Expansion I – Quest 01: Ritual of Sacrifice
Recommended Level: 26
Objective: Start the quest
Note: Two steps of this quest involve Xur, the weekend merchant at the Tower. So the quest can only be started and ended on days he is present.
Wow, now this is a doozy. Similar to exotic bounties, this quest consists of multiple steps before you can even attempt the actual quest mission. Yeah, this could take awhile. After completing the expansion story mission: the Wakening and receive the new quest from Eris Morn at the tower.
Objective: Obtain the urn *1 strange coin required
The first step is to buy the urn off Xur, the merchant who only appears on weekends (Joy, timed quest objectives!). Find him on a day he appears and buy the urn off him for a single strange coin.
Objective: Take the urn to Eris
Travel back to Eris at the other side of the Tower. She will update the quest for you.
Objective: Kill 25 thralls with solar fusion rifle damage (death resets count)
Ok, don't panic if you don't think you have a solar fusion rifle. You just got one as a reward for the last expansion story mission you completed before you could even start this quest. The name of the legendary fusion rifle is murmur. It has an ability that allows you to switch it between arc (blue) and solar (orange) damage in it's examine screen. Make sure it's set to solar damage and then it's time to go thrall hunting. Be wary of dying though, as your progress will be reset if you do. Collect the dropped items to count towards the quest step.
Thralls can be commonly found on the moon in the Temple of Crota or on Earth in the Skywatch area (remember the old loot cave area?). A good specific location is the story mission "The dark beyond" on the moon, as there are a few points during that mission where you are swarmed by thralls. Exit the mission after the first major swarm (where over 10 attack at once) and re-enter the mission. Rise and repeat and you'll have your kills.
Objective: Kill 5 cursed thralls with melee attack (death resets count)
Cursed thralls take away a set percentage (adjusted based on distance) of shield and health, so a cursed thrall explosion by itself cannot kill you. I know the first thought everyone had was to use a hunter and throw knives at the thralls, but unfortunately that doesn't work. You need to actually run up and melee them. I know. Crazy. So the best approach is to try and get lone cursed thralls, run up and stab them. Then heal before progressing.
Hunters have a slight advantage here due to their cloak abilities (leaving them pretty safe after the explosion), but it is quite doable for any class. Select the mission Chamber of the Night on the moon. The first two cursed thralls you encounter during the mission will either be completely alone or have one or two regular thralls nearby. Pick off the thralls and melee the cursed thrall (you'll automatically pick up the item it drops, adding to the count for the quest).
A quick note for how the quest progression works: The counter for the quest only increases when you pick up the items. It also only resets upon death if you have picked up items. You can use this to your advantage in the mission by going stab crazy on the cursed thralls (not having picked up any items yet, so no penalty). Then when you re-spawn, re-enter the area you died in to find the items still there. Either this or the regular approach works, just use the one that suits you.
The end area of the Chamber of night mission will have another cursed thrall escorted by regular thralls and then a cursed thrall cluster. This is where you may lose your progress, so be very careful (or just restart the mission and kill the earlier cursed thralls again). Once you have all five, it's time to move on once more.
Objective: Kill 100 wizards and/ or acolytes with void damage (death reduces count by 15)
This one is a bit easier, as long as you have a void weapon (hopefully you do, or you're gonna have to find/ buy one). Or you can use void abilities (Warlock's special or void grenades) instead. Travel to any hive populated area of the moon in the patrol mission (Hellmouth or Temple of Crota) and start killing acolytes. Stuff killing wizards when you can just kill the plentiful acolytes. Keep killing them and picking up the item drops until the bar is full. Shouldn't take too long (I did it with an exploding void sniper rifle and it took around 20-25 minutes).
Objective: Take the urn to Eris
Leave the Moon and return to the tower to talk to Eris. She will update the quest.
