By all rights, getting the Black Spindle in Destiny is one of the hardest things I've accomplished in gaming to date. It requires a significant amount of teamwork, strategy, and execution... and if that isn't enough it is time gated such that you only rarely get to attempt it! You might think it is impossible or something only really "elite" players can complete, but it is not! In fact, I feel just about any decent team with can do it, if they are patient and prepared. Read on for a full break down with plenty of Black Spindle tips, or check out our video guide here:
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ8URjYik_E"
Having the Right Team
There are a lot of things you can do in Destiny regardless of class composition, but I would argue that the Black Spindle secret challenge on "Lost to Light" is not one of them. The final battle requires very specific roles, and that means that while it is may be possible to run with say 3 Hunters, a balanced team will make it much easier. My recommendations are as follows:
- Team DPS Booster - The role of this guardian is to help the team get the most out of periods where your team will focus DPS on the boss.
First choice: Nightstalker Hunter Second choice: Defender Titan (Weapons of Light)
I give Nighstalkers the narrow lead here since they are also very effective at revives and taking down Blights (with Shadowshot, or quick DPS then smoke). Weapons of Light will give the greater damage boost, but is harder to place for maximum effectiveness. - Team Tanking Booster - The role of this guardian is to help team survivability against mass waves of adds, and boss himself. First choice: Defender Titan (Blessing of Light) Second choice: None Having Blessing is huge for pushing back adds. When added to a Stormcaller or Sunbreaker it makes clearing the field much more survivable, and every death avoided is tens of seconds back on the clock.
- Primary Add Control - The role of this guardian is to periodically wipe the playing field of adds, particularly the devil spawn psions which multiply like a plague. First choice: Stormcaller Warlock Second choice: Sunbreaker Titan The sith lord can make short work of psions when spec'd for best chaining, and is also effective against pesky Taken Centurions. In a pinch, a Sunbreaker Titan can also do a fairly effective job, and is a little harder to take down when running out into the fray.
Bringing the Right Gear
The timed portion of the fight will include many "bullet sponge" elemental shielded enemies. As you progress through the rooms, you will face primarily Solar shields, but Void and Arc also make appearances. If possible, try to balance your team so that you are a little Solar heavy, but have Void and Arc options. If you have to choose, Solar is better. Some notable choices are as follows:
- No Time to Explain - A great choice as a primary, since it maximizes ammo usage and is effective against the many adds you'll face.
- Red Death - A good choice for increased survivability in the last room. Suros Regime is an alternative, but I find it feeling like it has a bit less bite and ammo could be an issue.
- 1000 yard stare - Easy to get from the campaign quest line. Getting a solar drop is ideal, but void is a good backup.
- Quillum's Terminus - Possibly the best heavy slot choice due to ammo efficiency and increased damage to Taken. Not sure if all are solar, but all of mine have been, and they melt Solar shields.
- Most other raid weapons - Effective vs. Taken, and benefit from Cocoon. Make sure you have enough sniper coverage on your team though.
- Sleeper Simulant - Very effective at taking down Blights at range, and a pretty effective yellow bar destroyer. Limited ammo is the biggest drawback.
The Run
Your first challenge is to actually get to "the challenge". For an experienced team this is not a big deal, but it does take several minutes and is a tedious step. Basically you need to run the mission as normal until you return to the third relic room. When you get to that room run directly across from the entrance and on the opposite side you'll find the door to the "Tanik's" strike open. There aren't great time pressures to get to this point, other than a desire to make attempts as fast as possible. In my experience of ~ 40 runs, I've never been denied access to the Tanik's door, unless my team wiped. As such, I suggest you move at a measured pace, particularly in the 2 relic room. Many teams I've run with will try and rush that room without clearing adds and end up wiping, blowing the whole attempt. Take your time and clear Acolytes and Knights before you go for the relics - it will only add at most a minute to your attempt. Once you enter the Tanik's door you'll come to the regular gravity lift and hear a message from Variks.
Pro Tip Pop a heavy synth before you fight Ogre right before the "head fake" end of the mission. This will allow the cool down to run during the fight, and you can pop one more in the final room. I used this opportunity to memorize the location of my heavy synths, so I could go right to it and spam the button when the pressure was on.
In part 2 of this guide, we'll break down each of the rooms and provide tips for finishing the fight on time.
On the Clock
At the secret exit to the Lost to Light mission described in part 1, shortly after you go up the gravity lift, a ten minute timer starts (displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen). You must make your way to the Tanik's boss room (killing every enemy on the way to proceed), and then kill both the final boss (Driviks, the Chosen) and all adds, before time runs out. This may first seem impossible, but in fact you can kill quite a lot of enemies in ten minutes. Try to keep track of your time as you complete each room and compare to the benchmark times below, so you can tell if you are proceeding fast enough. There is some degree of slack in the schedule, but big delays in any room may mean that a "wipe and retry" is the best approach.
