Quick Links
Destiny 2’sdungeons have always been some of the game’s best features. They pose a fair challenge to players, yet are manageable enough not to be too demanding to complete a solo-flawless run.
But some dungeons can still be tougher than most, and Ghosts of the Deep is one of them, asit has some tedious boss fights and puzzles that demand strong memorization skills.In this dungeon, you delve into the deep methane oceans of Titan to stop a Lucent Hive ritual.
Destiny 2: Sundered Doctrine Guide
Delve into Rhulk’s pyramid again and drive back the Dread.
This dungeon was released during Season of the Deep in the Lightfall expansion in May 23rd, 2023. This guide was written as part of theRite of the Nine guide.
The mechanics of the dungeon remain largely unchanged in the Rite of the Nine version.In the original version, which you can find in the Legends tab, you may also findMemories of Darknessto complete the “In Memoriam” Triumph to increase your chances of obtainingthe Navigator Exotic Trace Rifle.
We’ll be covering the fundamentals of the dungeon, walkthroughs on how to get it done, and loadouts you’ll need to succeed.
First Encounter - Break The Ritual
Introducing Hive Runes
Ghosts of the Deep will feature several Hive symbols.To make things a little easier for us, I’ve given them nicknames most commonly used by the community, which we’ll be using for this guide.
You may come up with your own nicknames for these symbols, but for now, let’s use what we have here.
Walkthrough
You’ll spawn in the Arcology on Titan,where you can summon and use vehicles to traverse the area.With the addition of thenew Gryphon vehicle, it might make this encounter a little bit more fun thanks to its secondary fire.
Proceed to a large door, and you’ll see a locked door blocked by Hive magic and a Hive ritual circle surrounded by thrall statues.Your objective is to imbue the statues with a “Vestige of Light.“Rally and begin the encounter.
Occasionally,an orange bar Ogre named the Soulfire Binder will spawn near the ritual site.Killing it will drop a pool of hive goop, which will lead you to the general direction of the next location you need to go.
The maps used for this guide were taken fromr/DestinyTheGameand were made by user pryanie.
You’ll find a group of Hive soldiers and a few Wizards.Killing them will reveal another path.
Next, you’ll arrive at the next location, andyou’ll see a Hive symbol floating above it.
You’ll also see a new group of Hive along with a Lightbearer.Defeat the group and crush the Hive Ghost.
Whoever crushes the Hive Ghost will receive a Vestige of Light,which lasts about a minute and a half before it kills you.
Take note of the Hive symbol that’s floating near you. For this example, let’s say you found the symbol “E.”
With that in mind,head back to the ritual circle, where you’ll encounter a Veilweaver Wizard.Killing it will drop a Deepsight illusion, which you may interact with to reveal runes on each thrall statue.
With the Vestige of Light,deposit it into the statue that has the symbol you memorized, which would be “E.“Depositing the correct rune will ring a chime; depositing the incorrect rune will kill you, forcing you to restart the process.
That’s one out of four statues.Do this three more times and you’ll complete the encounter.
Recommended Loadout
This isn’t a particularly add-dense encounter, nor will there be any particularly tough foes except for the eyebeam-shooting Ogres and Lightbearers.
Of course, your build depends on whatever you feel most comfortable with, but as with most puzzle-related encounters,try prioritizing survivability and add-clearing.
I’ll provide two builds for each class: one for free-to-play (Light subclasses only) and one for those with access to Dark and Prismatic subclasses through purchased expansions.
There is no strict requirement to use these loadouts. These are only recommendations based on what works for me. If you’re comfortable with your own loadout, feel free to use it. ADestiny Item Managerlink will also be included.
Free-To-Play
Solar Titan with Lorelei Splendor Helm.
Aspects:Roaring Flames and Sol Invictus.
Arc Warlockwith Geomag Stabilizers.
Aspects:Electrostatic Mind and Ionic Sentry
Void Hunterwith Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk.
Aspects:Stylish Executioner and Vanishing Step
Prismatic Consecration Titanwith either Synthoceps or Stoicism with Assassin/Syntho perk combo.
Aspects:Consecration and Knockout.
Prismatic Arc Buddy Warlockwith Getaway Artist.
Aspects:Bleakwatcher and Feed the Void.
Prismatic Melee Hunterwith Relativism with Caliban/Liar perk combo.
