Destiny 2 is a solid game most of the time, but I do not blame you in the slightest if you're interested in jumping off that particular hamster wheel every so often. Heck, I did precisely that, and Destiny used to be a massive obsession of mine for five years.

The thing about Destiny 2, though, is that its astonishingly good combat gameplay and loot grind coddles you. There's much to complain about when it comes to Destiny, for sure, but it's a unique live-service experience with the kind of quality level you don't take for granted in other games. What if you're not keen on the live service bits, though? Or do you dread missing out on something great? Well, I might have just the thing for you.

I've assembled a list of a dozen games that are surprisingly similar to Destiny 2's gameplay loop in various ways. Crucially, these titles are mostly not live-service at all, or at least don't over-rely on teasing you with events you may miss to keep you coming back for more, so you can play them at your own pace no matter what.

The best games like Destiny 2 that actually respect your time

#12: Godfall

Godfall isn't a great game, but it sure as heck is a decent game, and that's a hill I'm willing to die on. It's the kind of low-brow loot-grabbing, goblin-slaying gameplay you get out of Destiny 2's grindier sections, and I'm all for it. The obvious caveat here is that there's not much else to Godfall other than grind, but I find that the game lends itself phenomenally well to playing on the go if you have a Steam Deck of ROG Ally. There's not much in the way of guns here, either, but the combat is fast, chunky, and satisfying, and that's plenty good enough.

#11: Avowed

Surprised? I was, too, but Avowed leans heavily into a kind of combat and exploration fantasy that you usually get from exploring Destiny 2's new patrol zones for the first time. Crucially, the loot is usually bespoke and genuinely interesting, which cannot be said about Destiny 2's random-gen chests and whatnot. Just spec for Avowed's ranged weapons and spellcasting, and you'll be a non-Guardian Guardian in basically no time at all.

#10: Starfield

Say what you will, but Starfield's combat gameplay is rather excellent in its own right. On that front, it could provide the kind of FPS kick you might be looking for after ditching Destiny 2. However, the arguably more important element of similarity between the two games is the sense of exploration and discovery. Destiny and Starfield handle the idea of space magic with guns and grenades very similarly, and if this fantasy is what you're most keen on, here's your ticket. Throw some mods in, and you've got a real winner at hand.

Oh, and don't forget about Starfield's satisfying movement mechanics, either: with sliding, mantling, dashing, and a general penchant for verticality, the game rhymes with Destiny in more ways than not.

#9: Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077's baseline combat and RPG systems are those of a veritable looter-shooter. Though I'm not sure who decided this was a good approach to what is essentially a story-heavy FPS/RPG, the fact of the matter is that the result is an experience that's rather similar to that of Destiny 2.

Crucially, a lot of time and attention was spent on Cyberpunk 2077's weapon design. The guns are hefty, chunky, and satisfying, and the melee is about as snappy as it gets. Invest in the right perks and get the right loot drops, and things quickly start to feel properly Destiny-alike, even though these two games couldn't be further apart in practically every other sense.

#8: Roboquest

If it's the actual Destiny combat loop you're yearning for, I cannot recommend Roboquest enough. This incredibly satisfying roguelite FPS takes some obvious cues from Bungie's seminal live-service hit and applies them to a fully offline experience. And what do you know: it works.

Seriously though, Roboquest is easily one of the best finished FPS roguelites on the market right now. There's a ridiculous number of wildly different guns and perks to choose from, and they all feel appropriately snappy to use. Since the runs are finished in about 20 minutes or so, too, you'll always be rotating your loadouts, keeping things interesting no matter how much you play.

#7: Wayfinder

Wayfinder wasn't a good game on day one, but its revised and reformed non-live-service version actually fixes most of the problems players had with it. This is obviously a more fantasy-focused kind of experience, but the vibes are absolutely on point, and it'll keep you busy for dozens of hours. A great fit for Destiny fans looking for dungeon-crawling, puzzle-solving, and generally satisfying exploration.

#6: Warframe

Everyone recommends Warframe to reformed Destiny 2 players for a reason, though there are some big caveats to keep in mind about it. Warframe is a live-service experience as well, though one that's far less keen on players missing out on content than Destiny's ever been. The biggest downside, however, lies in the fact that Warframe's simply not as polished, neat, or contained as Destiny 2, and this is going to be a no-go for some players.

These issues aside, Warframe is extremely content-rich and loaded with stuff to do. It will keep you busy for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours on end if that's what you're looking for, and most things are indeed earnable without resorting to real-world money purchases.

#5: The Division 2: Warlords of New York

Though it's been overlooked recently, The Division 2, with its excellent Warlords of New York DLC, is a phenomenal substitute for Destiny 2. Unlike most other games on this list, The Division 2 specifically apes some of Destiny 2's design choices and features, which makes the two experiences extremely comparable in all the ways that matter. If this scratches your itch, The Division 2 is also about to receive a new Battle for Brooklyn DLC at some point, so there's lots of support and content coming yet. This is a live-service title, of course, but it never made me feel l like I was missing out on anything if I didn't play, which means it qualified for this list.

#4: Remnant 2

For those who enjoy Destiny's puzzle and mystery elements the most, there's nothing quite like Remnant 2 on the market right now. In a broader sense, Remnant 2 is an astonishingly good game that stands on its own two feet. For Destiny expatriates, though, it offers excellent gameplay and progression substitutes and a constant sense of discovery wherever you look.

Seriously, the sheer number of puzzles and secrets found in Remnant 2 is astonishing. Crucially, many of them have bespoke loot as the final reward, which makes exploration the kind of thing you'll keep coming back to over and over again.

#3: Borderlands 3

Let's be honest here: Borderlands 3's story and dialogue are unpalatable, but there's a hell of a game to be played here in regards to how it actually handles. If you can stomach skipping through Borderlands 3's cutscenes whenever they crop up, and if you don't mind occasionally truly crummy dialogue, this is a phenomenal FPS that does not let up.

Borderlands 3's guns and abilities feel extremely similar to what you get out of Destiny 2, and the upgraded movement tech (i.e., sliding, mantling, and so on) helps elevate this particular FPS beyond most anything else in the niche.

#2: Outriders: Worldslayer

Outriders and its Worldslayer DLC tried and failed to deliver a sensible alternative to Destiny 2, but not without giving us a reasonable substitute in the end. Outriders has no live-service experience, and it doesn't have the kind of longevity you might be looking for, but it's a satisfying magi-tek shooter regardless.

#1: Witchfire

Upon playing Witchfire for the first time, I was awestruck by how similar it felt to Destiny 2 in movement, combat, and exploration. This is no mistake: the CEO himself outlined just how much Bungie's work has affected Witchfire in a practical sense, and you genuinely feel the similarities as you run and gun.

As a roguelite extraction shooter kind of experience, Witchfire's core gameplay loop is basically what you get out of Destiny 2's patrol zones, with a bit of Dungeon exploration and puzzling thrown in for good measure. Honestly, though, if you need a game that feels most similar to Destiny and even outpaces in some key ways, like progression and weapon balancing, Witchfire needs to be at the top of your list. No two ways about it.

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The Path of Ambition may only have arrived in Destiny 2 with the second Act of Heresy, but it's quickly proving essential to the whole Episode. Once Guardians have access, they'll want to level it up as fast as possible.

Episode: Heresy has introduced a lot to Destiny 2 in its short time, including the player-approved Nether activity and now Act II's Court of Blades. Unlike other Episodes, Heresy even has two reputation reward tracks: one called Path of Resolve and another known as Path of Ambition. The latter Path is the key to certain rewards and milestones, like earning the second Barrow-Dyad Exotic Catalyst or the Elemental Siphon Boost Engraving on the Tome of Want. But it can feel like an uphill battle starting over with a new reputation track.

Thankfully for players, there are some ways to make the Path of Ambition easier to walk. There are a few tricks Guardians can lean on to earn all of the Path of Ambition reputation they need, and some methods will even work if you still need to rank up the Path of Resolve.

Reputation Gains

The activity loop to grind Path of Ambition rep

Based on how reputation is doled out, players can plan the order in which they do activities to maximize earnings. For example, it might make sense just to defeat the first boss and open its chest during a Nether run on Expert. Doing this a few times in a row, you'll net more rep than doing a complete run in the same amount of time. Thankfully, plenty of Essence of Desire will be dropping from defeated foes. So as long as players are keeping an eye out, they'll earn a nice little bonus every so often.

Afterward, once players have amassed a stack of 20 or 30 Metastasized Essentia, running a Court of Blades will reward an extra 175 XP and allow players to deposit the Metastasized Essentia at the end. Of course, Guardians can also take Metastasized Essentia to Eris' Flat in The Last City, but we're trying to optimize our time spent.

