Bungie’s Festival of the Lost 2025 event brought back fan-favorite Haunted Altars activities—alongside an irritating new issue: the Haunted Altars softlock. Many Guardians have reported being stuck mid-event, unable to progress or complete objectives. If you’ve run into this bug, here’s what’s going on and how to fix or avoid it.
What Is the Haunted Altars Softlock in Destiny 2?
The Haunted Altars activity is a limited-time event where fireteams defeat waves of Headless Ones and deposit manifested pages. The softlock occurs when progression stalls—typically after killing all enemies or completing an altar phase—but the next wave or objective never triggers.
Common Symptoms:
- The event timer continues, but no new enemies spawn.
- “Cleanse the Altar” or “Defeat the Headless Ones” objectives remain stuck.
- You can’t deposit Manifested Pages despite having them.
- The event fails to end, forcing you to manually leave or wait out the timer.
Why the Haunted Altars Softlock Happens
Bungie hasn’t released an official fix yet, but based on community testing and bug reports, the softlock is usually caused by:
- Desync or lag when multiple fireteams load into the same instance.
- Enemies spawning inside geometry or getting stuck outside the playable area.
- Event triggers not resetting after one altar phase finishes.
- Overlapping matchmaking sessions, where leftover activity logic from a previous run interferes with a new one.
Essentially, the game thinks there are still enemies or objectives left, so it refuses to progress to the next phase.
How to Fix or Bypass the Haunted Altars Softlock
Until Bungie deploys a patch, these steps can help resolve or prevent the softlock:
1. Rejoin a Fresh Instance
If your team gets stuck:
- Open the Director.
- Leave the current Haunted Altars activity.
- Queue again solo or with a full fireteam.
- Joining an existing session increases the risk of inheriting a glitched instance.
2. Avoid AFK Players
Inactive players can sometimes prevent event triggers from advancing. If you’re matchmaking:
- Avoid AFK farming groups.
- Kick inactive members (if in a fireteam).
3. Check for Hidden or Glitched Enemies
Sometimes enemies spawn behind walls or below the map.
Try these methods:
- Use abilities like Grenades, Rockets, or Supers to clear hidden enemies.
- Hunter’s Arc Staff and Warlock’s Nova Bomb can sometimes hit enemies through geometry.
If the event resumes after this, the issue was likely a trapped enemy.
4. Restart the Game or Console
If leaving and rejoining doesn’t fix it, a complete restart can refresh your matchmaking state and clear corrupted temporary data.
5. Switch Matchmaking Region
Players have reported better results after switching to a region with lower latency:
- On PC: use VPN or platform settings to select a nearby but less congested data center.
- On console: restart your router or switch network regions via settings.
6. Avoid Overlapping Altars
If you’re running multiple Haunted Altar events rapidly (for farming Manifested Pages), give the game 20–30 seconds before re-queuing. Rapid re-entry can cause leftover event states to persist into the next instance.
Tips to Avoid Losing Rewards
- Always deposit Manifested Pages before the end of a run—softlocked sessions don’t count for progress.
- Run the event with two or more active friends to minimize matchmaking bugs.
- If you’re farming weapons or Event Challenges, rotate activities (Haunted Sectors or other playlists) to reduce the risk of repeated softlocks.
FAQ’s: Haunted Altars Softlock in Destiny 2’s Festival of the Lost
The issue occurs when Shriekers or bosses are stunned mid-animation, interrupting event logic and halting progression.
Only on higher difficulties. Restarting from orbit is usually faster and more reliable.
Yes. Over-damaging the boss before Shriekers reopen can skip the next phase and freeze progression.
Rarely possible. Some fireteams report success by triggering the altar again with thrown pumpkins or AoE Supers.
Yes. It appears across Tier 3, Grandmaster, and Ultimate versions, though behavior varies slightly.
Yes. Bungie’s internal channels have acknowledged the bug, with a fix expected in an upcoming hotfix.
Avoid using stun-type emotes or instant burst damage during boss phases, and wait for Shriekers to finish their attack cycle.
The Haunted Altars softlock can be frustrating, especially for players grinding Festival of the Lost rewards. Fortunately, leaving the activity, avoiding laggy lobbies, and rejoining a fresh instance usually fixes the issue. Bungie is expected to roll out a patch soon—until then, use the above workarounds to keep your runs efficient and your loot secure. Play Now!
Related Guides You Might Like:
