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Last time in Act 2 of Episode Revenant, we find out that Fikrul has resurrected our old enemies, the Scorn Barons fromForsaken. In a shocking twist, we also witness theresurrection of Skolas,the long-dead Kell of Kells, our bitter enemy from theHouse of Wolvesexpansionin the firstDestinygame.
As Act 3 of Revenant comes to a close,Destiny 2has us once again infiltrating the Tomb of Elders through the new Kell’s Vengeance activity. This time, we’ll be taking onSkolas and his new Revenant powers.
Like theDual Destiny Exotic Class Item mission,Kell’s Vengeance cannot be soloed.It requires at least two players, and effective communication is paramount to your success. If you have these two locked down, this mission will be fairly easy to complete, despite its modifiers and level requirements.
To unlock Kell’s Vengeance, you must firstcomplete the entire story of Revenant,meaning you’ll need to complete Kell’s Fall at least three times before receiving the notification that Kell’s Vengeance is available.
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Modifiers And Recommended Loadout
Master Difficulty
Power Level
Stasis, Void
Overcharge
Co-Op Required (Unlisted)
You must have at least 2 players to start this activity.
Warden’s Punishment
Failing to complete secondary objectives will wipe your fireteam.
Galvanized
Enemies have more HP and are more difficult to stun.
Radar is disabled.
Randomized Banes
Combatants are granted random Banes.
WhileContest of Eldershas you complete at least four laps to finish the activity, Kell’s Vengeance issignificantly shorter and features Skolas, the Scorned Wolf as its final boss.
Because of the modifiers as its power level cap, it’s a tougher version of the typical Contest of Elders, and features co-op mechanics that we might remember from the Skolas fight in the originalDestiny.
You must have at leasttwo fireteam membersto start this mission, as the activity will not be accessible solo. However, you can have up tothree fire team membersfor this mission.
Like most high-tier activities, Kell’s Vengeance has a respawn timer of15 seconds, which can really mess up your groove if you’re not careful. Don’t panic when you or a teammate dies–stay alive and only attempt to revive if it’s absolutely safe.
For loadouts, you’ll want to equip any build that hasstrong burst DPSandhigh survivability.While other guides may suggest Grenade Launchers with Bait and Switch, I found out that swords and otherclose-range DPS optionsalso work wonders for the strategy that we went with. Here are some tips on loadouts for the activity as a whole:
Going Through The Contest Of Elders
Having access to Kell’s Vengeance means thatyou’ve probably already completed Contest of Elders a few times, which in this case, has essentially the same mechanics in the opening encounters.
The only key difference between Kell’s Vengeance and Contest of Elders is thatfailing secondary objectives automatically wipes your fireteam.What I noticed through my and other players' runs is that the modifiers and objectives arenot randomized, even though the game says otherwise, which makes it a little easier to prepare ahead.
There is no set number of add spawns–enemies will keep spawning until you complete the encounter.
In your first encounter,you’ll be fighting Dread and Taken,primarily Husks, Taken Thralls, and Grim. At some point during the encounter,a secondary objective will appear where you must get a certain number of kills with Special or Heavy ammo weapons within the allotted time.
Any good add clear heavy like a machine gun does wonders here (i.e.CommemorationorThunderlord). The encounter will finish with a small boss fight.
Next, you’ll face the Cabal, and your main objective is todisable the twin bosses' shields by destroying five generators that are hidden around the arena.These generators can only be destroyed byexplosive cores,which are dropped by killingVoid-shielded Incendiors, who drop three each.
Once you’ve destroyed three generators, the Warden will begin the secondary objective, which is tocomplete the encounter within a minute and thirty seconds.
Failure to complete the encounter, which includeseliminating stragglers, means anautomatic wipefor you and your team, so be efficient and make sure to survive as best as you may.
The best method is to take out two generators first and throw the other core, forcing the next Incendior to spawn. With three new cores, you’ll be able to quickly take out the remaining generators and immediately begin damage phase. If you’re efficient enough, the secondary objective should begin at the moment damage phase also begins.
Once you’ve completed the Cabal encounter, an airlock will open and you’ll traverse through the tunnels, fighting Scorn along on the way.
This is the time torelax and regroup, as there is no secondary objective time crunch. After that, you’ll arrive at the main boss room as you prepare to give Skolas what for.
