Shield Brothers

Shield Brothers is a strike in Destiny: The Taken King. It takes place on the Dreadnaught. The fireteam enters the Dreadnaught with the intent of finding and killing two Cabal brothers who are leading a strike team to detonate the Dreadnaught's core.

Plot
The Skyburners Cabal Legion based on Phobos was commanded by Primus Ta'aun until Oryx took him during an assault on a Hive portal on the Dreadnaught. Enraged, Valus Tlu'urn and Valus Mau'ual, Ta'aun's former bodyguards, led a strike force to the Dreadnaught's core, intending to detonate it, destroying the Dreadnaught and taking most of the solar system along with it. Guardians are deployed to prevent the Cabal from doing so.

Transcript
{Loading Screen}


 * CAYDE-6: Funny story for you: remember that Centurion Oryx took right after you landed on the Dreadnaught? Then the Centurion and that Taken Ogre tried to stop you from killing the King? Heh. Didn't work. So the Centurion's bond-brothers are pretty angry they lost their commander. They're leading a team to blow the Dreadnaught's core. The core goes, and most of the system goes with it. You're gonna make sure that doesn't happen.

{Gameplay}


 * GHOST: Cayde, why do you think they crashed their ship into the Dreadnaught? Those are extreme tactics for the Cabal.
 * CAYDE: The Vanguard intercepted a signal, a message from the Cabal from way outside the solar system: a direct order to crash the ship, use it as a beachhead, and take out the King. Now that's loyalty.

The fireteam heads into the Dantalion Exodus VI.


 * GHOST: I have tracking on the Bond Brothers. They're the ones leading the assault on the power core. Marking the coordinates now.

''The fireteam kills all of the Cabal in the area. The far hangar doors open, and a Goliath supported by Cabal infantry rolls out and attacks the Guardians. One of the following lines is said at random:''


 * GHOST: Watch out! They brought a tank to a gunfight!
 * GHOST: A tank? Why would you bring a tank to space?

''The fireteam destroys the Goliath. One of the following sets of lines is said at random:''


 * GHOST: I've lost their signal. Maybe we should try the bridge.
 * CAYDE: Those Cabal soldiers have no fear. You know, when they go to war, they're kicked out of the Empire. Yep. Victory is the only way they get to go home. Not a lot of people know that.

Or:


 * GHOST: That went well. Let's head to the bridge, see if we can reacquire the Brothers.
 * CAYDE: I can't tell you the number of scouts I've lost to these 'brothers' on Mars. They need to be stopped. Go careful.

Or:


 * GHOST: That tank was a present from the Brothers. We need to find them. Let's check the bridge.
 * CAYDE: I heard Ikora say once that the Cabal have six words for "advance" and none for "retreat." I'm really not one for fancy speeches, so when you find 'em, shoot 'em.

''The fireteam advances to the bridge. Inside, a few dozen Cabal and Taken are fighting each other fiercely. The doors are locked.''


 * GHOST: Taken and Cabal fighting for the bridge. Wherever the Brothers are, they aren't here. Let's keep moving.

''The fireteam continues to another locked door guarded by Cabal. They kill them, and the door opens. One of the following lines is said at random:''


 * CAYDE: So the Bond Brothers may not even know the Primus was taken. This whole thing could be a power play to get their dead commander back. That's the hold the Empire gets on these soldiers, Guardian: loyalty beyond death.
 * CAYDE: I bet those Brothers don't even know their commander is dead! Their attack might be some kind of ultimatum. "Give us the Primus, or we blow the ship."
 * CAYDE: If the Brothers don't know their commander is dead, this attack could be some kinda bargaining chip. That's the power of the brotherhood bond, Guardian. Kinda reminds me of me and Zavala. With less yelling, of course.

''The fireteam continues to The Narthex. Dozens of explosive charges surround the Dreadnaught's core. One of the following lines is said at random:''


 * GHOST: Something's wrong with this picture. You get three guesses.
 * GHOST: That is a lot of Cabal explosives hooked up to the Dreadnaught core.
 * GHOST: I didn't think they would leave the core intact. I.. oh, bombs. It's covered in bombs.

The fireteam moves close to the charges.


 * GHOST: There are munitions hooked up to each structural weakness on the core.

If the fireteam does nothing for a time:


 * CAYDE: Shut it down, Guardian.

''One of the Guardians sends Ghost to disarm the explosives. The far door opens, and one of the Shield Brothers, Valus Mau'ual, charges towards them. One of the following is said at random:''


 * GHOST: I think the brothers know we're here.
 * CAYDE: That got their attention! Go get 'em, Guardian!
 * CAYDE: Oh, the brothers are here! Take 'em out!

