How to access & use The Pit of the Artificer in Diablo 4 Season 5

The Pit of the Artificer is a new activity coming in Season 5 of Diablo 4, and it will play a vital role in the systems for upgrading your most powerful gear.

Dave McAdam

07th Aug 2024 12:10

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Highlights:

Pit of the Artificer is a new endgame dungeon-style activity
Clear waves of enemies and defeat bosses within a time limit
Earn resources to use in Masterworking your weapons

The Pit of the Artificer came to Diablo 4 in Season 4, Loot Reborn, and plays a pivotal role in endgame play. The game saw a massive overhaul to loot and progression in the new season, with massive changes coming to the ways we upgrade our gear.

The Pit of the Aritifcer, or just The Pit, is a new endgame activity that provides a constant challenge, but also some of the most valuable crafting materials in the game. It continues on within Season 5, so here is what you need to know.

What is The Pit of the Artificer?

The Pit is similar to a dungeon in that the goal is to enter a location, clear out all of the enemies, and defeat the boss at the end. That said, almost everything else about The Pit is different from your standard dungeon.

A player clearing out pit of the artificer in Diablo 4

First of all, The Pit has many levels of increasing difficulty to work through. You'll start by taking on hordes of regular enemies. As you kill them, a progress meter will fill up. Once it is full, a portal will appear to bring you to the boss room. Defeat the boss, then repeat the process on the next, more difficult level.

If that wasn't enough, you also have a timer to contend with. You will have fifteen minutes to clear enemies, fill the meter, and then kill the boss. There are time penalties for death, starting at 30 seconds for your first death, 60 for your second, and 90 seconds for each death beyond three.

The Pit is brutal, but it serves a very valuable purpose in the late-game

What rewards do you get in The Pit?

Masterworking a weapon in Diablo 4

The Pit grants many of the rewards you would expect, like weapons and armour, but most importantly it is your primary source for Masterwork materials. Continuing on in Season 5, Diablo players will be able to upgrade their weapons in strategic ways to dramatically increase their power.

Masterworking gets the most out of your affixes, but you need materials only available in The Pit of the Artificer to do so. As such, The Pit is going to be a vital part of crafting endgame builds going forward in Season 5 and all of Diablo 4.

How to access The Pit

Runeshards, the currency used to access pit of the artificer

There are a couple of prerequisites to entering The Pit. First of all, you'll need to get to World Tier 4 and complete a Tier 46 Nightmare Dungeon. This will unlock a quest directing you to The Pit in Cerrigar. However, you will need Runeshards in order to gain access.

This is a new resource spent on entering The Pit, and they can be found in Whisper Caches, Helltide Chests, Nightmare Dungeons, and generally any endgame activities. You'll need to stock up on these if you plan to grind The Pit for any period of time.

Pit of the Artificer location

You'll access The Pit in Cerrigar, which is in the north of Sanctuary near Firebreak Manor and the Downs.

Map showing the location of the Portal Activator in Diablo 4

Once you're there, you'll want to head just north of the Waypoint and use the Portal Activator, otherwise known as the Artificer's Obelisk. This is still here in Season 5 and plays a key role in your end-game progression for Seasonal Characters. This will definitely make tackling the Infernal Hordes a lot easier, so make sure to head over to Cerrigar once you've got the necessary materials.

Of course, you'll need to first make sure that you've got at least three Runeshards to activate the portal, but you'll be free to dive into The Pit once you've got your hands on enough.

About The Author

Dave McAdam

Dave is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon, after several years of freelancing across the industry. He covers a wide range of games, with particular focus on shooters like Destiny 2, RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.

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