So, you’ve decided that you want to tackle Pit of Heresy, Destiny 2’s new dungeon, all by yourself. Well, good on you! Challenges like these are always fun to pull off and in this case you’ll net yourself a unique emblem and bragging rights if you can do it without dying. Naturally, this can be quite the task as the dungeon is balanced and designed to be tackled cooperatively, but it’s also lenient enough to allow someone to beat the entire thing by themselves. I managed to successfully do it without dying, and if you’d like to attempt this yourself I have some handy tips for you right here. I’ll be splitting each section of this guide into each encounter that you’ll come across in this new dungeon.
Just a general note; while this is not the hardest thing to do in the game, soloing this dungeon is also not for the impatient or those who aren’t willing to learn from mistakes. It’s not exactly impossible to get this on your first try but chances are you will make mistakes (which is okay!) as you come to understand the different nuances and techniques you can use in the solo run (let alone the solo flawless). Another thing to note is that I highly recommend using a piece of Opulent armour, whether it be from the Crown of Sorrows raid or The Menagerie with Hive Barrier. If you lack both of these things, they can be quite easily acquired from The Menagerie, though the Hive Barrier mod will require you to have Power & Efficiency III unlocked on your chalice and some good RNG. Additionally, it is safe to assume that if you are running a void subclass you should also have Oppressive Darkness equipped for optimal DPS (during season 8) and any perks/mods that I recommend in the loadouts are not necessary but will help in their respective situations. With that in mind, let’s dive in.
Encounter 1 - Necropolis
My loadout:
- Kinetic – The Mountaintop w/ Boss Spec
- Energy – Recluse w/ Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – 21% Delirium w/ Backup Mag
Recommended loadout alternatives:
- Kinetic – Militia’s Birthright w/ Spike Grenade & Boss Spec OR a solid long-range scout rifle like Jade Rabbit or Imperative
- Energy – Subjunctive w/ Swashbuckler or Rampage & either Anti-Barrier Rounds or Rampage Spec OR Every Waking Moment w/ Kill Clip or Swashbuckler & Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – Edgewise w/ Rampage Spec OR Hammerhead w/ Rampage & Rampage Spec OR Thunderlord OR Anarchy (if you aren’t already using an exotic weapon)
Recommended Subclass choice & exotic:
- Hunter – Top tree Nightstalker w/ Wormhusk Crown (for extra survivability)
- Warlock – Middle tree Dawnblade w/ Nezarec’s Sin if you have Recluse (or another good void SMG) OR Starfire Protocol w/ Fusion Grenades and high discipline for two healing grenades
- Titan – Either top tree Defender or middle tree Defender, both with Doomfang Pauldrons
There are a few things to look out for here but the bit that you’ll want to take care of the most is the Ogres that can be found along the bridges that go between each Glyph tower. While not exactly an immediate threat, these Ogres have a tendency to sneak up on you and in some cases you can find yourself sandwiched between two Ogres, which can make for a very bad time. It’s also recommended to try and eliminate as many adds as possible from a distance – this is where The Mountaintop or a Scout Rifle will really come in handy (Militia’s Birthright is just as useful but you’ll need to be on point with releasing the trigger).
Once you have a handle on the Ogres and the general adds there are also some different situations you’ll have to fight in. For the Swordbearing Knight room, there are a couple of things you can do. You can wait for your super to charge with the Relic Sword equipped and then unleash the Super Slam when all the enemies are underneath you. Alternatively, you can just shoot all the adds in the room and then return with a Relic Sword to fight the Swordbearing Knight. For the Swordbearing Knight itself, I’ve personally found that a combo of light attack, light attack, block works well. You get two hits in and the block stops the knight from dealing damage to you. Always be pressing one of the directional inputs to ensure your animation is as short as possible for this.