Don't count the story out

If players have the option, another great way to fast-track rep gains is by going through the Episode: Heresy story with a different character. Another Guardian will earn rep XP towards whatever Path is set in Eris' Flat. Assuming that's the Path of Ambition, catching an alternate character up to your others can help hasten the reputation grind. That said, before embarking on these one-time narrative missions, you should still check the Flat to ensure the right Path is set.

Another good thing to keep in mind is that characters retreading the story will already have access to Court of Blades. So the same loop as described above can also work to maximize the rep earned. After all, the Heresy story will frequently send players into The Nether, and there are plenty of Metastasized Essentia to pick up while in there.

It will definitely take some time and concerted effort, but so long as Guardians keep up with Heresy activities, they'll eventually master the Path of Ambition. If you want to speed things up a bit, it's all about optimizing the activities you're running.

The post Destiny 2: How to farm rep for Path of Ambition appeared first on Destructoid.

At some point, you are tasked with harvesting the flesh of Akka in the Rites of the Deep seasonal quest during Destiny 2's Heresy Act II. This can be a bit confusing as the resource's name doesn't specifically match where you are getting it from.

If you are struggling with the Rites of the Deep quest, here is everything you need to know about finding and harvesting the flesh of Akka in Destiny 2.

Where to find the flesh of Akka

The flesh of Akka is part of several subquests in Heresy Act II that form the bigger Rites of the Deep quest. Eris Morn wants to bind the Echo of the Navigator, and to complete the ritual, you will need to harvest several pieces of this resource.

All you need to do is explore the regions of the Nether and shoot targets to harvest the five pieces required by the quest. Each region usually has two or three, so it shouldn't take very long.

How to harvest the flesh of Akka in Destiny 2

You can find the flesh of Akka by destroying specific parts of the Dreadnaught, most commonly in the Hall of Souls after the arch and to the left. If you scan the area, they look like the Hive spikes protruding from the ceiling and the walls, and you must destroy them to open objectives in multiple places. Shoot them, and you will automatically harvest the flesh pieces. Getting close will make a target market appear, but we have found that the best way is to scan around.

Two of the necessary targets to shoot are almost next to each other, with a third being found below the other two. The other ones found in the Fonts might be a little more difficult to spot, but you can just focus on the ones that are easier to find. Then, go back into the Nether and harvest all the pieces you are still missing.

Once you have all the flesh pieces that you need, you don't need to go back, as Eris Morn will summon you automatically to her throne world, completing the quest. You will take part in a short cutscene featuring Commander Sloane, and this will lead into the next part of Rites of Deep, which will be about preparing the ritual and engaging the Hive forces to keep them busy.

The post How to find and harvest the flesh of Akka in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Barrow-Dyad Exotic submachine gun has already proven itself fearsome in the short time it has been available. And it's only getting stronger as additional Exotic Catalysts are released that maximize the tool. The second Catalyst is straightforward to earn, but it might take Guardians a bit of time.

Many Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 have Exotic Catalysts, offering a bit of a boost to the gun's functionality. Craftable Exotics, on the other hand, offers a selection ofthem. Don't get it twisted, though; you have to go out and earn the right to use that Catalyst, and those requirements aren't often described to players.

Once Guardians complete the Derealize Exotic mission and earn the weapon, they can start working towards the first Barrow-Dyad Catalyst and others. While the requirements to earn the second Catalyst aren't particularly complex, it may take some players a lot of time, depending on how hard they play Destiny 2.

Earning Coalescence of Sorrow

Before players can start the Quest to earn the second Barrow-Dyad Catalyst in earnest, they'll need to unlock it first. To do so, Guardians must complete the first mission of Episode: Heresy's Act II. From there, players must interact with three secrets in The Nether: one in the Trenchway, another in the Mausoleum, and a final one in the Hall of Souls.

These three secrets are hidden mini-events in each area, and you may have already completed them while scouring The Nether.

• Lead "The Ravenous" Thrall to Hive worms in the Hall of Souls; it will first grow into an Acolyte and then into a Knight with the second set. Eliminate the Knight and loot the chest that appears.
• Light three braziers in the Trenchway. One is against the wall leading out of the zone (where the large divide and invisible platforms are), and the other two are on the round platform opposite the first. Once all three are lit, an Ogre will appear for Guardians to slay. Loot the chest that appears.
• Destroy four Blights on tentacles by the boss area in the Mausoleum. Each Blight will spawn a Taken Centurian, and a chest will appear when the last is defeated.

Getting another Osseous Spine

Each of the hidden objectives rewards a Coalesence of Sorrow. Once Guardians have all three, during a Nether run on any difficulty, head to the hidden room in the Trenchway navigated by revealing platforms with your Ghost (the one with an Essence of Desire chest). An interactable panel sits on the left side of the room. Typically, the interface tells players that they are "not worthy." However, Guardians can now interact with the panel to open a Taken portal in the room. The portal leads to a small alcove with two more chests. Both contain rewards, but one holds the Heavy Osseus Spine, allowing players to start the "A Hammer's Path" Quest.

An important piece of information is that some players have reported mixed success with being deemed "worthy" to open the portal. Some have speculated you must have max rank for Path of Ambition, but that was not my experience. I was Reputation Rank 6 when I accessed the portal. Once opened, Fireteam members with me could also enter the portal and nab the Heavy Osseus Spine, even if they didn't already have Barrow-Dyad.

A Hammer's Path

The requirements to complete the first step of the A Hammer's Path Quest are straightforward: Guardians must hit milestones concerning the Path of Ambition. There are three milestones to hit within the Quest, with the final being Rank 12 or max Rank. Essentially, players will want to prioritize farming Path of Ambition rep if they focus on earning the Catalyst as fast as possible.

Considering the Path of Ambition has only been accessible for a little over a week, it may take some players time to push through the ranks. Once players get there, the next part of the Quest will test those who aren't used to Expert difficulty. To complete A Hammer's Path, Guardians must finish a run of The Nether on Expert difficulty using specific weapons. Here's what's allowed:

• The Barrow-Dyad submachine gun
• Any shotgun
• Any glaive
• Any sword

While it makes sense to expect the Barrow-Dyad as a part of that loadout requirement, the melee-centric equipment will make The Nether even more dangerous on Expert. Players can take a few approaches to this, with options significantly opening up if you have a Fireteam to tag along. Bringing in some Exotic Class glaives and Legendary swords with one player using a good roll of Ergo Sum could be fun. Either way, once the task is complete, players will gain access to the Hatchling Perk on Barrow-Dyad.

The Catalyst will still need to be applied to the weapon via The Enclave on Savathun's Throne World. However, once that's done, Hatchling will spawn Threadlings when players get a precision kill or three kills within three seconds and the effect can occur every three seconds. It can make for a pretty spicy combo, along with the Artifact's Unraveling Orbs and Horde Shuttle options.

The post How to get Catalyst 2 for Barrow-Dyad in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Whenever Destiny 2 adds new content based around the Hive and Taken, odds are at least one quest will ask you to defeat a set number of powerful enemies from one or both factions. Powerful Taken are, thankfully, pretty easy to find, and we'll show some of the best ones here.

All Taken Lost Sectors

The easiest sources of powerful Taken (larger, yellow-health bar Ultra variants) are the various Lost Sectors scattered about Destiny 2's destinations. They might not be the most efficient Taken farms out there, but they're by far the most accessible. As of The Final Shape, there are six Lost Sectors that feature powerful Taken enemies:

The best Lost Sectors to farm are the ones in the Pale Heart, as they come with at least two powerful Taken within them. If they're on the Legend/Master difficulty rotation, that number increases further.

Lost Sectors are also simple to farm. Ignore all the minor enemies and book it to the boss for the easier ones, like in the EDZ. For the more complex Lost Sectors, especially in the Pale Heart, you can mostly ignore the lesser enemies. There are progress gates in those, but you're rewarded with additional Taken to defeat. The trade-off is the extra time you'll need to get through the Sector.

For instance, every run of the Hallowed Grove in the EDZ took me no more than 30 seconds. If you include fast traveling back to the landing zone and reaching the Lost Sector again, however, a single completion took about a minute. Pale Heart sectors could take as many as three minutes, especially with the run back. Farming these short and relatively uninteresting activities can also be maddeningly dull.

Best Taken Dungeons, Raids, and Exotic Missions

The Taken have a surprising amount of representation in the endgame side of Destiny 2. You can find at least three powerful Taken in the bosses of the following activities:

Of these five activities, the Prophecy Dungeon is the best and most accessible of them. You get two Taken bosses, some fantastic weapons and armor, and effectively infinite yellow-bar Taken Ogres in the last fight. The Whisper is the next in quality, as it's a simpler experience with lots of powerful Taken in the final encounter. The main thing holding it back is the oft-frustrating platforming section you need to complete to get there.

