Battleground: Oracle

Battleground: Oracle
Information
Location	Nessus
Players	1-3
Power	1100
Expansion	Season of the Chosen
Enemies	Cabal, Vex
Boss	Ixel, the Far-Reaching (Psion)
Description	A group of former Red Legion Psions are communing with Vex prediction engines deep within Nessus. They seek to gain tactical insights by analyzing simulations of future events against their own psychic foresight. Eliminate this threat before they can deliver their intelligence to Empress Caiatl.

Battleground: Oracle is an Arena introduced in the Season of the Chosen. It was originally part of the Battlegrounds playlist.

With the release of The Witch Queen, and the removal of the Season of the Chosen content, it is now only available through the Vanguard Ops playlist as a randomly-chosen Strike. It cannot be launched as a mission directly from the Director. The version from the Battlegrounds playlist with Champion enemies is also not available.

Walkthrough

Artifact's Edge

Guardians begin in Artifact's Edge, an open area on Nessus with Vex architecture and Cabal fortifications. The objective is to destroy three shield generators powering a Cabal barrier. Players face waves of Cabal enemies, including Psions, Legionaries, and Incendiors. Defeat a Major enemy (or Champion in the original playlist, typically Barrier or Unstoppable) to obtain an explosive charge. Throw the charge at the red coils of each generator to destroy it, but avoid standing too close due to the lethal explosion radius. Clearing all three generators opens the path to the Hallows.

Hallows

The fireteam progresses into the Hallows, a network of Vex tunnels and Cabal outposts. Here, players must defend their Ghost while it hacks a Vex pillar to disable Cabal security systems. Waves of Cabal enemies, including Psions, Gladiators, and Centurions, spawn aggressively. Players can collect hacking codes dropped by enemies to accelerate the hack, reducing the duration of the encounter. Area-of-effect abilities and heavy weapons are crucial for managing the dense enemy waves. Completing the hack grants access to the Sunken Cavern.

Sunken Cavern

In the Sunken Cavern, a deeper Vex-infested area, players encounter a challenging objective: defeating three shielded Vex Wyverns. These Wyverns are invulnerable until a Major or Champion Cabal enemy is defeated, dropping a bomb charge. Use the charge to disable each Wyvern’s shield, then eliminate them with focused damage. The Wyverns’ aggressive attacks, including area-of-effect blasts and diving charges, demand careful positioning and coordination. Additional Cabal and Vex enemies, such as Goblins and Minotaurs, spawn throughout, complicating the encounter. Clearing the Wyverns opens the path to the Well of Giants.

Well of Giants

The Well of Giants is a large, open arena with Vex structures and Cabal fortifications, serving as the staging ground for the final encounter. Players face light resistance from Cabal Psions and Legionaries while preparing for the boss fight. A central Cabal command post marks the location for initiating the Rite of Proving.

Rite of Proving

The final encounter pits the fireteam against Ixel, the Far-Reaching, a Cabal Psion commander. Players start the fight by interacting with the Rite of Proving post, similar to a rally banner. Ixel’s health is divided into thirds, and she becomes immune at each threshold, retreating to a new section of the arena.

Mechanics: To break Ixel’s immunity shield, players must defeat a Shield Bearer, a Major Cabal enemy (or Champion in the original playlist) that spawns in the arena. At the second and final health thresholds, Ixel summons a Portable Cabal Shield, retreating inside. Players must destroy the shield or deplete her health to progress. Waves of Cabal reinforcements, including Psions, Legionaries, and Gladiators, spawn continuously, increasing in intensity as the fight progresses. Strategy: Prioritize clearing adds with area-of-effect weapons and abilities to maintain control of the arena. Focus on the Shield Bearer to resume damage on Ixel. High-damage Supers or heavy weapons can accelerate the fight but may trigger a bug where Ixel’s health gates fail to progress, halting the encounter. Known Issue: A persistent bug allows players to instantly kill Ixel with high-damage abilities (for example Celestial Nighthawk Golden Gun), causing her to enter a “limp corpse” state without advancing the fight. Restarting the encounter may be required. Defeating Ixel completes the activity, rewarding players with Vanguard loot and, in the original Battlegrounds playlist, progress toward seasonal objectives tied to the Hammer of Proving.

Notes

During Season of the Chosen, completing Battleground: Oracle progressed the Challenger’s Proving III quest, allowing players to socket Cabal Gold and Challenger Medallions into the Hammer of Proving for additional rewards from Caiatl’s Tribute Chest. As a Vanguard Ops Strike, the activity no longer features Champion enemies, reducing its difficulty compared to the original Battlegrounds version. The Vex Wyvern encounter in the Sunken Cavern is notably challenging due to the enemies’ aggressive attacks and invulnerability phases, often cited as a pain point for uncoordinated fireteams. A bug in the Rite of Proving, where Ixel’s health gates fail to progress after high-damage attacks, has been reported since 2021 and remains unpatched as of 2024. Battleground: Oracle has been featured as a Grandmaster Nightfall, with modifiers like Extinguish and extra Champions, requiring anti-Barrier and anti-Unstoppable loadouts.

Patch History

• 3.1.0
  • Added Battleground: Oracle to the Battlegrounds playlist on February 23, 2021.
• 4.0.0.1
  • Repurposed Battleground: Oracle as a Strike in the Vanguard Ops playlist following the removal of Season of the Chosen content with The Witch Queen expansion.
• 6.3.0
  • Featured as a Grandmaster Nightfall activity in March 2023, with updated modifiers and increased difficulty.