Ghosts of the Deep is Destiny 2: Lightfall’s first dungeon. The dungeon takes place in the New Pacific Arcology, and you may recognize this once-inaccessible area from the Red War’s Utopia mission on Titan. Although it drops you in the forest of the Arcology on Titan, this dungeon isn’t part of Season of the Deep. Bungie requires players to purchase a Dungeon Key — if you have the Annual Pass edition of Lightfall, you’re good to go.
Additional guides:
- Destiny 2 Ghosts of the Deep Loot Table - What Each Encounter Drops
- Destiny 2 Ghosts of the Deep Title Guide — How to Get Ghoul
The recommended Power for Ghosts of the Deep is 1790 on Normal mode, and to enter the dungeon, meet Suraya Hawthorne at the Tower to get the Rise quest. Everyone in the fireteam must have this quest to access the Ghost of the Deep dungeon for the first time. Once you pick that up, enter the forest and this guide will help you with the opening encounter and jumping puzzle.
Opening Encounter - Following the Hive runic symbols
First, follow the mud path in the forest until you reach the soulfire pit at the center of the map.
To start the encounter, defeat the two Knights at the door — this will trigger several Acolytes to spawn, along with one Soulfire Binder Ogre. Also, you might notice two Thrall-looking statues near the soulfire pit — like the ones in the opening sequence of the King’s Fall raid — but don’t worry about those right now.
Killing the Ogre reveals glowy, green patches on the ground, and the path always starts where the Ogre died. The patches direct you toward a floating Hive runic symbol, but not the exact location.
If you can’t find the Hive symbol, jump onto one of the tall rocks to look in the distance. Importantly, memorize this symbol since you’ll need it for a puzzle mechanic later!
When you reach the first Hive symbol, several orange-bar Acolytes will spawn along with Soulfire Binder Wizards. Defeating the Wizards reveals more patches to the second runic location marked by the same Hive symbol. Defeat the enemies once again to get to the third and final location.
At the third location, things get a bit tricky. A Hive Lightbearer will spawn, and crushing its Hive Ghost starts a timed Vestiges of Light mechanic.
Vestiges of Light countdown
Crushing the Hive Ghost will reveal a Veilweaver Wizard at the soulfire pit and start an 80-second Vestiges of Light countdown. If you let the Vestiges of Light timer run out, your character will die. Also, it would behoove you to designate one person to crush the Hive Ghost and grab the Vestiges of Light since multiple people can’t get it.
When you see the Vestiges of Light counter on the bottom of your screen, hop on your Sparrow and follow the mud path back to the soulfire pit immediately. When you return to the soulfire pit, make the yellow-bar Veilweaver Wizard your primary target. Anyone in the fireteam can easily take down the Veilweaver Wizard with a few shots of a rocket launcher or your Super ability. Keep in mind, defeating the Wizard doesn’t stop the countdown!
However, the Veilweaver Wizard drops a Deepsight buff — like the ones in Savathun’s Throne World — that you’ll need to activate. Deepsight reveals more Thrall-like statues around the soulfire pit with different Hive symbols. The person with the Vestiges of Light should head to the symbol statue matching the one from the path. Then, imbue the Vestige of Light to stop the countdown and begin the next round.
You’ll have to repeat the steps above — from killing the Ogre to finishing with the Vestige of Light — three more times to complete the opening encounter.
Ghosts of the Deep opening encounter tips
Fast-paced, close-encounter weapons work best here in defeating hordes of enemies and working against a timer. Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and Supers are great for dealing damage quickly and clearing enemies.
If you don’t have mnemonic names for the symbols, there are several in the Destiny 2 community to use or make them up, do whatever works for you.
Hallowfathom diving puzzle
It wouldn’t be a dungeon without a stressful jumping puzzle, although it's more of a diving puzzle in Ghosts of the Deep.
When you reach the Drilling Platform, jump down the catwalk and through the torn-up mesh wall to another set of catwalks. Go through the round tunnel in the wall, jump down several platforms, and follow the path until you reach Hallowfathom.
Defeat the enemies that spawn in the room, and go through the tube on the floor. When you drop into the methane sea, you’ll have to find air bubbles to relieve your Pressure Resistance, but if you and your teammates huddle around a bubble, you can share it. Here, getting to the two large fans is the goal.
The first fan is under the second large triangular platform in the open sea area. The quickest way to get to that fan is by jumping off the edge and grabbing the air bubbles as you fall into the open sea — if the deep sea frightens you, use the platforms instead. Approach the catwalk and let the fan float you into a small room. 
From there, go through the door and head down the next set of tubes to venture deeper into the sea. When you reach the open sea once again, walk through the broken glass window and fall onto the catwalk below to get to the second fan. The last tube gets you all the way down to the sea floor, and a new objective pops up on your screen to "Reach the Wreckage."