You'll have to spend actual money to access the other activities, and while I think all of them are worth the price of admission, if I had to pick one, The Forsaken Pack is probably the one to get. You not only get the Shattered Throne — almost always a prime farming activity — and the Last Wish Raid. Shattered Throne has three powerful Taken right off the bat, and Last Wish remains at the top of many players' Raid tier lists for its quality, difficulty, and gameplay satisfaction.

Taken Strikes, Activities, and world sources

Taken are plentiful on most worlds in the Destiny 2 universe. The powerful kind is a tad harder to come by. You could always wait for a Public Event on Neomuna or in the EDZ for a quick grouping, but we're looking for consistent farming right now.

Unfortunately, many of the activities and open-world sources of powerful Taken are inconsistent. They're either time-gated, had their enemy type or frequency nerfed, or only produce Taken enemies randomly. A few are workable, though.

Which activities you choose to farm will depend heavily on the time. If it's Taken week in the Dreaming City, that's your best option. The Corrupted is always a good source of powerful Taken, especially if available at higher Nightfall difficulties. Dares of Eternity is free, and there tends to be at least one Taken round for each run, though it's not a guarantee. Lastly, if you have The Final Shape DLC, the Pale Heart is a fantastic source of Taken, and the Overthrow activity is the comfiest way to farm for Exotic Class Items.

Your ultimate choice will depend on how much grind you can stomach. Going from activity to activity is the best way to avoid monotony, as it always ensures some variety in what you're doing. Your access to paid DLC content can also be a barrier. Bungie has made it simpler to buy older content via the Legacy Collection, which wraps up a ton of activities from as far back as Forsaken in one easy-to-purchase bundle. It also often goes on sale, but its default $70 price tag is not always an easy pill to swallow.

Thankfully, there are enough free powerful Taken sources that you don't need to spend any money unless you choose to. No matter your choices, go out and show those Taken who's boss.

The post How to find powerful Taken enemies in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

If you have suffered before in the Court of Oryx from Destiny: The Taken King, then you might not be surprised by the Court of Blades in Destiny 2. But if you have endured enough and can't fathom how to beat it and collect rewards, we will tell you all you need to know.

What to do in the Court of Blades in Destiny 2

The Court of Blades is a gauntlet where you will have 10 minutes to beat all the enemies that the game will spawn in front of you. There will be two bosses per encounter, one small boss and a bigger and tougher one.

But it's not as easy as it sounds. During the bosses, you will need to select two Augmentations by interacting with the two statues in the room. This adds several secondary objectives to the fight, which also have to be defeated in a short time.

Depending on what you choose, you will get different enemies and tasks to complete. In Sharpen, your team will meet a huge knight who can't be damaged in any way, at least not until you destroy his shield via swords that can be collected by defeating other lesser knights.

Alternatively, in Banish, you will need to find and defeat three Taken Wizards in an allotted time. If you can't do it, you will be teleported to an arena where you will need to fight a separate miniboss to escape. Or Swarm, where you will have to defeat 45 smaller enemies as soon as possible.

Basically, the Court of Blades will require you to complete both Augments and bosses, so your team will need to be on the move to take care of both. You get buffs during the fight, but those are random, so you should always pick ones that make sense for the situation you find yourself in.

After the 10-minute timer has run out, you will see a "FINAL ROUND" warning beneath the health bar. Once the current boss has been defeated, your team be teleported to the main courtroom to collect rewards. The loot will depend on how many bosses you defeated during the fight.

Rewards in the Court of Blades

As mentioned, loot is based on how many phases have been completed in those twelve minutes. But loot is also capped, as the Platinum tier of rewards will be filled up after twelve bosses have been defeated.

Here are all the loot and rewards you can get in the Court of Blades.

At the end of the Court of Blades activity, there will also be the ability to earn Metastasized Essentia, which can be stacked in the small black obelisk, which is at the front of the room that you will visit once the timer is over.

Earning Essentia and stacking it in the obelisk will give your team the possibility to earn additional loot, even after the cap has been reached. The additional loot may include anything from Infusion cores to weapons and armor and even Sigil fragments.

The post How to beat the Court of Blades in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Are you playing new Destiny 2 content? Then, there are bound to be secrets and hidden collectibles. In Act 2 of Destiny 2: Heresy, you'll be looking for eight more Tithing Wormspawn, found only in the seasonal Nether arena. We'll show you all their locations here.

How to find all Tithing Wormspawn in Destiny 2: Heresy

To start your search for Destiny 2: Heresy Act 2 Tithing Wormspawn, you need to be on the Path of Ambition—a simple matter.

How to Start the Path of Ambition

• Start a Nether: Explore activity on the Path of Resolve.
• Make your way to the Hall of Souls and the Court of Blades. That's the area with the large hallway of Hive totems.

• Look under the bridge in the red-lit room where you spawn in a Court of Blades activity. Pick up the Tithing Worm you find there to start the Writ: Path of Ambition quest.
• Complete the Writ: Path of Ambition mission, launched from the H.E.L.M. Director. You'll follow a set of Taken portals through the Dreadnaught until you reach a door covered in Taken corruption.
• Defeat the Wizard and Acolytes, then stand on the pad before the door until it transports you to the Ascendant Plane. After the shift, step off the plate to be transported to the Center of Corruption. Walk forward enough for the Taken eyes to appear.
• When teleported into a pocket dimension, interact with the Slab and fight off several waves of enemies.
• Once prompted, return to Eris's flat and interact with the altar near the Shaping Slab. Interact with it when it says "Embrace your Ambition" to officially walk the Path of Ambition.

Check the Shaping Slab; your character should be holding back a ball of Taken energy to show you've properly started down the right path. Doing so also allows the new Tithing Worms to appear in the Nether.

Mausoleum Tithing Wormspawn locations in Desitny 2

There are currently two Tithing Wormspawn per zone in the Nether. The ones in the Mausoleum are some of the easiest to find. Make your way to the bright blue, tentacular area where you'd normally start the activity if you loaded into the area at the start of a Nether run.

First Mausoleum Tithing Worm location

From that starting position, climb onto the large tentacle leading deeper into the bright area and keep your eyes peeled on the far wall.

You'll see the Wormspawn sitting on a Taken Blight near the floor.

Second Mausoleum Tithing Worm location

The second Wormspawn is further into the tentacled area. Return to the large tentacle near the starting area and walk along it toward the line of light near the back of the area.

You should just be able to see the Wormspawn on top of the curled tentacle to the right of the line of light.

Trenchway Tithing Wormspawn locations in Destiny 2

The two Trenchway Tithing Wormspawn couldn't be farther apart. One is accessible in the starting area. It just takes a little walking to get there. The other is across the vast chasm at the zone's edge.

First Trenchway Tithing Worm location

To get the easier of the two Trenchway Tithing Wormspawn, head to the area overlooking the shattered rings of Saturn. If you're facing the inside of the Dreadnaught, continue to the left of the area.

You'll find the Wormspawn atop the light brown rock beneath the tentacle orb encounter marker, surrounded by additional broken rocks.

Second Trenchway Tithing Worm location

This Wormspawn is at the far end of the white-lit chasm on the other side of the Trenchway. Take the passage out of the starting area and cross when you get to the chamber with the huge pit.

Once you reach the far wall, keep right and continue until you're across from the altar with the green energy waterfalls. You should see a bit of the structure peeling away from the wall.

Jump into the crevice at the bottom of the peel to find the Wormspawn.

The Founts Tithing Wormspawn Locations

The two Tithing Wormspawn in The Founts are pretty close together. The trick is getting to the area in the first place. The Founts are only accessible by completing at least one encounter elsewhere in the Nether, and you aren't guaranteed a trip there every run. As such, it might take you a little while to get these two Wormspawn. Play enough, and you'll get there.

First Founts Tithing Worm location

Head to the end of the room with the large door locked with Hive runes and covered in blue tentacles. Facing away from the door, look up and to your right.

Jump up onto the blue tentacle, then onto the black tentacle from the sphere above it. The Wormspawn is sitting on a set of bulbous growths coming out of the wall.

Second Founts Tithing Wormspawn location

Hop down from the first Wormspawn in the Founts and head through the passageway directly under where you just were.

Turn right and hug the far wall of the blue-lit chamber until you come across a coalescing of the tentacles. There's likely a Nether encounter here you'll need to clear for easy access to the Wormspawn.

Facing the bright white nexus of tentacles, jump over the set just to the left of the coalescence to find the Wormspawn hiding among the corruption.

