Salvation’s Edge Master Challenges: Varied Geometry

Salvation’s Edge has been out for a couple of weeks, meaning players have discovered almost everything the raid offers. However, that excludes two things released with the most recent weekly reset: master difficulty and weekly encounter challenges.

Here, we’ll cover all the challenges in detail, including the rewards available for completing them on master difficulty. Let’s begin.

Challenge This Week: July 23, 2024

The Salvation’s Edge Master Challenge this week is “Coordinated Efforts” from the raid’s final encounter.

Power Level Requirements

If you’re interested in farming Salvation’s Edge’s challenges, make sure your Guardian has the proper Power Level (including your Artifact’s bonus Power):

The master difficulty of Salvation’s Edge has a power cap of 2010, meaning your damage output won’t be increased if you exceed that number (although it’s highly recommended to get there before you jump in!).

Note that Fireteam Power is active in this activity, meaning if someone on your team has a power level of 2015 or higher, all other players will automatically be at the 2010 cap, regardless of their actual power level.

Salvation’s Edge Master Requirements, Destiny 2

Salvation’s Edge Master Challenges

Coordinated Efforts Challenge (final encounter)

The final weekly challenge Salvation’s Edge has to offer, Coordinated Efforts, requires you to break all of The Witness’ glyphs (badges on his chest) within a few seconds of one another.

If this challenge sounds simpler than any of the four before, it’s because it is. All you need to do is have all six fireteam members obtain the Glyphbreaker buff (by shooting an appendage with a buff that matches its armband), then shoot the glyphs simultaneously. If anything, this makes the Master variant of the encounter easier, since you’ll only have to deal with one pair of Subjugators per phase.

The only potentially problematic portion of this challenge is the lack of cleansing. Because you need to shoot all six glyphs at the same time, there’s no way you can cleanse/clear incorrect Resonance types before the DPS phase begins. This shouldn’t be a problem for most teams, but it is something to keep in mind.

Additions to this encounter for Master difficulty are minimal, only consisting of slightly stronger enemies throughout each phase. There aren’t any champions though, so you won’t need to worry about that.

Varied Geometry (fourth encounter)

Solving Verity’s weekly challenge was almost as difficult for the community as the base encounter was on day one. Luckily, it’s been figured out!

To understand the challenge, you first must know exactly how the base encounter works. Contrary to popular belief, the 3D shapes used as “keys” to exit the solo rooms do not have to contain both shapes you aren’t holding—the only rule is that the dissected 3D shapes cannot contain the 2D shape that the player is holding in the solo room. So, for example, a triangle player could theoretically exit using a sphere, cube, or cylinder (since all three don’t contain a triangle). However, this is still a “lock and key” system, so the 3D buff the solo player ends up making does need to match the shape that was dissected in the main room.

Once you understand that, the challenge becomes relatively easy. Varied Geometry restricts you from using the same 3D shape to escape the solo realms until all six are used. To satisfy this, start by doing the first phase as normal, dissecting each 3D shape to be a combination of the two 2D shapes that the player isn’t holding (prism for circle, cone for square, and cylinder for triangle).

The second phase is where things change. For this one, you’ll need to dissect “pure” 3D shapes (sphere, cube, and pyramid). The only rule here is that these pure shapes still can’t match what they’re holding in the solo rooms (if the callout is CST, then the left can’t be dissected to a sphere, the middle can’t be a cube, and the right can’t be a pyramid). Be sure to communicate between the dissector and solo players so that you don’t end up mismatching the keys (since the circle player could theoretically exit with either a cube or pyramid, but it needs to match between solo and main rooms).

Luckily, once you get past that, the third phase functions normally—just do it the same as the first phase, and you’ll be fine.

Master mode offers a couple of combat difficulty increases, with the primary one being Unstoppable Ogres in the solo rooms. Ensure that all players on the team have something to combat Unstoppables, as well as a decent ad-clear build to survive in solo rooms!

Balanced Diet (third encounter)

The challenge for the third encounter, Balanced Diet, prevents individual Guardians from picking up the same type of Resonance twice in a row. This means that if you pick up a triangle buff, you’ll need to pick up a circle or square one before grabbing another triangle. Also, note that the challenge conditions don’t reset between rooms, so if you end with a triangle in the first room, you can’t pick one up as your starting symbol in the second.

As a whole, this encounter plays about the same as usual—you’ll just want to take note of each buff type you pick up. One thing we do highly recommend, however, is closing your own (starting) conductor. Without the challenge, many teams opt to pick up all the buffs on their side first, then move to the conductor that needs the buff they just grabbed. Because Balanced Diet requires you to run between sides to pick up buffs anyway, we highly recommend picking up the buff your conductor needs last, then depositing it where you started.

We also recommend having the starting plate players (those who aren’t closing conductors) wait to pick up buffs, just to ensure all three conductors can be closed without failing the challenge.

The master difficulty of this encounter doesn’t seem to have any notable changes, other than the pre-existing modifiers and power level deficits. As long as you focus on high-priority enemies first (Tormentors, Subjugators, and Scorpius turrets), you should be alright.

At Capacity Guide (second encounter)

At Capacity, the challenge for the Herald of Finality encounter, restricts you from depositing Resonance in the chest unless you have three stacks.

