History of Alone in the Dark

Alone in the Dark is a repeatable The Final Shape post-campaign quest from Micah-10 in the Lost City on the Pale Heart. Each run rescues an injured Ghost and ends in a Cyst encounter.

Overview

• Given by: Micah-10 (acquire from his conduit) in the Arbor of Light, Lost City.
• Unlock: TheGamer says to finish the Final Shape campaign and Micah-10's earlier quest chain beginning with "The Message". Other sources describe it as part of the Convalescence questline; the exact prerequisite is not confirmed.
• Repeats: the quest cycles through six Cyst variants (Sword Dance, Searing Light, Aerial Ace, Moth-Infested Cavern, Slayer, Smothering Darkness). Guides recommend completing it at least five or six times to see every variant.

Walkthrough

1. Pick up the quest from Micah-10; it marks an injured Ghost's search area on the Pale Heart map.
2. Find the lost Ghost within the search area (it has an orange glow, often in a Lost Sector).
3. Open Overthrow reward chests near where you found it to heal the infection (the manifest shows 20 for each of The Landing, The Blooming and The Impasse, depending on the area). Higher Overthrow tiers fill more progress per chest (TheGamer: 15% at tier 1, 45% at tier 3). Destination chests do not count.
4. Commune with the bird of Light (the Light eagle) to invert the Cyst.
5. Follow the vision of Light to the hidden cave, shoot the correct Hive runes to open it, and clear the infection inside.
6. Return to the Arbor of Light in the Lost City.
7. Visit Micah-10 for your reward.

Rewards

• One of Bold Endings (hand cannon), Axial Lacuna (fusion rifle) or False Idols (sword), with a chance of a Deepsight version.
• Ghost reputation increase.
• Light Vestiges drop in the Cysts from the Aerial Ace variant onward (TheGamer); collecting five unlocks Prismatic Fragment locations.

Trivia

• Light Vestiges are only mentioned by one source and may have changed with later updates.