All Hall of Souls Tithing Worm locations

I'm using the Court of Blades as the starting point for the Hall of Souls Tithing Wormspawn locations. Head there and stand on the upper platform, looking down the hallway with the Hive Thrall totems.

First Hall of Souls Tithing Worm location

Turn right from the Court of Blades and cross the chasm into the encounter area at the far end of the hallway.

In the encounter room, you'll see some Taken Blights hanging in the air. The Wormspawn is sitting on the biggest, highest Blight.

Second Hall of Souls Tithing Wormspawn location

Return to the Court of Blades and, facing away from the totem hallway, take the back right path. Near the end of the passage, look down and to the right to see a hole in the wall. Jump down and crouch through.

Once in the chitinous cave, turn left and drop down to find the last Wormspawn.

Those are all the Path of Ambition Tithing Wormspawn we can currently access in Destiny 2: Heresy. We'll update this article as more information becomes available.

The post All 8 Tithing Wormspawn locations in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

The Keraunios is a new trace rifle that arrived in Destiny 2 as part of 2025's Guardian Games event. While players have had no shortage of Arc trace rifles over the last few months, this one has some particularly interesting rolls for PvE players, especially given the current Artifact.

Destiny 2 is always adding new weapons and loot to the game, and there's no better time than during a holiday or event. The Guardian Games have started back up, and along with a new boss rush activity, the Keraunios trace rifle is up for grabs. It's one that PvE-minded players will want to spend some time hunting, as the gun can drop with some of the best Arc Perks currently in the game. But what exactly are you looking for as you sort through the pile of trace rifles after some Rushdown or Supremacy games?

God Rolls for the Keraunios trace rifle

The Keraunios has some pretty solid Perk options across the board, with several viable options to run the weapon, depending on what Guardians want it to do. Though there are a few notable rolls to hunt down, players may notice that the trace rifle leans more towards the side of PvE content. Plenty of other great trace rifles are out there for PvP, including the recent Warlord's Spear from Iron Banner.

If you want something to trigger Arc Jolt...

The roll I imagine most Guardians will be hunting is for Overflow and Jolting Feedback. Jolting Feedback has been a favorite this Episode, causing the Arc Jolt effect with sustained damage. Overflow is a natural pairing, doubling magazine size when players collect Special or Heavy ammo. With that in mind, we'll want to prioritize magazine size and our potential to land hits. Backup Mag allows using a Magazine Mod that doesn't exclusively focus on adding ammo.

If you want something to do lots of area damage...

If you want something that can take out groups of enemies at a time, look for the Detonator Beam Perk. It causes explosions at targets after they've suffered sustained damage from the weapon. And what better Perk to help support sustained Damage than the magazine increasing Overflow. In this case, we'll want Freehand Grip to make the weapon easier to use without aiming down the sights, so Ionized Battery helps get our magazine back up to max.

If you want something for PvP...

If Guardians missed their chance to grab a Warlord's Spear the last time Iron Banner was around, Keraunios can do in a pinch. It's not as tailor-made for PvP as Saladin's offering, so it might take a little more hunting before you're lucky enough to get the few Crucible-minded perks to appear. Depending on whether you trust your lethality and want some ability regain or some improved sustained fire, Recycled Energy or Dynamic Sway Reduction do well in the first Perk slot. For the second, there are not many options, so Closing Time will often be the best choice. Similarly, players can alter their Weapon Mod based on the Barrel and Magazine Mods they get.

If you want something unique...

One roll I'll be keeping an eye out for is Recycled Energy and Rolling Storm. While it's not particularly powerful on its own, this Perk combination has some serious potential. Rolling Storm is new for this Episode, generating Bolt Charge on final blows. It's great for Arc players, but it could be even more useful to Guardians using another Subclass that wants in on the electrifying action. Recycled Energy restores energy to the lowest ability when reloading after a kill. That's good on its own, but coupled with the Origin Trait, Classy Contender, it takes on a new light.

Classy Contender restores Class ability energy whenever you defeat an enemy with that weapon. If Guardians are frequently getting Class ability energy, it's unlikely that Recycled Energy gain will go to your Class ability, which means it'll become either grenade or melee energy. That is to say, running Keraunios with Recycled Energy (and getting kills) should restore a ton of ability energy across the board.

Especially after Episode: Heresy, once the current Artifact Perks have gone away, and it's harder to trigger Bolt Charge, this Perk combo could offer some wild builds with the right setup.

The post Best perks and god roll for Keraunios in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

The spirit of competition ignites again as the Guardian Games event returns to Destiny 2. The celebration may be an annual occurrence, but the 2025 Guardian Games will be different. Of course, there are new rewards, but there's also a boss rush activity as the main course.

The Guardian Games is an event in Destiny 2 where each player class competes against one another to see which can prove themselves the mightiest Guardians of the year. Traditionally, the event has featured a mix of PvP and Strike activities, but this year, there's a new offering: Rushdown.

Guardians can still test their grit in the PvP Supremacy mode, but Rushdown is the flagship offering for this Guardian Games. While Guardian Games is active, participating players can try the activity or jump into Supremacy to rack up Medallions and earn some new loot from the event. It's practically a win-win.

How to start the 2025 Guardian Games

As of March 11, players logging into Destiny 2 will be greeted with a message announcing that the Guardian Games event is live. To kick things off, you only need to head to The Tower and talk to everyone's favorite event vendor, Eva Levante. She'll provide an event Class item and offer an introductory Quest: "Best In Class."

The eight-step Quest starts simple enough, asking players to get familiar with the Contender Cards and Medallions offered by Eva throughout the event. Once players purchase one, the event curator will ask Guardians to equip their new Class item and complete an activity. After a quick detour into an activity and a check-in with Eva afterward, she'll instruct you to deposit your earned Medallion at the podiums in the center of The Tower, behind Eva.

Returning to the event coordinator, she'll want players to check out the Event Challenges offered through herself or the Quests tab in the Director. One Challenge has already been completed, so claim that to progress Best In Class. The next step is to visit Commander Zavala in The Tower, and he'll offer another Quest, "Shoot to Score." After that, Shaxx is the next target, and he provides the "Vying for Supremacy" Quest.

The last part of Best In Class is returning to Eva for a new Keraunios trace rifle. That said, the real prize is access to the Vying for Supremacy and Shoot to Score Quests. Both offer Guardian Games rewards for participating players who reach certain score milestones in Guardian Games activities.

Contender Cards and Medallions

One part of Guardian Games is participating in Rushdown and Supremacy to earn enough score for Shoot to Score and Vying for Supremacy rewards, but the other part of the event revolves around Contender Cards and Medallions.

Medallions are a currency only used for the Guardian Games event, representing a Class's participation when dunked at the podiums in The Tower. Players can earn Medallions in various ways, including activities while wearing a Guardian Games Class item and Contender Cards that reward specific Medallions. The Contender Cards are available for purchase through Eva Levante, appearing in the Director's Quests tab alongside Bounties once claimed.

There are different varieties of both Contender Cards and Medallions, with higher-difficulty Contender Cards rewarding higher-quality Medallions. Medallions are tracked in the Medallion Case, appearing in the Director's Quest tab. That said, it's important to note that there are caps for how many Medallions of a certain variety you can hold at a given time.

Shoot to Score and Vying for Supremacy

Players earn access to the Shoot to Score and Vying for Supremacy Quests by completing the introductory Guardian Games Quest, Best In Class. The Quests are repeatable each week that Guardian Games runs and can provide a sizable cache of rewards if players consistently participate.

Shoot to Score and Vying for Supremacy are both score-based Quests. Once players reach specific score thresholds, they can access rewards in The Tower. The score requirements for each threshold rank are as follows:

Once players reach each score threshold, a platform will materialize behind the podiums in The Tower. After Guardians land on a platform, they can interact with the unlit torch to earn the rewards associated with that score threshold. As players reach new score milestones, a hologram on either shoulder will display the current thresholds conquered for the current week. The Supremacy (PvP) hologram is displayed on a player's left shoulder, while the Rushdown (PvE) version is shown on the right side.

What is Rushdown?

Rushdown is the new featured activity for Guardian Games, launchable from The Tower map. As opposed to tackling a rotating list of Strikes like previous years, this year's Rushdown throws Fireteams into a gauntlet of five boss encounters from throughout Destiny 2's extensive catalog of narrative-related missions. Most interestingly, it even includes vaulted content. Players might find themselves against a foe from one of Europa's Empire Hunts or even the mighty Savathûn at the end of The Witch Queen campaign.

The Rushdown encounter lineup changes with the daily reset, so if players want to see every activity variation, they must participate in the event daily. That said, if you just want to get in and reach your weekly score threshold, that's doable any day of the week, resetting with Tuesday's general weekly reset.

