The Desert Perpetual raid is set to be released on July 19, 2025, as part of Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate expansion. Raids are always a moment of celebration in Destiny 2, as it has a ten-year-long history of creating exciting moments that players simply cannot let go of even to this day.
If you’re not looking to compete but are interested in participating in Day 1 The Desert Perpetual raid, here’s a detailed guide on how you should prepare.
Best Ways To Prep For The Desert Perpetual Raid in The Edge of Fate
Day 1 raids in Destiny 2 have always been brutal: Revives are limited, bosses hit extremely hard, basic enemies will tear you down, and everything has way higher HP than normal. Very often, this leads to players arguing with one another until teams break up before even completing half of the raid.
And to add to this mix is the lack of information on what players and teams are up against on Day 1. While there’s no way to learn mechanics beforehand, you can ensure that you survive well, and once the mechanics are clear, your team can clear the encounter quickly.
Prepare all three classes before the raid
The first step to being prepared is making sure all three of your classes, namely Hunter, Warlock, and Titan, are ready. You never know which class will become meta as the raid progresses.
During the Salvation’s Edge raid, for instance, Hunters became meta, while Titans fell off, especially because of the damage requirement for The Witness.
The same can happen here as well, so ensure that you prioritize builds focused on survivability. For instance, you want Solar Titan, Strand Titan, Solar Warlock, and Void Hunter to be ready as priority, since those are the subclasses that provide the highest survivability due to heals and evasion.
Stack up on resistances in your builds
One of the best ways to survive on Day 1 raids is by stacking up on resistances. Now, it isn’t possible to stack Resilience, which used to be the case previously, due to Armor 3.0.
However, you must focus on Health, Weapons, and Class, so that you can heal faster, your weapons deal more damage, and your Class ability regenerates faster. Always remember that for Warlocks, the Class ability provides a healing Rift, for Hunters, you can dodge faster, and for Titans, you can place Barricades to protect yourself.
These often make a difference, where a single Healing Rift can determine if you’re able to clear an encounter or not.
Stack up on ad clear weapons
One of the biggest mistakes that players make when jumping into Day 1 raids is that they prepare a lot of boss damage weapons, such as Sniper Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles. However, those aren’t the weapons that will help you in the raid as much, since most deaths for players come from ads.
As such, you must pick up on Fusion Rifles, Trace Rifles, Submachine Guns, and other ad clear weapons such as the Commemoration Machine Gun and Trinity Ghoul Bow. These are the weapons you will need for about 90 percent of the raid, and you must have them at the appropriate power level.
Some of the weapons, such as Choir of One, Outbreak Perfected, Third Iteration, and Icebreaker are banned and you cannot use them when the raid launches on Saturday.
Push your power level as much as possible
During Day 1, the Contest modifier will be active, and the power level for The Desert Perpetual raid will be 100 at the beginning, and slowly go up through successive encounters.
As such, you must try to push your power level as much as possible, so that you never fall below the Contest mark for the raid. The way this works is that, when the Contest modifier is active, you are fixed at 20 power levels below the actual requirement.
This means if the first counter for the raid is at 100 power level, you will be fixed at 80, even if you hit 100. However, that is the entry requirement, as with encounters progressing, the power level increases, which means if the final boss is at 150, you want to be at 130.
As such, pushing your power level is important, and the easiest way to do it is by completing the Campaign in Legendary Difficulty, as Bungie has mentioned, which will push you to the level required for the raid.
Practice a few raid runs with a dedicated team
If you’re looking to clear a Day 1 raid, the first and most important part of it is communication, as most teams break apart due to problems within their players. While being a skilled player is important, it’s crucial to have a positive mental approach before you start, and it’s important that all players are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
As such, running a raid with five other players with whom you plan to take part in Contest mode, The Desert Perpetual, is important to create synergy and understand how well everyone is equipped to handle certain situations.
Some players are good leaders, some are good with mechanics, while some are good with ad clear. Understanding your roles is important in a Day 1 raid with Contest modifier active, and if you have the knowledge, it will be easier to assign roles without thinking too much.
