I am a huge fan of secrets in games. Outriders doesn't have a whole lot of those but it does have one, and a pretty good one at that. This secret is relatively easy to find and unlock but at the same time it can be easily missed. Even better: There's a free legendary drop awaiting you at the end.
I have a habit of thoroughly exploring in the games I play. I always go off the beaten path to see what's over here and over there. In Outriders this usually leads to the discovery of a loot chest, some iron to mine or a lore note. As I went out of my way to go down this side path I was expecting one of those but was instead met with a pillar I could interact with.
I interacted with it and it did nothing but I did hear a rumble in the distance. I knew there had to be more of these so I decided to explore every side path I could find in this area. Lo and behold there were more pillars. I'll walk you through it.
The secret appears in the Canyon of the Grand Obelisk which is pretty late in the game, so head there first.
Pillar 1
The first two pillars are found in the Canyon Entrance part of the map. The first pillar is found pretty close to the camp. Immediately after exiting the camp you'll see a side path to your left. Follow it all the way to the end and you'll find the first pillar. Interact with it and you'll hear a rumbling noise in the distance.
Pillar 2
The second pillar isn't far off. Go back to the main path and keep following it until you're ambushed by the Perforos. Deal with them and as you go through the big ring with the two statues on either side take an immediate right up the stairs. Keep going until the end of this path and you'll find the second pillar. There's also a loot chest and some iron to be mined here.
Pillar 3
The next pillar is at the very end of the area in the Monolith. As you make your way towards it you'll eventually pass a big door on your left that will have two runes lit up. Once you've hit all the pillars this door will open.
When you get inside the Monolith keep going past the big hole and up the stairs on the other side. You'll find the last pillar there and after you interact with it you'll be given the Forgotten Chapel quest. Now all you need to do is go back to the door with the runes and go inside for your reward.
The Reward
The first time you complete this quest you'll be given a random legendary item. I got a pretty shitty weapon which was quite disappointing, but that's how it is with a random loot system. If you try to complete the quest again, which I had to try of course, you'll just be given epic loot. Not worth it.
I got the Aerie Master, a pump shotgun. It might be a decent legendary if you're playing a Devastator or a Trickster but for a Pyromancer this will probably go in the bin. The mods don't really interest me and a shotgun doesn't go well with any of the Pyromancer builds I've tried. Oh well, at least I'll get some mats and unlock the tier 3 mod by disassembling it.
I wish there were more secrets like this in the game. You do get rewarded for going off the beaten path pretty much every time but the chests and iron deposits become quite underwhelming as you progress. Loot drops from enemies in high abundance so it's more efficient to just power through the story instead of exploring.
I will also recommend that you perhaps do this quest after beating the story. That way you'll get the legendary as a higher leveled drop. I was to curious when I did my playthrough so I went straight for the chest as I unlocked it. If I had gotten a legendary I wanted to use I would have to spend a lot of extra resources to level it up. Guess in that way I was lucky to get the shotgun.
If you end up running through this quest because of this post, or if you already did it, please let me know which legendary you got!
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.