The score for Rushdown comes from completing each boss encounter as quickly as possible and avoiding Fireteam deaths. The faster and more efficient players are, the better they'll score throughout the activity. There are also three different difficulties for Rushdown: Rushdown Warm-Up, Rushdown, and Expert Rushdown. Thankfully, all three modes offer matchmaking.

What is Supremacy?

Supremacy is a limited-time PvP mode, launchable from The Tower map. This Crucible alteration pits teams of the same Class against one another to see who fares better in a fight. The mode works like a "Kill Confirmed" mode in other shooters. 

Guardians drop a crest after they're defeated, and opposing players can collect the crest to score points. Alternatively, if you collect a fallen teammate's crest, you'll deny a potential score to the opposing side. 

The Guardian Games PvP mode is 6v6 and features a modifier called Shaxx's Training Weights that increases all ability cooldowns. Player Power is disabled, and matches go on until one team reaches a score of 150.

Guardian Games Event Card and Event Challenges

As with the other events and holidays in Destiny 2, Guardian Games gets an Event Card that accompanies the festivities. The standard Event Card is free, but players can opt into a premium Event Card to earn some exclusive cosmetics. 

The main draw of the Event Card is the Event Challenges and the rewards they offer. There are 16 Event Challenges for the 2025 Guardian Games; the names, descriptions, and rewards are as follows:

Guardian Games 2025 rewards

In addition to what's earnable through the Event Challenges, players can earn rewards directly through Guardian Games participation. Dunking a Bronze Medallion doesn't offer any prizes, but higher-quality Medallions can reward Guardian Games weapons when dunked. Otherwise, players will run Guardian Games activities and complete milestones for Shoot to Score and Vying for Supremacy.

Guardian Games 2025 Eververse offerings

If players want more swag from this year's Guardian Games, the Eververse Store has you covered. There are plenty of event-specific offerings, including the coveted 2025 Guardian Games armor set cosmetics. This year, the theme is gladiators, and each appearance looks fearsome. Outside of the armor being spotlighted, here's what else is available through Eververse while Guardian Games lasts.

When does Guardian Games 2025 End?

The 2025 Guardian Games event is three weeks long. The event began on Tuesday, March 11, and will end after reset on Tuesday, April 1, or April Fool's Day.

That leaves plenty of time for players to try the new Rushdown activity and hunt down any desired rewards from the event. As always, a winning Class will be decided once the Guardian Games ends, and a commemorative trophy will be set up in The Tower until the next Guardian Games.

The post Destiny 2: Guardian Games 2025 event guide appeared first on Destructoid.

Rocket-powered Sidearms have been the rage in Destiny 2 since their first one was released in Season of the Wish. Now, Lotus Easter has entered the fray and has a host of new perks, which means new god rolls are out for PvP and PvE.

Lotus Eater PvE god roll in Destiny 2

The Lotus Eater is a PvE monster and the first Void Rocket Sidearm to enter the sandbox. Void is already incredibly powerful, especially in activities like the Nether from Episode: Heresy. You'll get tons of value using any of the following perk combinations.

• Launcher Barrel: Volatile Launch, Confined Launch
• Magazine: Appended Mag, Tactical Mag
• Trait 1: Repulsor Brace
• Trait 2: Destabilizing Rounds

We much prefer having as large an explosive radius as possible in PvE, so Volatile Launch is the overall best choice for the Lotus Eater. Confined Launch has you covered if you don't want to trade explosion size for speed. Appended Mag is a blanket buff to this Sidearm's effectiveness thanks to a free extra three bullets in the magazine. Tactical Mag is an acceptable substitution with its faster reload and additional aiming stability.

There's a much larger gap between the top two Traits and the other possible rolls you can get. With Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds, you spread Volatile whenever you defeat an enemy and get a Void overshield for defeating any Volatile enemies. It's frankly a bit absurd, so much so that you can almost ignore the barrel and magazine perks if you get the two Traits you want.

Lotus Eater PvP god roll in Destiny 2

Rocket-Assisted Frame Sidearms aren't nearly as valuable for Crucible PvP as they are facing the enemies of humanity. The Lotus Eater, thankfully, has a few good options if you never want to take it off your build.

• Launcher Barrel: Quick Launch, Smart Drift Control
• Magazine: High-Velocity Rounds
• Trait 1: Reconstruction
• Trait 2: Higher Ground

We're primarily using Quick Launch for its solid buff to the Lotus Eater's projectile velocity. Smart Drift Control offers a smaller bonus there, but its improvements to Stability, Recoil, and Handling are nice to have. High-velocity rounds combine well with either Barrel Perk to turn Lotus Eater shots into fast-moving engines of death.

Sadly, the two Trait perks don't synergize like they did for the PvE god roll. However, you're likely to be shooting down on your enemies with a Rocket Sidearm for best effect, making Higher Ground's immediate 15% damage buff a godsend. Reconstruction ensures you have access to as many shots as you can unload. So many, possibly, that your foes won't expect the constant barrage.

Those are our god rolls for the Lotus Eater in Destiny 2 PvE and PvP. Hopefully, your luck is good enough to get anything approaching them without needing to grind too much. May it take your Void builds to new heights.

The post Best Destiny 2 Lotus Eater god rolls for PvP and PvE appeared first on Destructoid.

The Rushdown mode is easily one of the best sources of rewards you can currently find in Destiny 2, making it essential to get on top of its scoring systems.

The mode is a key part of the Guardian Games 2025 and focuses on PvE challenges. While you and your mates will be taking on the AI-controlled enemies, reaching the top will require a lot of coordination and strategy.

How does Rushdown mode work in Destiny 2

In Rushdown, you'll encounter different bosses, and the difficulty will increase progressively. Every boss encounter will differ regarding the enemies you face, and the main aim is to defeat them as quickly as possible. Each boss will have a time limit; finish fast, and you'll have extra seconds. Let the timer run out, and your quest becomes a failure.

The main aim is to score as high as possible, but doing so isn't easy, as all the battles will become more challenging as you progress deeper.

Destiny 2 Rushdown mode difficulty

The Rushdown mode has three different difficulty levels, which directly translates into the tier of rewards you can win.

There are also three types of matchmaking available.

• Standard: Traditional fireteam with no class restriction.
• Class-Based: Fireteams are built with all members belonging to the same class.
• Private: Form a fireteam with your friends.

Class-based matchmaking is only available for Standard and Expert difficulties.

Destiny 2 Rushdown scoring explained

You must keep two key factors in mind to score more and finish higher on the leaderboard.

• Defeat more bosses, and your score will automatically go up.
• Pay attention to the time, as finishing a boss before your time is over will result in bonus points.

Naturally, you'll want to reduce the required revives, as they will increase the time needed to eliminate a boss. Hence, try not to die too often and coordinate well with your teammates. Proper coordination will be the key if you want to defeat the bosses comfortably within the given time limit.

Destiny 2 Rushdown rewards

The final rewards are divided across five tiers.

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Diamond

The higher tiers offer better rewards, but you'll have to play on the harder difficulties. If you can finish among the top scorers in Expert mode, you'll also have a shot at getting a Guardian Games weapon. The Keraunios Arc Trace Rifle is available as an event-exclusive reward, and it has amazing perk potential. Start your grind and try to score as high as possible to earn it.

The post Destiny 2 Rushdown mode difficulty settings, scoring, and more appeared first on Destructoid.

If there is a game with many different and barely legible error codes, it's Destiny 2. Players have experienced problems with "this version is no longer available" for a while, but what does it mean exactly, and how do we fix it? Let's take a look.

What is the "this version is no longer available" error

First of all, let's make it clear that chances are this error is most likely on Bungie's side. It appears after the developers make a new version of the game available online because they fixed a bug or an issue, the so-called "hotfix".

Hence, your PC is not using the "latest" version of the Destiny 2 game. The issue is caused by a problem communicating with the servers. It often happens that after a hotfix goes live, Bungie still hasn't put the servers back online or has delayed the reboot of the servers for a while.

So if you try to connect during that time, you will get "this version is no longer available," which is often different from the generic "servers offline" error. But it has been happening frequently that the Destiny 2 servers are kept offline for longer than in the past(the usual 15-minute window).

As opposed to the generic CAT error, the "version no longer available" doesn't mean you have failed to download the new updated version of Destiny 2, so you don't have to reinstall the game or keep checking for updates.

If you are sure your internet connection is working correctly, the only sure way to fix this problem seems to be to wait (though we do have potential fixes for prolonged issues below).

Monitor the official Bungie Help X account where the developers give regular updates on maintenance times and other issues if you're unsure, and keep an eye on the Bungie website for updates.

How to fix "this version is no longer available" error?

This error seems to have started with The Final Shape update, especially when trying to access the servers too early. But it keeps appearing, given that Bungie can't get the servers back up fast enough after a reboot.

