The Pit in Vessel of Hatred isn't just another place to grind glyph XP and Masterworking mats. There's a strange hidden thread tucked inside it, and if you're chasing rare account rewards, it's worth paying attention. Choron, the secret boss, only becomes available after you track down 20 lost Horadrim plaques. These aren't normal loot clicks, and they won't shower you with D4 items on the spot, but they do unlock one of the more interesting hidden encounters Diablo 4 has right now.

How the plaques work (core mechanics and narrative function)

The Horadrim plaques aren’t just collectibles—they’re a layered exploration trigger tied to environmental storytelling and audio cues.

• Lore-driven fragments: Each plaque contains a short Horadrim entry that, when combined, tells a slow descent into paranoia and corruption within the order.
• Environmental discovery loop: Instead of a traditional quest chain, you encounter them while actively running The Pit as a farming route.
• Audio trigger system: When you approach the correct dead-end zone, your character may say: “Cursed this place, I am being followed”, signaling that a plaque is nearby.
• Exploration incentive: The system rewards slowing down in otherwise speed-focused content, turning dead ends into high-value search points.

The clean farming route (efficient optimization strategy)

Efficient plaque farming relies on skipping full clears and treating The Pit as a structured search grid rather than a combat dungeon.

• Selective progression: Do not full-clear runs—plaques only spawn on the first floor of each selected tier.
• Tier skipping pattern: Start at Tier 1, then rotate through Tier 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and onward in fixed intervals up to around Tier 96.
• Reset efficiency: Enter, check dead ends quickly, collect plaque if present, then exit immediately to maintain speed.
• Layout awareness: Certain map types, especially Prison layouts, tend to place interactables in early open cells or side rooms more frequently.

Making the run feel less painful

You can do this on almost any solid character, but a slow build makes the hunt feel longer than it needs to be. Movement speed matters. So does having enough burst to delete a blocking elite pack without stopping for half a minute. Skills with charges, teleports, leaps, dashes, or short cooldown mobility all help. It's also worth stripping away the "push" mindset for these runs. You're not proving your damage. You're running a route, listening for a voice line, checking the dead end, and getting out. Done properly, collecting all 20 plaques can take about an hour, sometimes less if your layouts are kind.

Spawning Choron and taking the reward

After the 20th plaque, the voice line stops appearing, and Choron gets added to The Pit's boss pool. Lower tiers can be stingy, so most players have better luck hunting him at Tier 100 or higher while also leveling glyphs or farming Obducite. The fight itself isn't just a target dummy check. Choron drops heavy area attacks, forces movement, and has invulnerable moments where your damage simply has to wait. Keep moving, hold burst for shield-down windows, and make sure your sockets and defenses are ready before you push. If your setup still needs work, grabbing cheap D4 items can help smooth out the gearing process before you start burning high-tier keys for the hidden title.