High Celebrant of Xivu Arath

"All tithes to Xivu Arath. War Dominant. Endless."

- The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath. The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath is an Ascendant Hive Knight who serves as the main antagonist of Season of the Hunt.

Tasked by Xivu Arath, God of War with creating an army of Wrathborn, the High Celebrant is responsible for the numerous Cryptoliths of its master found across the system that corrupts Fallen, Cabal, and other Hive broods alike.

Biography
When Xivu Arath's sister, Savathûn, went into hiding for interfering with the Pyramids messages to the Guardians, the War Goddess took this opportunity to consolidate her power within the Sol System. Seeking to establish a foothold over the power vacuum, the God of War sent her High Celebrant to oversee the creation of the Wrathborn using Cryptoliths bored across the planets, including the Moon, the Tangled Shore, and the Dreaming City. It would also hunt the excommunicated Witch Queen and wrestle the Hive free of her schemes.

Immolant
"Die well, Osiris."

- High Celebrant

The High Celebrant first appeared in the system with the intent to conscript the entire Hidden Swarm of Luna into Xivu Arath's Horde. With the entirety of the Scarlet Court, led by Crota's surviving daughters Voshyr and Kinox, having gathered into one place at the Enduring Abyss, their communion with the Hive God was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Warlock Osiris. Facing an overwhelming onslaught of Light, fifteen noble-brood were incinerated by his Dawnblade, including Voshyr and her kin Yishra and Ayriax, while Kinox fled leaving her son Ulg'Urin to be consumed by a Nova Bomb alongside his Knight guard. The High Celebrant only stood unscathed from the attack as Osiris calls for to face him.

Xivu Arath would only draw strength from the Warlock's violent fervor and the deaths of the noble Hive; her will projected from the Cryptolith dispels his Well of Radiance and attempts to enthrall Osiris into a Wrathborn. Despite the Warlock's resistance, the High Celebrant carves runes into the stone on either side of Osiris as he is offered up as a sacrifice for the War god. Before leaving, the High Celebrant tells Osiris to die well as it departs back into Luna's depths. However, Osiris escaped Xivu Arath's grasp with the sacrifice of his Ghost Sagira.

Hunting Season
Out for revenge, Osiris begins hunting for the head of the High Celebrant as he tracked him down to the Shrine of Oryx of the Hellmouth, where Cryptoliths have grown to convert and summon the Wrathborn Hive. The Young Wolf would get word of his mission and races into the Hellmouth to save the now Light-less Warlock, whom the High Celebrant had cornered. Trapping Osiris inside of the Shrine, the Celebrant would sent waves of its Wrathborn reinforcements to stall the Guardian as its made its way to finish the former. The Guardian eventually catches up with the Celebrant, forcing it to flee into the Ascendant realm where it would make its escape.

End of the Celebrant
Roughly eight weeks following its initial escape, the Crow was able to locate the Celebrant hiding within the Dreaming City thanks to the Guardian's numerous Wrathborn hunts. After upgrading the Cryptolith Lure, The Guardian and Crow made their way to the Cryptolith within Harbinger's Seclude to summon the High Celebrant and end it once and for all.

As the Guardian was able to activate the Cryptolith, the Crow was able to tag it to make sure it wouldn’t escape from them again. The Celebrant would lead them through a wild goose chase throughout the Harbinger's Seclude and the Ascendant Plane while summoning both Fallen and Hive Wrathborn to delay both Guardians. However it would succeed in escaping back into the Ascendant Realm and closing the portal behind it, leaving Crow inside to deal with him.

While the Guardians were seemingly stuck in a hard place, the Guardian used what remained of the Cryptolith to forcefully open up one of the preexisting rifts within the Dreaming City to track down the Celebrant. After having bested the Crow as it broke both his legs before throwing him into the abyss, the Celebrant summons waves of Wrathborn Fallen and Hive to deal with the Guardian. During the battle, it contains the Guardian within a Hive Trap and opens up another rift to make its escape, only for the Crow to intervene by destroying the portal from the other side. While the Knight was staggered from the destruction of its only exit, the Guardian finishes the Celebrant off and ends its reign of terror once and for all.

Gameplay
The High Celebrant is encountered twice in two separate missions. For the Wrathborn Hunt/Coup de Grâce mission, refer to the second section of Gameplay.

