Into the Light is crushing it. It features an excellent free-to-play activity, returning Exotic Missions, and reintroduced some of Destiny 2’s most beloved weapons. If that wasn’t enough, Into the Light has one more thing in store for us: Pantheon.
What is Pantheon?
Pantheon is a new PvE challenge that pits you against several Raid Bosses. Things get tougher each week until it asks you to take on eight raid bosses in a row.
Pantheon Bosses
This week’s Pantheon Challenge is Nezarec Sublime (+20 Power) and features the following bosses (in order):
- Golgoroth (King’s Fall’s 3rd encounter)
- The Caretaker (Vow of the Disciple’s 2nd encounter)
- Macrocosm (Root of Nightmares’ 3rd encounter)
- Atraks-1 (Deep Stone Crypt’s 2nd encounter)
- Oryx (King’s Fall 5th encounter)
- Rhulk (Vow of the Disciple’s 4th encounter)
- Riven (Last Wish)
- Nezarec (Root of Nightmares)
Destiny 2 Pantheon Schedule
Keep in mind that Pantheon will get increasingly difficult every week, with more bosses to fight and higher Power-level enemies:
| Challenge | Atraks Sovereign | Oryx Exalted | Rhulk Indomitable | Nezarec Sublime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release | April 30 | May 7 | May 14 | May 21 |
| Power | +5 Power | +10 Power | +15 Power | +20 Power |
| 1st Encounter | Golgoroth (King’s Fall) | |||
| 2nd Encounter | The Caretaker (Vow of the Disciple) | |||
| 3rd Encounter | Zo’aurc (Root of Nightmares) | |||
| 4th Encounter | Atraks-1 (Deep Stone Crypt) | |||
| 5th Encounter | – | Oryx (King’s Fall) | ||
| 6th Encounter | – | – | Rhulk (Vow of the Disciple) | |
| 7th Encounter | – | – | – | Riven (Last Wish) |
| 8th Encounter | – | – | – | Nezarec (Root of Nightmares) |
Pantheon Loot Table & Rewards
Each cleared encounter in Pantheon offers the following rewards:
- 2 Raid Weapons (Legendary)
- 1 Adept Raid Weapon (when achieving a Platinium score)
- 1 Raid Armor Piece
You can also earn up to two Raid Exotics when completing the Divine Weaponry quest. Pantheon can also reward you with Spoils of Conquest (5 per encounter), Tokens of Bravery, exclusive emblems (4 in total), and a dedicated title: Godslayer.
Raid Exotics: Divine Weaponry
Conquering The Pantheon can reward two Exotic weapons through the Divine Weaponry quest:
- Step 1: Complete The Pantheon on any difficulty
- Step 2: Complete a run of The Pantheon: Rhulk Indomitable (+15 Power) or Nezarec Sublime (+20 Power)
Each Step will let you pick one of the Exotics below (two in total if you can complete both steps):
 | Conditional Finality | Shotgun |  Special |  Stasis | Root of Nightmares Raid | |
 | Touch of Malice | Scout Rifle |  Primary |  Kinetic | King's Fall Raid | |
 | Collective Obligation | Pulse Rifle | Primary |  Void | Vow of the Disciple Raid | |
 | Eyes of Tomorrow | Rocket Launcher |  Heavy |  Solar | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | |
 | One Thousand Voices | Fusion Rifle | Heavy | Solar | Last Wish Raid |
Pantheon Rewards, Destiny 2
Pantheon Adept Weapons
Achieving a Platinium score when finishing an encounter, as well as achieving Platinium scores on all encounters to unlock the associated triumph, will net you an Adept weapon:
- Smite of Merain (Harrowed)
- Qullim’s Terminus (Harrowed)
- Insidious (Adept)
- Acasia’s Dejection (Adept)
- Zaouli’s Bane (Harrowed)
- Rufus’s Fury (Adept)
Note that Adept Weapons are weekly, whereas standard Legendary Raid weapons can be farmed infinitely.