If you have enough damage to push the Herald to his final stand in one phase, this challenge is nothing to worry about. However, if you’re looking for a two-phase or more, you’ll likely need to adopt a unique strategy to secure enough time for later phases.

Play the encounter as normal until you get to the Resonance phase, beginning with killing ads and shooting the Herald’s weak point (note that Master difficulty spawns overload champions during the latter!). For Resonance pickups, the left side will function regularly with one exception—the person on the starting plate needs to pick up three Resonance, while the player closing the conductor will pick up a single stack, matching the shape the conductor requires. This stack will be consumed when closing the conductor, meaning you won’t die from Resonance between phases.

Middle works similarly. The starting plate player will pick up three stacks, while the person closing will pick up one to shoot into the conductor. However, you’ll want to wait to close this side as someone from the right will need an extra stack. 

Speaking of which, the right side is the only one that follows a different stack count. Both players on the right will pick up three Resonance. Whoever closes the conductor will lose one stack; to regain it, that person will need to run to the middle and grab a stack of Resonance from the ground. After this player has three, the middle conductor can be closed, and the damage phase will begin.

This strategy allows for max time per phase (three minutes) by depositing nine Resonance after the initial dunk of three (four people dunking x3 Resonance each).

Scenic Route Guide (first encounter)

Each of the three phases featured in this encounter consists of three subsections: two which require you to defeat an Overload Minotaur and Tormentor, and the third being the conductor phase.

To complete the Scenic Route challenge, your fireteam must only kill the Overload Minotaur on the longer of the two paths. Typically, the encounter progresses once either path progresses to and defeats their respective Overload. One path will always have one spawn in the third room, while the other will have one spawn in the fourth. To satisfy the challenge conditions, you must only defeat the Overloads in the fourth room.

Completing this reliably requires you to be slightly more attentive to which rooms you’ve passed through in each phase. Simply count how many rooms your team has moved through, and kill the Overload Minotaur you come across only if it appears in the fourth room in the chain. If it’s in the third, ignore it and instead look for a Keeper of the Monolith. Alternatively, take note of what types of majors spawn in the first few rooms of your chain. If they’re Attendants, you won’t kill your Overload. If they’re Hobgoblins, you will. Note that majors in the Overload room itself will always be Attendants, no matter what path you’re on.

Doing this on master difficulty is no different than normal, other than enemies having additional shields and slightly more health. Unlike most master encounters, this one features no additional Champion spawns, allowing you to put all of your focus into completing the weekly challenge.

Salvation’s Edge‘s Master rewards

Completing a raid on master difficulty is no easy feat, which is why Salvation’s Edge is chock-full of suitable rewards!

If you complete a challenge on the standard difficulty setting, you’ll receive a second loot drop from the encounter whose challenge was completed.

Salvation’s Edge Master Rewards, Destiny 2

If you step into master difficulty, all armor pieces will drop with spiky stat splits based on the weekly focused stat viewable from the difficulty selection menu.

Completing a challenge on master difficulty offers an Adept raid weapon, dropping on a knockout system. These can be upgraded to have enhanced perks and intrinsically roll with two perks to select from in the third and fourth columns. They also have a chance to roll with a third selectable perk in the final two columns, which can be made more likely to drop through the “Salvation’s Edge Patterns Collected” triumph.

These are all the Enhanced Adept weapons that can drop from Salvation’s Edge Master mode:

Art	Name	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	Critical Anomaly	Sniper Rifle	Aggressive	Legendary	Special	Stasis	The Final Shape	Yes	Special	Stasis	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Kinetic	Craftable	Top-tier	Chaos Reshaped,Bait and Switch
	Forthcoming Deviance	Glaive	Rapid-Fire	Legendary	Special	Void	The Final Shape	Yes	Special	Void	A › Strong	PvE	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Chaos Reshaped
	Imminence	Submachine Gun	Lightweight	Legendary	Primary	Strand	The Final Shape	Yes	Primary	Strand	A › Strong	PvP	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Kinetic	Craftable	Top-tier	Chaos Reshaped
	Non-Denouement	Combat Bow	Precision	Legendary	Primary	Arc	The Final Shape	Yes	Primary	Arc	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Voltshot,Chaos Reshaped
	Nullify	Pulse Rifle	Heavy Burst	Legendary	Primary	Solar	The Final Shape	Yes	Primary	Solar	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Energy	Craftable	Top-tier	Incandescent,Chaos Reshaped
	Summun Bonun	Sword	Wave	Legendary	Heavy	Arc	The Final Shape	Yes	Heavy	Arc	S › Best	PvE	Salvation's Edge Raid	Yes	The Final Shape	The Final Shape	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Chaos Reshaped,Bait and Switch

Lastly, master difficulty offers cosmetic rewards as well. Completing each encounter on master mode unlocks the Timeless Bond ghost shell, while completing all weekly encounter challenges on master grants the Turmoil Engine sparrow.

Turmoil Engine Triumph, Destiny 2

Before you go…

Salvation’s Edge is one of the most appealing raids right now. Don’t be surprised if its Master Challenges become one of the most popular endgame activities this season.