Just a couple of tips from someone that narrowly missed completion this week: 1. Even an exotic weapon won't be great as you progress through the raid unless it's at least halfway maxed. My maxed Legendary pulse rifle was better than my 30% maxed exotic auto (yeah alright I know I'm thick). 2. Your gear won't level much if at all during the raid. I didn't notice whether xp was added at each checkpoint (don't think it did) but nothing is added during all the wipes, so don't bank on upgrading during the raid. 3. Unless your weapons are at least legendary maxed you might want to switch to golden gun as you'll need the ranged dps for two of the bosses and it might help clear snipers. There's also one mob you don't wanna melee.