Pantheon Raid Weapons: Legendaries
Pantheon encounters also rewards Legendary Raid weapons (including Deepsights), including the following:
Root of Nightmares weapons
 | Acasia's Dejection | Trace Rifle | Special | Solar | Root of Nightmares Raid | Incandescent,Reconstruction |
 | Briar's Contempt | Linear Fusion Rifle | Heavy | Solar | Root of Nightmares Raid | Incandescent,Reconstruction |
 | Koraxis's Distress | Grenade Launcher | Heavy |  Strand | Root of Nightmares Raid | Reconstruction |
 | Mykel's Reverence | Sidearm | Primary | Strand | Root of Nightmares Raid | |
 | Nessa's Oblation | Shotgun | Special | Void | Root of Nightmares Raid | Destabilizing Rounds,Repulsor Brace,Reconstruction |
 | Rufus's Fury | Auto Rifle | Primary | Strand | Root of Nightmares Raid | Reconstruction |
Kings’s Fall weapons
 | Smite of Merain | Pulse Rifle | Primary | Kinetic | King's Fall Raid |
Vow of the Disciple weapons
 | Cataclysmic | Linear Fusion Rifle | Heavy | Solar | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
 | Deliverance | Fusion Rifle | Special | Stasis | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
 | Forbearance | Grenade Launcher | Special |  Arc | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
 | Insidious | Pulse Rifle | Primary | Arc | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
 | Lubrae's Ruin | Glaive | Special | Solar | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
 | Submission | Submachine Gun | Primary | Kinetic | Vow of the Disciple Raid | Bait and Switch |
Deep Stone Crypt weapons
 | Bequest | Sword | Heavy | Arc | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | |
 | Commemoration | Machine Gun | Heavy | Void | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | Repulsor Brace,Reconstruction |
 | Heritage | Shotgun | Special | Kinetic | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | Reconstruction |
 | Posterity | Hand Cannon | Primary | Arc | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | Voltshot,Reconstruction |
 | Succession | Sniper Rifle | Special | Kinetic | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | Reconstruction |
 | Trustee | Scout Rifle | Primary | Solar | Deep Stone Crypt Raid | Incandescent,Reconstruction |
The Caretaker Encounter: Explained
Start by delegating the following roles to players of your fireteam:
- Stun team (two players)
- Symbols team (three players)
- Ad clear/flex (one player)
When the encounter begins, have the two stun players approach The Caretaker. One of the two will bait the boss’ stomp animation by running close to him; after doing so, his face should glow yellow. Have the person who just baited his stomp shoot his face (or whoever can see it at the time), then shoot his glowing yellow backpack. Repeat this process every time The Caretaker begins moving, buying the rest of your team extra time.
The symbols team will begin near the obelisk located on the first floor. Have one person enter the room directly behind it (the door will be closed by default—shoot the pyramid spike to temporarily open it). While in this room, you’ll need to act quickly: pick up three of the glowing symbols on the ground, remembering which ones you grabbed. Once you have a couple (or your Pervading Darkness stacks are nearing x10), exit the room through the door you came in from. If it’s closed, ask a fireteam member outside to shoot the pyramid spike again.
Once you exit with the symbols, the Obelisk will await your offering (it will say this in the game chat once it’s ready). To complete said offering, simply shoot the 1-3 symbols you picked up simultaneously—if you need help, fireteam members can shoot them as well.
Continue both of these processes until you clear all nine symbols from the obelisk. This will initiate the DPS phase, which will start on one of the three small plates surrounding said obelisk. Step on whichever one is glowing, damage The Caretaker until he goes immune, and repeat as necessary. After meeting the damage threshold (or using all three plates), you’ll ascend to the next level and repeat this process once more.
After the third level of this, you’ll reach The Caretaker’s final stand. This is relatively simplistic and uses the same damage mechanic as the rest of the fight: step on whichever plate is glowing, and damage until he dies.
Caretaker Changes with Pantheon
For hardcore players, you may have noticed that this explanation perfectly fits that of the normal Caretaker encounter—not the Pantheon version. This is because the featured changes aren’t noticeable to most, consisting of the following:
- Enemies spawns have changed, now featuring significantly greater numbers on each level.
- Uncollected symbols will spawn Pyramid Scales (the “bee” missiles The Caretaker fires), adding additional stacks of Pervading Darkness on impact.
Macrocosm Guide: Zo’aurc, Explicator of Planets
Begin by assigning two players to ad clear and the other four on each of the triangular platforms on the left and right of the arena (one player on each). Upon starting the encounter, simply clear the enemies that spawn, primarily focusing the two centurions in the back of the arena (as they progress the mechanics).
After these two centurions die, one Arc-shielded colossus will spawn on each of the four triangular plates mentioned earlier. Have each non-ad clear player clear their respective colossus as soon as possible.
Upon killing a colossus, you’ll see the six planets on your side of the arena begin glowing; it’s your job to tell the player across from you (bottom left and bottom right communicate, top left and top right communicate) which planet is the odd one out—on the left, it should be dark, on the right, it should be light. Once both sides have communicated this, each player will pick up an orb directly under their mismatched planet and deposit it under the opposite side’s mismatched planet. You’ll know this step is completed when each of the four plates emits a burst of energy from its center.
After aligning the planets via the process above, a Tormentor will spawn (new with the Pantheon version). This enemy, however, does not affect mechanics and will automatically despawn at the start of DPS.
To get to DPS, kill the next wave of centurions in the center, then have at least one person kill a colossus on the sides. Have this player call out the glows of the center three planets, then have available members of the team bring planets with a matching glow to each of the three DPS plates in the center of the arena (all light planets are now on the left, all dark planets are now on the right). Note that, as a team, you can only take one planet per platform.
If all three center planets receive another that matches their affinity, DPS will begin. Step into a plate that matches his shield color and damage Zo’aurc until he becomes immune; then, move to a plate of the opposite affinity and continue damage from there. Once you complete enough phases to reach his final stand, stepping into any of the plates will work.
Macrocosm Changes with Pantheon
Other than the previously mentioned Tormentor, no changes from Pantheon drastically affect how this encounter flows. However, Guardians with a keen eye may spot these minor changes as well:
- Incendiors now spawn on the platforms between the upper and lower sets of planets.
- Zo’aurc can now use his fire tornado ability outside of the DPS phase.
- After using a DPS plate, Zo’aurc sends fire tornadoes out to all three plates (not just the one that was used).
Before you go…
You now know everything there is to know about Pantheon.
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