The Pit of Artificers

The Pit of Artificers is a challenging endgame activity in Diablo 4, introduced with the 1.4.0 Update for Season 4. It is intended to be the most difficult content in the game, scaling up to Tier 150. It has a level requirement of level 60, and you should be equipped with a well-optimized build as you dive deeper into the Pit of Artificers.

Unlocking The Pit of Artificers

The Pit of Artificers is available after reaching level 60 in Cerrigar. You can acquire Runeshards by completing different Endgame activities. You can consume these Runeshards at the Obelisk in Cerrigar to open the portal to The Pit of Artificers.

The Pit of Artificers Basics

In the Pit of Artificers, you need to slay enough monsters before the 15-minute timer runs out to summon a final boss. Each player death removes time from the clock. The first death removes 30 seconds, the second death removes 60 seconds, and the third and subsequent deaths will remove 90 seconds.

After you defeat enough monsters, a portal materializes, transporting you to the boss arena. Afterwards, slay the boss before the timer expires to upgrade your glyphs. Consequently, this also unlocks the next brutal tier(s) of The Pit of Artificers. If you can manage to kill the boss with time left on the clock, the benefit increases. Depending on how much time you have left after killing the boss, you are granted additional Tier unlocks. The Pit has 150 total levels of difficulty to try and conquer, if you dare face the challenge.

After completing a Tier, you unlock the next Tier along with rewards which we touch on in the next section.

Rewards

Players who manage to clear the entire pit and slay the boss before the timer runs out can upgrade their glyphs. If you successfully clear the pit, you gain:

• 3 attempts at upgrading your glyphs
• 1 extra if you do not die during the run.

Depending on the difficulty of the pit, the odds of successfully upgrading your glyph increase based on the level difference between the glyph and the pit run. If the difference between your glyph and the Pit level is greater than 20, your glyph gets an additional upgrade.

The max level of glyphs has been increased from level 21 to level 100, with a new Legendary upgrade at level 46 giving it an additional radius size and a new affix.

In addition, glyphs you have not yet found in other places can now drop at the end of the pit run.

The Boss Fight

At the end of every Pit Run is a Boss. The toughest and most time-consuming part of the run, which boss you encounter will heavily influence how long the fight takes. Additionally, once you hit a high tier in the Pit, there are Echoes of the major bosses, such as Lilith. These Echoes have significant background effects mimicking their attacks in their own fight. For example, Echos of Lilith can cause the spikes on the ground to appear and potentially damage you. As of Season 5, Pit Bosses now cause the same Tormented debuff you encounter with Tormented Bosses, causing you to take more damage. This debuff is capped at three stacks.

The Bosses

As of Season 5, there are at least 10 different bosses, each with their own attacks. Some bosses have more HP than others and some have annoying mechanics that can ruin a pit push, so when you're farming, figure out what bosses feel best for your build and which ones feel easy or difficult.

• Blood Bishop
• Bramble
• Den Mother
• Hivemaster
• Mother's Judgement
• Resurrected Malice
• Scourge
• Seahag
• Slither
• Spiritcaller

Echoes

The Echoes are seemingly triggered by the HP breakpoints of the boss and there are up to three different ones during each boss fight. The third Echo is always the Echo of Lilith and happens around the 50% Boss HP mark. These Echoed bosses are invulnerable and lurk in the background, but there are cues to their attacks, so pay attention!

The Echo attacks can come in a variety of forms, depending on the echo that shows up. Elias's Echo attacks can include targeted fireballs or cones of fire. Lilith's Echoes mimic her boss fight and can include the spikes in the floor and the wave patterns. Stun ball mechanics and tornados are other possible Echoes for other smaller bosses. Keep an eye out - dodge like your life depends on it, because it might!

Strategy & Mechanics

• Layout - The Pit always consists of two finite floors that are connected with a portal. On both of these floors, the layout and the monsters are randomized.
• Progression - Elite Monsters give the most amount of progression, so focus on hunting these down. To avoid backtracking, try and kill as many small monsters as you can as you travel, to avoid backtracking.
• Shrines - In the Pit, shrines can appear after reaching certain progression thresholds. Save the shrines you do find for when you need them - you've got tough fights ahead.
• Monster Level Scaling - Monsters scale with the Pit Tier you selected. The monsters are your level, but with every Tier, they grow stronger in terms of their Health and the damage they deal to you.
• Selecting Tiers - You can decide to quickly breeze through lower tiers to level up glyphs from scratch. Alternatively, you can pick a tougher difficulty and take more time to clear the higher tiers for better rewards, or to gain additional glyph upgrades even for your low-level glyphs.
• Death Penalty - If you die in the Pit of Artificers, you will lose time on the event timer. The first death removes 30 seconds, the second death removes 60 seconds, and the third and subsequent deaths will remove 90 seconds. This also removes one free upgrade attempt for your glyphs.

Additional Tips and Tricks

With all this information, here are a few more key tips to keep in mind when attempting the Pit:

• Bring Your Best Build - This is not just another Helltide run, this is a challenging, timed Event. If your build is really tanky, but you can't defeat enough enemies in time, you still lose!
• Go in Maxed Out - Make sure to Temper and Masterwork your gear at the Blacksmith and have your best Gems from the Jeweler.
• Kill Fast & Stay Safe - Death is your biggest enemy, so keep a good pace in killing enemies. Rushing into a small room with defensive cooldowns unavailable can be a recipe for disaster.
• Boss Fights - The type of Boss you summon after filling the progression bar is random. You need to remember their patterns well, so prepare yourself to dodge their abilities!

Summary

• Reach level 60 to unlock the Pit.
• Bring your best build with the best gear that you have fully tempered and maxed out.
• You have 15 minutes to defeat enough enemies to fill the progression bar and then the summoned Boss to successfully complete the event and move to the next Tier.
• Bosses have dangerous mechanics that you need to remember well and dodge in a timely manner.

Credits

Written by M1PY
Updated by: Avarilyn
Reviewed by wudijo