Tablets of Ruin

The Tablet of Ruin from the Lightblade Strike

"Auryx the First Navigator set upon his god with his sword and his words, and cut Akka to pieces, and took from those pieces the secret of calling upon the Deep. He wrote this secret on a set of tablets, which he called the Tablets of Ruin. And he wore them about his waist."

— Books of Sorrow #XXVIII — King of Shapes — Verse 3:8

The Tablets of Ruin are a series of Hive artifacts created by Oryx, the Taken King as a means to commune with the Darkness in order to learn how to Take.

The Tablets have long been sought after by many Hive who wished to obtain the power to Take for themselves, including Savathûn and Xivu Arath. At one point, Oryx placed one of the Tablets within the flesh of the Ogre Golgoroth to keep it away from his own son, Crota.

At an unknown point following the demise of the Taken King, Savathûn found one of the Tablets and placed it within the Temple of the Navigator in her Throne World, where it was guarded by Alak-Hul, the Lightblade following Savathûn's rebirth in the Light. The Guardian later slew the Lightblade and took the Tablet, after which it was handed over to the Vanguard for safekeeping. Another Tablet would be found aboard the Dreadnaught, where it was guarded by Dire Taken led by Felghul the Requisitioner until the Guardian defeated them and retrieved it.

Episode: Heresy

Lore

The Tablet of Ruin Seasonal Artifact

"The world is not built on the laws they love… Not with peace, but by victory at any means." —The Winnower

[This tablet was recovered from Savathûn's throne world when Alak-Hul, the Lightblade, was slain. It now sits idly in your possession. No whispers coax you to listen. No edicts compel you to act. Nevertheless, you stare unwaveringly at the etched stone.]

"Lightbearer. You're so serious about all of this."

"It's just a game."

"You want to shape the world but don't have the stomach for the 'wrong' kind of violence."

"So, you stare at stone or glass, trying to invoke the Deep with control."

"We are already more acquainted than you remember."

"Can you hear me now, over the whiners and would-be gods?"

"Do you know that I consider you a frustrating friend?"

"And yet you point a gun, even when there is still so much between us."

"You know this only ends one way."

"Then kill it. I dare you."

Seasonal Artifact Mods

Column 1

• Unstoppable Fusion: Aiming down sights for a brief period with any Fusion Rifle you are wielding loads a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Fusion Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active
• Overload Machine Guns: Shots from Machine Guns you are wielding disrupt combatants, stunning them, delaying ability energy regeneration and exhausting them. Strong against Overload Champions. Additionally, Machine Guns are always overcharged when that modifier is active. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Piercing Sidearms: Your equipped Sidearms fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Sidearms are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Anti-Barrier Sniper Rifle: Sniper Rifles you are wielding fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Additionally, Sniper Rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Unstoppable Glaive: Glaives you wield fire a powerful explosive payload that stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Glaives are always overcharged when the modifier is active.
• Overload Trace Rifles: Uninterrupted fire from your equipped Trace Rifle causes the beam to stun combatants, delaying ability energy regeneration and exhausting them. Strong against Overload Champions. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Unstoppable Rocket Launcher: Shortly after you ready or reload a Rocket Launcher, damage from that weapon stuns unshielded combatants. Strong against Unstoppable Champions. Additionally, Rocket Launchers are always overcharged when that modifier is active.

Column 2

• Overclock and Load: While you are amplified or have Bolt Charge, Arc weapons gain increased handling and reload speed.
• Deep Alchemy: Weapons with the Subjugation Origin Trait gain stability and reload speed for a short duration when hitting any target. These weapons are also overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Volatile Marksman: Rapid Void weapon precision hits and rapid Void weapon final blows grant Volatile Rounds.
  • BOOST: Volatile detonations grant class ability energy.
• Legend Incarnate: Weapons with the Timelost Magazine Origin Trait gain bonus damage; these weapons are also overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Unraveling Orbs: Picking up an Orb of Power or a Tangle grants Strand weapons Unraveling Rounds.
  • BOOST: Strand weapons deal increased damage to Strand debuffed targets.
• Beam Medic: Rapid Trace Rifle final blows heal you and nearby allies. Powerful combatants increase the amount.
• Vile Weave: Targets hit by your Tangles are severed. Reduce Tangle cooldown by picking one up.

