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Along with an exciting reveal of the new Edge of Fate expansion and a teaser for aStar Wars-themed Renegades, Bungie has launchedDestiny 2’snew event,Rite of the Nine, to close offEpisode Heresyand the Light and Dark Saga once and for all.
As part of the prologue to the upcoming Edge of Fate expansion,Rite of the Nine will have you running through three rotating dungeonsto earn exclusive dungeon loot combined with Nine aesthetics, and Adept versions of these weapons.
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While the dungeon mechanics remain largely unchanged,Bungie has implemented some minor changes to encounters to spice things up a bit,which we’ll cover in the individual guides below.
As of the writing of this guide (May 6th, 2025),there are still plenty of things yet to be revealed about this event.Some sections will seem incomplete, butwe will be updating this guideas dungeons rotate and secrets become revealed. Otherwise, information that’s already known, like basic dungeon mechanics, will still be here.
How To Access Rite Of The Nine
BecauseRite of the Nine is accessible to all players,you’re able to play this activity right away. Click on Eternity on your Director.
But before you jump into the first dungeon, you’ll first need to pick up some things from The Third Spire, a revamped destination that Trials of the Nine veterans will recognize to be the area where they earn their rewards.
Once you arrive at The Third Spire, you’ll be greeted by the Emissary of the Nine (who will be an important figure for the coming saga), two chests, and some attunement holograms similar to those ofInto The Light.
The Rite of the Nine works just like Into the Light. The first thing you’ll want to do ispick up the gifts from a chest next to the Emissary,which include the following:
You can alsoconvert all Curios of the nine earned throughout Episode Heresy into Nonary Manifolds,a new currency that you can also earn by completing Rite of the Nine bounties and dungeon encounters.
The Emissary also acts as this activity’svendor, who offers daily and repeatable bounties and raid banners.
You’ll also see a new shader and two emblems, which you canearn by completing The Rite of the Nine triumphs.
Behind the Emissary isa row of 12 reprised weapons from the featured dungeons,which we’ll rank in a separate list.
For now, let’s take a look at what you’re getting yourself into.
Difficulties
If you’ve never played a dungeon before and would like to dip your toes into endgame content,then you might want to start with Explorer difficulty.
This difficulty is the most lax of the three.It is a low-stakes, low-pressure version where you don’t have to worry about wipingin Dark Zones or respawn timers, so you can spend all the time you have to muck around and explore the dungeon.
you may either go into thissolo or matchmaking. Keep in mind thatyou won’t be able to complete triumphs here,and you won’t earn the corresponding dungeon exotic.
Eternity would be considered thestandard difficulty.Consider this the best point of entry if you’re a player with modest weapons and builds, but prefer a less stressful dungeoneering experience.
You’ll be faced with slightly tougher enemies, along withmodifiers that make each encounter a little more challenging.You’ll also encounter enemies with random Banes.
I would recommendusing the Fireteam Finder or recruiting some friends for this.You also have a chance to earn the dungeon exotic.
This is the toughest difficulty, and is essentiallythe Master version of a dungeon.
It has much tougher enemies and is theonly difficulty to offer Adeptweapons.
For both Eternity and Ultimatum, you’ll need to avoid dying as much as possible if you want to earn Gold Tier rewards.
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Completing a dungeon in the Rite of the Nine will reward any of the 12 reprised weapons of the corresponding dungeon.
The dungeon exotics, much like any other dungeon run, will drop based on RNG, but the odds of earning them can increase based on the number of drop boosts you can get from Triumphs.
A Sudden Death
Prosecutor
Relentless
Dungeon Exotic: N/A
Spire of the Watcher
Liminal Vigil
Terminus Horizon
Wilderflight
Dungeon Exotic: Hierarchy of Needs
Ghosts of the Deep
Gold Comfort
Greasy Luck
New Pacific Epitaph
No Survivors
Dungeon Exotic: The Navigator
Spire Of The Watcher
May 6th, 2025: Because Rite of the Nine rotates weekly, we’re not sure what Bungie has done to change the reprised encounters of Prophecy and Ghost of the Deep. As such, we’ll be periodically updating this guide.
Let’s get into brass tacks. Because we’ll be putting out separate, comprehensive guides for each of these dungeons,we’ll only provide a brief overview of the fundamentals of the dungeons' mechanics here,what has changed, and recommended loadouts.
Spire of the Watcheris the first featured dungeon of Rite of the Nine.Set in a pillory tower housing a highly advanced artificial intelligence, this dungeon has you fighting through hordes of Vex machines as you climb up and down the tower.
Arctrician Buff
The core mechanic of this dungeon is theArctrician buff, which you may pick up by standing in a white circledropped when you kill a Vex Minotaur.
The Arctrician buff lasts 30 seconds, but you can increase its duration for a few more seconds by shooting the right node.
Your goal is tofind nodes scattered across the encounter and shoot the right ones that are open.These nodes are connected to one of two types of cables:
For both types of cables, you’ll know you’ve shot the right node when the cable glows blue with arc energy.
What’s Changed
Once you complete the mechanics of the first and second encounters,a mini-boss–a Hydra and Minotaur, respectively–spawns.You must defeat the mini-bossto complete the encounter and proceed with the dungeon..
There are also Vex drones that fly towards you and trap youin a bubble on the second encounter. They’ll wait in the air in a slightly glowing cube and come out to ambush you when you get closer. You can shoot them before they hit you, or if they do trap you, you and your teammates can simply damage the bubble to break free.
