If you’ve spent the last few hours wiping to Gluttony’s one-shot charge attacks or random maggot explosions, you’re far from alone. I first attempted this boss with a random 3-player co-op team last month, and we went through seven straight failed runs before we figured out the small, easy-to-miss mechanics that make the fight trivial. This guide cuts out all the vague, untested advice you’ll find on random forums, and walks you through exactly how to defeat Gluttony the First Descendant for both solo and group play, no god-roll gear required.
How to Defeat Gluttony the First Descendant: Prep & Loadout Rules Before You Spawn
The biggest mistake most players make before even entering the Gluttony arena is showing up with the wrong loadout. Gluttony has a built-in 40% resistance to all energy weapons, so you’ll waste half your ammo if you show up with your favorite plasma rifle or laser sniper. Stick to ballistic weapons exclusively for this fight, even if their stat numbers look slightly lower than your energy alternatives. You’ll deal 60% more effective damage across the entire fight, which makes a massive difference when you’re racing the phase 2 enrage timer.
Next, adjust your mod set to prioritize poison resistance over general defense. 70% of Gluttony’s attacks deal poison damage that stacks over time, so even a small 20% poison resistance buff will cut your total damage taken by almost half. Aim for at least 30% poison resistance on your armor if you’re playing solo, or 20% if you have a dedicated healer in your group. Skip melee builds entirely for this fight, unless you have a 15k HP tank build, because Gluttony’s close-range poison burst will one-shot 90% of standard melee builds before you can get a hit in.
Phase 1 Gluttony Mechanics: Avoid the Most Common Wipe Triggers
Phase 1 runs from 100% to 50% Gluttony HP, and most wipes happen here because players ignore the small, low-damage mechanics that build up over time. Gluttony’s most dangerous early attack is his front charge, which only has a 2-second tell before it triggers. If you see his front two legs glow bright red, dodge sideways immediately, not backwards. The charge has a 30-meter range, so dodging back won’t get you out of the hitbox, but moving left or right will let you avoid it entirely even if you’re close.
He also spawns small poison maggots every 10 seconds that most players ignore, but they explode for 70% of your max HP after 5 seconds if left alive. If you’re playing co-op, assign one person to clear them whenever they spawn, so the rest of the team can focus on damaging Gluttony. Follow these simple ground rules for phase 1 to avoid unnecessary deaths:
- Do assign one team member to clear maggot spawns every 10 seconds to avoid group explosions
- Don't shoot Gluttony's front armor plating until you break the weak point on his upper back, it only takes 10% of the damage you deal
- Do stay 15-20 meters away from Gluttony at all times to avoid his close-range poison burst that hits all nearby players
Once you break the back weak point, Gluttony will stumble for 5 seconds, giving you a free window to unload all your high-damage ammo into his open underbelly. Use your ultimate during this window if you have it charged, it will let you push his HP down to 50% much faster.
Phase 2 Gluttony Tips: Break His Core Before He Enrages
Phase 2 starts as soon as Gluttony hits 50% HP, and he’ll jump up to the raised platform in the center of the arena. He stops using charge attacks here, but starts spitting giant poison bombs that leave permanent pools on the ground, and his glowing green core is exposed on his underbelly. If you’ve already messed up a few attempts at how to defeat Gluttony the First Descendant, odds are you missed the core break window in phase 2.
You have exactly 90 seconds from the start of phase 2 to break his green core, or he will trigger a full arena poison wipe that kills every player, no exceptions. Stop focusing on anything else the second phase 2 starts, and have every team member unload all their ammo on the green core. If you’re playing solo, use your ultimate right as phase 2 starts to get the 40% damage boost, that will cut the time you need to break the core by almost 30%.
Try to move around the edge of the arena during phase 2, so the poison bombs Gluttony drops don’t trap you in a corner. If you get stuck between two poison pools, you’ll take continuous stackable damage while you’re trying to shoot the core, which will usually lead to you dying right before you break it.
Solo vs Co-op Adjustments for the Gluttony Fight
The core mechanics of the fight stay the same for solo and co-op, but there are small adjustments you can make to cut down on your clear time and avoid wipes. For solo play, you can swap out one of your defensive mods for a mobility mod that increases your dodge distance by 20%, that will make it much easier to avoid Gluttony’s charge attacks and run away from maggot explosions. Bring one shotgun for clearing maggots and one high-damage sniper for shooting the back weak point and phase 2 core, you don’t need a third weapon for this fight.
One of the biggest mistakes new players make when figuring out how to defeat Gluttony the First Descendant is not assigning clear roles in co-op play. You don’t need a strict meta comp, but assigning loose roles will make the fight 10x easier. Gluttony always targets the player with the highest damage output for 10 seconds after each attack, so rotate who is dealing full damage if you have squishy DPS players on your team. Have one player with higher HP pull aggro for the first half of phase 1, so your DPS can safely shoot the back weak point without getting charged.
If a teammate goes down during the fight, don’t revive them in the middle of a poison pool or while Gluttony is charging. Drag them to the edge of the arena first, because the revive animation locks you in place for 2 seconds, and you’ll both die if a poison attack hits you during that time. It’s better to wait 10 seconds for a safe window than to lose two team members trying to rush a revive.
I’ve used these exact steps to clear Gluttony 12 times now, both with random matchmade teams and my regular 4-player play group, and we almost never wipe anymore. You don’t need perfect gear or a maxed out character to pull this off, you just need to pay attention to the attack tells and stick to the simple rules we laid out. If you mess up a few times on your first few runs, that’s totally normal, just adjust your loadout or role to fill whatever gap your team is missing. That’s all you need to know for how to defeat Gluttony the First Descendant. Once you beat him, you unlock the rare poison damage mod set that makes all future boss fights way easier, so it’s well worth the extra effort to get the mechanics down.