If you are sure the servers are back up and you are still facing the same issue, there are a couple of things you can try. The first is clearing your console cache:

• Turn off your console.
• Once you are sure the console is off, unplug the power cord from the back.
• Let it sit as it is for about 5-10 minutes.
• Plug the console back and power it on.
• Try to re-launch Destiny 2.

If that doesn't fix things, you can restore the licenses of your game, which is different from platform to platform, but basically, it is about checking if you still own the game.

This is how it's done on PlayStation 4 and 5:

• Go to Settings.
• Open "Users and Accounts" or "account management"
• Check "Restore Licenses".
• Wait for the console to finish.

On Steam and Xbox you can't really restore licenses, but you can re-download the content to make sure that it is still correctly registered to your library. If you are not seeing Destiny 2 correctly in your library, Bungie recommends contacting Xbox or Steam support to resolve the issue.

The post How to fix this version is no longer available in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Moments of Triumph has started again in Destiny 2, and it's time to look back at 2024. The celebration happens toward the end of an expansion and rewards Guardians' time with both in-game and real-life rewards. That said, players will want to earn whatever they can before it ends.

Destiny 2 uses the Moments of Triumph event to celebrate all the cool things players accomplish in-game. Featuring a Title, Triumphs, and earnable rewards, Moments of Triumph highlights consistent and commendable engagement with the game. The collection of Triumph challenges covers a huge range of content from throughout 2024, including Episodic activities, Raids, Dungeons, and even the story. Thankfully, it seems that Guardians will have some time to tackle what they want for 2024's Moments of Triumph.

Moments of Triumph Title challenges

Many Guardians may log in to find that they've already completed a sizable portion of 2024's Moments of Triumph challenges. After all, as long as players have been engaging with the game's major beats throughout the year, it shouldn't take too much work to earn the 26 out of 33 completed challenges to nab the MMXXIV Title.

While many Moments of Triumph challenges are readily visible to players, some still show up as "SECRET." These challenges are likely related to content that hasn't been released yet, like Episode: Heresy's Court of Blades or the 2025 Guardian Games. As such, these entries will remain a mystery until more information is offered.

What rewards can you earn from Moments of Triumph 2024?

There are a slew of both tangible and digital rewards that players can earn by participating in Moments of Triumph. In-game players can earn:

• The Technoprotection Ghost shell after completing 14 related challenges
• The Flagbearer Sparrow after completing 21 related challenges
• The MMXXIV Title after completing 26 related challenges

There are also other digital rewards tied to the challenges for Moments of Triumph, but these aren't unique to the event, and players would earn them regardless the first time the Triumph is completed and redeemed. These rewards include:

• Organic Specimen (Episode: Echoes material)
• The Victorious Oddment Emblem for completing The Final Shape campaign on Legendary
• The Edification Emblem for completing the Salvation's Edge Raid
• The Anomalous Emblem for completing the Vesper's Host Dungeon
• The Unsounded Depths Emblem for completing the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon

Finally, there are several rewards that players can take with them after they log off the game. Bungie typically offers some kind of clothing item or collectible to celebrate events, and this Moments of Triumph is no different. The physical rewards Guardians can earn are:

• A Moments of Triumph 2024 T-shirt for completing five related challenges
• A Moments of Triumph 2024 MMXXIV pin
• A Light and Darkness pin for completing Salvation's Edge, Vesper's Host, and Sundered Doctrine

When does Moments of Triumph 2024 end?

Moments of Triumph 2024 is set to run in-game until the reset on Tuesday, May 6. That said, this is just the cutoff for when players can complete Moments of Triumph challenges. Players may still purchase available rewards from the Bungie store until June 10.

With about two months, that should give most Guardians plenty of time to hunt down any lingering challenges you want to complete before the event ends.

The post Destiny 2 Moments of Triumph 2024 challenges, rewards, and end date appeared first on Destructoid.

As a surprise treat, Guardians will get the chance to take a swing at a repurposed Strike from the original Destiny. The Sunless Cell will come to Destiny 2, getting a facelift in the process: it won't be what you remember from The Taken King.

The Sunless Cell was initially a Strike for The Taken King expansion in the original Destiny. With the Dreadnaught and Oryx returning for Episode: Heresy, it's a timely and welcome addition to the game. Bungie doesn't usually add new strikes to Destiny 2 beyond what comes with a given expansion, often opting for Episodic Battlegrounds instead. Though the content is similar, Battlegrounds have proven to be a bit more of a hit-or-miss. With that in mind, it's probably best that Bungie is reintroducing Guardians to an old haunt. The real question is, when will the Sunless Cell be playable in Destiny 2?

When is the Sunless Cell Strike coming to Destiny 2?

During a developer stream previewing what was to come in Act II and beyond of Episode: Heresy, Bungie teased the return of the Sunless Cell Strike. Though the studio did not give any specific dates for when the Strike would be playable, it's possible to infer some conclusions based on how the team talked about Sunless Cell.

Bungie confirmed that the Sunless Cell would return in Act III of Episode: Heresy, pinned as the "featured activity" for the Act. We know that Act II starts on Tuesday, March 11, and that it will run for three weeks. So, based on that information, it's fair to say that the earliest players should expect the Sunless Cell Strike... on April Fool's Day.

While there's no certainty that the studio will release the Strike the day Act III starts, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for the featured activity of an Act to be absent from launch, even odder if it wasn't there after a week or two. So, with that said, I'd wager on the Sunless Cell Strike appearing on April 1 or within the following reset.

Thankfully, it seems like there will be plenty to do in the three short weeks between Act II and Act III. During the same stream, Bungie showed off some of the returning Guardian Games event, complete with a new mini boss-rush activity and the new Artifact Perks coming in Act II.

The Sunless Cell won't be how you remember it

Though the Sunless Cell is technically a returning Strike from Destiny, the Destiny 2 iteration will have some key differences. In the original, Guardians descended into the Dreadnaught after Oryx's destruction to stop Alak-Hul, The Darkblade, from commandeering The Taken King's vacant throne.

With Alak-Hul now known as The Lightblade and in service to Savathun's Lucent Brood, Bungie confirmed you wouldn't see the same antagonist in the Sunless Cell. The team didn't share any specifics about what we'd find in the Strike now, but given that the Dreadnaught is currently infested with Dread and Dire Taken, my money is on one or a combination of those forces.

The post What is the release date of The Taken King’s Sunless Cell Strike in Destiny 2? appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie has already shown what new Perks will be coming to the Artifact in Destiny 2's second Act of Heresy. The game is about to get great for trace rifle fans, and the weapons should even work well with existing Arc setups, thanks to all those great Arc trace rifles.

Each Destiny 2 Episode (like Seasons before) gives players an Artifact to level throughout the content stretch. While the Artifacts typically have some narrative significance to what's happening during the Episode, the more direct benefit of these items is the assortment of Artifact Perks offered. Each Artifact starts with five columns and five rows of Perks, with players working their way from the left to right side. As the Episode progresses, new rows of Perks are added, giving even more variety.

The Artifact Perks players started Heresy with were Arc-dominant with some options for Void and Strand as well. Now, trace rifles will get some time in the sun, which might influence what you decide to bring into your next Raid or Dungeon.

All in on trace rifles

The Artifact Perks are mostly centered around Trace rifles, making a compelling case for anyone looking to use the new Lodestar Exotic to get the best of both worlds between the first Act's Arc Perks and the upcoming trace rifle Perks. The new Perks are also strong enough to make Microcosm a serious consideration for boss damage, as it oddly benefits from being a Kinetic weapon.

How do these Artifact Perks shake up the meta?

As previously mentioned, these new Artifact Perks can mix quite well with many of the Arc Perks from the first Act. Specifically, if players want to stick with an Arc build, the second column of Artifact Perks only offers Overclock and Load. In Act II, Beam Medic will supplement the column nicely, allowing an Arc trace rifle like Lodestar or the new Guardian Games reward to shine.

The same can be said for the fourth column, where Arc builds are only benefitting from Flashover. Harsh Refraction can help pick up some slack on damage, especially if Guardians weren't making use of Horde Shuttle or Maligned Harvest. That said, even if players don't want to run Arc, Harsh Refraction seems like a no-brainer regardless of the Subclass you're running, so long as you're using a trace rifle matching the element of your Super.

If a trace rifle can become an integral part of nearly any elemental build, and reap benefits from Artifact Perks that not only heal players but increase damage, why not swap out that heavy machine gun for Overload Trace Rifles, too? After all, the Artifact Perks only stick around until the end of an Episode, and alongside all of those other buffs, it sounds like some traces will be able to make short work of Champions. Plus, have a little fun playing laser tag while it lasts, who knows when trace rifles will get this much attention again.

