The Royal Pools is one of the three challenges in Destiny 2’s Leviathan raid. While the order of encounters changes every week, this is the easiest of the three. You’ll need two kinds of weapons here: one to kill the censors and another to beat down those Ceremonial Bathers.

Best kinetic, energy and power weapons

Different types of weapons are great for different types of battles. In this section, we’ll give you advice about what types of guns you should use and why.

Kinetic: auto rifle

One of the major damage requirements in this fight arrives during the second phase, when all players clump up in the middle to deal damage to the lanterns (officially known as the censors). For this section, you are free to use lots of different kinds of weapons. A sniper or linear fusion rifle would be great here but isn’t worth losing your burst Power weapon for Ceremonial Bathers (or as we like to call them, Nude Boys). Instead, we suggest a trusty auto rifle to keep constant damage on the lanterns. It isn’t very glamorous, but it gets the job done.

Energy: scout rifle

The scout rifle is scarcely used here but does come in handy. Use your preferred energy scout to take out adds around your plate from a distance. This is especially useful on the Spears plate and the Hound plate, as you can see the enemies pour out from your location.

Power: Rocket launcher, shotgun or sword

Bathers will spawn out of the holes in front of the plate holders and you must deal with them immediately. Use a Power weapon that can deal very high burst damage. For dealing with Bathers, we recommend a rocket launcher and a grenade, although a good shotgun or sword can make for a fine substitute.

Recommended weapons

Sweet Business (Exotic auto rifle)

Sweet Business may seem like an odd choice, considering this mini-Gatling gun’s long ramp up time. However, this is a great gun to use on the censors in the damage phase. Sweet Business is able to pump out a lot of rounds per second, leading to a ton of lantern damage. And if you can mitigate the need to reload with a Titan Rally Barricade or a Warlock with Lunafaction Boots, you can get even more damage out.

It is worth noting that, if you are struggling with taking down your Bather with your Power weapon alone, you should probably prioritize a more reliable Kinetic weapon.

Bungie/Activision

It Stared Back (Legendary sword)

It Stared Back is not only the very cool looking raid sword, it is also one of the best swords in Destiny 2. Continuous hits deal more damage and give you free ammo, making it a consistent Bather slayer. The only problem with swords is that you have to wait for the Bather to emerge from their hole and get very close to them to deal damage, putting yourself in danger. It isn’t the best option, but it’s a good one.

Sins of the Past or Curtain Call (Legendary rocket launchers)

We put these two rockets together because they have the only perk that matters: cluster bombs (rockets create mini explosions after impact, dealing even more damage). However, they do have fairly different stats and we prefer Sins of the Past due to the blast radius and the automatic reload when stored. Just know that you can use either.

Sins of the Past is hands down the best Ceremonial Bathers killer. As soon as that ugly mug pops up from the hole, throw a grenade and blast it with your rocket. Sins of the Past is particularly great here, as you can stow it, return to the middle to grab your buff and head to your partner’s plate only to pull it out again and immediately fire thanks to the automatic reload.

If you want a consistent and fun Nude Boy killer, use a rocket.

Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun (Legendary shotgun)

Between the rocket and sword, this shotgun is probably the worst of the Power weapons you would want for this fight. However, it is still great for serving its central purpose: Ceremonial Bather slaying.

Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun fires extremely fast and can take down a Ceremonial Bather very quickly in close range. The downsides come in when you consider the close range and the ammo. While the shotgun does hold more ammo than most other guns here, you need several shots to take a Ceremonial Bather down. Considering that Ceremonial Bather drop Power ammo more often than not when they die, this isn’t really much of a problem. However, it still makes it the weakest of the three.

Titan Striker, Code of the Earthshaker

As with almost all of the fights in the Leviathan, Titans should be running Striker with double Pulse grenades (Pulse grenades to be exact). Their Super is great for clearing adds in the lantern room, and the double grenades will help take Ceremonial Bathers down fast.

Bungie/Activision

Actium War Rig (chest)

The Actium War Rig is a very good chest piece if you are using auto rifles. Since auto rifles are ideal in this fight, wear this Exotic if you have it. When paired with any auto rifle (especially the Sweet Business, considering its huge clip size), you will need to reload far less frequently when dealing damage to lanterns. Less reloading means more time shooting, and more time shooting means more damage. Wear it.

Hunter Gunslinger, Way of the Sharpshooter

While the Shadowshot seems like it would be great in this fight (considering the amount of enemies), the Golden Gun absolutely melts the lanterns. While you should try to hold your Super for the lanterns, it can also be great to get you or a friend out of a bind if there is a struggle with one of the Bathers.

Celestial Nighthawk (helmet)

This Exotic choice is pretty self-explanatory when you consider the following: a Celestial Nighthawk Golden Gun can one-shot kill a lantern.

Warlock Stormcaller, Attunement of the Elements

The Stormcaller argument is very similar to that of the Striker Titan. Stormtrance is excellent for clearing adds, and the Pulse grenade is extremely powerful against Bathers.

Lunafaction boots (boots, obviously)

When you are in the center and doing damage to the censor, you should already be placing a Healing Rift (due to the amount of adds) or an Empowering Rift (if you are feeling risky). The Lunafaction Boots do a really excellent job of helping your allies out, allowing them to step out of your Rift and back in for an instant reload. To make this easier on your teammates, drop the rift to the right or left of the plate so players will still have room to shuffle around the Rift while maintaining Force of Will.