Destiny 2 Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon Guide | All Encounters Explained

Warlord’s Ruin, the newest Dungeon to join Destiny 2, has just released in Season of the Wish. In this frosty endgame Dungeon, you and your fireteam are tasked with exploring deep into the EDZ mountains due to an abundance of Scorn and Taken activity in the area. However, when reports of a living Ahamkara come through from Petra Venj, the situation becomes a lot more dire. As with all Dungeons in Destiny 2, Warlord’s Ruin is some of the best content in the entire game. With a fantastic snowy aesthetic, some wicked-looking weapons and armour, a new Sidearm archetype which takes Special Ammo and plenty of hidden secrets, Warlord’s Ruin is incredible.

However, some players may find the Dungeon’s various encounters a bit confusing so we’re here to help explain everything you need to know about the newest Dungeon in D2. 

Here’s how to complete the new Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon in Destiny 2. If you’re hunting a specific weapon or piece of armour and are wondering which encounter it drops from, you can find more information on the Warlord’s Ruin Loot Table from Blueberries.GG.

Want more Destiny 2 content and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

1. Destiny 2 Season of the Wish: How it Works
2. Destiny 2 | All Season of the Wish Starcat Locations
3. How to Get Necrochasm in Destiny 2 | Crota’s End Raid Exotic Guide
4. Crota’s End Red Border Chest Guide (Guaranteed Deepsight Raid Weapon) | Destiny 2
5. Destiny 2 | Threatening Reach Raid Triumph Guide for Crota’s End

Encounter 1: Rathil, First Broken Knight of Fikrul

After some initial platforming and exploring through the old Dark Age castle, you’ll soon come across the first major encounter in Warlord’s Ruin: a boss fight against a massive Scorn Chieftain by the name of Rathil, the First Broken Knight of Fikrul.

This boss introduces the main mechanic of Warlord’s Ruin. At various points, the boss will spit out a little metal effigy similar to the elemental effigies used by normal Scorn Chieftans. However, instead of being Solar, Void or Arc, this effigy will be Taken and have a white radius ring on the floor around it. The boss will usually throw about two or three of these onto the field at any time.

Before you can realistically do anything about the effigies, though, you and your fireteam will be teleported into hanging cages scattered around the arena. These cages will slowly ascend upwards, instantly killing you if they reach their maximum height. The only way to escape these cages is to destroy the three Blighted Eyes which surround your cage: these eyes are pretty tanky and deal a considerable amount of damage but, once you’ve destroyed all three, the door to the cage will swing open and you can hop out.

Trapped in a Cage

Once you’re out of the cage, it’s time to deal with the effigies. Each player in your fireteam should run to a different effigy and then stand within the white circle around it. After about 5 seconds of continually standing there, the Taken matter from the effigy will disappear, replaced by a warm blue glow and an Ahamkara bone. This means that the effigy is activated and that you can move on to another one. You will have until the end of the Imminent Wish countdown (which you can find in your buffs) to trigger all of the effigies. 

When the Imminent Wish countdown reaches zero, damage to the boss begins. Depending on how many effigies you managed to activate, the damage phase will be longer or shorter: one effigy activated will only yield about 5 seconds of damage, whereas two effigies will give you 10 seconds and three effigies will give you 20 seconds. As such, you’ll want to ensure that you activate as many as possible before the DPS phase begins. 

Aside from that, you just need to hit the boss with everything you have. If you don’t manage to kill it, you simply rinse and repeat the cycle until you do. 

Taken Effigy

Encounter 1 Step-by-Step

If you want a simpler step-by-step guide to the first encounter of Warlord’s Ruin: 

1. After entering the area, kill any hostile Scorn and keep an eye on where the boss places their Taken effigies. 
2. Once you and your fireteam get teleported inside the floating cages, shoot the three surrounding Blighted Eyes to escape.
3. Then, before the Imminent Wish timer goes off, activate as many of the Taken effigies as you can by standing near them until the Taken goo is dispelled: the more you can activate, the longer the DPS phase will be.
4. When the Imminent Wish timer reaches zero, you will have a set amount of time to damage the boss.
5. If you don’t kill it, rinse and repeat until you do.

Rathil, First Broken Knight of Fikrul

The Jail

While you’re celebrating your first encounter clear, you won’t be able to get to your loot just yet. Right after the first boss falls, you’ll be met by the final boss, an Ascendant Servitor, who will teleport you inside several jail cells deeper within the castle, your loot from the first encounter just outside the iron doors.

Your goal here is to find a way to open these doors. If you’re in a fireteam of three, you will each be isolated to a single cell, whereas duo players will have access to a few more rooms and solo players can freely move between any cell they wish.

There are two main things of note in these cells. The first is the number of dials on the walls around the jail. In total, there are 6 dials, each of which can be seen from a different cell. If you shoot a dial once, it will begin spinning counterclockwise. If you shoot it again it will stop and, then, if you hit it a third time it will begin spinning clockwise. The other major thing is the skeletal remains in two of the cells. In two of the rooms, you will find two different skeletons resting next to a tally which denotes a number. 