''As the fireteam damages Mau'ual, he summons more Cabal reinforcements. After being greatly weakened, he retreats. After eliminating the Cabal reinforcements, Valus Tlu'urn enters the room. He likewise summons reinforcements as he is damaged before eventually retreating. The fireteam clear out the Cabal in the area, and then both Mau'ual and Tlu'urn enter at the same time. The fireteam kills them both, and any remaining Cabal reinforcements retreat. One of the following sets of lines is said at random:''


 * GHOST: It's done! The brotherhood is broken!
 * CAYDE: I hear that the Cabal are big on honor. But look at their actions, not their words. You've put an end to war criminals, butchers. And you've shown the Empire what the Vanguard's all about. Nice work.

Or:


 * GHOST: Targets are neutralized.
 * CAYDE: Somewhere, an awful long way from here, some imperial flunky is getting a message: word that these brothers are dead, and they have no more ranking soldiers in our system. You made that happen, Guardian. Savor it.

Or:


 * GHOST: They're finished.
 * CAYDE: I mostly keep doing this Vanguard thing for the perks and bragging rights, but I guess it's nice to keep the system from exploding, too.

{Mission Ends}

Tactics
Once one of the Guardians use their Ghost to shut down the bombs, Mau'ual will arrive. He will be immune to all damage until his health bar is displayed, so hold out on attacking him until then. Use that time to gain some distance, because he can still inflict damage.

Mau'ual's main method of attack is to use his wing-like boosters to hurl himself towards a Guardian, slamming into the ground with his Solar blade mounted on his left arm. This area-of-effect attack is highly damaging by itself, but can also knock Guardians backwards at a high enough speed to die from the impact with a wall. If there are explosives on the ground, Mau'ual's Solar smash can damage those and utilize this to greatly increase his chances of killing a Guardian, even if his main attack does not. Thus, before starting the fight it is recommended Guardians destroy the stray explosives.

Once Mau'ual reaches around 40% health, he will flee, while reinforcements are summoned. Mau'ual may take a while to retreat, so continue keeping your distance from him as he will still try to attack Guardians too close to him. Do not at any point focus anymore damage on a fleeing Mau'ual, as further damage will not carry over once he returns. Additionally, he will also be immune to damage once his health hits 25%.

Tlu'urn will enter the fight once all enemies have been killed. Tlu'urn will also have a brief period of immunity, which typically expires once he starts attacking. Tlu'urn's main and only method of attack is to fire his Arc cannon towards the Guardians. When fired, the place where the incoming missiles will land will be marked by a large blue ring on the ground. Guardians should use this to swiftly avoid taking damage from the mortar fire. If Guardians come too close to Tlu'urn, he will ignite his booster pack, and fly high up in the room, evading damage and widening the distance between himself and the Guardians once more.

When Tlu'urn has lost about 40% of his health, he will retreat, also summoning reinforcements. Tlu'urn will be slow to retreat as well, but there will be no danger of him attacking.

Once the reinforcements have been dispatched, both Mau'ual and Tlu'urn re-enter the fight together, having healed themselves of any damage sustained beyond 50% health. Both of the brothers now have a new ability. Mau'ual's strikes will leave behind Solar damage areas-of-effect, and Tlu'urn will deploy a shield which cannot be fired through by anything other than Tlu'urn's cannon. To break the shield, Guardians must enter it and fire on Tlu'urn. As with the first encounter with him, if the Guardians are very near to Tlu'urn, he will drop the shield and re-deploy himself and his shield as usual.

If Mau'ual falls first to the Guardians, Tlu'urn will pick up Mau'ual's blade and booster-wings. If Guardians are close to him, Tlu'urn will slam his blade into the ground, creating a similar AoE attack. Unlike Mau'ual, Tlu'urn does not move any distance while performing this attack and no Solar field will be created where Tlu'urn smashed. Tlu'urn's shield will also be dropped if he performs this attack. In any case, Tlu'urn will continue to fire his cannon at distant Guardians. When Guardians are close again, he may alternate between performing the smash attack, or simply retreating to greater distance as usual.

If Tlu'urn dies first, Mau'ual will instead pick up his cannon. Mau'ual does not use it like Tlu'urn does, however. Instead of firing raining Arc blasts, salvos of missiles are launched. Mau'ual's fighting approach does not change much either, as those missiles are almost automatically fired while he continues running and charging at Guardians. As such, it is recommended to kill Mau'ual first before attacking Tlu'urn, as Guardians are both forced to run from close combat, and also vulnerable to tracking ranged attacks.

Strike Hoard Loot

 * Mau'ual's Maulers
 * Treads Upon Stars

Trivia

 * At some point during development, both Mau'ual and Tlu'urn fought the players at the same time at the beginning of the battle. This was changed because it led to a de-escalation of difficulty as soon as one of them was eliminated.
 * When playing this strike on Heroic, the fireteam might encounter Taken at the beginning rather than Fallen.