Ghosts of the Deep is a new dungeon introduced in Destiny 2 Season of the Deep that introduces you to foes rising from the deepest abyss to drown their enemies. This new dungeon can be completed by yourself or up to three players in a fireteam. Use this guide to learn how to complete Ghosts of the Deep by following our complete step-by-step walkthrough.
Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon Walkthrough
The Ghost of the Deep dungeon in Destiny 2 takes about an hour and a half at most to beat. Though, according to some of the comments, it can take up to three hours. This will depend on how much of a hard time you’ll have against the bosses and puzzles that exist in this dungeon.
Step 1: Talk to Hawthorne in The Tower
To start Ghosts of the Deep, go to the Tower and talk to Suraya Hawthorne. You can find her at the Farm on the right side of the Hangar. Once you’ve picked up the quest, you can start Ghosts of the Deep by launching it at the H.E.L.M. Before you start this quest, the recommended power is 1790 for normal mode, so make sure to have at least that.
Step 2: Disrupt the Ritual Site (Encounter #1)
The first thing you need to do at the start of Ghosts of the Deep is disrupt the Hive ritual site, which you’ll come across by following the route with your sparrow. The ritual itself can be disrupted by imbuing multiple statues with the Vestige of Light. You’ll have to do this while fighting waves of the Hive trying to stop you.
Start by killing the Soulfire Binder Ogre in the area, and you’ll get the message “The way forward is revealed.” Once you receive this message, start looking for the green goo trail on the ground and follow it until you find a big glowing Hive rune. Remember this Hive rune because that’s where you need to imbue the Vestige of Light once you’re back at the statues. Keep following the green goo until you encounter a Lightbearer Knight or a Lightbearer Wizard, and then kill them.
After dying, the Lightbearer will drop their ghost. Whoever crushes the ghost in your fireteam will obtain a Vestige of Light for one minute. Bring that back to where the statues are, and have the person with the Vestige of Light imbue the correct statue. This is the statue with the same symbol as the Hive rune from earlier. You can also kill the Veilweaver Wizard to grab Deepsight, which reveals which statue is correct. You’ll have to repeat this process three more times to open the door.
Step 3: Descend (Jump Puzzle #1)
After getting past the ritual site, you’ll need to descend deeper into a jump puzzle that takes place underwater. You’ll need to find air bubbles throughout this part to breathe and refill your oxygen meter constantly, as it will drain and kill you. Remember to share air bubbles with your fireteam.
This part is a huge puzzle where you can easily get lost. The way to clear it is simple in that you just have to find ways to keep descending. The path down is pretty straightforward, but sometimes you can get lost. This is one of the longest traversal sections in Destiny 2 that exists.
There is a particularly tricky area where you have to jump through a hole in a wire mesh wall, as pictured above. When you reach that area, double jump until you reach the other side. And then hug the right side of that wall until you see an open pipe that you can go through. Continue in this area so you can keep on descending.
Step 4: Defeat Ecthar, The Shield of Savathun (Encounter #2)
You’ll encounter Ecthar, The Shield of Savathun, once you reach a massive chamber where you’ll see Acolytes praying by the fire. After killing the Acolytes, Ecthar will spawn, and a boss fight will ensue. Ecthar has around 15 million health points, even on solo.
It’s impossible to damage Ecthar if his shields are still up. You’ll have to kill the Blistered Knights around the chamber until you summon the Keeper of the Deep Ogre. Defeat the Keeper of the Deep, and you’ll see the message “Drown in the Deep” in your HUD. Go back to where you came in from, and there will be a Deepsight Orb. One player in your fireteam should pick it up.
The person who has the Deepsight Orb buff should look at the nearby wall. They’ll see Hive rune symbols, which they should memorize. After a good look, dive underwater, where Ecthar will give chase, so they have to keep moving. This person will be looking for green Hive runes in the wall that match the ones they saw on the walls earlier. Once this is done correctly, the message “the runes successfully align with a cackle” should pop up on their screen. This player needs to go back to the surface.
Once done, a Lightbearer Wizard will spawn in the chamber. Kill that wizard and its ghost. Whoever kills the ghost is granted the Vestige of Light buff. Take the Vestige of Light and dunk it into the three statues at the top of the room. You’ll have to repeat this process three times until all three statues are imbued with the Vestige of Light.
When you’re done, a Wellkeeper Knight will spawn where you came in. Kill that knight, and he’ll spawn a pool of green goo where you need to stand on. This will grant you the ability to damage Ecthar’s shields and put him down for good. Repeat this process until Ecthar is dead. Once you kill the boss, he’ll drop behind his ghost, and you’ll have to destroy it to proceed.
Step 5: Continue Through the Dreadnought (Jump Puzzle #2)
Dive back into the water and look for a new opening with a water wall you can walk through. You’ll have to continue through the dungeon by following the air bubbles until you reach the final area. This path is much more straightforward than the first jump puzzle, so you’ll be able to get through it in no time.
Step 6: Defeat Simmurah ur-Nokru (Final Boss)
The final boss of the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon is Simmurah ur-Nokru, Lucent Necromancer, and defeating her can be incredibly tricky. Simmurah has about 11.2 million health points for a full fireteam. First of all, crush the ghost that’s near Simmurah. This will trigger Simmurah to move around the arena and attack you.
What you need to do here is kill three Revenant Knights, which will spawn an illusion that grants Deepsight. Pick it up, and you’ll see three glowing circles around the arena that have dark orbs connected by a string of green light. Go to any of the circles and stand there until they start glowing. Stay in the circle until Vorlog, Risen in Heresy, spawns. You’ll have to kill Vorlog while standing inside one of the circles so that a green circle eyeglass spawns in the air. What you need to do next is look through the eyeglass and aim it at the Hive rune symbol to reveal the details of that symbol. You’ll have to do this two more times for the other circles until all three Hive runes are revealed. Thankfully, you don’t need Deepsight for the remaining duo.
After you’ve seen all three Hive rune symbols, enter any of the three water walls inside the main arena. You’ll eventually need to defeat the Lightbearers in each of the three rooms and crush their ghosts to acquire their Vestige of Knight, Wizard, and Acolyte buffs. Each buff will last 60 seconds, and you need to immediately imbue that Vestige buff you got back into the main arena, or else you’ll die after the timer runs out.
When you enter one of the rooms with the Lightbearers, you’ll see rune symbols in that room. That rune symbol reflects one of the Hive rune symbols revealed earlier in the main arena after killing Vorlog. Once you’ve crushed a ghost and gotten the Vestige buff, go back to the main arena and then imbue that Vestige buff with the Hive rune that corresponds to the same rune you saw in the other room where you got the Vestige. You can reveal where these Hive rune symbols are again by activating the illusion that gives Deepsight to your entire fireteam. Then go near the Hive rune that matches the rune in the room where you got the Vestige, and then imbue where that Hive rune is with the Vestige buff. You’ll have to repeat this two more times until all three runes in the main arena have been imbued.
This is where you’ll get a damage phase where you can hurt Simmurah ur-Nokru. The damage phase won’t last forever, and you’ll have to imbue the Hive rune symbols again, who have now changed positions, to get another shot at hurting Simmurah. You’ll have to do this until Simmurah is dead, and then you’ll finally have completed Ghosts of the Deep.
This is a hard encounter because of just how many things you have to do, but they are worth it considering the loot and title you get from this dungeon. We suggest running this dungeon with one of our builds centering around the new Aspects for the Hunter, Titan, and Warlock.
That’s the complete Destiny 2 Ghosts of the Deep dungeon walkthrough.