Aspects:Stylish Executioner and Winter’s Shroud
There’s plenty of room to use whatever weapons you want, but I would highly recommend any weapon that can deal high burst damage, like Rocket Launchers and Shotguns, or any machine guns that can help you clear hordes quickly.
Traversal - Explore The Wreckage
Once you’ve collected your loot, enter the building. Continue down the path through a series of open doors and tunnels.
Land on some platforms and jump through a broken grate. You’ll then enter an open tube. Keep jumping down some catwalks and you’ll arrive at a large room where you’ll encounter some adds.
Defeat all the adds and continue jumping down. Once at the bottom,you’ll find a pool, which takes you to an underwater area,so put on your scuba-diving gear and sink deep into the methane ocean.
In case you haven’t played Deep Dives during Season of the Deep, you’ll notice a meter slowly draining as you’re diving. This is your Pressure Resistance.Once it reaches zero, you’ll start taking damage before you ultimately die.
To avoid getting crushed by the deep ocean pressure,you’ll find air bubbles that also serve as guides towards your goal.
Touching them will refill your Pressure Resistance, which has an AOE that you can share with your teammates if you time it right.
Thankfully, this traversal area is pretty linear. Continue your dive until you reach the seabed, where you’ll shift between underwater traversal and normal environments. You’ll encounter some adds, but it’s up to you whether you engage them or not.
Enter the broken Hive structure through a series of underwater jumping puzzles. Continue traversing while fighting through some adds, andyou’ll arrive at an underwater area where you’ll be chased by Ecthar. Leave the underwater area by taking a lift on the spout.
Second Encounter - Ecthar, The Shield Of Savathun
Ecthar is a Lucent Lightbearer Knight who will attack you throughout this encounter. Rally and begin the encounter byattacking the Acolytes praying at the center.
Once the encounter begins, enemies will start spawning.Defeat the three yellow bar Blistered Knights that spawn, which will then spawn an Ogre in the middle of the platform at the far end of the arena.
Once the Ogre is dead, a Deepsight illusion will appear near where the Rally Banner was.This will reveal three symbols on the discs hanging from the left and right walls. Memorize these symbols.
For example, the three symbols you see on the walls are “E,” “Spider,” and “Burger.”
With those symbols in mind, jump into any of the four pools around the arena. While you navigate the underwater section to find the symbols, Ecthar will be chasing you. Above is a map of the encounter.
His attacks will deplete your Pressure Resistance gauge, so avoid him like the plague!
Locate the symbols and interact with them. You’ll hear a chime as confirmation.If you interact with the wrong rune, you die.
Once you’re done, find the stream and hop back out to the arena, whereyou’ll find a Lightbearer Wizard for each correct symbol you’ve touched.
Crushing the Ghost of these Wizards will give you a stack of Vestige of Light. Deposit the buff onto three Hive statues around the arena.
This will spawn a Wellkeeper Knight.Killing it will drop a pool of Hive Light.Step into the pool to begin the damage phase.
As a Lightbearer,Ecthar will be protected by a shield that you must break in order to whittle down his health bar.
Throughout the damage phase, Ecthar will run at you and begin smacking you with his Void shield.Do keep in mind that he will also drop a Barricade to shield himself.
You can either keep your distance or engage him mano a mano in melee combat. The choice is yours.
Repeat this process until you defeat Ecthar.
This boss is a Lucent Hive, so make sure to crush his Ghost to truly defeat him, or else he will respawn with 10% of his health!
This add-dense encounter places you in a small arena against hordes of Thrall and Acolytes, while you’ll need to kill yellow bar Ogres, Knights, and Wizard Lightbearers to complete the mechanics.
Solar Warlockwith Sunbracers.
Super:Well of Radiance
Super:Deadfall Shadowshot
Super:Any burst damage super like Thundercrash or Twilight Arsenal.
Super:Song of Flame or Nova Bomb
You’ll need a special weapon like rocket sidearms to dedicate to killing yellow bar enemies quickly.Otherwise, other rapid-fire or close-range weapons will help you clear adds.
During DPS phase, you’ll need close-range heavy-hitters like Swords and Shotguns. Ideally, you’ll want any of the following weapons (or an appropriate substitute):
Continue To Descend
Once you defeat Ecthar, collect your loot and continue downwards through more underwater sections.
Traversal’s going to be a little tedious, but thankfully, it’s pretty simple.
You’ll eventually arrive at a wide cathedral space where you’ll encounter some Shriekers and Wizards. Defeat them and continue onwards.
