Eventually, Bungie decided to open the Forge despite the fact that Niobe Labs hadn’t yet been cleared by a single team. Ironically, days after that, Niobe Labs was cleared for the first time. Finishing Niobe Labs is still a huge undertaking and you shouldn’t try walking in there unprepared. You’ll need a fully decked out Fireteam, each with at least one of the three Black Armory weapons equipped: the Spiteful Fang bow, the Tatara Gaze sniper rifle, and the Hammerhead light machine gun. Ideally, all of you should be at or nearing power level 650 to beat Niobe Labs; it contains a lot of tough enemies that will be difficult to handle as it is. Considering the high number of enemies you’ll have to fight, try having each member of your team only carrying one of the Black Armory weapons so that you have a little bit of flexibility with the rest of your loadout. Bring your strongest gear and get ready for a fight. Throughout this guide, we’ll be referring to in-depth infographics prepared by a chap called KaiOT. These infographics untangle the mystery of Niobe Labs to a great extent and make it relatively easy to complete the puzzle.
Finding Niobe Labs in Destiny 2
The first challenge is finding the place, which isn’t marked on any available map. This area is located in the Outskirts in the EDZ, near Sojourner’s Camp. Travel southward from there until you reach a broken bridge – jump that chasm and keep going until you find a cave. Inside, Niobe Labs awaits. You can find more specific directions to the spot in the video below. There are enemies here, of course – once you’ve dispatched them, start looking for symbols that are all over the walls and pillars in the room. There are a lot of these, and you can only see them when you’re looking through the scope of a Black Armory weapon. There are maps available for the room, like this one:
Activating Niobe’s Torment
To start the actual activity, you have to solve your first puzzle. You must shoot three symbols in the correct order with the right weapon. The order is as follows: After this, each player has to perform a more complicated shooting sequence. You can do these one at a time, or all at once if you prefer.
Sniper Rifle
Machine Gun
Bow
If you’ve done all of that correctly, a blue switch will appear in the room. Once you press it, you’ll spawn Siviks, the main bad guy from the Black Armory story campaign. Deal enough damage to him to make him flee, and Niobe’s Torment will begin.
Niobe’s Torment
This entire activity includes 7 levels, called Bypasses. Each Bypass consists of a puzzle similar to the one that you did to activate the room, as well as combat against waves of enemies that you must kill before you can continue. Major enemies will continuously spawn additional enemies until they are dispatched. Some enemies and mines are equipped with shield drones like the ones found in the other forges – these have to be taken down before the enemy they protect can be killed. Also, note that the Fish symbol has a weird hitbox, so make sure that you’re watching for the particle effect before you shoot it. If this mission wasn’t already hard enough, there is a hidden timer running while you do it. If you don’t complete a Bypass fast enough, a large laser appears to wipe out your entire team. Good luck!
Bypass Level 1
This one is pretty simple. The machine gun user needs to stand on Hand and shoot B, U, T, T, E, R, F, L, Y.
Bypass Level 2
The machine gun user needs to stand on Hand. Shoot Fire and Cloud. The sniper needs to stand on Fish. Shoot Rabbit and Lotus.
Bypass Level 3
This is where it starts getting really tough. A Servitor will erect a wall that splits the room in half; you need to kill it to take the wall down and continue. This level also requires all the players to shoot symbols simultaneously, so make sure you’re communicating with each other.
Sniper: Stand on Dragon. Shoot Bamboo. Bow: Stand on Wind. Shoot Water. Machine gun: Stand on Star. Shoot Fire..
Bypass Level 4
This room is going to be split again, so make sure you take out that Servitor. Mines are also going to spawn; you need to stand underneath them to defuse them. The good news is that any player can complete the puzzle: all you have to do is shoot Wings and F, L, and Y while airborne.
Bypass Level 5
This level requires a lot of communication between players. Start by having the player with the bow stand on Butterfly, the player with the sniper rifle stand on Fish, and the machine gun player stands on Hand. Shoot symbols in the following sequence: Machine gun: A, T Sniper: Bamboo Bow: Paper, Waves, Tree Sniper: Arch, Rabbit Machine gun: L, R Sniper: Arch, Lotus Machine gun: S, D Sniper rifle: Lotus Bow: Rose, Heart
Bypass Level 6
This level is a nice bit of simplicity before the final puzzle. The player with the bow needs to stand on Butterfly and shoot Tree repeatedly.
Bypass Level 7
Infuriatingly, this last puzzle throws the mechanics of the previous puzzles out the window and requires players to shoot symbols with normal weapons that do a certain damage type, despite the fact that you can only see these symbols through the scope of a Black Armory weapon. The strategy here is to find the appropriate symbols with your Black Armory weapon and then switch to the other weapon to shoot. Let’s hope that your aim is good. For this puzzle, have your machine gun user equip a Solar weapon, the bow user equip an Arc weapon, and the sniper equip a Void weapon.
Solar Weapon (Machine Gun)
Stand on Hand. Shoot +, U, L, F, B, E, R, H, +, T.
Arc Weapon (Bow)
Void Weapon (Sniper)
Congratulations! You and your team have officially completed the most complex and difficult puzzle in Destiny history! Even if you used this guide to help you, it’s still a big achievement, and you should be proud. The reward for finishing this stage is an Exotic ghost shell and a Black Armory emblem. Head on down into the Bergusia Forge from here and enjoy your loot!
