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Destiny 2 Warpriest boss strategy, how to deal with Oculus, Tombstones and use Brand of the Initiate

How to use the Brand of the Initiate and shelter from Oculus' light with the Tombstones.

Warpriest is the first boss of King's Fall, coming shortly after Basilica, Annihilator Totems and Deathsinger's Power, and the first major DPS test in this Destiny 2 raid.

Responsibility for damage is shared across your entire team. You do, however, need to designate at least one person to the left, middle and right as you enter the Warpriest's hall, where they'll initiate proceedings by stepping onto three activation plates.

To learn more about this Destiny 2 raid, visit our King's Fall walkthrough hub.

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Warpriest boss strategy

When the fight begins, adds fill the hall: Acolytes, Adepts, Knights, Wizards and Thrall. After defeating three Revenant Knights that zone in on the three plates, a 'Glyph sequence' is started.The person assigned to middle plate must stand on it, and look at the three tall Tombstones, then step off of their plate.

The side facing the Warpriest on one of the tombstones will light up, but will only be visible to people standing on a plate. The angle of the left and right tombstone makes this side visible to the middle plate holder, so they should be the person who looking to see what's lit. They call out left or right as they see them. If nothing is visibly illuminated then it must be the middle tombstone.

Whoever’s side corresponds to the lit tombstone must step on their plate. Now that person will look at the tombstones to see the next plate that must be activated. Once the next Guardian is on the plate, the third person steps on theirs. This begins the DPS phase.


The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!


The Brand of the Initiate explained

The last person to activate their plate will gain the Brand of the Initiate. This creates a red orb around them. Anyone in this light can now damage the Warpriest.

The Brand of the Initiate ends after 20 seconds. However it can be reset if stolen by a teammate with the Brand Stealer buff. This can be acquired by finding and killing a Blightguard knight that spawns randomly on one of the three sides during the DPS phase.

After either Brand of the Initiate ends, or several successful Brand steals, the Warpriest will activate the Oculus, an attack that kills everything in the room except for guardians hiding in the shadow of a tombstone. Each tombstone can only be hidden behind once, as it’s destroyed by the Oculus.

Once the Oculus ends, everyone returns to their respective sides, and the cycle repeats. A light glows above where the tombstone used to be when it’s time to stand on plates and read the order. Note that you must do enough damage to defeat the boss before the fourth Oculus, as there will not be any cover left to hide behind. Everyone returns to their sides to clear adds and read plates again.

The damage phase rotation looks like this:

  • Plates are lit in sequence.
  • Everyone runs to the last side in the sequence to start DPS except for the Knight Hunter (alternatively everyone could meet in the center each time).
  • The Knight Hunter kills the knight, and steals the Brand before the timer reaches 0 to extend the DPS phase.
  • Someone else becomes the new Knight Hunter, and steals the Brand before the timer reaches 0.
  • The Warpriest summons the Oculus, and everyone hides behind the tombstone.
  • Everyone returns to their sides to clear adds and read plates again.

Assuming you're successful in this fight, you'll be able to secure your second major loot drop of the King's Fall raid from the Warpriest chest.

Our walkthrough continues with a step-by-step guide to beating Golgoroth in King's Fall. You can find the rest of our King's Fall raid guide.