At the end, you’ll arrive at a gazebo and face a bunch of adds and an Ogre mini-boss. There’s a bonus chest atop the gazebo.
Once you defeat them, descend through a hole, and you’ll arrive at the final encounter, which takes place in an open cove marked by a half-buried corpse of Oryx, the Taken King.
Third Encounter - Simmumah Ur-Nokru, Lucent Necromancer
You face Simmumah Ur-Nokru, who’s trying to resurrect Oryx by using a Hive Ghost to bring him back as a Lightbearer.
This encounter is one of the most tedious, as setting up the damage phase takes longer than most other boss encounters. Take your time, and do your best to stay alive.
After you rally,interrupt the ritual and begin the encounter by crushing the Hive Ghost.Adds will begin to spawn, and she’ll also summon a swarm of Lucent Moths that deal a ridiculous amount of damage.
Shoot the moths as the boss is summoning them to destroy them to give yourself some breathing room, as they will relentlessly chase you.
Sometime during the fight, you’ll find a Deepsight illusion somewhere in the arena. Using it will reveal three dots that are each floating above an exposed body part of Oryx, which consists of hisHead, Chest, Left Hand, Right Hand, Right Knee, and Left Foot.These dots will form a triangle, and a little glowing circle will be on the ground.
At the same time, a Hive Knight named Vorlog, Risen in Heresy, will spawn. This Knight is effectively immortal, as Simmumah will repeatedly resurrect him.He’ll be chasing you around the arena, and you’ll need to kill him while standing in any of the revealed circles.
Once Vorlog is dead,a floating ring will appear,along with the message saying “Vorlog is slain from the [body part] of Oryx, calling Simmumah to his death!”
Simmumah will go to where you were to resurrect Vorlog. While she’s doing that,head over to a floating glowing ring and line it up with a Taken King symbol above where she is.This will reveal a new Hive Rune.
Do this until you have revealed three Hive Runes.On either side of the main arena, as well as the top of the arena near Oryx’s head, is a methane pocket that takes you to a separate, smaller arena that contains some adds and a Hive Lightbearer: a Knight, an Acolyte, and a Wizard.
Crushing their Ghosts will give you Vestige of Light.Take the Vestige of Light back to the main arena, where you’ll use the Deepsight Illusion to reveal an orb.Interact with the corresponding orb to imbue it with the Vestige of Light.
Make sure to imbue the correct rune with the corresponding Vestige. Take one Vestige at a time (if you’re the sole person doing mechanics) and memorize which rune you’re responsible if you’re part of a fireteam.
Once the last rune is imbued, Simmumah’s shield can be damaged, and DPS phase begins.
Ideally, you should begin the damage phase on either Oryx’s head or chest.
You’ll need to break Simmumah’s shield before you can really deal damage to her. During this phase, she’ll be attacking you with her projectiles while you’re surrounded by adds.
She’ll also be teleporting around the arena, which make damaging her quite annoying.
Repeat this process until you kill her and reveal her Ghost.Don’t forget to crush it to complete the encounter and the dungeon.
This encounter is tedious, and is quite add-dense. Take your best add-clearing weapons and loadout that prioritizes survivability.
Arc Titanwith Cuirass of the Falling Star.
Aspects:Storm’s Keep and Knockout
Super: Thundercrash
Solar Warlockwith Sunbracers or Speaker’s Sight.
Aspects:Hellion and Touch of Flame
Solar Hunterwith Celestial Nighthawk.
Aspects:Knock ‘Em Down and Gunpowder Gamble.
Super:Marksman Golden Gun
Super:Twilight Arsenal
Super:Nova Bomb
Prismatic Decoy Hunterwith Radiant Dance Machines.
Aspects:Threaded Specter and Ascension
Because Simmumah and Hive Knights’ attacks are Arc, not only should you put on some Arc Resistant mods on your chest armor, butRiskrunner is a great pick if you’re worried about dying all the time.
I recommend planting aWell of Radiance to maximize your damage output.Precision weapons like Linear Fusion Rifles will do great in this encounter.
Try using any (or all) of the following weapons during the DPS phase:
Completing this dungeon will have asmall chance of dropping The Navigator,a Strand Exotic Trace Rifle that Severs enemies and provides allies with Woven Mail.
Its Catalyst also lets it create a grapple point, which many melee Titans and Hunters have used in their powerful DPS builds.
Destiny 2: Spire Of The Watcher Dungeon Guide
A Guardian, a Vex Goblin, and a Warmind walk into a bar.
