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Destiny 2: Oblation Bloodline Exotic Mission

Oblation: Bloodline is a secret Exotic Mission on the Moon added in the Monument of Triumph update (June 9, 2026). It rewards Cull’s Shadow, the final Exotic Fusion Rifle in Destiny 2.
The mission is not visible on the map by default. You must unlock it through a multi-step secret questline before it appears.
A Weapon of Sorrow is mandatory throughout the entire unlock process and inside the mission itself. Thorn, Osteo Striga, Necrochasm, or Touch of Malice all qualify. Thorn is the easiest to grab from the Monument to Lost Lights in the Tower.
The unlock requires: triggering a crystal in the Scarlet Keep Strike, then finding four Hive crystals across Moon patrol zones, then entering a hidden door in Sorrow’s Harbor.
The mission itself has two main puzzle sections (Cooling Pillars, Soulfire Barrier) and one boss fight against Valus Tau’rig.
Do not leave the mission after the boss dies. The first Cull’s Shadow catalyst (Soulfire Succor) and the unlock for the next mission, Oblation: Soulfed, are found in the post-boss area.
Oblation: Bloodline is the first of three Exotic missions in the Oblation chain. Soulfed and Immolation follow, awarding all four Soulfire catalysts for Cull’s Shadow.

Destiny 2 Oblation Bloodline is the secret Exotic Mission that drops Cull’s Shadow — the final Weapon of Sorrow and the last secret Exotic in the game’s live-service history. It does not appear on the Moon map until you complete the unlock sequence, which starts inside the Scarlet Keep Strike. This guide covers the full unlock process and the complete mission walkthrough in one place.

Before You Start: What You Need

You need a Weapon of Sorrow equipped at all times during the unlock and the mission. The Hive runes will not appear without one in your loadout. This is non-negotiable.

The four Weapons of Sorrow that work:

Thorn — Hand Cannon. Available from the Monument to Lost Lights in the Tower. Costs an Exotic Cipher and 125,000 Glimmer. Easiest to acquire if you do not already have one.
Osteo Striga — Submachine Gun. From The Witch Queen campaign or crafting.
Necrochasm — Auto Rifle. From Crota’s End raid.
Touch of Malice — Scout Rifle. From King’s Fall raid.

Once you have Cull’s Shadow from completing the mission, it also counts as a Weapon of Sorrow for all future Oblation mission steps.

How to Unlock Oblation: Bloodline

Step 1: Trigger the Crystal in the Scarlet Keep Strike

Launch the Scarlet Keep Strike from the Moon destination map. Any difficulty works. Play through it normally until you reach the final boss arena where Hashladun, Daughter of Crota, spawns.

Do not kill Hashladun immediately. After she enters the arena, three glowing Hive rune symbols will appear on the arena walls — on each side of the large gate at the back and on the rear wall. Equip your Weapon of Sorrow and shoot all three runes. The order does not matter here. Just hit all three.

The iron bars at the back of the arena will drop. Go through the gate. Take the first right and enter the small room. Interact with the Hive Crystal inside.

You can now kill Hashladun and complete the Strike normally. When you return to the Moon patrol, your map will show four new search areas tagged as Suspicious Syndicate Activity.

Step 2: Activate Four Hive Crystals Across the Moon

Each search area contains a Cabal corpse and a nearby Hive Crystal behind a locked rune door. The process at each location is the same: interact with the Cabal corpse, use your Weapon of Sorrow to shoot the rune symbols matching the locked door (top to bottom), then interact with the crystal inside.

The four locations, in any order:

Temple of Crota — Anchor of Light

The Temple of Crota is east of the Anchor of Light zone. Find the path just before the large Fallen structure at the back of Anchor of Light and follow it down to enter the Temple on the left. Keep left as you enter — it is a straight shot to the locked door. Clear the Cabal and Hive fighting in the tunnels. Go through the red-hot opening behind them. Continue through the tunnels to a bright-red room with Scorpius Turrets, Phalanx, and other enemies. Clear them and solve the rune puzzle on the locked door. Interact with the crystal inside.

Hellmouth — Chamber of Night

Head into the Hellmouth and descend past the upper chambers. Keep going deeper past where the Hive attempted to revive Crota in the original Destiny. Find the locked door deeper in the Chamber of Night. Shoot the matching runes with your Weapon of Sorrow (top to bottom). Interact with the crystal.

K1 Revelation Lost Sector — Sorrow’s Harbor

Enter the K1 Revelation Lost Sector in Sorrow’s Harbor and run through it until you reach the crystal that normally summons the Lost Sector boss. Do not activate the boss. Instead, equip your Weapon of Sorrow and look for Hive rune discs scattered around the area. Shoot them to unlock the small door nearby and interact with the crystal inside.

Shrine of Oryx — Archer’s Line

The Shrine of Oryx is accessible from Archer’s Line. The Cabal corpse is on a slightly raised platform on the area’s western edge near the yellow-painted structures. Interact with it, then follow the path into the Shrine. Pass through the tube tunnels to reach the Shrine chamber. Clear the enemies. This rune puzzle requires five runes instead of three — the process is otherwise identical. Shoot all five in the order shown on the locked door. Interact with the crystal.

Step 3: Enter the Hidden Door in Sorrow’s Harbor

Once all four crystals are activated, head to Sorrow’s Harbor. Go to the area near the Scarlet Keep entrance. Do not go through the main door to the Scarlet Keep. Instead, look to the right side of the bridge leading to the Scarlet Keep entrance. Drop down to the path on the right side and go under the structure. Find the hidden tunnel beneath the bridge. Inside the tunnel is a door. Interact with it.

This launches Oblation: Bloodline. The mission node will also now appear on the Moon destination map for future runs.

