Pit of Heresy

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Pit of Heresy
Game:	Shadowkeep
Player(s):	1-3
Recommended Power Level:	1600
Location:	Sorrow's Harbor, Moon
Objective(s):	Destroy the Hive champion Zulmak, Instrument of Torment.
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“

Deep beneath Sorrow's Harbor, the Hive keep their darkest secrets.

”

The Pit of Heresy is a Dungeon that was introduced in the Shadowkeep expansion, and released on the 29th of October 2019. It requires Guardians to enter the bottom of The Scarlet Keep, where they fight their way past a horde of Hidden Swarm, in order to slay the Hive champion, Zulmak, Instrument of Torment along with many wicked rituals that the remaining daughters of Crota have wrought. Like The Shattered Throne before it, it is now available every week. It should be noted that the dungeon has checkpoints, so if you need to rest or go do something else, you are able to leave and return to your last checkpoint.

Walkthrough

To access the Pit of Heresy, you must first complete a quest from Eris Morn called The Deeping Wake. This quest involves completion of at least Tier 3 of the Altars of Sorrow, in addition to defeating 20 Nightmares during the event. After returning to Eris, the Pit of Heresy will be visible from the Director.

Necropolis

The first encounter requires you to match the correct runes and utilize a Hive Sword to defeat minibosses with unique interactions. There are several towers built in to the face of the cliff in the first area. Each tower has a Hive rune on top that's used to navigate this stage.

To find out which runes you should be looking for, you need to drop off the cliff and into the first tower. Here you need to kill a set of enemies and gain access to a room with an Accursed Swordbearer therein. Defeating it rewards you with a special Hive Cleaver relic and a view of three runes. It's advised to screenshot or take a photo of the runes so you don't forget which areas you need to visit. Don't take too long in this room, or the Swordbearer will respawn and you'll have to either run away or kill it again.

Take note of the runes however you wish and exit the room. Then find the matching tower and dispatch the resident Disciple of the Broken Blade. You'll need to use the sword in different ways, depending on the Disciple you face. If the room contains a Might of the Broken Blade (Knight), use the sword light melee attack. If it's an Omen of the Broken Blade (Wizard), unleash a damage-dealing projectile with the sword heavy attack. If it's an Oracle of the Broken Blade (Shrieker), deflect its shots back at it with sword guard to destroy it.

It is worth noting that the Might room has several Thralls in addition to the aforementioned Disciple, which will overwhelm you if not dealt with. However, a strong heavy weapon or basic primary such as an Auto Rifle should make quick work of them. The Omen room has two Revenant Wizards in it, who will distract and damage you while you attempt to fight the Omen. Killing them is recommended before bringing a cleaver to engage the Omen. The Oracle room also has two Revenant Ogres in it, whose firepower combined with the Oracle's will quickly kill you if you do not have a Cleaver, and will prevent you from reliably damaging the Oracle if you do. It is recommended that you use a powerful weapon such as a Rocket Launcher to kill the Ogres before acquiring a Cleaver and facing the Oracle.

When you've finished all three towers based on the runes you've noted, an exit will open and a chest will appear.

Collect your loot and continue until you see a wall of doors. Ignore the vast array of doors and look for a hole in the wall just off to the right of the broken bridge on which you're standing.

Tunnels of Despair

Into the Despair

Follow this path until you drop in to a dimly lit room. Here there are some hidden tunnels with small Hive membranes protecting them, which can be destroyed with a few shots. There are also two unkillable Harrowing Pariahs patrolling around the wider tunnels, so watch your back.

Escape this encounter by navigating the small tunnels and killing the Hive Knights you come across. Each Knight that you kill will drop a Void orb. Dunk this orb in a vessel outside of three doors the ogres are protecting. After you kill three Knights and deposit their orbs at each of these doors, the next stage opens.

Chamber of Suffering

The Chamber of Suffering

The third encounter in the Pit of Heresy is a wave defense activity with a debuff mechanic. There's a large wall protected by six Hive runes in the centre of the room. Your goal is to destroy them.

Similar to the previous encounter, you need to kill multiple Knights and deposit their Void orbs in the container next to the blocked door. It sounds simple, but this time, your team is affected by a stacking debuff. If the team accrues enough stacks, your entire team will die and you'll have to start the encounter over. Every time you deposit an orb, you (and only you, not your entire team) will lose stacks of the debuff, so don't take too long between Knight kills. You will also wipe if no one is standing underneath the hive totem, so occasionally have someone stand under it until the fire inside it stops.

To make this simple, nominate one player as a runner who collects orbs, and the others can defend from the plate, killing anything that spawns. When depositing an orb, be aware of the pair of Boomer-wielding Knights that spawn on ledges high up in the room. They can easily kill you, but don't take much to kill themselves. The Ad's that spawn will keep spawning as they get killed, so clear them out to a handleable density to make the job of the orb-collector easier.

Harrow

The Harrow

This encounter is a jumping puzzle featuring another set of runes protecting another door. This time you need to carefully jump around the ledges and platforms within the abyss while looking for more towers with runes that match those on the door.

When you locate one of these towers you will need to kill a Hive Wizard inside and the enemies surrounding it. When you clear the group of enemies, the rune disappears. Your biggest obstacle is the platforming here, so equip mobility-friendly gear or change your jump for this section.

Cradle of Damnation

Zulmak, Instrument of Torment

The fifth and final section of the Pit of Heresy is a boss fight against Zulmak, Instrument of Torment, that recalls some of the previous encounters' mechanics. You need to kill Knights for swords, which allow you to kill specific enemies with specific abilities, then dunk more void orbs, all while the dungeon boss attacks you from the middle of the room.

After depositing the third orb, the boss enters a damageable phase and the floor surrounding the central crystal glows green. Stay in the green aura to be able to deal damage to Zulmak. After a period of time, Zulmak will bend down on one knee and start to charge an attack. This attack will kill you instantly if you are still standing on the floor surrounding the crystal when they finish, so get off this when Zulmak begins charging. After Zulmak is defeated, you will receive a high-stat Dreambane armor drop.

Bosses

Unique enemies

Rewards

Weapons

A Fine Memorial: Machine Gun
Apostate: Sniper Rifle (Hymn of Desecration reward only)
Arc Logic: Auto Rifle
Blasphemer: Shotgun (Hymn of Desecration reward only)
Dream Breaker: Fusion Rifle
Every Waking Moment: Submachine Gun
Heretic: Rocket Launcher (Hymn of Desecration reward only)
Loud Lullaby: Hand Cannon
Love and Death: Grenade Launcher
Night Terror: Sword
One Small Step: Shotgun
Premonition: Pulse Rifle
Tranquility: Sniper Rifle
Xenophage: Machine Gun (Exotic Quest)

Armor

Dreambane Armor

Trivia

The Pit of Heresy is the first dungeon to center on the Hive.
Some of the locations encountered in the dungeon are also where the events of Inquisition of the Damned unfold - the Pit, where ambitious Hive fight for the vacant Osmium Throne, and Necropolis, from where the Daughters of Crota watch the battles below.