Valus Ta'aurc

"The last sounds to reach their ears were the creak of tank tread and the battle-cry of Ta'aurc."

- Grimoire description

Valus Ta'aurc is the Fleet Commander of the Siege Dancers, although he remains a member of the Dust Giants. From his Imperial Land Tank, the Cerberus Vae III, Ta'aurc is infamous for conquering more land than any other commander in the Cabal Exclusion Zone on Mars, which encompasses the entire city of Freehold in their territory.

Biography
"Find the source! Rouse the Flayers and find the source!"

- Valus Ta'aurc after Rasputin's orbital bombardment

After the death of their former unnamed Primus, Ta'aurc became the acting commander of the Siege Dancers. Under his authority, Ta'aurc led the Cabal in on-going attrition to secure Meridian Bay against the Virgo Prohibition Vex. During a pitched battle against the machines, both sides suffered heavy casualties when a orbital bombardment directed by the Warmind Rasputin struck the battlefield. Outraged by the unexpected assault, Ta'aurc roared orders to his soldiers to have the Ice Reapers deployed and locate the entity behind the orbital strike.

Resurrection
Five years after his death at the hands of the Guardians, Valus Ta'aurc was risen by the necromantic powers of the Worm God Xol, Will of the Thousands, whose lingering will persisted amongst the Taken on Io following his own death. Ta'aurc was then Taken, and became Ta'aurc, Aspect of War.

Gameplay
"Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars. So let's get to taking out their command, one by one. Valus Ta'aurc. From what I can gather he commands the Siege Dancers from an Imperial Land Tank outside of Rubicon. He's well protected, but with the right team, we can punch through those defenses, take this beast out, and break their grip on Freehold."

- Commander Zavala

Cerberus Vae III
He is the final boss for the Cerberus Vae III Strike, where the Guardians battle against him within his base of operations, an Imperial Land Tank. He is armed with a Heavy Slug Thrower and Rocket Pods, and is supported by Skyburners Legionaries, Phalanxes and Psions. His Heavy Slug Thrower fires faster and has higher accuracy than those of standard Colossi, allowing him to suppress Guardians with ease, even at long range. He will continuously fire this weapon to prevent them from moving out of cover. On top of that, he can launch bigger barrages of missiles than a normal Colossus can (up to eleven), and is thus capable of swiftly destroying his targets. Getting too close to Valus Ta'aurc will trigger his "Quake" ability, where he performs a ground stomp that creates a massive shockwave, which is, more often than not, an instant kill.

Strategy
When fighting Valus Ta'aurc, it's of the best interest to stay on the high ground as much as possible, that way you have easy access to cover and you have to force Ta'aurc and his legion to come to you and has no chance to use his ground slam. Valus Ta'aurc is stubborn and tends to keep his fire on a target even if they're behind cover. If someone wants to remove his lock on their teammate, a headshot with a sniper is the best, most reliable way to draw his attention. If Ta'aurc roars, get behind cover as that is his call for his missile barrage and it will guarantee a death if it's not blocked with cover, however be aware that he can do up to three barrages in a row. A missile barrage is often also his announcement that he is moving to a new location. Valus Ta'aurc tends to have five locations. Back middle where he arrives, top right and left which is where the team should be stationed most of the fight unless he moves there, directly in the middle of the room, and front middle where the fireteam arrived in the room. Valus Ta'aurc moves often and tends to reach a spot only to instantly move to another unless he locks onto a Guardian.

Valus Ta'aurc is infamous for his high health pool, making him a damage sponge even after his Taken King health nerf. It's best to take the fight slow and clear out the ads that spawn on the higher levels from behind cover from the Valus to make sure that there is as little of a threat while fighting him as possible. If Valus Ta'aurc is nearing death, he will almost perpetually be using his missile barrage, however due to his stubbornness this can be used against him by drawing his attention, then hide behind cover while the missiles hit the terrain while the other teammates finish him off, however be aware he can often change targets mid missile barrage so be near cover just in case along with the fact that the missiles do splash damage, so being right next to the terrain the missiles are hitting is ill-advised. It's best to stay behind it, but a fair distance away just in case.

The Whisper
He appeared on Io during the Taken Blight Public Event, together with Urzok, Aspect of Hate and Drevis, Aspect of Darkness, and needed to be killed in order to start the quest for the Whisper of the Worm. He also returned as one of the final bosses of the quest, and killing him and all other enemies in the room rewarded the player with the Whisper of the Worm.

Dares of Eternity
Valus Ta'aurc appears as one of three final bosses in Dares of Eternity. He is in a shorefront arena, similar in make to The Silent Cartographer in Halo: Combat Evolved. When dueling Valus Ta'aurc he will take shelter in a shield upon a third of his health being depleted. You will then kill 12 Seigebreakers, destroy a thresh, and throw a Dares core at the generator allowing you to continue the fight.

While there is not any lore relating to this, as Dares is not completely in the realm of cannon. it is worth noting that the area behind him, and the spot the cabal launch from, is a Pyramid Ship shaped piece of Geometry.

Gallery
Cerberus Vae III

Trivia

 * Zavala's introduction to the Strike mission where Ta'aurc is fought, "Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars," has also become a popular meme within the community as a copypasta. In Dares of Eternity, Xur repeats this line as a nod to the meme in Ta'aurc's introduction.
 * Upon entering the room, Valus Ta'aurc is fully immune to all damage until the doors behind him are fully closed.
 * This was fixed in Rise of Iron, but he still can occasionally be invulnerable for longer periods of time than usual even after the door is closed.
 * When he returned in Destiny 2 as a Taken on Io, he appeared as a Centurion rather than a Colossus. This was most likely intentional as there are currently no Taken Colossi in the game.
 * Ta'aurc and Dominus Ghaul are the only known Cabal to be resurrected.
 * Valus Ta'aurc's cluster missiles and his ground slam are both named Quake in his kill-cam. It is unknown if this was intended, a bug, or an oversight and was never patched.
 * He returned in the 30th Anniversary Pack as one of the bosses in Dares of Eternity.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * The Taken King
 * Destiny 2
 * Warmind
 * 30th Anniversary Pack