Fireteam note: If one player in your group has completed all four crystal steps, others in the fireteam may be able to access the mission without completing the prerequisites themselves. This is not confirmed for all scenarios, but worth testing with a friend before farming it solo.

Oblation: Bloodline Mission Walkthrough

The mission opens inside a Cabal-occupied Hive fortress on the Moon. A massive energy laser is drilling deep underground. The setting mirrors the Pit of Heresy starting area. It diverges quickly.

Step 1: Speak with Aunor

At the mission start, find Aunor near the drill beam and speak with her. Your objective becomes: sabotage the Syndicate Drilling Operation.

Step 2: Destroy the Cooling Pillars

The drill is kept cool by a series of Cooling Pillars. Your goal is to destroy all of them. The process for each pillar is the same: find a shielded Cabal Centurion guarding a command console, kill him, flip the switch (Manual Safety Override), destroy the exposed fuses, then shoot the open vents on the Cooling Pillar itself.

Cooling Pillar #1: Jump down off the ledge to the left before the large red tower. Drop to the platform below. Turn around and head up the stairs toward the Psion snipers. Defeat the shielded Centurion at the command console and flip the switch. Three blue Cooling Tower Control Fuses appear — shoot all three. Head back to the first Cooling Pillar. Shoot the four vents when they open (they open and close periodically — wait for the glow). Destroy all four vents to collapse the pillar. The man cannon at the platform edge activates. Take it to the next area.

Cooling Pillars #2 and #3: On landing, immediately turn around to find another terminal. Interact with it to expose three fuses on the left, right, and middle towers. Destroy all three fuses. The two remaining Cooling Pillars are now vulnerable. Shoot the four vents on each pillar to destroy them. Head left through the room full of Legion enemies. Kill them. Interact with the terminal marked WARNING: OVERLOAD. Take the man cannon to the next area.

Step 3: Navigate the Tunnels to the Soulfire Crux

You will land in the upper section of a Hive fortress and immediately face waves of Thrall and Acolytes. Kill them. You will see many tunnel entrances in front of you. Most lead to dead ends. Do not follow them horizontally. Navigate all the way upward through the area to reach the tunnel entrance at the very top.

Once inside the tunnels at the top, follow the path until you see Dredgen Bael’s shadow appear. Ignore it. Look left — you will see Hive lanterns mounted on the wall that you can jump on. Use them to platform across to the opposite side. Climb up the platforms to reach a red-lit room above. Drop down to the ledge on the far side to enter the room and continue into the hallway beyond.

Follow the hallway to another appearance of Bael’s shadow in a locked room. Turn around. Look down the hallway and find a crack in the stairs you can drop through. This leads to the next area below. Continue on the path until you reach the Soulfire Barrier.

Step 4: Extinguish the Soulfire Barrier

The Soulfire Barrier blocks your path. To remove it, you need to light three pyres — one central and two in side rooms.

The process for each pyre:

Kill the Hive enemies in the pyre’s room.
A Wizard called the Pyre Matron will spawn. Kill her — this removes the shield on the nearby Soulfire Vessel.
Kill the Soulfire Vessel with a melee attack or finisher to collect the Soulfire Charge.
Carry the Soulfire Charge to the unlit pyre in that room and deposit it to ignite the pyre.

Repeat for all three pyres. The left room is not accessed through a door — it is reached via rock platforms on the left side of the main area. Once all three pyres are lit, the Soulfire Barrier drops and you can proceed to the boss.

Step 5: Boss Fight — Valus Tau’rig

Valus Tau’rig is a Cabal Colossus boss wielding Cull’s Shadow. He has two distinct phases.

Phase 1 — Deal damage normally. Fight Valus directly. He has a standard health pool at this stage. Whittle down his health. Before you can finish him, Hive Wizards arrive and corrupt him, triggering Phase 2.

Phase 2 — Soulfire Charge mechanic. When the text reads “He seeks a source of soulfire”, look at Valus. He will be floating with a green light connecting him to one of the two side pyres — one on the left and one on the right of the boss arena. This green light tells you which pyre you need to light.

In the corresponding side room, kill the Pyre Matrons and the Soulfire Vessel. Collect the Soulfire Charge and deposit it into the pyre that Valus is connected to via the green light. His shield drops and you can deal damage again.

Repeat the Soulfire Charge mechanic for his second corrupt phase. Once his health is depleted, Valus Tau’rig dies and Cull’s Shadow drops from the loot chest.

What to Do After the Boss Dies: Do Not Leave

When Valus Tau’rig is dead and Cull’s Shadow is in your inventory, do not end the mission or return to orbit.

The post-boss area contains two critical things:

The Soulfire Succor catalyst — the first of four Cull’s Shadow catalysts. Found by climbing the tower in the post-boss area, interacting with a Hive book, returning to the boss room, and shooting a Hive rune door with a Weapon of Sorrow.
The unlock for Oblation: Soulfed — the second Exotic mission in the chain, which contains two more catalysts.

If you leave without doing this, you will need to replay the entire Oblation: Bloodline mission to access the post-boss area again. For the full catalyst walkthrough across all three Oblation missions, see the Cull’s Shadow Catalysts guide.

Oblation: Bloodline on Legendary Difficulty

A timed Legendary difficulty version of Oblation: Bloodline exists. It unlocks after you have completed the standard version. To access it, run the Scarlet Keep Strike again after clearing Bloodline, shoot the rune symbols that appear in Hashladun’s arena after she enters, and follow the re-activation steps. The Legendary version has a time limit and rewards additional loot beyond the standard clear.

Destiny 2: Oblation Bloodline Exotic Mission Walkthrough