For the Wizard room, Warlocks have it the easiest here. A Warlock can just glide through to the middle of the room, drop their Well of Radiance and sit in it, taking out the two additional Wizards first. Once those two Wizards are clear, you can continue to sit in your Well of Radiance and fling the energy attacks from the Relic Sword at the main Wizard. Hunters and Titans will typically have to charge into the room and sit in one of the elevated corners at the back of the room. Once both the smaller Wizards are down you can focus on the Wizard that needs to be taken out with the Relic Sword. You’ll want to keep a pillar in between you and the Wizard to obstruct the arc blasts that it will fire at you. I’d recommend firing the energy projection for the Relic Sword’s heavy attack while you are in the air as to maintain momentum, alternating between being on the left and right hand side of the pillar.
As for the Shrieker room – you’ll probably have the easiest time managing this one. If you’ve opted to use either the Militia’s Birthright or The Mountaintop you’ll have a really easy time taking down the two Ogres in this room. The Ogres shouldn’t come out of the room, so take your time eliminating them. Once they are down, just hold your block and look at the Shrieker. Once you have all three of the Glyph towers completed, head down and make your way to the next encounter.
Encounter 2 - Tunnels of Despair
Before you even make it into this encounter, please be aware that the loading zone between the previous encounter and this one has had some problems with randomly killing players, especially those running at a higher framerate on PC. To try and mitigate this issue, set a framecap of 30fps just for this loading zone. Once you have gone through the loading zone (you’ll know) you can disable your framecap or revert to what it was before. With that out of the way, we can properly move on.
My loadout:
- Kinetic – The Mountaintop w/ Boss Spec
- Energy – Recluse w/ Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – 21% Delirium w/ Backup Mag
Recommended loadout alternatives:
- Kinetic – Militia’s Birthright w/ Spike grenade & Boss Spec OR a solid SMG like The Huckleberry or Exit Strategy
- Energy – Subjunctive w/ Swashbuckler or Rampage & either Anti-Barrier Rounds or Rampage Spec OR Every Waking Moment w/ Kill Clip or Swashbuckler & Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – Edgewise w/ Rampage Spec OR Hammerhead w/ Rampage & Rampage Spec OR Thunderlord (if you aren’t using an exotic weapon already) OR Anarchy
Recommended Subclass choice & exotic:
- Hunter – Top tree Nightstalker w/ Wormhusk crown (so you can get a bit of health back when you dodge and go invisible to increase your survivability)
- Warlock – Middle tree Dawnblade w/ Nezarec’s Sin if you have Recluse (or another void SMG like Every Waking Moment) or Sunbracers w/ Solar Grenades
- Titan – Top tree Defender with Doomfang Pauldrons
This is a fairly straightforward encounter. Upon dropping down and entering the tunnels where the invulnerable Pariah Ogres are, head to your right and enter the small passage on the left just before you go around the corner. This will put you in position of your first Heretical Knight/Void Charge. Clear the room of all adds first and then dispose of the Heretical Knight (doing it the other way around may cause the charge to despawn so you’ll have to run around looking for the extra charge). Once you have picked up the charge, head back out the tunnel entrance you came from and go further down that right tunnel. Go into the next little passage on the left and be ready to defend yourself from a bunch of Thrall. I’d highly recommend throwing down any area denial grenades, like Vortex or Solar Grenades, onto the puddle you’ll see in front of you. Titans have the luxury of punching their way to safety as melee kills will keep them alive. Warlocks, feel free to use a healing rift here and Hunters be sure to use your smoke grenade to slow down enemies and disorient them. Hug the right wall once the room is clear and you’ll find yourself at another exit. When the coast is clear, go out and head further down the tunnel (to your left upon exiting the small passage). If the coast is clear enough, you should be able to just dunk the charge in the drop point in front of the barrier.
