The following encounters are described in the order in which they unlocked during the first week of the raid's availability. After clearing an encounter, the team returns to the Castellum and must repeat the process for the second door, and then the third, and the fourth, unlocking different doors each time. Once all three staffs have been retrieved and placed, the door will open and allow access to the encounter as well as delivering a loot reward. The appearance of a counselor will be announced by the game. The liberators can be protected by Counselors, special enemies which do not attack players directly but which grant liberators an impenetrable shield until they are killed by a melee attack. If a liberator is allowed to step onto the plate one of the staffs will return to the door from which it came and must be retrieved again. While staffs are in place, enemies named Standard Liberators will spawn. Upon reaching the plate the staff will be automatically locked into place and the plate will request a second staff, and then a third after that one is retrieved. The team must locate this door in the arena and defeat a special Standard Bearer enemy, which will allow one guardian to claim the staff and carry it back to the unlockable plate. When the fireteam reaches the unlockable plate, the hologram will change to display the symbol of one of the other doors. Each time the fireteam visits the Castellum, three of the doors will feature a hazy, half-formed staff on this plate while the one to unlock will feature a hologram of its symbol. In front of each door is a plate set into the floor bearing the door's symbol. The doors are associated with symbols that will recur throughout the raid- a sun for the Royal Pools, a beast for the Pleasure Gardens, a pair of axes for the Gauntlet, and a chalice for Emperor Calus' throne room.

The Castellum is the primary hub of the raid, featuring connections to all 4 encounters. The underbelly may also be unlocked in this area. To access the hub area, proceed up the side of the ship and through the lifts to the highest available entrance. The enemies in this area do not attack unless attacked first. The Guardian fireteam begins the raid on an outside deck of the ship. Additionally, checkpoints in the raid no longer preserve the fireteam's location, but rather which encounter the hub will lead to once it has been cleared.

After each encounter is completed, the team must return to the hub to unlock the next one. The raid has a unique structure in which all of its encounters are accessed from the same hub area, and which are unlocked in a different order every week (except for the Emperor's throne room, which is always last). The following is a guide to completing the major areas of the Leviathan raid.

Destiny 2 level past 270