We completed on the next run. :)

All the attempts I witnessed, I honestly don't think we made it past the first Relic shot.

Was there a specific issue your group was having trouble with?

I've successfully used this strategy, or variations of it, quite a few times with various groups. Cyber learned how to use the Relic to block both teleport locations years ago, so we usually just let him handle that while the rest of us damage the boss. But I was able to get the hang of running the Relic after only a few tries as well (not perfectly, obviously... but well enough to get it done). That's by far the trickiest part, in my experience. The rest of the fireteam doesn't really have anything to worry about except for DPS. The enemies don't bother you much on that front edge of the platform.

I was going to say this earlier, but Tsunami beat me to the punch--where was the other fireteam member? Because there was no one nearby the first time,

Are you referring to the guy that was up by the right-side teleport location? He was there on purpose, and for good reason.

When the Templar first tries to teleport, you don't know which side he'll try to go to first. So we had the Relic holder (me) ready to block the left side, and 1 other guardian safely behind a rock, ready to block the right side.

If the Templar goes left (as he did in the video) the Relic holder blocks it and starts taking care of all the teleporter blocks single-handedly. If he teleports right, the other guardian is in place to block it, then the Relic holder takes over the rest of the blocks while the other guardian rejoins the rest of the team to damage the boss.

and all those deaths(I'm not even going to call them near-deaths, because that was full on DEAD.) translate into dozens more wipes on any other fireteam. (Especially one where no one's played before.)

No offense, but I wouldn't call this video a solid strategy—you just got lucky.

It's a totally solid strategy, we were just all new to it. The group was struggling with staying alive through the whole raid, too. A more efficient team can pull it off with no deaths, easily (we only had 2 deaths, and one of them was a sunsinger so he could res).

I took a lot of damage running the Relic because as I said, it was only my 2nd time trying this technique and I didn't have it down yet.

And even with all those shortcomings, we still brought down the Templar in no time. That's what makes this strategy so good; you have 5 guardians, all hitting the Templar with everything they have, without interruption by other enemies. The Relic holder only needs to stay alive for about a minute or so once the team starts hitting the boss. And if you fail and wipe, well it's only been a minute or two so you're not burning lots of time.

No offense, but I wouldn't call this video a solid strategy—you just got lucky.

Recorded this video of the Templar Challenfe last night. I was acting as the Relic holder. Our strategy was to have the Relic holder (me) and 1 other fireteam member ready at both teleport locations so we could easily block the initial teleport attempt. Then, the Relic holder would take over blocking both points so that all 5 teammates could focus on damaging the boss. Took us only a few tries to succeed. I'd had a tiny bit of experience blocking both teleport locations as the Relic holder, but this was my first successful run.

It looks like you're 1 shot multiple times...

lol... yeah, I cut it real close when I accidentally meleed the Templar, and then at the 1:45 mark I get blasted so hard that you literally can't see my health bar anymore. Some close calls, for sure :)

Recorded this video of the Templar Challenfe last night. I was acting as the Relic holder. Our strategy was to have the Relic holder (me) and 1 other fireteam member ready at both teleport locations so we could easily block the initial teleport attempt. Then, the Relic holder would take over blocking both points so that all 5 teammates could focus on damaging the boss. Took us only a few tries to succeed. I'd had a tiny bit of experience blocking both teleport locations as the Relic holder, but this was my first successful run.

It looks like you're 1 shot multiple times...

Recorded this video of the Templar Challenfe last night. I was acting as the Relic holder. Our strategy was to have the Relic holder (me) and 1 other fireteam member ready at both teleport locations so we could easily block the initial teleport attempt. Then, the Relic holder would take over blocking both points so that all 5 teammates could focus on damaging the boss. Took us only a few tries to succeed. I'd had a tiny bit of experience blocking both teleport locations as the Relic holder, but this was my first successful run.

Ha! That templar trap at 1:14 almost ended the run!

Looks like you have the rhythm down!

In videos I have seen, every currently eligible guardian fires on the first available oracle.

When a player receives the "player has killed an oracle" notification, they exit.

This requires less communication or negotiation about who is killing which oracle, but more watchfulness on the part of each player looking at the notifications.

You're correct that it's simpler (and it'll definitely work well), but it can have a high ammo cost if you're using sleepers to one-shot kill oracles - you might end up firing at two or even three oracles before scoring a kill, leaving less ammo for Atheon. Once everyone has a legendary Epilogue to melt oracles, I expect your approach will be the default.

I ran it a couple of times last night with DBO folks, and the call-outs basically resolved to:

"Mars"/"Venus" (called by the relic runner)
"I'll get the first oracle" (called by one of the others teleported)
"I'll be last" (called by one of the people not teleported)
"I'll get the third oracle" (called by whoever gets through the gateway from the outside first)
"I got the 5th oracle" (called by the relic runner)
"Time's Vengeance" (called by the last guardian killing an oracle)
Then a countdown by the relic runner on the remaining buff time

With a Weapons of Light Bubble, constant tethers, and a team full of sleepers, you can down Atheon in a single cycle.

It's better if each focuses on a single oracle, rather than risking killing a second. "I'll get the first oracle, you get the second" should be enough for them to manage the first two. As soon as these oracles are down, they should get their cleanse and run back though the gateway.

In videos I have seen, every currently eligible guardian fires on the first available oracle.

When a player receives the "player has killed an oracle" notification, they exit.

This requires less communication or negotiation about who is killing which oracle, but more watchfulness on the part of each player looking at the notifications.

Watching the video of the encounter done that way, I was given to wonder if that was how Bungie intended it to be handled from the start. I think perhaps they didn't anticipate the idea that groups being teleported would want to get in a cleanse before exiting.

The good news is...they don't respawn.

That is REALLY good to know. I assumed they were going to be like the original Gorgons and you'd have to kill them all before the first respawn. This actually sounds fairly easy as long as your team has enough patience.

-Disciple

Nothing to see here, Funk.