Trail of the Hunted

The Young Wolf would get word of their mission and race into the Hellmouth to save the now Light-less Warlock, whom the High Celebrant had cornered. Players would begin by landing in Archer's Line and be tasked with proceeding towards the Shrine of Oryx via the Hall of Wisdom. Following the trail, Players will fight through small amounts of Hive enemies. Upon reaching the entrance to the Shrine of Oryx, Players will be met with the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath standing before a Cryptolith. The High Celebrant will have an Immunity shield and summon multiple waves of lesser Hive before vanishing away. Upon killing all the waves of Hive, the Player would continue onwards to the Shrine, cutting through further Hive guarding the way. Forced to flee by the advancing guardian, the High Celebrant vanished into the Ascendant Plane. This hit and run tactic of teleporting and fleeing between planes would become the primary mechanic of the High Celebrant later on. With the High Celebrant gone, the Player can reach Osiris.

Coup de Grâce

With the Cryptolith Lure charged and fully upgraded, the Player Guardian with the assistance of Crow set off towards the Dreaming City to pull the High Celebrant out of hiding and finish it once and for all. Landing in Harbinger's Seclude, Players are tasked to proceed further into the Seclude within the Dreaming City and seek out the nearby Cryptolith. Following the directions given, Players will encounter a small amount of Hive in the way that should be very easily taken care of. Upon killing these Hive, the door barring the way should open to a larger area where the Cryptolith is. Placing down the lure, the High Celebrant will appear and begin to teleport around the immediate area repeatedly. It is advised not to waste ammo during this and to instead wait until the Celebrant summons corrupted Wrathborn that can be killed to obtain the 'Wrathful' buff. Upon damaging the High Celebrant enough they will flee through the Ascendant pane leaving a spherical 'tear' in their wake. Players shoot this dark sphere and it will open a portal to the Ascendant Plane to pursue the Celebrant. They would follow the blood trail and return back to the material plane when shooting open another tear and be met with the Celebrant once more. Of course, without the wrathful buff, or as Ghost claims 'reclaimed Light' damage done to the High Celebrant is not optimal. Players must simply wait for Crow to flush out Corrupted Wrathborn from the Ascendant Plane into the same room as the Player which the Player can then kill for the pools that grant the wrathful buff. After enough damage, the Celebrant will flee once more and Players again will have to shoot open the residual tear it leaves behind and follow its trail of blood through the Ascendant plane. Following the trail, Players should end up back where they first encountered the Celebrant in the Dreaming City on shooting open another tear. Multiple enemies, including a Barrier Knight Champion, will be present. It is not required to have an Anti-barrier mod unless Players are really underleveled as the Barrier Knight can be killed quick enough with optimal DPS before it can even deploy its barrier.

After killing these enemies, Players will proceed forwards to encounter the Celebrant teleporting away from them repeatedly with an Immunity shield. The Celebrant will summon Hive reinforcements including an Ultra Wrathborn Hive Ogre. Players must kill this Ogre and the rest of the Hive. Having Crow trapped in the Ascendant plane and no residual tear left by the Celebrant, Players must plant down the Cryptolith near the large Awoken statue where the Ogre had spawned. This will force open a portal above the statue. This portal is impossible to jump to. Instead, players must follow the blood trail and discover hidden platforms that only appear once close enough to them. Following these platforms, Players should be able to reach the portal and enter the Ascendant Plane one final time. Navigation is important during this stage as the background and safe surfaces appear the same. Players must proceed to the lit Awoken structure housing an Ascendant Crystal. It should be noted some of the platforms vanish once touched by Players so constant movement is essential. Upon reaching the structure with the large Ascendant Crystal, Players will face off against the High Celebrant for the final time. Reinforcements akin to before will be summoned and Players should target the Corrupted Wrathborn Majors to obtain the Wrathful buff from the pools dropped. Once the High Celebrant is damaged enough it will try and flee in desperation, summoning more Hive and a Barrier Servitor. Once these enemies are killed, the High Celebrant will trap the Guardian and attempt to escape, however, Crow will close the portal it is trying to create. With this blow, the High Celebrant kneels and accepts their fate as the Player is freed and can land the killing blow.

Trivia

 * The High Celebrant bears a strong resemblance to the Bok Litur, Hunger of Xol from the Grasp of Nokris, and by extension, the Warpriest.

List of Appearances

 * Destiny 2:
 * Beyond Light
 * Season of the Hunt