The post New Artifact Perks coming to Destiny 2’s Act 2 of Heresy appeared first on Destructoid.

I've not been keen on Destiny 2 as of late, even though the new Heresy Episode has proven to be more than a smidge more enticing than its immediate predecessor. Now, completely unexpectedly, Bungie has announced a new Rite of the Nine event featuring something truly fascinating: Explorer Mode.

For the most part, Rite of the Nine serves as a surprise follow-up to one of Destiny's frankly best-ever events: Into the Light. Whereas some of the best parts of Into the Light did end up getting sunset in the end (but of course), the logic behind them has thankfully returned with Rite of the Nine. This time, however, it's all about Dungeon content, and I'm particularly excited about what is more-or-less a fancy tutorial mode for them. This aptly titled Explorer Mode is just one of three new takes on select Dungeons, and if this is the direction Bungie wishes to take Destiny 2 into, I'm all for it.

Destiny 2: Rite of the Nine is a remarkable follow-up to Into the Light, and Explorer Mode is a highlight

If you've been put off playing Destiny 2's Dungeons and Raids by the level of complexity they often show, then you should know that these are easily the very best parts of the game. Dungeons, in particular, are extremely approachable and can even be completed solo if you're a badass. Their mechanics can sometimes be obtuse, however, and that's where the first of three unique new Dungeon modes comes into the picture.

The Rite of the Nine event features three distinctive modes of play for three unique Dungeons: Prophecy, Spire of the Watcher, and Ghosts of the Deep can all be enjoyed in Explorer, Eternity, and Ultimatum Modes. The goal is to hunt after a high-score, and the more efficient players are at higher difficulties, the better loot they get. Said loot? Holo-foil weapons, folks. They're back, fancier than ever before.

That's all well and good, of course, but Explorer Mode in particular fascinates me because if how approachable it makes these Dungeons.

Explorer Mode is essentially an easy/tutorial version of the given dungeon. It features handy little tooltips that help highlight bespoke puzzle mechanics and gameplay features, no wipes, and extremely short revive counters. It's still going to drop regular loot, though we'll get an obviously smaller high score and thus smaller odds of getting fancy loot using it.

Eternity is basically the bog-standard Dungeon experience veterans will already know and love, on the other hand, while Ultimatum serves as an enhanced Contest Mode version of the same Dungeon, with select difficulty modifiers plastered on top.

Obviously, Explorer Mode is the most complex of these three difficulty modes, and the reason I'm so intrigued by it is that it could expand the reach of Destiny's very best content beyond anything it has right now. The fact of the matter is that some people simply choose to stick with casual Destiny content due to how complex endgame stuff seems, and Explorer Mode could dispel this notion once and for all.

The Rite of the Nine event is due to release as part of Episode: Heresy's Act 3 in early April, and it's going to feature a host of unique cosmetics, upgraded loot drops, the aforemnetioned Holo-foil weapon variants, and loads more. Definitely keep an eye out for Explorer Mode in particular, though, because this may be Bungie telling us of what to expect out of Destiny: Frontiers.

The post Destiny 2’s new Explorer Mode shows Bungie may be thinking outside the box appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie revealed that the Guardian Games were returning to Destiny 2 on March 11, alongside the start of the second Act of Episode: Heresy. While the team promised that more info would come before its arrival, the devs teased a "bite-sized" boss rush activity inbound for the event.

Every year, the Guardian Games return to Destiny 2, pitting the three player Classes against each other to determine whether Hunters, Warlocks, or Titans reign supreme. Typically, Guardian Games is centered around participating in Class vs Class PvP matches and specific highlighted PvE content. For 2025, it sounds like the event might be changing itself up a bit, opting for something a bit more in the vein of Into the Light's well-received Pantheon activity.

Smaller than Pantheon

While Bungie devs were coy in regards to exactly what players can expect during this year's Guardian Games, a few tantalizing hints were dropped. Most significantly, the event will feature some form of a boss rush activity. The team was quick to clarify that it won't be on the same scale as Into the Light's Pantheon, but it seems like the fairest direct comparison.

Global Community Lead Dylan Gafner noted, "We have a, you put it best, bite-sized boss rush mode. So, it's not going to be like a Court [of Blades], it's not going to be like a Pantheon. But now we have a challenge of, 'Hey go in, burn down some bosses, get as many points as you can, and then you can get some new rewards.'"

What's on the table?

As far as the referenced rewards, Bungie highlighted a new trace rifle shipping alongside returning and refreshed Guardian Games weapons. As opposed to the recent Arc PvP-focused trace rifle from Iron Banner, this one is built more for PvE players. It can roll with some spicy PvE Perks like Overflow, Triple Tap, Detonator Beam, Rolling Storm, and Jolting Feedback, with options for the gun to drop with double Perk rolls.

Of course, there is also a set of cosmetic armor available through Eververse for Silver or Bright Dust. The armor's theme for 2025 moves away from sports and general athletic competition aesthetic of previous years for something more akin to a sci-fi gladiator. If you want to extend that drip beyond the in-game world, Guardian Games participants can also take home a themed jersey as 2025's unlockable-to-purchase Bungie reward.

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A free event is coming to Destiny 2 for the third Act of Episode: Heresy. Much like the beloved event that preceded The Final Shape expansion, the upcoming Rite of the Nine adds coveted holofoil variant weapons, a new social space, and a fresh breath of life into the game.

Just before The Final Shape, all Guardians got to experience Into the Light. The Into the Light event added the Onslaught horde mode to Destiny 2 and first introduced the concept of holofoil, or shiny, weapon variants. The event was a big success, and now it looks like Bungie is trying to recapture some of that energy for Rite of the Nine.

A focus on Dungeons

Rite of the Nine will put players' focus on three Dungeons from Destiny 2's past: Prophecy, Spire of the Watcher, and Ghosts of the Deep. Bungie described how the event would allow Guardians to experience these Dungeons on their own terms, opting for a safer Explorer mode or ramping it up to the Contest Mode-like Ultimatum mode.

Players will also get access to a returning social space, a repurposed The Third Spire locale from the Trials of the Nine. There, you'll be able to visit the Emissary for the Quests, Bounties, and rewards associated with the event. You can also see whatever Dungeon is currently featured while at The Third Spire, appearing off in the unreachable distance. The team indicated that one of the Dungeons would be featured each week, cycling through all after three weeks. 

The Third Spire is also where Guardians will go to attune to specific Dungeon weapons revamped for Rite of the Nine. Four armaments were selected from each Dungeon, getting a full Perk rework and retuning. This equipment can come in holofoil variants, harkening back to the shiny weapons from Into the Light or even the more recent Heretical weapons from The Nether. Bungie clarified that the Adept/holofoil variants of these Rite of the Nine weapons would only be earnable through Ultimatum mode, providing a little more incentive for players to go out and challenge themselves.

While the team wasn't ready to share any definitive dates for Rite of the Nine, players can expect more information to come from Bungie as we get closer to the event. For now, players still have the second Act of Episode: Heresy on the immediate horizon.

The post Destiny 2’s free Rite of the Nine event brings back the best parts of Into the Light for Dungeons during Heresy Act 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's massive sunsetting scandal keeps coming back to haunt Bungie over and over again, as it rightfully should. The game lost about 50% of its content overnight with the release of Beyond Light, though some yet hoped that the Red War campaign would come back, at least. Alas, no.

Let's circle back for a bit, though. The information that Bungie itself no longer has any working build of Destiny 2 with Red War campaign has been brought to light as part of an ongoing lawsuit. Specifically, the lawsuit where author Matthew Kelsey Martineau claimed that Bungie stole ideas from his body of work to bring Destiny 2's original campaign to fruition. Obviously, Bungie is defending itself from Martineau's claims of plagiarization, which I do feel were flimsy at the absolute best, but I'm not particularly keen on how this is being accomplished.

The Red War is gone for good, so stop asking about it already

As reported by The Game Post, Bungie's own filing via Head of Engineering David Aldridge states that "The 'Red War' legacy build [of Destiny 2] can no longer run because its outdated code is incompatible with Destiny 2’s evolved underlying operational framework, which has evolved considerably since the 'Red War' campaign was retired. As a result, Bungie cannot feasibly provide the Court with the original Destiny 2 game as it existed in 2017, including the accused 'Red War' campaign, in any operable or reviewable form. Nor will Bungie be able to produce the original, accused campaign in operable or reviewable form should this matter proceed to formal discovery."

In other words, Bungie does not have any feasible way to actually show off the Red War even as part of ongoing litigation. Instead, the studio has had to rely on "third-party originating materials" (i.e. video footage of cutscenes and gameplay from the Red War) to fulfill this purpose.