Objective: Kill Urzok the Hated in Earth's Skywatch during public events
Now, Urzok is a melee knight that can be found in Skywatch on Earth. From the starting location on Earth patrol, you need to head to and then through Skywatch (the large building with the radar dish on top). Head back outside and look for the large green spires surrounding a crashed hive ship as you emerge. This is the area where he can appear.
He appears during the defend the warsat public events in this area. You will need to wait in the area (hopefully with some friends, as this increases the likely-hood of the event appearing quickly). Once the screen goes dark and the warsat smashes into the ground, you will be attacked by fallen and hive forces at the same time (if Urzok is there).
Urzok will appear during the later waves of the fight (be careful not to complete the Warsat without killing him, as he will vanish if you do). Urzok himself has a massive arc shield defending him, so use your strongest arc weapons to break it down and deal damage to him. Arc rocket launchers, shotguns and fusion rifles are your best bet here as he is a melee knight and will try to get in your face. Once he is dead, you'll have the final item you need for the quest, but a little more legwork is required to reach the quest mission.
Objective: Take the urn to Eris
Leave Earth and return to the tower to talk to Eris. She will update the quest.
Objective: Take the urn to the moon
Now if you look at the while in the set destination screen, you'll see the new quest mission is there.
Objective: Enter the Temple of Crota
You'll arrive right in front of the Temple of Crota, tread the much worn path (definitely by now) into the depths of the Temple once more. When you arrive at the Gatehouse area, the enemies will become level 26, so proceed with caution from that point.
Despite the fact it is a "new" quest, the enemies here will be the same old ones you've faced before. Just take your time and follow the marker on the mini-map. Keep descending, following the marker until you reach the World's Grave area and your objective updates.
Objective: Summon the Forsaken
You'll now be in a darkness area, so keep that in mind as you progress. After making your way through a tunnel, you'll see motion on the radar but no enemies ahead. The acolytes and a knight are standing above on top of the balcony and will attack when you emerge. Enter the large door on the balcony to find the huge room with the sacrificial cauldron inside. Before we begin with this dangerous battle, let me just describe how it's going to break down.
To activate this final battle, you'll need to jump onto the top of the giant urn and then immediately jump off (as the top of it becomes poisoned once active). The urn has three "blades" surrounding it, that you can grab and use on the waves of enemies at any time. The downside is they don't last for long and can leave you vulnerable at the worst time when they disappear.
Objective: Survive the attack
You will be facing multiple large waves of attacking enemies (single type per wave), although they will probably mingle due to the number of enemies in each wave. As the battle goes on, more "vestige" circles will spawn in the room (and the exit will close too), dealing massive damage if you step onto them or land on them. These can become a massive threat if you are jumping desperately away from enemies and happen to land on one, killing you instantly (I know from personal experience). So avoid them like the plague.
Wave one consists of thralls… lots of thralls. AoE abilities and explosion effects will be your friends here if you have them, agility and invisibility if you don't. The second wave is a couple of groups of cursed thralls, distance and quick ranged kills will allow you to survive.
Wave three is all about acolytes, this is probably the least threatening (except for chip damage), so use this as an opportunity to breathe and make sure you are ready for the real fight. Wave four consists of melee knights. This, depending on your character class and weaponry is either just a regular fight or the: "oh God, I'm screwed," moment. Keep moving, avoiding the circles or unload your specials and heavy weapons. Whichever strategy work for you.
The fifth and final wave consists of two ogres joining the fun. Happy, happy. Joy, joy. Yep, combine these with the remaining melee knights and you've got a party. Empty whatever you have left into them and hopefully you'll stagger through the final round. Once the enemies are dead, you are victorious. Phew.
Return to the tower after the mission ends and give the charged urn to Xur. He will give you the eyes that Eris desires in return (All that when her objective was a hundred meters away? Arrrgh!). Your reward for all of this when you return to Eris at the tower is a legendary set of gauntlets for your class. Hope the battle was worth it.