For the second charge, take the first small passage you see on your right when heading back from the charge drop point. This will put you in a room full of enemies and a Heretical Knight. Like the other room, clear the adds before you take out the Heretical Knight. Once you have the Void Charge head to the opposite side of the room that you came from. You’ll find another exit, though there’s a big chance that an Ogre will be sitting there so be patient. Once the coast is clear you can exit the passage and head to your right to go towards the next drop point. That’s two out of three charges done, now onto the final one.
Like before, head to the first passage entrance on the right when making your way back from the drop point. This will put you in a large room filled with adds and a Heretical Knight. When everything is clear and you have the charge, proceed to the opposite side of the room from which you came. This will be the long haul. Once the coast is clear, exit the passage and turn to your right, you’ll need to make a mad dash for the drop point at the end of the tunnel. If you feel like you can’t quite make it, there is a passage to the left with two entrances/exits that you can hide in – from experience this can be annoying though as the Pariah Ogre has a tendency to linger when you are in these passages. Once you have dunked the charge into the drop point, the barrier should disappear and you can proceed to the next room. Head to your right once you enter and you’ll see a rally point. Stand here and get your setup ready for the next encounter.
Encounter 3 - Chamber of Suffering
My loadout:
- Kinetic – Izanagi’s Burden
- Energy – Recluse w/ Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – 21% Delirium w/ Backup Mag
Recommended loadout alternatives:
- Kinetic – The Mountaintop w/ Boss Spec OR Militia’s Birthright w/ Spike grenade & Boss Spec OR The Supremacy w/ Rampage & Boss Spec or Kill Clip OR Tranquility w/ Fourth Time’s The Charm & Boss Spec
- Energy – Subjunctive w/ Swashbuckler or Rampage & either Anti-Barrier Rounds or Rampage Spec OR Every Waking Moment w/ Kill Clip or Swashbuckler & Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – Edgewise w/ Rampage Spec OR Hammerhead w/ Rampage & Rampage Spec OR Thunderlord (if you aren’t using an exotic weapon already) OR Anarchy
Recommended Subclass choice & exotic:
- Hunter – Top tree Nightstalker w/ Wormhusk crown (so you can get a bit of health back when you dodge and go invisible to increase your survivability)
- Warlock – Either bottom tree Voidwalker w/ Nezarec’s Sin OR Middle tree Dawnblade w/ Nezarec’s Sin if you have Recluse (or another void SMG like Every Waking Moment) or Phoenix Protocol
- Titan – Either top tree or middle tree Defender with Doomfang Pauldrons or Mask of the Quiet One
This will most likely be the encounter that trips up a lot of people as it asks you to manage a variety of things. You’re tasked with ensuring that the power of the Annihilator Totem is kept at bay, keeping the room relatively clear, killing Heretical Knights and using their void charges to unlock the six rune locks on the door as well as managing Boomer Knights that spawn after every charge has been deposited (and saying “ok boomer” doesn’t seem to be enough). Through personal experience, I’d recommend largely ignoring the Heretical Knight that spawns in the middle platform and instead just alternate between the left and right platforms for their respective void charges. You’ll also not want to take too much time between each as every the debuff that applies to you will eventually lead to a wipe if it hits x10.
For Hunters, you’ll really want to spec into having your vortex grenade and dodge ability up as often as possible, so you can output as much damage as possible while also healing and retreating. It’s definitely a tough line to walk when you first try it, but with some practice you’ll get the hang of it. You can also place your smoke grenade at the top of the stairs leading to the totem to slow down the Thrall which pursue you.
For Warlocks, I’d highly recommend running the Devour build Voidwalker as you’ll be able to keep yourself alive by getting health every kill. On top of this, you’ll be able to spam your vortex grenades quite often which means you’ll be able to deal lots of damage and temporarily cordon off passages from the enemies, limiting their lethality – something which works even better when paired with a void SMG and Nezarec’s Sin. Which rift you use is up to you. If you feel your survivability is enough with just Devour then you can use the Empowering Rift to more easily take out the Boomer Knight and the Heretical Knights.
