At Destiny 2 IKELOS weapons are the most sought after equipment in the Hellas Basin on Mars. IKELOS is a subroutine that Rasputin started during the Corrupt War, about two years before the Red War, as its bunkers had already been breached too many times. This subroutine led to the modification of old fusion rifles produced in the past by another subroutine called FORGIA DVALIN, thus giving birth to the powerful Linear Fusion Rifle Sleeper Simulator. Following the awakening of the Hive forces commanded by Nokris and Xol, IKELOS was restarted and associated to the APOTEOSI subroutine for the production of the particular weapons obtainable on Mars.
Rasputin doesn't think we are particularly nice to him, but we are useful to him and therefore we arm ourselves properly. In this guide, let's see how to get his most interesting weapons.
Data Recovery and IKELOS_HC_v.1.0.1
Following the completion of the Mente Bellica expansion campaign you will unlock the Data Recovery Enterprise. Aside from talking to Anastasia Bray, there will be two rather short missions to complete: Source Code and A Piece of the Past.
In Source Code, the part that can certainly take some time is the source of the signal you'll need to find. Starting from the Ice Drift landing zone, head to the Dynamo Pass on the left.
Shortly after turning the corner you can head towards the small object framed above. After interacting with it it is all downhill and both the rest of this mission and all the performance of A piece from the past will flow by following the simple instructions given to your Guardian. In doing so you'll get your ikelos_hc_v1.0.1, but still return to Ana Bray to start the exotic quests for the Sleeping Simulator and the Polaris Spear.
The IKELOS weapons of the Intensification Protocol
There are three other IKELOS weapons that can be obtained on Mars, all during the public activity Intensification Protocol. Six out of seven waves will primarily require your ability to exterminate enemies as quickly as possible, while the last one will always have a particular boss. These bosses will alternate in a five-week cycle and each of them, when defeated, will have a chance to get you the weapon of the week.
IKELOS_SG_v1.0.1 - Nur Abath, Crest of Xol
In the first week of the cycle there is an Ogre called Nur Abath, Crest of Xol. This boss projects a circular aura around it, which makes it immune to any damage as long as at least one unit of the Hive is present inside. Nur Abath will periodically make new enemies appear within his aura, so your team's job will be to keep enemies at bay so that they stay as little as possible within Nur Abath's aura. When he's vulnerable, dump all the fire (or light) power at your disposal on him.
The possible drop of Nur Abath is the legendary shotgun IKELOS_SG_v1.0.1.
IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.1 - Kathok, Scream of Xol
In the second week of the cycle is Kathok, a boss whose mechanics will surely be familiar to anyone who faced Echtar in the days of Destiny: The King of Corrupt. This powerful Knight of the Hive will appear with a shield that will make him immune to any attack and to make him vulnerable you'll need to use the Swords dropped by the typical Knights of the Intensification Protocol, the only weapon capable of damaging his shield. Once his defenses are down, you can damage it with the rest of your arsenal.
Kathok's possible drop is the legendary IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.1 machine gun.
IKELOS_SR_v1.0.1 - Damkath, the Mask
In the third week there is Damkath, the Mask. This is another Ogre, but this time with total immunity against any frontal attack. Its only weak point is the pulsating bag placed on his back, so make sure you have some Guardian in front of him to attract his attention and someone behind to damage him.
The possible drop of Damkath is the legendary sniper rifle IKELOS_SR_v1.0.1.
Naksud, the Ravenous and Bok Litur, Hunger of Xol
Naksud and Bok Litur are the bosses of the fourth and fifth week of the cycle respectively. What they have in common is the fact that, when they are present, you can get all three Intensification Protocol weapons (one at a time, of course). For the rest, they are two bosses with different mechanics.
Naksud is an Ogre that makes Cursed Slaves appear periodically, which, by exploding around him, allow him to regenerate his life enormously. It is therefore necessary to make the most of his two weak points (on his neck and back) and get rid of the Cursed Slaves immediately before their death regenerates Naksud. All in all, he is a boss with much less life than the others in the Intensification Protocol, but his regeneration can be very annoying.
Bok Litur, on the other hand, doesn't have any defense mechanics linked to shields or regeneration. However, it has an enormous amount of life and around it will appear very powerful acolytes (yellow life bar) whose killing will give you big Spheres of Light. You'll literally have to unload every possible weapon on Bok Litur and use its Acolytes to quickly reload your Super in order to use it several times consecutively.
Conclusions
Now you know how to get your first IKELOS weapon and how to deal with the Intensification Protocol bosses to get all the others. Remember that you can face each boss repeatedly, just repeat level 6 before you can continue until you get the weapon you are missing. If you're playing in one of the weeks of Naksud or Bok Litur, then it's even better, because with a little perseverance and effort, you'll be able to get all three IKELOS Protocol weapons in a single week, maybe even a single game night.
