I've gotten three Elder Ciphers (only completed one so far) so the only thing I'm chasing now from Skolas is elemental primaries. To be honest Skolas isn't so bad once you figure out the mechanics. First time we did it, it took 5 hours to kill him. Second one took 3 and the third time we did it first try, no wipes. I guess the biggest hurdle is the no checkpoints thing. I get why Bungie wanted to take them away but I think this solution causes more damage than it fixes.