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When Commandant Steele unlocks the Vault, she and the Crimson Lance get more than they bargain for as the Destroyer emerges.

Background

"Do you feel that I betrayed you? Do not. I am possessed of a sight that allows me to look forward and backward along the timeline, and the release of this creature was inevitable. There was only one chance for this dimension's continued existence. A hero. Someone who was at the right place, at the right time, and strong enough to push back. I have given you the unique opportunity to defend the existence of all that you know. Go! Fight! Be that hero! I will help you however I can."

Walkthrough

Objectives

Defeat the Destroyer.
  • Destroyer defeated

Strategy

Preparation

This fight can be one of the hardest in the game if the appropriate preparations are not made. It is advisable to have at least one powerful, reasonably-accurate weapon for each weapon class.

The next issue is ammunition. The Destroyer can take hundreds of hits before dying, which places some importance on ensuring that all ammunition is well stocked before the fight. Ammo regeneration weapons or class mods work well when combined with lower-level SDUs.

Eridian weapons can also be used to help alleviate the ammunition depletion, but due to their slow recharge times they should be considered to be an occasional sidearm at best.

The levels of the attacking characters can also be taken into consideration. By levelling characters several levels above the level of the Destroyer, any attackers will inflict more damage and sustain less throughout the course of the fight. In Playthrough 2, the upgraded next playthrough-like setting becomes accessible as soon as the mission Find Steele is completed, so characters can exit the Vault and proceed to farm even higher level creatures for experience and maximum damage weapons before returning to finish off the Destroyer.

Killing The Destroyer

The Destroyer shouldn't be approached up close, as it will periodically slam its front tentacles down onto the ground, creating a powerful shockwave in the area directly in front of it. The first priority is to take cover and destroy the purple tentacles that sprout from the Destroyer's back. These launch large purple needles that explode upon hitting the ground, dealing extreme damage (often being enough to instantly down a Vault Hunter with a direct hit). The needles often arc over the available cover, so they cannot simply be ignored. Accurate weapons of any type work well here. The glowing purple orbs near the middle of the tentacles can be destroyed to score critical hits. The tentacles can be destroyed to obtain a Second Wind if downed, although it may not be possible to get line-of-sight on them if one is downed while behind cover due to a spike arcing over cover.

It is generally a poor idea to take cover at the rear of the arena, near the cliff edge, as the Destroyer will periodically lash out with a tongue attack from its mouth which has significant range and will knock Vault Hunters backward a few dozen feet, potentially sending them over the cliff edge. The two large pillars on either side of the Destroyer make for much better cover, as they are far enough away to be out of the range of the Destroyer's shockwave attack, and also large enough to provide cover from its eyebeam attack.

When the tentacles have been dealt with, it is largely safe to fire on the eye to yield a string of critical hits that quickly whittle down the Destroyer's life. Rapid-fire weapons with large magazine sizes, such as combat rifles or SMGs, will generally deal more damage-per-second than slower firing, low magazine, higher damage-per-bullet weapons such as sniper rifles or revolvers. Shooting the tongue when it attacks also yields a critical hit, which can be useful for shotgun users.

Another tactic which can make this fight trivial is to run behind the top right pillar. Provided that the character's shield is strong enough, or the character has transfusion grenades etc. the visible tentacle can be shot at without the character getting hit by the eye beam or the shock wave. The flying spikes will still hit, but shields can effectively absorb their damage.

Also a good strategy is to hide behind the rocks to the right and shoot the large purple tentacles which come out after The Destroyer's health is low . This method takes a while, but is safe.

Using a Bouncing Bettie grenade mod and throwing all your grenades in its mouth at the start of the battle is also a fast and easy way to deal great amounts of damage.

The Fight Continues

Once roughly one third of The Destroyer's health is gone, it will edge out of the Vault a bit more and latch on to two pillars on the side of the arena. These anchoring tentacles are vulnerable to melee attacks, with the pillar shielding the melee attacker from many of The Destroyer's own attacks. The Destroyer will also sprout four more purple tentacles and start periodically firing a dangerous eye beam.

When the Destroyer’s eye changes, attackers may take cover behind the pillar to avoid the thin blue beam that will be sustained for several seconds. Though it may appear as though the beam is passing directly through the pillar, it will not damage any concealed character. To be safe, one can pop out for a second, look directly at the eye, and open fire when the beam abates.

Once the Destroyer's health is reduced enough for it to grab the outermost pillars, characters can be positioned behind the pillars where the spikes and the eye beam can't reach.

Completion

"You did it! You won. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you, but for you to be here, it couldn't have unfolded any other way. You were brilliant, and your actions will not go unrewarded."
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