Jail Cell Dials | Image from Esoterickk

To solve the puzzle, you first need to find those skeletons and their associated tally marks. When you’ve found them, see which hand they have outstretched towards the tally mark and what number is on the tally: the former will determine whether you have to spin the dials counterclockwise or clockwise whereas the latter will tell you have many dials you have to spin in that direction. One of the skeletons will tell you how many dials you need to spin clockwise while the other will inform you of how many need to spin counterclockwise. 

For example, if your first skeleton is reaching out its left hand towards a tally mark of four, you will need to ensure that four of the dials are spinning counterclockwise. Consequently, the second skeleton should be reaching out its right hand towards a tally mark of two, meaning that the remaining two dials need to be spinning clockwise. 

Once you’ve shot the correct number of dials and they’re in the right alignment, the doors to each of the cells will fling open, allowing you and your team to claim the precious loot from encounter 1. From there, you need to follow the winding path out of the imprisonment area and into the second boss fight of Warlord’s Ruin. 

Skeleton and Tally Marks | Image from Esoterickk

Encounter 2: Locus of Wailing Grief

The second encounter of Warlord’s Ruin is another boss fight, this time against a massive Taken Ogre called The Locus of Wailing Grief. This encounter still uses the Taken effigy mechanic from the first encounter but combines it with some different elements to make the encounter stand out. 

You will begin by destroying all of the Blighted Eyes in the air around the boss. Following that, you’ll get a message telling you that the Scorn are rising against you. At this point, two big Scorn Chieftans that look like the first encounter boss will spawn at the left and right sides of the arena. These enemies act almost exactly like the first boss and they will send out Taken effigies at certain intervals, including when they die.

At the same time as this, the entire arena will become affected by the Biting Cold debuff. This stacks up to 10x, at which point your character will Freeze and then Shatter, killing them instantly. To avoid this, you must return to one of the torches around the back of the arena to gain the Shelter from the Storm buff, purging all of your Biting Cold stacks. 

Biting Cold and Shelter from the Storm

Just like in Encounter 1, once the Imminent Wish timer ends, you will be given something based on how many Taken effigies you activated. Instead of extending the damage phase, a number of Solar Charges will spawn in the back of the arena, with the number of charges correlating to how many effigies you purged. When interacted with, you will pick up a Solar Charge and have about 12 seconds before it runs out of ammo.

Once you’re holding a charge, you need to deposit it into one of the four braziers surrounding the boss. The area surrounding the boss is very volatile, with a bunch of annoying enemies that kill you very quickly so be careful: if you die holding a Charge, it will fall to the ground but continue ticking down, meaning that you may have to repeat the first few steps again if it disappears.

Ignite the Braziers | Image from Esoterickk

After the fourth Solar Charge has been socketed into the brazier, the DPS phase will begin, signified by the return of the Biting Cold debuff. At this point, your entire team should congregate around a single brazier. You will then be given a buff called the Naeem’s Wish Empowerment which will allow you to damage the boss and protect you against Frigid Wind stacks until it runs out.

When the first brazier runs out, your fireteam then needs to move over to a different brazier to regain the Blessing buff. You will rinse and repeat this cycle of moving to a brazier, damaging the boss and then moving again when the Blessing buff runs out until you run out of braziers. After the fourth and final brazier has gone dark, the boss will regain its immunity. 

From here, the Blighted Eyes (as well as the tricky Minotaurs) will respawn and you will have to repeat all the previous steps to get back to the damage phase. Eventually, though, you’ll repeat this enough times that you will land a killing blow to the Taken Ogre, earning you your second lot of unique loot from the Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon in Destiny 2. 

Damage the Locus with Naeem’s Empowerment | Image from Esoterickk

Encounter 2 Step-by-Step

If you’d like a more streamlined explanation of the second encounter in Warlord’s Ruin, here you go:

1. Destroy all of the Blighted Eyes to summon the Scorn commanders on the left and right sides of the arena.
2. Kill the Scorn bosses to spawn Taken effigies. Make sure that you’re returning to a heat source often so that you don’t die from the Biting Cold debuff.
3. Once the Imminent Wish timer ends, several Solar Charges will spawn in the back of the arena, with the number of charges correlating to how many Taken effigies you activated.
4. You need to pick up the Solar Charges and then deposit them into four braziers around the boss.  
5. After the four charge has been socketed, the DPS phase begins. Standing next to a brazier will give you a Blessing buff which lets you damage the boss. Once the fire on the brazier runs out, run over to the next one and continue DPS. 
6. When all four braziers have run out of fire, the boss will become immune again.
7. Rinse and repeat until the Ogre falls. 

