Protheon, Modular Mind

Protheon, Modular Mind is a Vex Minotaur Axis Mind and the main boss of The Inverted Spire Strike.

Biography
It was unearthed by the Red Legion following their occupation of Nessus and tearing it open. At some point, the Red Legion attempted to capture the Vex Mind for study by excavating into its lair, only to be thwarted by a fireteam of Guardians, which then destroyed Protheon. It was determined by Failsafe that the planetoid would have been destroyed in the following battle had the Red Legion succeeded in capturing it. After it's destruction, Failsafe began running diagnostics on the Mind's shield and its oscillating nature to use against the Cabal.

Gameplay
Protheon is an Ultra Minotaur with a weakspot on its head. It will switch tactics during his encounter, splitting the battle into three stages.

Stage One
Protheon will roam around the arena and open fire with its Torch Hammer while summoning Vex reinforcements. Its Torch Hammer deals high damage with its explosive Void bolts. In order to get to another point immediately, it will teleport to continue its attack and summon more Harpy reinforcements. The player must be aware of where it will teleport to so that they may take cover and put enough distance between them and Protheon. Distance is crucial, as getting too close will result in Protheon stomping the ground to create a Temporal Shockwave, which can instantly kill a player. After it loses a quarter of its health, Protheon will dissipate the floor and all playerss will fall to another arena, thus beginning stage two. Note that Protheon will be fully immune between each stage.

Stage Two


Protheon will remain stationary and in the center of the arena. However, its weapon system will have switched to an Arc Slap Rifle that fires a stream of energy bolts in rapid succession, thus allowing for easy suppressive fire. In addition, it will occasionally slam the ground with its fist to blanket the floor in fire. This blanket of fire will rapidly eat away at the player's health so long as they remain on the ground. Once these blankets disappear, it will perform an energy change, pushing the player upward and potentially off of the field to their death. As it loses health, Goblins and Hobgoblins will arrive in support of the Mind. Once quarter of health is lost passed, Protheon will dissipate the floor once again, thus beginning stage three.

Stage Three


Protheon will be at its most dangerous state here. For the first half of this stage, it will remain in a Vex radiolarian field. It will pick off the Guardians from a distance with its Slap Rifle and its Slap Grenade launcher, the latter of which creates a blinding effect upon detonation similar to a Flashbang Grenade, disorienting players and decreasing their awareness, and summon Goblins and Fanatics to flank and harry the fireteam. Additionally, any player that enters the field will suffer a damage-over-time effect until they get back on the main platform, which is the safest possible spot at this stage.

When it reaches the last quarter of its health, Protheon will lose its head and left arm and move the weak spot to its belly. In this state, it enters a berserker rage, rapidly charging the players while firing wildly and stomping continuously to generate more Temporal Shockwaves. Less reinforcements will continue to appear. Protheon will remain in this stage until it is killed.

All that said, on lower difficulties, players can deal enough damage to force Protheon to skip a phase, or even kill it as soon as it enters the arena.

Trivia

 * Protheon bears a strong resemblance to Atheon, Time's Conflux, both in appearance and in name.
 * A holographic projection of Protheon (pictured below) can be seen on the Cabal drill boarded earlier in the Strike.
 * A bas-relief of Protheon can be seen at the entrance of the Inverted Spire, shortly before Protheon itself emerges.
 * During each of the phases, Protheon glows a different color, reflecting its weapons elemental damage and the stage's effects.
 * As it takes damage, Protheon's entire body gradually break down, making it the first boss thus to have its full appearance change during the battle.
 * Protheon is one of the few Strike bosses to change their weapons in battle, alongside Taniks Perfected and Bracus Zahn.
 * Protheon is the only known Minotaur Vex Mind to use a Slap Rifle.
 * Like Theosyion, the Restorative Mind, its rifle deals Arc damage.
 * With the release of Lightfall, Protheon was given a bottom-screen health bar, sectioned according to its phase thresholds.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2 Beta
 * Destiny 2