I’ve had Destiny for a week now (thanks to Royal Mail’s usual shoddy service) and have been hitting the modes pretty hard to level up my gear enough to take on the upcoming Raids that are only open to level 26 and up. So, we imagine that you too are going to be putting a lot of time into Strike missions to get in some essential practice for Destiny’s tougher journeys. Well Guardian, you’re not going to last two minutes in the Raids if you don’t take these tactics into your Strike missions.

Carry elemental weapons

Between your secondary and heavy weapons, it isn’t hard to have a few of each element. These are essential for chewing through the coloured energy shields surrounding smugger enemies. Unlike RPGs, you don’t attack with an ‘opposite’ element; instead you attack with the same. So, any orange shields will wilt against sunny solar, blue will fry against arc and purple will pale against void weapons. Any weapon will damage shields, but these are the quickest ways to get into an enemy’s soft bits.

Spread out!

During the boss fights, the worst thing you can do is bunch up. Most of the larger enemies have weapons with massive damage and devastating splash damage that can wipe out multiple players at once. So make sure that if you are going to poke your nose out, only one of you runs the risk of having it blasted off. As soon as two players die at once, the third player faces a lot of pressure to stay alive for 30 seconds or come and revive you, which might not be easy if they’re in the middle of a wave.

Check for Engrams before celebrating!

As tempting as it is to get your boogie on when you finally defeat a boss, what you really should be doing is checking the battlefield for Engrams. These football-sized orbs can contain weapons and armour and appear uniquely for each player. Time is limited after beating the boss before you’re sent back to the menus, so sprint around everywhere you can in the arena as the boss or their minions might have dropped something for you during the fight. Check lower levels, especially as some items roll off ledges.

Save specials for groups rather than a boss

Specials can take ages to build up and they don’t really do much damage against a boss, and you’ll feel terrible if it misses too. These epic attacks work best against groups of enemies as either a last ditch lifeline if you’re about to die or as a great way of creating orbs of light, which brings me onto my next point…

Try to loop specials for each other

In areas packed with groups of enemies, your fireteam can get a regular stream of specials on a loop if you time their execution well. The orbs of light generated after your special attack (look for the notification in the lower left) can only be picked up by your teammates, but each orbs fills a large chunk of the specials bar much faster than taking on enemies or by waiting. To generate more orbs, be sure that your special move will be the finishing blow on any enemies in its radius as each death provides an orb. So feel free to soften up tougher enemies first or use it on weaker ones. If your team follows this pattern, one of you will always be on the verge of having a special on hand.

Be cautious with revives

When a member of a fireteam gets taken out, any decent player will want to save them as soon as possible. But during boss fights, it might be too much of a risk and could put the whole team in danger if you’re going to die trying to save them. If a player dies in the open with a tank right on top of them or surrounded by tougher elite enemies you’re best of waiting the 30 seconds until they automatically return. Come on, we’ve all seen Saving Private Ryan. Don’t feed the snipers.

Talk to each other

Going back to the last point, if you’re down and surrounded by insta-death (after trying to punch that tank to death again), tell your team-mates about any dangers nearby if they’re going to come and recue you, or tell them to stay away. If you see someone bravely making their way through hell towards you and you only a have a few seconds before an auto-respawn, be nice and let them know you’ll be fine. Having a mic also allows you to co-ordinate strategies and see who has what elemental weapons to take out specific enemy shields. Or maybe just organise a quick pit stop to change into those new shoes that the Fallen Captain just donated.

As ever fellow Guardians, we want to hear your hot tips too. So what else do you think makes for an effective fireteam? Or have you stumble

d onto a neat way of farming XP or those evasive +Light items?