For Akelous and Persys’s boss encounters,you’ll notice glowing shapes at the center of the arena and on corresponding nodes.All you need to do is complete the circuit that matches the symbols from top to bottom.
Recommended Loadouts
For the first two encounters, including the introductory section and the encounter where you ascend the tower, you’ll need a loadout withstrong survivability and add-clear potential.
This could be whatever you want, but one thing that I would recommend throughout the entire dungeon is arapid-fire weaponlike an SMG, Auto Rifle, or a machine gun, as they make shooting nodes much easier.
For the first boss, Akelous, bring a rapid-fire weapon for not just nodes,but to take out its eyes to start the damage phase.I also recommend bringing a precision weapon, most especiallyLinear Fusion Rifles.
A Warlock using Well of Radiance along with a Titan with the Storm’s Keep Aspect will give your damage some extra oomph while keeping your distance.
As of Episode Heresy, Queenbreaker is the king of prolonged, precision-based DPS.
As for the final boss, Persys, the same loadout works. Because it’s a little harder to hit the boss’s weak spot, you may use Divinity.
However, if you don’t have it, then a rocket launcher combined with Gjallarhorn or Lord of Wolves can also work well.
Collectibles
Right now, there are only two available collectibles hidden throughout Spire of the Watcher. The first one can be foundduring the jumping puzzle after the first encounter.
The second collectible can be foundright before dropping down to the final boss of the dungeon.
Ghosts Of The Deep
Update (22-08-2025):We’ve included Collectible locations and information on the changes Rite of the Nine has for this dungeon.
Perhapsthe toughest and probably the most tedious dungeon of the game,Ghost of the Deepis centered around the Hive as you attempt to stop a Lucent Hive ritual to resurrect Oryx, the Taken King.
Hive Runes
This dungeon revolves around diving underwater (while staying alive by collecting air bubbles) andlocating the correct Hive runes to activate.
Remember to crush Lucent Hive Ghosts when you kill a Hive Lightbearer!
Memorization is the name of the game here. The above image includes nicknames I’ve come up for them, but you can still come up with your own names for them.
Mechanically? Practically nothing. The Hive runes remain the same, where you memorize a rune and then deposit it into a receptacle.
The only difference is that you only need to deposit three vestiges at the opening encounter instead of four.
Also, there are Runekeeper minibosses that block your way as you explore the wreckage. This mini encounter will also drop a bonus loot chest for you to grab some extra goodies.
Same deal as the rest in terms of add-clear. Prioritize survivability above all else.
For Ecthar,close-range attacks work wonders,especially with swords (Lament), shotguns (Legend of Acrius), and melee (Synthoceps with One-Two Punch combo). A Well of Radiance would be extremely useful here.
You can easily one or two-phase Ecthar with the right builds. A Strand Titan with Synthoceps and Winterbite can make short work of him, dealing an average of 4 million damage per DPS phase.
To quickly melee Ecthar with a glaive, hold down the block button while spamming your melee attack button, which will auto-cancel the third attack in your combo chain.
Your fight against Simmumah Ur-Nokruwill be a long and tough fight. Make sure to give her everything you’ve got, asshe has a ton of health.
For Rite of the Nine, the health of both Simmumah and Ecthar’s shields have significantly decreased. Arbalest is no longer needed.
Arbalest (free for everybody) is great for breaking her shield.Any linear fusion rifle is great for the final boss, but as of Episode Heresy, Queenbreaker continues to reign supreme, as it can now potentially one-phase her.
Much like Spire of the Watcher, there are two more collectibles in this dungeon, and are just as easy to locate.
The first collectible is in the area after you’ve finished diving, where you’ll encounter a bunch of Hive, a group of Wizards, and the chasm before you fight a lot of Thralls. There, you’ll also encounter a Runekeeper miniboss that’ll drop some loot.
You’ll see it right as you enter the area. Keep an eye out for a golden engram on a ledge slightly to the right.
The second collectible is after your fight with Ecthar. Once you enter the cathedral, immediately turn right, and it’ll be tucked in a tower next to a pillar.
Prophecy is well-trodden territory and is thankfully quite accessible and simple. It’s simple enough for even someone like me to solo-flawless.
Prophecy can be accessed by anybody, even when it’s not in the Rite of the Nine rotation.You can access this dungeon in the Legends tab if you want to practice a little.
Light And Dark Motes
The core mechanic of this dungeon is collectingLight and Dark motes, which drop from Taken Knight enemies.
Taken Knights drop Light or Dark motes depending on whether they’re standing in the light or in the shadows, so ensure you kill the Knights in the right spot.
Once you collect five motes,you’ll enter third-person, and you’ll need to dunk them in the correct plate,which is marked with a pillar of light or dark.
Like most dungeons, I recommend any loadout that you feel most comfortable with, though I would prioritize survivability and add-clear if you’re unsure.
For the first Phalanx Echo boss,any hard-hitting, close-quarters weapon or abilities will do just fine.Bring your swords, shotguns, powerful Supers–heck, even bring Glaives with Synthoceps if you have them.
For the Kell Echo, make sure to bring any precision weapon that hits hard, and that includes snipers and linear fusion rifles. Again, Queenbreaker is the undisputed champ in prolonged DPS phases.
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