Since the first team to score a raid clear in 2014, players continue seeking challenges to conquer inside the various raids available across Destiny and Destiny 2. The toughest players out there have been able to conquer Destiny's raids in either duos or solo, finding ways to beat bosses like Atheon and Riven at a severe disadvantage. However, one titan has overcome Atheon with nothing more than a hammer and some lucky glitching.
Twitter user VoteforShifu posted the short clip from one of their most recent and successful Atheon solo runs inside the Vault of Glass raid. The clip shows the devastator titan using their throwing hammer melee on several vex harpies for a damage boost before turning their attention to Atheon. VoteforShifu then throws their charged hammer at Atheon twice, defeating the powerful Vex mind in just two melee hits.
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Several Twitter users were quick to comment about this, saying how surprised they were at how Atheon was beaten while others asked how VoteforShifu beat Atheon in two melee hits. A few users pointed out the throwing hammer bounces after making contact and glitched on Atheon's leg, causing the massive damage.
Damage glitches like this are nothing new to Destiny's various raids, typically being found by fellow solo raid runners like VoteforShifu. Players uncovered another Destiny 2 damage glitch in January 2020 which allowed players to solo most raid encounters until was ultimately patched out. The glitch required players to run a hunter armed with a sword, plenty of heavy ammo, and the card shuffle emote for a combination of emoting, dodging, summoning their ghost, and hitting bosses with a jump slash.
Another glitch was subsequently found in the Deep Stone Crypt raid after Bungie patched out the aforementioned damage glitch. This saw various warlocks casting nova bombs at the rubble before the raid's final encounter and dying, causing Taniks to zero-out if done correctly for a quick Guardian victory.
However, VoteforShifu's glitch run is among the more ridiculous solo run completions seen within Destiny 2. Raid bosses typically require some combination of heavy weapons, supers, and strong secondary weapons, even with past damage glitches as highlighted above. Some melees can provide damage boosts, but are not typically strong enough to defeat major enemies in one or two blows. It will be worth watching to see if anyone is able to recreate VoteforShifu's lucky combination because, now that it has been done, other players will be keen to try and replicate it.
Destiny 2 is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.