Diablo 4: Complete Pit of the Artificers guide

Pit of the Artificers is a pinnacle endgame feature in Diablo 4, introduced in Season 4 and refined in Season 7. Designed to push players to their limits, the Pit offers high-tier progression challenges with up to 150 levels of difficulty. It’s not just a brutal gauntlet — it’s the ultimate test of your build’s power, strategy, and survivability. The Pit is only accessible to you after you have reached level 60.

How to Unlock the Pit in Diablo 4

Unlock the Pit of the Artificer at the Artificer's Obelisk (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

To gain access to the Pit of the Artificer, you must reach level 60 and head to Cerrigar in Scosglen. There, collect Runeshards by participating in various endgame activities like Whisper Bounties, Nightmare Legion, Helltides, etc.

These shards act as a key — consume them at the Artificer’s Obelisk in Cerrigar to open a portal to the Pit. You will need 3x Artificer’s Stone to open a portal to the Pit.

In Diablo 4, this content becomes available once your character is strong enough to take on high-level enemies and handle tight time limits.

Core Mechanics and Structure of the Pit

The Pit operates on a countdown timer — 15 minutes to eliminate enough enemies to summon the final boss. Deaths come with heavy penalties: your first death takes 30 seconds off the clock, the second takes 60 seconds, and each additional death strips away 90 seconds. These penalties make careful play and survivability crucial.

Each run has two randomly generated floors filled with monsters, mini-bosses, and elites. After slaying enough foes to fill a progression bar, a portal to the final boss room appears. If you defeat the boss before the timer runs out, you earn glyph upgrades and unlock the next Pit Tier, sometimes up to +5 tiers, depending on your remaining time.

Finishing the run with up to 6 minutes still on the clock, you can skip two additional levels and unlock a new tier. Defeating the boss with over 6 minutes on the clock, you can unlock up to 5 more tiers.

Glyph Upgrades and Rewards

Conquering the Pit grants the opportunity to upgrade Paragon glyphs, which significantly impact the overall strength of your endgame build. Each successful run awards three upgrade attempts, and if you manage a deathless run, you receive a fourth bonus attempt.

If the tier of the Pit exceeds your glyph’s level by more than 20, you receive an additional upgrade as a bonus. Glyphs now have a max level of 100, and hitting level 46 gives them a size boost and unlocks a new legendary affix. You may also obtain previously undiscovered glyphs during your runs of the Pit in Diablo 4.

Boss Fights and Echoes in the Pit of the Artificers

Each Pit run ends with a tough boss battle. The boss you face can vary widely in terms of health, mechanics, and attack patterns. From blood-soaked behemoths to toxic swamp witches, each fight demands different strategies.

At higher tiers, bosses gain "Echoes" — shadow versions of major Diablo bosses like Lilith — that add extra attacks and hazards. These Echoes appear at health thresholds and make encounters much more dangerous.

Season 5 of Diablo 4 introduced a debuff mechanic similar to Tormented Bosses, increasing the damage you take. Echo attacks may include familiar threats like fireballs, floor spikes, or wave attacks. Learning and dodging these can be the key to success, while a powerful build can also become the primary key to your success in high-tier Pit.

Boss Roster

Pit bosses are randomized and powerful (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Pit bosses are randomized and include foes like:

Blood Bishop
Den Mother
Spiritcaller
Resurrected Malice
Seahag
Bramble
Hivemaster
Scourge
Slither
Mother’s Judgement

Gameplay Tips and Strategy

Elite focus: Elites contribute the most to progress, so prioritize them over small mobs.
Smart Tier selection: Lower tiers can help you power-level your glyphs, while higher tiers provide better rewards.
Shrine use: Save shrines for when you hit walls, especially before boss fights.
Avoid death: Deaths not only reduce time but also remove upgrade attempts — play smart, not carelessly.
Optimize the Build: This isn’t regular dungeon crawling. You’ll need both speed and survivability.
Boss patterns: Bosses summoned are randomized, so learn how they operate and don’t be greedy.
Max out gear upgrades: Get your gear upgraded and Masterwork in the town before entering the Pit.

The Pit of Artificers offers an exhilarating mix of pressure, planning, and progression. Whether you’re farming glyphs or chasing glory, this is Diablo 4's ultimate test of power and strategy. Be ready — every second, every choice counts.

Check out our other guides on Diablo 4:

About the author

Jagaran is an MMO and ARPG writer at Sportskeeda. His involvement in the gaming industry also includes working as a concept artist and as a narrative designer.
At age of nine, Halo: Combat Evolved kicked off his love for the medium. He looks back fondly on the times he visited cyber cafes, watching the older boys playing the game and shouting, "Master Chief!"
If given a chance to inhabit a game world, he would eagerly jump into the breathtaking world of Halo.
He admires Ben "CohhCarnage" Cassell for his engaging dialogue and gameplay as well as his critical thinking regardless of how much he loves the game, which encouraged him to spend countless hours in games and technically analyze them.
In his free time, he enjoys writing books, cooking, sketching, and the occasional game of football.

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Edited by Ripunjay Gaba