Riksis, Devil Archon

"Die!"

- Riksis

Riksis, Devil Archon is a Fallen Archon of the House of Devils.

He served his Prime Servitor, Sepiks Prime and was a key leader for the Devils in the Cosmodrome regions of Old Russia. He is also known for collecting the skulls of dead Guardians to present as offerings to Sepiks.

Biography
"The Archons are the links between the Fallen and their Servitors. We break those links, we break the Fallen."

- Grimoire

Following the death of Solkis, Kell of Devils, the House of Devils established a stronghold within the Cosmodrome of Old Russia. Absent of their Kell and political leader, Riksis gained prominence within the House as its Archon and helped rule the Devils alongside Sepiks Prime by serving it as a caretaker and arbiter of its will.

They established the Devils' Lair as the main stronghold for their operations and Riksis, alongside his zealous worshippers, offered sacrificial tribute to their machine god in the form of skulls from dead Guardians.

Fall of the Archon
"Taking down an Archon is no easy task. With the master of the Fallen servitors gone, the House of Devils will scramble to protect their Prime Servitor."

- Commander Zavala.

Their dominance was uncontested for years until a newly risen Guardian was sighted attempting to escape the Fallen's territory. The Devils alerted their presence to Riksis after they had killed Rahn, Devil Captain and stole a Jumpship meant for scrap in Dock 13. The young Guardian quickly escapes the Cosmodrome and the Archon's reach just as his troops fire their Wire Rifles at them and miss. Later, Riksis acquires an NLS Drive to bait the Guardian's return and engages them in battle as they try to secure it. He summons reinforcements to ambush the Guardian and shoots them with his Shrapnel Launcher, but is killed in the end.

The death of the Archon was celebrated by the Last City and the Devils quickly heightened their security for Sepiks as the absence of Riksis left it vulnerable for attack. Soon enough, the Vanguard immediately issued a Strike operation and the Prime Servitor was destroyed by a fireteam of Guardians. This left the Devils' leadership with a power vacuum that many rising Archons attempt to fill, including Karrhis, Archon Rising. Two years later, Aksis, a former disgraced Devil priest, would become Riksis’ successor and soon introduced the Fallen House to SIVA.

Gameplay


Riksis serves as the boss in the Restoration story mission. He is armed with a Shrapnel Launcher for ranged combat, and has higher health and attack strength than normal Fallen, and drops an NLS Drive.

It is recommended that Guardians keep their distance from him, as once stirred he is unpredictably elusive and quick with a wave of power called the "Ultra Smash", an extremely powerful area-of-effect melee attack that causes Guardians to suffer significant damage as well as tremendous knockback, unless the attack kills them instantly, in which it often does.

He will also get support from other Fallen, as they will continuously drop from the ceiling after each wave of adds is killed. Guardians should use their class abilities such as grenades and Supers when fighting him, or just avoid him if they want to wait for a later battle.

Trivia

 * He originally appeared inside The Breach before being moved to Dock 13 in the Restoration mission. There he was called "Rixis, Archon Slayer" in the early game builds.
 * During the Destiny Demo presentation, the player was rewarded with the weapon Thunderlord after killing Rixis, Archon Slayer.
 * In the cutscene where Riksis first appears, he is seen holding a Wire Rifle, however later in gameplay he is armed with a Shrapnel Launcher.
 * Karrhis, Archon Rising replaces Riksis's original location by The Breach in the "eliminate the target" mission found in Patrol.
 * Riksis's render model is the most commonly used model for Ultra Fallen enemies in Destiny and Taken Ultra Captains in Destiny 2. A notable example is Draksis, Winter Kell who shares the same design as Riksis.
 * In the Restoration mission, Riksis will first appear as a Ultra, however will become a Major if players have a higher Light level.
 * In the New Light rendition of Destiny 2, a Fallen leader is seen wearing the same armor of Riksis, but wear with purple garments. It is unknown if this is Riksis, or another Dusk leader, however developer renders uploaded to the site ArtStation suggests it is Riksis.

List of appearances

 * Destiny