Probably best to save your rockets for the berserk phase, as you really need to kill him quickly.
One approach is "stomp baiting" where you run at the boss and throw a Pulse grenade at his feet. When you get close, the boss will stop moving to stomp you, which keeps him in the damage radius for longer. Between the stomp and the damage from the adds you will almost certainly die, but that just ensures that the boss has no reason to move off of the grenade. Because you're getting killed repeatedly anyway, there's no need to clear the adds. (See Esoterickk's week 17 Stormcaller video.)
With Attunement of Chaos, you can overcharge your Vortex grenades, which makes them last about a second longer.