Column 3

• Hold the Line: While surrounded, Machine Guns and Glaives gain increased reload speed and stability; final blows heal you.
• Dielectric: Defeating Arc debuffed targets grants Bolt Charge.
  • BOOST: Rapidly defeating Arc debuffed targets spawns an Orb of Power and heals a small portion of health.
• King's Vestige: Defeating powerful Taken loads your weapon with Taken energy. The next time you fire, launch 3 Taken seeker rounds that disrupt and exhaust targets. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Disruptor Spike: Improves the effects of Exhaust and Sever, lowering a target's damage output even further. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Photonic Flare: Defeating an exhausted or severed target with Arc damage releases a blinding burst. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Elemental Siphon: Rapid final blows with a Kinetic weapon or a weapon matching your equipped Super create an elemental pickup that matches your equipped Super.
  • BOOST: Elemental pickups grant matching Super energy when they are collected.
• Perpetual Destruction: Rapid final blows with non-Exotic Rocket Launchers refund ammo and increase reload speed for a short duration.

Column 4

• Dreadful Finisher: Defeating powerful combatants with your finisher spawns Special ammo for you and your allies; defeated Subjugators, Tormentors, or Champions spawn more ammo.
• Maligned Harvest: Rapidly applying Volatile causes your next instance of Void weapon damage to create a weakening burst.
  • BOOST: Applying Weaken provides a small Void overshield.
• Flashover: When you gain maximum Bolt Charge, you also become amplified. Lightning bolts deal more damage.
• Hord Shuttle: Damaging unraveled targets with a weapon occasionally spawns a Threadling.
  • BOOST: Threadlings sever targets that they damage.
• No Bell: Rapid Glaive melee final blows grant Special ammo Glaives additional ammo. Blocking damage with Glaives increases their melee damage to targets.
• Harsh Refraction: Trace Rifles do more damage to targets afflicted by elemental debuffs matching their element type.
• Gold from Lead: Picking up Special ammo has the chance to grant Heavy ammo.

Column 5

• Particle Reconstruction: Dealing sustained damage with Fusion Rifles or Linear Fusion Rifles partially refills the magazine from reserves and grants them bonus damage for a short duration against that target.
• Elemental Supercharger: Defeating exhausted or severed targets with weapons that match your Super element grants Super energy. Exhausted targets deal reduced outgoing damage.
• Heavy Ordnance Regeneration: Dealing sustained damage to targets with a Heavy Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher grants damage resistance and increases grenade and melee regeneration for a short duration.
  • BOOST: While Heavy Ordnance Regeneration is active, defeating powerful combatants disorients nearby rank-and-file combatants
• Defilbrillating Blast: Stunning a Champion grants maximum stacks of Bolt Charge. Triggers an Arc bolt that heals you and jolts combatants that it damages.
• Void Flux: Defeating weakened targets with a Void weapon applies Volatile to nearby targets. Powerful targets increase the radius of the explosion.
• Limiting Break: Casting a Super while you are critically wounded or have a elemental buff matching your Super element grants a period of increased Super damage.
• To Shreds: Dealing sustained damage to severed targets unravels them. Defeating a severed target creates a hotspot of Strand energy, granting Woven Mail to nearby allies for a short duration.
  • BOOST: Unravelling projectiles deal increased damage. These deal further increased damage to severed targets.

Trivia

• So far, three Tablets of Ruin have been acquired by the Guardians and kept under lock and key by the Hidden, the first being the one held inside of Golgoroth, the second having been acquired from Savathûn's Throne World and the third recovered by Eris Morn and Drifter in the Hall of Souls.
• While the initial description of the Tablet of Ruin artifact from Episode: Heresy states that it is indeed the same Tablet recovered from Savathûn's Throne World, their origins and appearance do not match, which is likely an oversight by the developers.
• The Tome of Want strongly resembles the Tablet of Ruin that acts as the Seasonal Artifact for Episode: Heresy; the significance of this is unknown.

List of appearances

• Destiny: The Taken King (First mentioned)
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (First appearance)
  • Episode: Heresy