Escalation Protocol is a player-triggered Public Event on Mars, where a team of Guardians defends a series of towers against waves of Hive. There are seven waves of increasing difficulty before teams can engage a final boss and end the event.
Overview
Found in the Hellas Basin region of Mars, players must trigger the Escalation Protocol event by approaching and interacting with the first tower plate. The tower will extend, and the event will begin. The players must then eliminate seven progressively harder waves of Hive enemies before facing the encounter's boss. After each incursion site the fireteam will have a chance to redeem a reward chest before continuing with the event.[1]
Some waves will include the added challenge of having to locate and disable Shadowrifts by standing within them and shooting Void crystals, similarly to the Witches Ritual public event on Titan. Certain enemies also drop Hive Cleavers, which Guardians may then pick up and use against remaining enemies.[1]
Escalation Protocol features five weekly-rotating final bosses, each with its own unique gameplay mechanic, similar to the Court of Oryx event from The Taken King. The event also includes unique weapons and armor that can not be obtained elsewhere.[2]
Generic Bosses
These bosses appear in a set order in Levels 1 through 6 and do not have any unique mechanics tied to them.
- Choking Blade–a Vanquisher which appears as the boss of Level 3.
- Deafening Blast—a Knight which appears as the boss of Level 4 and appears alongside another one in Level 6.
- Renewal Wizard—a Wizard surrounded by an aura that heals all nearby Hive, including the bosses.
- Shambling Torrent—an Ogre which appears as the boss of Level 1 and spawns alongside another one in Level 5.
- Soaring Keen—a Wizard which appears as the boss of Level 2.
Final Bosses
These bosses rotate weekly and appear at the end of Level 7, each with their own unique mechanics.
- Bok Litur, Hunger of Xol—a black Knight with an extremely high amount of health. No major mechanic, but requires extensive firepower to take down.
- Damkath, the Mask—an Ogre that may only be damaged by shooting the growth on his back.
- Kathok, Roar of Xol—a Knight surrounded by an immunity shield that can only be destroyed by using Ascendant Swords dropped from Severing Knights.
- Naksud, The Famine-a mutated Ogre that can be healed by waves of Cursed Thrall, which should be immediately destroyed.
- Nur Abath, Crest of Xol—an Ogre that is surrounded by an aura that grants him an immunity shield whenever any Hive passes through it.
Trivia
- All the final bosses of the Escalation protocol are Ogres and Knights.
- Out of all the bosses within the Escalation Protocol, only two of them are Wizards. The rest are either Knight or Ogre variants.