Titans, you probably have it the toughest as for you to maintain your survivability enemies usually need to get quite close. Defensive Strike will be your friend here, as will Doomfang Pauldrons. I’d highly recommend speccing into Strength as Defensive Strike is more than likely going to be what keeps you alive as well as being able to activate the Ward of Dawn on the Annihilator Totem as a safe zone. If you are running middle tree then you’ll be safe with either Doomfang Pauldrons (for quick ability regen) or Mask of the Quiet One (for additional health regen on ability kills).
There are a couple things to really look out for in this encounter. Firstly, you don’t want to stay off the Annihilator Totem for too long or you’ll cause a wipe – that’s a given. You’ll also want to always be aware of where the Cursed Thrall in this encounter are as they have a tendency to sneak up on you. Lastly, you will want to keep tabs on the raised shelves which are above the middle platform, slightly to the left and right. D1 veterans who did the King’s Fall raid would be familiar with Bungie’s placement of Boomer Knights on these shelves and will know just how problematic they can be if they are not swiftly disposed of. My general order of things would be to quickly handle the small wave of Thrall that would come out after each charge deposit and then focus on the Boomer Knights – people using 21% Delirium will find the most success clearing out the Thrall with said machine gun and using the damage increase from Killing Tally to quickly kill those Boomer Knights. Another helpful strategy is to try and clear as much as possible in between charges so when you are moving the charge to the center you aren’t copping as much fire, this will really help as your’e basically defenceless when holding the charge.
If you manage everything correctly, you will be able to unlock all six rune locks and proceed to the next encounter.
Encounter 4 - The Harrow
My loadout:
- Kinetic – Izanagi’s Burden
- Energy – Oxygen SR3 w/ Dragonfly Spec
- Power – 21% Delirium w/ Backup Mag
Recommended loadout alternatives:
- Kinetic – Tranquility w/ Boss Spec OR The Supremacy w/ Triple Tap & Boss Spec
- Energy – Tango-45 XK5094 w/ Dragonfly or Rampage & Dragonfly Spec or Rampage Spec OR The Conspirator
- Power – Edgewise w/ Rampage Spec OR Hammerhead w/ Rampage & Rampage Spec OR Thunderlord (if you aren’t using an exotic weapon already) OR Anarchy
Recommended Subclass choice & exotic: (Because this is platforming oriented, your choice of subclass doesn’t carry as much weight as it does in the other encounters)
- Hunter – Personal choice
- Warlock – Personal choice
- Titan – Personal choice
If you aren’t comfortable with platforming then this encounter might be the one that gives you the most grief. For those going for the flawless, you don’t need to drop down the hole to this encounter in one fell swoop. Alternatively, you can take it in steps, with the frames around the spinning spike traps being safe spots when landed on relatively gently. There’s not too much to say about this encounter outside of; take your time and learn the timings of the traps. If you are unsure about whether you can make a jump or not, don’t take it. This is an encounter in which messing up is entirely dependent on you. I’ve included a map of the area so you can more easily find your way around instead of wandering aimlessly (like I tend to do).
In terms of the Glyph Towers themselves, fight at a distance if you can to help mitigate the damage the tower Wizard can deal to you. I’d recommend using a solar scout rifle like the ones listed above so even if you struggle to deal damage to the Wizard’s health the explosion from breaking its shield with the matching element will prove useful. If you are lucky enough to encounter dumb Wizards, they will sit over the bottomless pit and fall to their death once their shield breaks.
Once you make it through this you are finally on to the closing encounter.
Credit to reddit user prime_pastafarian for this map of The Harrow
Encounter 5 - Zulmak, Instrument of Torment
You’ve made it to the one and only boss encounter for the Pit of Heresy – well done! This is no easy feat, but don’t celebrate just yet. You have what I’d consider one of the most manageable-yet-easy to mess up solo encounters of the entire dungeon. There is an order to managing everything, which I’ll go over.
