Abyss

Seal the Pits in your maps, follow the Abyssal Wounds from the Well of Souls to the two Commanders, and jump into the Well to face the Vessel of Kulemak.

Start: Abysses in your maps0 of 4 lessons read

Down to the Vessel of Kulemak

Six stops, in order. Tick each one when you've done it in game.

0 of 6 done in game.

  1. Stop 1

    Abyss in a map

    Close the cracks, seal the Pits and open what they leave.

    You seal every Pit of one Abyss in a map.

    Taught in Abysses in your maps

  2. Stop 2

    The Well of Souls

    The Abyss hub. It appears on your Atlas after your first Abyss, and the maps around it give Abyss Atlas points.

    You enter the Well of Souls from the Atlas.

    Taught in The Well of Souls

  3. Stop 3

    Northern Wounds and the Dark Domain

    Clear the Northern Abyssal Wounds. One leads to the Dark Domain, where Vandroth, Blackblooded Enslaver waits.

    Vandroth is dead and the Invitation is in your inventory.

    Taught in The Commanders: Vandroth and Tasgul

  4. Stop 4

    Southern and Eastern Wounds, then the Lightless Void

    Close the remaining Wounds and beat Tasgul, Swallower of Light. Both Commanders always drop Kulemak's Invitation.

    Tasgul is dead and you've picked up the Invitation.

    Taught in The Commanders: Vandroth and Tasgul

  5. Stop 5

    Jump into the Well

    With Kulemak's Invitation, choose "Jump In" at the Well of Souls.

    You arrive in The Black Cathedral.

    Taught in The Vessel of Kulemak

  6. Stop 6

    Vessel of Kulemak

    A revival gauntlet. Each time you beat it, steal a Lich's power for a stronger fight and a better ring, or take the Finger and the loot.

    The map completes when you take the Finger or kill the final form.

    Taught in The Vessel of Kulemak

Three Petrified Liches

After each defeat, touch a Petrified Lich to revive the Vessel stronger and add a hidden modifier to Grip of Kulemak, up to three times. Amanamu leans to fire, armour and Strength, Kurgal to cold, energy shield and Intelligence, Ulaman to lightning, evasion and Dexterity.

The wiki says Return the Finger then gives a fourth, full-power fight and a fourth modifier. One guide says the ring stops at three.

The Abyssal Lich

Already ascended as a Lich? After the Vessel, an urn lets you switch to the Abyssal Lich and back.

Sources disagree on whether the fight must be fully empowered by the Liches. Check it in game.

Lessons

  1. Abysses in your mapsCracks, Pits and Troves, the three Lich factions, the Depths and what drops.Up next
  2. The Well of SoulsThe hub, the Abyssal Power quest, Abyss Tablets and revealing Desecrated modifiers.Open
  3. The Commanders: Vandroth and TasgulThe Abyssal Wounds, the Dark Domain and the Lightless Void, and Kulemak's Invitation.Open
  4. The Vessel of KulemakThe revival gauntlet, the three Liches, Grip of Kulemak and the drops.Open
  5. The DescentPass it to light up the test node on the map.After the lessons

Desecration

Abyss's crafting. A bone adds a hidden modifier; reveal it at the Well of Souls and pick one of three.

  • Three tiers of bone. Gnawed works on items up to item level 64, Preserved on any item, and Ancient gives a minimum modifier level of 40.
  • One bone per slot type. Jawbones for weapons and quivers, Ribs for armour, Collarbones for jewellery, Crania for jewels.
  • One per item. An item can only have one Desecrated modifier, and it doesn't count as your crafted one.
  • Full items lose a line. If the item has no open slot, one existing modifier is removed at random to make room.
Read the Desecration lesson
Read “The Commanders: Vandroth and Tasgul” as text

Clear the Northern Wounds

The Abyssal Power quest sends you through the Abyssal Wounds on your Atlas. Clear the Northern Wounds first. One of their maps leads down into a Dark Domain, a boss version of the Abyssal Depths with an extra room.

Beat Vandroth in the Dark Domain

The Dark Domain's boss is Vandroth, Blackblooded Enslaver. He always drops Kulemak's Invitation, the key to the pinnacle, and since 0.5.3 always drops Desecrated Currency too.

Beat Tasgul in the Lightless Void

Close the Southern and Eastern Wounds, then go down into the Lightless Void and beat Tasgul, Swallower of Light. He drops the same: an Invitation and Desecrated Currency.

If it goes wrong: Pick up the Invitation before you look for the next step. The quest only points you back to the Well once it's in your inventory.

Know who gets the Invitation

In a party, Kulemak's Invitation always goes to the player whose map it is, since 0.5.0. Plan whose maps you run if you share Commander kills.

Find the Commanders again

After the quest, a Pit in a map of area level 79 or more can lead to a Lightless Void or a Dark Domain. One guide puts that at Tier 15 Waystones. The Abyssal Ire Atlas passive gives Depths in level 78+ areas a 25% chance to hold a boss, and Ravine end maps help too. Players also trade Invitations.

We found no source of Invitations other than the two Commanders.

Don't trip on the names

"Lightless" is the Amanamu monster group, the Lightless Void boss area and an Act 2 area, the Lightless Passage. Lich and Abyssal Lich are Witch Ascendancies, Lichborn is a monster modifier, the Petrified Liches are statues in the boss fight, and the Lich Lords are the factions.