Protheon, Modular Mind

Protheon, Modular Mind is a Vex Minotaur and is the main boss of The Inverted Spire Strike. It was unearthed by the Red Legion following their occupation of Nessus. 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 that then destroyed Protheon. After it's destruction, Failsafe began running diagnostic's on the Mind's shield and its oscillating nature to use against Cabal.

Gameplay
Protheon's encounter is split up into three stages, making it the most complex Strike encounter in Destiny 2 thus far.

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. 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 will instantly kill the player. After enough damage is dealt, the floor will dissipate and all Guardians 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, they will perform an energy change, pushing the player upward and potentially off of the field to their death. Once another health threshold has 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, which Fanatics will be able to carry over to the main platform for area denial, and 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. 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. As time progresses, Protheon will become more aggressive and enter a berserker rage, rapidly charging down on the player to generate more temporal shockwaves. It will remain in this stage until it is killed.

Trivia

 * Protheon bears a strong resemblance to Atheon, Time's Conflux, both in appearance and in name.
 * A bas-relief of Protheon can be seen at the entrance of the Inverted Spire, shortly before Protheon itself is encountered.
 * During each of the phases, Protheon glows a different color, reflecting its weapons elemental damage and the stage's effects.
 * Upon close to death, Protheon's entire body appears severely damaged, making it the first boss thus far to have its full appearance change during the battle.
 * Upon losing its head, its weak point shifts to its abdomen.
 * With the loss of its head, Protheon only summons Fanatics and all current Goblins lose their head.
 * Besides Taniks Perfected and Bracus Zahn, Protheon is the only Strike boss to change their weapons in battle.
 * Protheon and Theosyion, the Restorative Mind are the only known Vex minds to use Slap Rifles, both of which deal Arc damage.

List of Appearances

 * Destiny 2