Room # 1 : Target time remaining > 9 minutes
The first room is just a taste of what is to come, and if you end up doing multiple attempts you'll eventually become something of an artist at it. Your first priority in this and basically every room is to get the taken Blights (large black orbs that spawn adds) down as soon as possible - there are two in this room one close to the entrance and one towards the back left of the room. A very close second priority will be to clear out the large number of Solar shielded Taken Knights which will be spewing flames all over the place. Solar snipers and heavy can make short work of their shields, which is essential to getting them down quick. By the time there are just a few adds remaining, keep an eye out for an Arc shielded Taken Centurion. Either use an Arc weapon to clear his shield, or just team shoot him to death. Once all adds are down, group up at the door, and prepare for a brief hallway encounter with 2 Captains and a few Vandals before room 2.
Pro Tip Keep at least one teammate in the back (entrance) of the room until all adds are eliminated. Having to waste precious seconds chasing down a Thrall is a big waste.
Pro Tip Call out "left side" or "right side" as you enter the hallway after room 1, to focus fire on the enemies that spawn. Using a few supers at this point is a good idea to keep the pace going, and to shred those horrible Captains.
Room # 2 : Target time remaining > 6.5 minutes
In some ways, the whole encounter may come down to your proficiency at this room. When down well, you may have as much as a minute more time versus the final room. Done poorly and you will fall far short of the time you need to knock it out.
There are three Blights in the room that should be taken down quickly, one immediately inside the room and another a little ways behind it in near where the Fallen Walker normally drops down. The third spawns in the back left of the room just past the small "hallway" and is the hardest to get at. Get the blights down or extra waves of adds will make the room take longer to clear.
In addition to the Blights, you also have to deal with 3 Void shielded Taken Wizards, and 4 Taken Vandal snipers. It is a good idea to have team assignments with one person focusing on the snipers and the other two on Wizards and the rest of the trash. Make sure that you have some Void damage to drop the Wizard shields, or you'll waste a ton of time and bullets on them. After many attempts, I favor staying near the door just long enough to clear the first two Blights and some trash, possibly with some sniper potshots, and then moving the whole team left through the hallway to clear the third Blight and before dividing up to sniper/wizard assignments.
Pro Tip Keep an eye on the right most Wizard as you enter the room. He'll often path into the outside right tunnel and you'll have to chase him down.
Pro Tip If you are on sniper duty, be methodical and don't run into the open or rush up until you've thinned them out or you will most likely get sniped in the air. You can usually see at least 2 from the safety of the left "hallway", and if you are lucky all 3. When you are down to one left, try and bait him into shielding, and then rush up to finish him off with close range options.
# Final Room
On the way to the final room, there is a hallway with a Captain, some Phalanxes, and towards the end a few Knights. Since all shields are Solar, I recommend using Quillum's Terminus or a similar Solar Machine gun to shred their shields and breeze through this hallway quickly. You can pop a Heavy synth when get to into the main Final Room if needed.
The final room is definitely "the big show" of this entire challenge. After even one attempt you'll have a good idea of the mayhem that is possible, but what took me a long time to understand was the proper strategy for dealing with the chaos. The strategy that worked for us is pretty straightforward, but takes skill to execute: Blights > Adds > Boss
Kill the Blights - A total of 8 blights spawn throughout the fight, at predictable locations. The always spawn 2 at a time. These things are Psion factories, and the longer they are up, the more time 1x1 time you are losing with the Driviks. Use Snipes, Heavy, Grenades, and if necessary even Supers to get the hard to reach ones. Getting Blights down fast is the most important part of this strategy. Your "Team Tank Booster" Defender Titan can drop Blessing bubbles at this point to help make the adds onslaught more survivable while you focus on Blights.
Control Adds - To me, a lot of other strategies really undersell the importance of this point. If you are doing a good job killing Blights, you'll control the main source of adds, but the insufferable Psion "clone" ability means the room can still be teaming with them if you don't focus on clearing them out. Captains, Knights, and eventually Centurions spawn as well, and until you down them their ranged attacks will make it very tough to get shots on the boss. In this strategy, adds are everyone's job - but make sure to remind your "Primary Add Control" team member to pop their Super at these points to really thin out the field quickly and set you up for some boss time.
Take out Boss - When all current Blights are down, and when the adds are clear or near clear, at this point you can devote all focus to Driviks. Spread out so that he has to juggle his attention between you, and rip him with sniper/heavy/grenades. This is the point where your "Team DPS Booster" pops their Super so that you get the most out of your few seconds of dedicated boss time.
Once Driviks is down, there may still be a few adds around the room that you hadn't hunted down yet. Throw everything you've got at them (don't forget grenades/heavy/supers), but try not to be careless rushing in. Sadly I've suffered the fate of missing the win by 1 pesky Knight that suckered our whole team in the closing seconds due to rushing and poor communication. Don't be that guy.
Conclusion
Well I hope you've found this Black Spindle guide helpful, and I wish you all the WOTS karma in the world to get Black Spindle on your next attempt at Lost to the Light. Feel free to share what worked for you in the comments section, and check out our Black Spindle walkthrough on YouTube here: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ8URjYik_E"