My loadout:
- Kinetic – Izanagi’s Burden
- Energy – Recluse w/ Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – 21% Delirium w/ Backup Mag
Recommended loadout alternatives:
- Kinetic – Tranquility w/ Boss Spec OR The Supremacy w/ Triple Tap & Boss Spec
- Energy – Subjunctive w/ Swashbuckler or Rampage & either Anti-Barrier Rounds or Rampage Spec OR Every Waking Moment w/ Kill Clip or Swashbuckler & Anti-Barrier Rounds
- Power – Edgewise w/ Rampage Spec OR Hammerhead w/ Rampage & Rampage Spec OR Thunderlord (if you aren’t using an exotic weapon already) OR Anarchy
Recommended Subclass choice & exotic: (Because this is platforming oriented, your choice of subclass doesn’t carry as much weight as it does in the other encounters)
- Hunter – Top tree Nightstalker w/ Wormhusk Crown (for the same reason as all the other encounters)
- Warlock – Bottom tree Voidwalker w/ Nezarec’s Sin (even if you don’t have a void SMG)
- Titan – Either top tree or middle tree Defender w/ Doomfang Pauldrons or Mask of the Quiet One
Instead of starting the fight by shooting Zulmak, head over to the left side tower thathas the Swordbearing Knight (which you’ll recognise from the first encounter). Shoot this Knight and be ready to take out the Acolytes that will spawn on the left and right of this tower. Once they are all taken care of, move on to the middle tower. This tower can cause some pain as it houses a Shrieker that’ll be quite persistent in its attacks against you. Clear all the Acolytes and move on to the remaining tower. Once this final tower is clear you can move back to the central platform and clear some adds while also dealing damage to the giant Swordbearing Knights.
Once you have a Relic Sword, head towards the closest tower (I like to start with the Sword Knight). Take out the miniboss in your tower and grab their Void Charge. Instead of dunking the charge that’s in the same direction as your tower, go to the next drop point in an anti-clockwise direction. The reason you should do this is the boss has a tendency to stand at the drop point for the tower you are in and will just use its ground slam to send you flying off into the distance, causing a wipe in most cases.
Before you pick up the third orb to deposit, make sure your weapons are all prepped and loaded as you will want to keep your DPS up as much as possible. Once you deposit the final orb Zulmak will use his fiery ground slam which will send fire your way and also leave a fire pit. This fire pit is especially dangerous when it begins to fade as the DoT area lingers for a bit even after the fire itself disappears – you’ll want to steer clear when you see Zulmak’s sword slam animation. Warlocks will have the easiest time for DPS as they can use Oppressive Darkness as well as a Vortex Nova Bomb for some major DPS. Hunters will probably have the toughest time with DPS as they will only have a debuff for the boss, Titans can have Oppressive Darkness and Weapons of Light. The other thing to keep an eye out for is the Cursed Thrall that will spawn. They’re pretty easy to manage and if you are using Nezarec’s Sin with a void SMG you can potentially even get a second vortex grenade for the boss. If you are using Izanagi’s Burden, you will have at most two [2] Honed Edge x4 shots for the boss when he stabs his sword into the ground at the end of the DPS phase. After this, just leave the centre platform, rinse and repeat.
If you manage everything correctly, you should hopefully be able to down Zulmak in 3-4 DPS phases (though you can take as many DPS phases as you’d like).
With that done, you should have your solo completion for the Pit of Heresy dungeon and might I say, congratulations. You’ve made quite the accomplishment and you should be proud!
Want to see a solo flawless in action? Watch the video below
In this article:Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Guide, Pit of Heresy
Written ByJordan Garcia
Jordan lives and breathes Dark Souls, even though his favourite game is Bloodborne. He takes pride in bashing his face on walls and praising the sun. Hailing from the land of tacos, he is the token minority for WellPlayed.
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