The Pit or The Pit of the Artificer is an endgame activity in Diablo 4 that allows you to gather Masterworking Materials for upgrading your gear.
While this activity has existed for several seasons now, Diablo 4 Season 13 changes how players unlock The Pit on both the Eternal and Seasonal Realms.
The mechanics for The Pit remain mostly the same, but higher tiers now play a bigger role in endgame progression and Torment difficulty unlocks.
How To Unlock The Pit in Season 13?
The Pit of the Artificer is unlocked differently in Diablo 4 Season 13 depending on whether your character is on the Eternal Realm or the Seasonal Realm.
For Eternal Realm characters, you will need to complete the original campaign and reach Level 70 before The Pit becomes available as part of your endgame progression.
Seasonal Realm characters instead unlock The Pit through the Season Rank system by reaching Rank II and completing the Hellish Descent dungeon activity.
After completing Hellish Descent, you may claim the Capstone Rewards for Season Rank II, which includes the Artificer’s Obelisk that unlocks access to The Pit.
The Pit Season 13 Locations
Cerrigar Pit Location
The original Artificer’s Obelisk may be found in Cerrigar, which was the first location where The Pit was introduced in Diablo 4.
You can find the Artificer’s Obelisk northwest of the Cerrigar Waypoint, making it easy to access once you arrive in the city.
Temis Pit Location
Another Artificer’s Obelisk was later added in Temis with the release of the Lord of Hatred expansion and later seasonal updates.
The Temis Artificer’s Obelisk may be found north of the Temis Waypoint, providing another location where players may access The Pit.
The Pit Mechanics
To begin The Pit activity, you will need to interact with the Artificer’s Obelisk, which allows you to select a Pit tier and open a portal into the dungeon for that run.
This requires Artificer’s Stones, which can be obtained from endgame activities such as Helltides, Tree of Whispers caches, and other reward-based content throughout the game.
Once inside, you will be given a limited amount of time to clear enemies and progress through the dungeon while working toward the final encounter.
Your initial objective is to defeat enemies throughout the dungeon, which fills a progress meter that is directly tied to the remaining activity timer.
Once the meter is fully completed, the Pit Guardian will spawn directly in the arena for the final boss encounter without any additional transition phase.
Defeating the Pit Guardian within the time limit triggers Artificer’s Mastery, granting improved rewards, additional upgrade materials, and higher-quality endgame loot.
Death Penalty
Dying in The Pit will reduce your remaining timer, making it harder to reach Artificer’s Mastery before the run ends.
The first death reduces the timer by 30 seconds, the second death removes 60 seconds, and any deaths after that will remove 90 seconds each.
This system makes survivability increasingly important in higher Pit tiers, where losing time can quickly cost you the Mastery bonus and better rewards.
The Pit Season 13 Rewards
Completing The Pit rewards you with gear and upgrade materials that scale with the Pit tier you run, with higher tiers offering better loot and more efficient endgame farming.
Defeating the Pit Guardian within the time limit will still grant an Awakened Glyphstone at the end of the run, which is used for upgrading your Glyphs.
This makes The Pit a key endgame activity in Season 13 since it supports both gear progression and long-term character power through Glyph upgrades.
Mastery Bonuses
Speed Mastery
Speed Mastery is achieved by defeating the Pit Guardian before the timer runs out, which allows the Awakened Glyphstone to spawn at the end of the run for Glyph upgrades.
To do this, you must keep an eye on the progress meter on the right side of your screen and ensure the Guardian is defeated before the timer expires to secure the bonus rewards.
Survival Mastery
Survival Mastery is achieved by completing the entire Pit run without dying, rewarding an additional Glyph upgrade on top of your normal rewards.
This bonus focuses on clean, consistent clears where avoiding deaths is more important than speed, especially in higher Pit tiers.
Verdict
Running The Pit in Season 13 is best done once your build is properly geared, since higher tiers quickly expose weak damage, survivability, and overall efficiency.
As you push deeper, the activity becomes more rewarding with better loot, stronger Masterworking materials, and more consistent Glyph progression.
While early tiers are useful for setup and practice, the real value comes from higher clears, where The Pit becomes one of the most efficient endgame farming paths in Diablo 4.
