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Destiny 2 Botza District strategy, Radiant Batteries and Berserker explained

How to complete the Botza District section.

The Botza District eases you into the Scourge of the Past raid, focusing on an abandoned part of the city.

We will explain how to make your way around the Botza District, how to defeat a 'Berserker, Kell's Scourge', how to read the map, and where to place your Radiant Batteries.

If you want to read more about the raid, our Scourge of the Past guide can help.

On this page:

Destiny 2 Botza District strategy step-by-step

A summary of the steps to complete the first encounter, Botza District are:

  • Locate and kill the first "Berserker, Kell's Scourge".
  • Place the Radiant Battery at the top of the most central tower to activate the map.
  • Locate the Berserker carrying two Radiat Batteries.
  • Place the batteries in their corresponding terminals.
  • Using the map to find a total of six Radiant Batteries to complete the encounter.
  • Opening the way to the Sewers.

Destiny 2 Botza District strategy in detail

The Botza District is a large playground full of Fallen just waiting to pounce. As you are dropped in to the encounter, you will find yourself at the top right section of the map. From there you will want to make your way to the most central building of the area. At the top of this building, there should be a terminal and an invisible enemy.

This is the view from the spawn point.
This is where you'll want to come to start the raid.

Once you have located the correct building, you will notice that the enemy you have found, Berserker, Kell's Scourge, is impervious to your attacks. To start the encounter you will need to kill him and place his Radiant Battery in the terminal next to where you found him. But before you do so, it's important to discuss roles within your team.

Within the Botza District there will be two major roles, the map reader and those who deposit the batteries. The map reader's main objective is to survive a top of the building you find the first enemy on, read the map, and defend the position, so it's advised that you pick a Guardian with a high Power Level that can sustain themselves and give directions while the rest of the players run around the map.

The other role, battery guardians, will need to listen to the map read and locate further Berserker, Kell's Scourge enemies to kill them and steal their batteries and then find locations on the map that match with information displayed on the map.

An example of the Berserker you need to kill.

Now, to damage the Berserker, Kell's Scourge, you'll need to bait them to use their shield and then destroy their glowing red exposed cores. To bait the enemy you need to close in on them and await their eyes glowing while a blue shield forms around the Berserker, when this happens both the chest and back cores will be exposed - destroying both of these cores with break the shield and allow damage to be dealt. Players can shoot through the bubble so long as one Guardian remains inside.

A baited berserker with exposed cores.

After you have killed the Berserker, the player responsible for reading the map should pick up the Radiant Battery and place it in the receptacle atop of the central tower. This will start the encounter and begin the countdown timer.

While this is happening, the rooftops will populate with Fallen and Servitors will advance upon the map, should a Servitor reach the map it will shutdown the map until it is defeated. The encounter will also cease should you fail to collect and place enough Radiant Batteries in the corresponding sockets within the allotted time.

This is the map that the reader will use to help the other guardians navigate the map.
An image of the encounter timer before time runs out.

From there on out, the map reader will guide the other guardians throughout the map to locate the Berserker holding two radiant batteries throughout the map. This is indicated on the map with a large orange circle with two orbs inside of it atop an orange triangle that represents the enemies location. When the guardians do find the Berserker, they will once again need to bait the enemy into exposing its cores.

Here you can see the position of the Berserker holding two cores on the map right next to terminal 5. It has a large orange orb above it.

When the Berserker is defeated, and it is the correct Berserker, it will drop two cores. Two guardians should pick these up with a delay in between. Upon collecting a radiant battery, the map will indicate to the map reader which of the four terminals throughout the map. Each terminal will have a number of green dots above them, one through to four, and be placed at each side of the map with the additional fifth terminal being located next to the map reader that was initially used to start the encounter.

The map reader should use the delay in these pick ups to communicate which terminal the guardian should place their battery in by looking at the map and counting the yellow dots that appear above their head as they pick up the Radiant Batteries. Any Radiant Battery corresponding with the fifth terminal will extend the timer of the countdown, while each Radiant Battery placed in one of the other four terminals will progress the encounter.

(Please note that players who pick up a fifth terminal should run to the map reader alone, deposit their battery, and offer assistance as needed before returning to the roaming guardian group.)

As a guardian has picked up one of the radiant batteries, the map now displays a series of yellow dots above their head.

As you collect your battery, and if your battery does not need to be placed in the fifth terminal, you should make your way to the area of the map containing the terminal with the other guardians. When you arrive at the location, servitors will be defending the area. Defeating these servitors will enable you to deposit your Radiant Batter, thus becoming ionised. Ionised players cannot pick up any further Radiant Batteries for two minutes.

An example of one of the areas guardians may need to deposit batteries. This is area one.

After the batteries have been placed, the map reader will once again call out the position of the next Berserker on the maps. All guardians will once again converge on the enemy, bait their shield, and acquire two more radiant batteries. You will need to repeat this process until the encounter is complete, wherein the purple bubbles next to the four terminals will dissipate.

When you've successfully finished the encounter, the bubble near terminal 2 will disappear and reveal a hole in the ground.

Once the encounter is complete, exit through one of the holes in the ground next to where you placed your Radiant Batteries to enter the Sewers and Botza Underground.


The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!


Botza District recap

Once the Botza District encounter is over, you have to escape. Here's where to go:

  • Locate the central tower. Make your way from the starting point, across the city until you reach the central tower with a battery terminal atop.
  • Designate players with roles. Discuss with your teammates who will be defending the map and those who will locate the Berserkers throughout the city and deposit the batteries.
  • Kill the first Berserker and start the encounter. Bait the Berserker in to exposing its cores, destroy the cores, and then kill them.
  • Map reader deposits the first Radiant Battery. After the Berserker has been downed, the map reader should pick up the Radiant Battery and place it in the terminal to power the map.
  • Map reader and guardians coordinate to find Berserkers. The map reader will use the map to identify the Berserk carrying two Radiant Batteries and guide the guardians to them.
  • Kill the Berserker, pick up the batteries, and establish the location to be deposited. Players should once again bait the Berserker and then kill them, then pick up the radiant batteries with a small delay between the first and second pick up. The map reader should keep an eye on the map and relay which location the guardians need to go to.
  • Guardians should make their way to one of the locations based on the map reader's callout. Run to the correct place on the map with the roaming guardians, kill the servitors protecting the terminals, and then deposit the batteries.
  • Repeat stages 5, 6, and 7 until the encounter is complete.
  • Exit through one of the holes in the ground next to where you placed your Radiant Batteries to the Sewers and Botza Underground.
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