Although there are no typical mistakes at this year’s Festival of the Lost, Destiny 2 players have found modern ones – including a particularly egregious softlock in the modern activity, Haunted Altars, which can block your progress. While there is no confirmed cause, there are several ways to fix it.
The Haunted Altars softlock can cause players to stop working at the end of the activity and invalidate everything up to that point, sometimes triggering after half of the Headless’s health bar is destroyed. This is especially annoying if the problem occurs several times in a row, and considering how common this problem is, it certainly isn’t too hard. Here’s what might be causing this and what you can do to fix it.
What causes Haunted Altars to be blocked in Destiny 2?
While nothing has been confirmed yet, there are a few hypotheses as to what could be causing this nasty glitch. First of all, you shouldn’t burn the boss too quickly. You get blocked for being too capable is not uncommon in Destiny 2and Bungie this seems to be the main cause.
Hypothesis that appeared among the communityon the other hand, theorizes that A stunning Emotion modifier can affect Shriekers, causing them to be permanently disrupted. In this case, this phenomenon may become less common if mission modifiers change or the studio removes the problematic mutator from the game.
The most common softlock we’ve encountered is the inability to damage the boss after its first health gate, and this may require some tweaking.
Haunted Altars softlock solutions in Destiny 2
Wiping the activity fixed our first softlock in the meeting, which probably happened as a result of the guards dealing too much damage to the boss too quickly. Wiping the squad to Headless reset the instance and allowed us to take another shot, this time gentle on the boss.
This solution has several disadvantages. First, it’s challenging to get everyone to clear their data on the same page. More often than not, some guards will simply leave and matchmaking may fail to find other players. Secondly, this method only works on difficulties below Ultimatum because the Extinction modifier sends you to Orbit if the entire team dies.
According to Bungie, taking your foot off the gas pedal during a boss fight can also prevent a softlock. “In the first phase of the boss fight, wait 10 seconds for the Shriekers to close, then end the damage phase to avoid a soft lock,” the studio recommends. This is not a solution, but a potential preventive measure.
However, if Stunning Emotes are causing the glitch, it doesn’t seem to be easily fixed. Shriekers start the mission as your enemies and switch sides after completing certain mechanics, so it’s possible for the modifier to still consider them enemies and bug out even at the end of the run. It is also possible that the cause is something completely different.
Both scenarios are hard to control, especially in matchmaking since this is a six-guard activity and not all of them may know how to prevent a pliable lock from occurring. Bungie is still investigating the cause of this issue, so the developer may offer a transient fix or workaround. Until then, avoid using emotes and drowning the boss.