The Locus of Grief

Encounter 3: Hefnd’s Vengeance, Blighted Chimaera

Lastly, we come to the final boss of the Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon, Hefnd’s Vengeance. This boss has stalked you throughout the Dungeon up to this point and now it’s time to take it down. 

Similar to the other encounters, you will begin the main brunt of the mechanics once you destroy the Blighted Eyes tethered to the boss. Killing all six Eyes will cause the Scorn commanders to appear on the left and right sides of the arena. Just like before, you’ll want to ensure that you’re activating as many Taken effigies as you can as the more you purge, the longer your damage window will be on the boss.

A new element added to the third encounter is the Hex of Vengeful Corruption mechanic. Once the Imminent Wish timer begins counting down, the boss will apply the Vengeance debuff to your whole team: if you still have this debuff when the Wish timer reaches zero, you will instantly die. To remove the Hex of Vengeful Corruption, you must melee one of the four Scorn Wraiths (known as Corrupted Hex Drinkers) around the arena. 

These Wraiths are immune to all damage and will chase you around the arena to no end. If you manage to land a melee attack on them – whether powered or unpowered – you will transfer the Vengeance debuff to the Wraith. This will cause them to gain a slight Taken effect on their body. Watch out, though, as the Wraith can transfer the debuff back to you if they land a melee attack themselves, essentially turning this section of the encounter into a big game of tag. 

Corrupted Hex Drinkers | Image from Esoterickk

Once the Imminent Wish timer concludes, any players or Wraiths with the Vengeance debuff will instantly die. This also marks the beginning of the damage phase on the boss. The more Taken effigies you manage to purge, the longer the damage phase will be, up to a maximum of 30 seconds if you have a total of four effigies.

When the DPS phase concludes, Hefnd’s Vengeance will teleport to a different portion of the arena, dispelling some Taken goo which was blocking the path before this. At this point, you need to follow the boss to this new area and then essentially repeat the mechanics in a new space: kill the Blighted Eyes, spawn the Scorn, kill the Scorn, purge the Taken effigies, transfer your Vengeance and then final damage the boss.

There are three main parts to the arena, meaning that you’ll need to repeat the mechanics up to three times per phase. Once the boss reaches the apex of the arena and you conclude your third round of damage, it will begin floating in the middle of three floating platforms high in the air. 

Tethered to the Eyes | Image from Esoterickk

Have your entire fireteam stand on one of these platforms. At this point, you’ll have a bit of extra time to deal some more damage to the boss, which you can prolong if you keep destroying the Blighted Eyes around the boss. Eventually, though, all six of the Eyes will respawn, causing the boss to become immune. At this point, the boss will cause the platform you’re standing on to become hostile, forcing you to move to the next one. 

If your team is sharing the same platform, you will have three additional instances to deal some more damage. Once you use up the final platform, the boss will teleport you back to the first part of the arena to rinse and repeat the mechanics. Eventually, you’ll hit Hefnd’s final stand. At this point, you simply need to deal as much damage as you can to the boss before it respawns all of its Blighted Eyes. Like with the floating platforms, you can prolong this damage phase if you continue to destroy the Eyes as they appear.

Annihilate the Eyes, burn through Hefnd’s health and, eventually, the Ascendant Servitor will fall. Congratulations! You’ve completed the Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon in Destiny 2. Be sure to claim your sweet loot and chance at the Buried Bloodline Exotic Sidearm. 

Vengeance Awaits

Encounter 3 Step-by-Step

If you’d like a more step-by-step walkthrough of the final encounter: 

1. Destroy the six Blighted Eyes connected to the boss to spawn the Scorn commanders on the left and right sides of the arena.
2. Like before, kill the Scorn commanders to spawn Taken effigies that you must activate: the more effigies you activate, the longer your DPS window on the boss will be.
3. Once the Imminent Wish time begins counting down, four immune Scorn Wraiths will spawn around the arena. At the same time, you and your fireteam will gain the Vengeance debuff.
4. To avoid dying to Vengeance, you must melee one of the Wraiths to transfer your debuff to them. You cannot let the Wraith hit you back or it will return Vengeance to you.
5. When the Imminent Wish timer ends, any Guardians or Wraiths with Vengeance will die. Then, you will have a set amount of time to damage the boss as much as possible. 
6. Once the damage phase ends, the boss will teleport to a different part of the arena and you must follow.
7. From here, repeat steps 1 to 5 each time the boss teleports to a new area.
8. Eventually, the boss will teleport to the very top of the arena where three suspended platforms await. Here, have your whole team group up on the same platform to get in some extra damage: the boss will then become immune and make the platform you were standing on hostile, forcing you to move to the next one. 
9. When all of the platforms have been used up, the boss will teleport your entire team back to the starting arena.
10. Rinse and repeat until you hit the Last Stand where you must damage the boss as much as possible while destroying the Blighted Eyes to prolong the DPS phase.

Dungeon Exotic, the Buried Bloodline

That was how to complete every encounter in the new Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon in Destiny 2.