Skolas, The Scorned Wolf
It’s time to fight Skolas, and if you remember fighting himas a boss inHouse of Wolves, then some aspects of this fight might feel familiar to you, as the core mechanic of this encounter is to pass around theDevouring Essence debuff and depositing Enhanced Essence into Servitorsto make Skolas vulnerable for DPS.
When the encounter begins, Skolas will appear at the “stage” in the middle of the room. A random teammate willglow red and become inflicted with Devouring Essence,which has a 30-second timer before instantly killing them.
An audio cue will also indicate that you have 10 seconds left to pass it on, so make sure to communicate that with your teammates.
If you’re playing without voice chat or cannot type fast on console, then ensure you agree with your teammates beforehand thatemoting is how you signal each other to pass on the debuff.
When a teammate takes Devouring Essence from you,you’ll be barred from taking it back for 25 seconds, indicated by the debuff “Drained of Essence” at the top of your HUD. The 25-second cooldown makes ittheoretically possible to two-man Skolas.
Now that we understand the core mechanic, your goal is to killfour Revenant Wraiths, after which will spawn aRevenant Baronminiboss.
Killing a Baron and destroying its totem will drop a mote on the ground.Only the person carrying Devouring Essence can pick it up, which transforms the debuff into Enhanced Essence, refreshing the timer back to 30 seconds.
Throughout the encounter, some enemies will spawna ball of red etherthat will float toward Skolas. These ballsheal Skolas, so it’s best to develop the habit of shooting them even if he’s at full health.
Once you have Enhanced Essence, you’ll need todeposit it into one of three Servitorsaround the arena, indicated bya glowing red aura. You can only see which Servitor to deposit into if you have Enhanced Essence, and won’t see it without it.
Deposit your debuff into the Servitor, which will fill a gauge titled “Ether Levels” by a third. This is indicated in theleft-hand corner of your HUD.Repeat this loop for two more times.
Each loop spawns a bunch of adds (including the Wraiths) in the middle of the room where Skolas initially appears. To efficiently spawn a Baron, the best strategy is to shoot a Shadowshot (Deadfall) into that area and clear them witha few good Consecrations.
Once you’ve filled your levels, Skolas will walk back to the “stage” and begin absorbing all the Ether you’ve deposited, making himvulnerable to damage.
During damage phase,a bunch of red orbs will float towards Skolasas he attempts to drink his fill of Ether. These orbs heal Skolas for a small portion each, so it’s safe to ignore themif your DPS is strong enough.
Thankfully, the damage phase lasts aroundthirty seconds, which is ample time to deal significant damage to the Scorned Kell of Wolves.
How To One-Phase Skolas
You can very easily ignore the red orbs by havinga Titan running Ward of Dawn–yes, bubble Titans after Final Shape is unheard of, but it works really well in preventing Skolas’s healing. Here’s the ideal team comp:
Finally the piece de resistance: theLegend of Acrius,which is an exotic heavy shotgun that deals massive arc damage to any poor fool close enough to be in its range. Trench Barrel gives a50% damage increase for the next three shotsafter a successful melee hit.
Despite the Void and Stasis Surges active, the sheer damage that Legend of Acrius deals can easilysurpass any other weapon.
Here’s what you’ll need to do to set up before damage phase: as Skolas positions himself at the stage, yourVoid Titan will get up close and personal with himand put down the bubble. At the same time,any Hunter on your team will shoot a Tether as well.
Once damage phase begins,unleash everything you have with the Legend of Acrius.If you don’t have Legend of Acrius, I would also recommenda sword with a Vortex Frame(i.e. Falling Guillotine or False Idols) or Lament.
A Behemoth Titan’sGlacial Quake Super can also theoretically deal massive damagewithin the bubble, but I have yet to test that.
Executing this method can very easilyone-phase Skolas, if not get him at around 20% health.
Kell’s Vengeance Rewards
Once you kill Skolas, the doors will open, allowing you to return to the central airlock to claim your reward in the gilded treasure room.
If you stay around the arena long enough, you’ll see that Skolas isn’t truly dead, as he respawns and disappears. This might be a tease for more story content for him in the future.
Completing Kell’s Vengeance will net you the following rewards:
If you don’t get the Revenant Redress emblem on your first try, you’re able to alwaysrepeat this mission as many times as you wantuntil it drops.
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