Destiny 2: How to Unlock Oblation: Bloodline for Cull’s Shadow

To unlock Oblation: Bloodline in Destiny 2 and get Cull’s Shadow, do the chain in this order: complete Scarlet Keep with a Weapon of Sorrow equipped, go straight to the Moon patrol space for the hidden symbol interactions, then follow the quest into the Necropolis/Tau’rig sequence. Most failed attempts happen because the weapon check never registered, a symbol was skipped or interacted with too quickly, or the player left the patrol instance before the objective text updated.

What to have ready before you start

• A confirmed Weapon of Sorrow. If you have Thorn or Osteo Striga, use one of those to remove guesswork.
• Access to Scarlet Keep from Director → Destinations → Moon.
• Space in your quest inventory and enough time to do the chain in one session. The unlock is much less confusing if you do not break it up.
• If you are in a fireteam, make sure everyone is on the same step. Mixed progress can make symbol prompts look inconsistent.

The important part here is that the game is checking for the weapon family tag, not just “a Hive-looking gun” or “a poison weapon.” If you want the cleanest run, equip the Weapon of Sorrow before loading into the strike and leave it on through the end of the activity.

Step 1: Trigger the unlock in Scarlet Keep

Launch Scarlet Keep directly from the Moon if you can. Do not rely on a playlist roll. The point of this step is not speed; it is making sure the quest flag actually trips.

During the strike, keep your Weapon of Sorrow equipped for real gameplay, not just for the final second. The safest approach is to get kills with it, carry it into the boss room, and still have it equipped when the strike completes. Swapping off midway and back on at the end is exactly the kind of thing that creates doubt if the next step does not appear.

Once the strike is finished, check Director → Quests for the update, then go directly to the Moon patrol zone. A common mistake is assuming there is a vendor hand-in or a second strike requirement. If the step registered properly, the next phase begins on the Moon itself.

If nothing updates after completion, do not immediately rerun the whole chain. First try these checks:

• Confirm you had the Weapon of Sorrow equipped at the end, not just in inventory.
• Make sure you finished the strike fully and did not leave during the closing transition.
• Return to orbit, re-open the quest tab, then land on the Moon once before deciding the trigger failed.

Step 2: Do the Moon symbol interactions in order

After Scarlet Keep, the quest shifts to the Moon patrol space and starts asking you to work through hidden symbol interactions. This is the step that confuses most players because the Moon already has plenty of decorative Hive markings, and only the quest-specific ones matter.

The clean way to handle this phase is simple: land on the Moon, follow the active objective, interact only with symbols that give you a real prompt, and wait for the objective text to change before moving away. Do not hit a symbol and instantly sparrow off. The update can lag for a moment, and leaving too fast is one of the easiest ways to make yourself think the step bugged.

There are two practical rules that make this section much more reliable:

• Do the symbols in the quest’s intended sequence. If a later symbol looks dead, that usually means an earlier one never counted.
• Stay in patrol until the full symbol chain is done. Loading into another activity, dungeon entrance, or different instance too early can create unnecessary confusion.

If you walk up to a supposed symbol location and there is no prompt, that usually points to one of three issues: the Scarlet Keep trigger never happened, you are at the wrong symbol in the order, or the patrol instance needs a refresh. In that situation, going back to orbit and landing again is faster than roaming the Moon hoping the quest fixes itself.

Fireteams add one more wrinkle here. If only one player has the correct step, only that player may consistently see the interaction flow. If your group is getting mixed results, let the player with the active objective lead and confirm each update before everyone moves on.

Step 3: Follow the quest into the Necropolis and start the Tau’rig sequence

Once the final Moon symbol registers, the quest pushes you into the Necropolis route and then into the Tau’rig portion of the mission. At this point, the quest becomes much more straightforward: the real danger is rushing through the space and missing the interaction that actually starts the next combat phase.

As you enter the Necropolis section, slow down and watch for the objective marker and any interactable ritual point. Players often clear the first enemies, see a path forward, and keep running, when the mission actually wants them to complete the local interaction before the encounter advances.

Inside Tau’rig’s sequence, treat the fight like a mechanic check first and a damage race second. If the boss seems to stop taking meaningful damage, assume the mission wants you to clear adds, finish the current room action, or wait for the next progression beat rather than assuming the encounter is broken. Exotic missions love soft gates like this, and forcing damage into an immune or half-active phase just wastes ammo and usually gets you swarmed.

Two habits help a lot here:

• Clear nearby enemies before interacting with the objective so you are not getting flinched out of the prompt.
• After each room step, glance at the left-side objective text. If it changed, you are fine. If it did not, something in the current area is still unfinished.

How to avoid the common progression bugs players mistake for real bugs

Most “it’s bugged” reports on this unlock are really step-order problems. These are the ones worth checking before you restart from scratch:

• You equipped the Weapon of Sorrow too late. Start the strike with it and finish with it.
• You found a Hive symbol, but not the quest symbol. Only interactables with a real prompt count.
• You left a symbol location before the quest text updated.
• You tried to brute-force the Necropolis section without finishing the current area interaction.
• You were in a fireteam with different quest states, so not every prompt behaved the same way.

If you do need to reset, reset the smallest piece first. Refresh the Moon patrol instance before rerunning Scarlet Keep. Only rerun the strike if the weapon-check step clearly never registered.

When you should get Cull’s Shadow

Once the Tau’rig portion is fully cleared and the mission resolves, Cull’s Shadow should be awarded at the end of the Exotic mission flow. If the reward does not immediately appear on screen, check the active quest step and your inventory before assuming you missed it. In some cases, the more important clue is that the mission completed correctly; if that happened, your next stop is checking the quest resolution and any overflow destination rather than rerunning the whole unlock chain.

The shortest reliable route is still the same: Scarlet Keep with a Weapon of Sorrow → Moon symbol chain in order → Necropolis/Tau’rig mission flow → final reward. If you follow that sequence carefully and wait for every objective update before moving on, the unlock is much more consistent.