Bungie does presumably have the actual Red War assets lying about somewhere as part of the infamous Destiny Content Vault, but there's simply no way to actually play the campaign at this time, as it doesn't seem that Bungie's keeping a backed-up version of the 2017 build of Destiny 2 anywhere.

For the time being, this works in Bungie's favor. Martineau is trying to get the court to assess his allegedly plagiarized unpublished short stories in direct comparison to Destiny 2's Red War narrative, but there's no way to actually do this. Up until now, I genuinely expected Bungie to have backed up all the old, legacy content in this so-called Content Vault, but that's clearly not the case, as the developer is testifying under oath that it's just not there.

We'll have to wait and see whether the lawsuit ends up going anywhere in the end, but I don't really expect it to pan out the way Martineau wants it to. In the grander scheme of things, for me this whole development just underlines the transient nature of Destiny at large. No matter how good it is in the moment, the content you enjoy the most is always at risk of being taken out if it's a part of a seasonal release. The Red War is obviously not coming back, ever. At best, we might get a snapshot or two of it at some point down the line, but the rest is gone for good.

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The third week of Episode: Heresy continues to build more intrigue in Destiny 2, adding a trio of Quests centered around the Hive on the Moon. All Guardians must do is eliminate three Wizards, but the foes can be trickier to encounter than you might initially imagine.

Episode: Heresy acts as the finale to The Final Shape expansion for Destiny 2, and it hasn't pulled punches in regards to content. Three weeks in, and players already have a new Dungeon, the Derealize Exotic mission, and a new player-favorite activity, The Nether. Week three continues the story in Heresy, but a hurdle presents itself as three MacGuffins from Wizards scattered around the Moon. These foes aren't immediately apparent, and it'll require a bit of work from players before they make themselves known.

Mission Dossier: Hive Hacking

When Guardians reach Step 17 of the "Act I: Echoed Warnings" Quest, they'll be prompted to complete three objectives before additional progress can be made. The Quests are available from a second page on the Shaping Slab in Eris' Flat in The Last City, and each takes players to the Moon. The three variations are Lightsinger's Limb, Blade Navigator's Head, and Cultist's Limb.

Blade Navigator's Head

The easiest to accomplish is the Blade Navigator's Head Quest, as Guardians can find the objective marker only a short distance away from the landing zone in Sorrow's Harbor. Players will notice a Hive ritual circle by the stairs leading up into The Scarlet Keep. Initially, the circle may not yield any foes. However, some should appear after Guardians partake in a bit of the Altars of Sorrow public event.

It's unclear if Altars of Sorrow progress is required to make the target appear, but the Wizard spawned shortly after I completed a round myself. When Sarûk ur-Omni appears, it won't take much effort to beat the foe. Afterward, players will automatically collect the Head of Sarûk ur-Omni.

Cultist's Limb

Next up, players can start to move towards the Catacombs in search of the Wizard Iyx ur-Anûkru. If Guardians are having trouble locating the Catacombs, they can make their way through the relatively linear path to the Circle of Bones in the Hellmouth. From there, the Catacombs can be accessed from the final passage on the right side.

Descending down the dark stairway, players will actually see Iyx ur-Anûkru, but a shield initially protects the Wizard. To make the foe damageable, Guardians must locate and shoot three Hive runes scattered around the area. One is on the right side of the room, immediately visible after walking down a set of stairs. Another is on the left side of the room, a bit further towards the back. The last Rune is stuck on the middle door at the rear of the chamber.

Once all three Runes are activated, the shield protecting Iyx ur-Anûkru will dissipate. Players can make short work of the Wizard, and they'll automatically collect the Hand of Iyx ur-Anûkru.

Lightsinger's Limb

Heading back into the Hive's turf, Guardians can make their way towards the Summoning Pits to search for the next Wizard, Yor ur-Halaku. After arriving at the door leading into the Summoning Pits proper, players will be prompted to unlock the chamber. Inside, a brawl is breaking out between an Overload Champion Vex Minotaur and a sizable Hive force.

After working through the Hive foot troops and air-bound Shriekers, Guardians can take care of the Minotaur and any lingering enemies. Once enough Hive go down, Yor ur-Halaku will appear at the ritual circle. Much like the other Wizards, this one shouldn't prove much of an issue. The Hand of Yor ur-Halaku is collected automatically when the enemy is defeated.

With all three Wizard parts, Guardians can head back to the Shaping Slab for rewards and Quest progress. Each Hive Hacking Quest rewards two Essence of Desire and a reprised weapon. In addition to the tangible rewards, players will also progress the Act I Quest, opening up the Kludge mission.

The post Where to find Wizards for Destiny 2’s Hive Hacking missions appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 has a unique new Exotic weapon for Episode: Heresy: the Barrow-Dyad. The circular sub-machine gun certainly has a fun look, but beyond that, it's a force to be reckoned with. Guardians will want to hunt down the Barrow-Dyad for themselves, but they'll need to know how first.

While Destiny 2 players may be a bit spoiled after the ease of obtaining the Lodestar Exotic in this Episode, Barrow Dyad will take a bit more work. A multi-part Exotic Quest will take players across the system, into The Nether, and beyond to earn the chic new gun. However, before Guardians start worrying about how to get the new Exotic weapon, the first question should be how to gain access to its Exotic Quest.

Unlocking The Taken Path Quest

To gain access to the Barrow-Dyad, players must first obtain the Quest: "The Taken Path." However, it won't just make itself known to Guardians; players will have to seek out the new Quest. To get things started, players must head into the player-approved Nether activity and try to find a new Taken Blight. 

The large globe appears in the Trenchway in The Nether, a bit off the ground and with glowing Hive runes engraved on a pillar beside it. The Blight can be found during the Anchored Thrones story mission, but it's still available if missed. Personally, I missed it during the mission and saw it during an Expert run of The Nether.

Once players touch the Blight, they'll be teleported to a new area mostly bathed in white. A large wall divides the room in half, with a Hive Rune plate positioned on the wall. If Guardians stand in front of the plate for a few seconds, a Rune will appear, and text will note that "Something whispers to the right." If players actually move to the right, they'll get teleported to the other side of the wall.

Once the mini-puzzle is complete, Guardians can head to the only object of interest on the other side of the wall: a bowl. In it lies a Taken Osseous Fragment. Collect the Fragment and head out through the portal. With the Fragment in hand, players should ensure they are caught up in the Episode: Heresy Act I: Echoed Warnings Quest. Guardians must complete step 14, which will lead back to the Shaping Slab in Eris' Flat. There, you'll find The Taken Path Quest.

Walking The Taken Path

The Taken Path Quest has six steps; the first is pretty straightforward. All players must do is unlock and equip the Scotopic Rune through the Runic Enhancement Menu at the Shaping Slab or an altar in The Nether. The only thing that might get in Guardians' way is their Nether Enhancement Level. The Level corresponds with reputation rank, so players must have a little time in the Episode to equip the Tier 2 Rune. Once equipped, the next step of the Quest is to head to the Moon and locate something concealed by the Hive in Sorrow's Harbor. 

The path forward actually leads through the K1 Revelation Lost Sector, where players will encounter a Taken dome shield blocking another Hive Rune plate. Standing in front of the plate, Guardians will be alerted that something whispers behind them. Walk backward to teleport back into the Lost Sector, but this time filled with Taken enemies. After players tear their way through the foes, a Taken Ogre will appear as a boss, and defeating it rewards another Taken Osseous Fragment.

To the Forgotten Shore

The next step of The Taken Path Quest requires yet another Taken Osseous Fragment, but this time it's in the Cosmodrome. The Veles Labyrinth Lost Sector is the destination, hiding another Rune Plate within. After completing the first plate by moving forward, players will teleport to another, which requires a move to the left. A third plate awaits, asking for movement backward.

The third puzzle will teleport players back into the Lost Sector filled with Taken enemies. Fighting through the horde, both a Taken Ogre and a Taken Centurian will harass players. But a third Taken Osseous Fragment will appear after the formidable foes are slain. Guardians will be directed back to the Shaping Slab in the Last City. Three Quests will be rewarded for the efforts: Curse of Endurance, Curse of Urgency, and Curse of Revenge.

Breaking the Curses

Each Quest specifies a locale: Sorrow's Harbor on the Moon for Endurance, the Hallowed Grove Lost Sector in the EDZ for Urgency, and Nightmare Hunt: Pride for Revenge. At these locations, Guardians will find large Taken Blights and a swirling mass of Taken energy around a Taken Relic that can be interacted with. Interacting with the Relic accepts one of the aforementioned Curses and starts a simple combat trial.

Guardians must use the Relic to eliminate enemies until it becomes charged and then dunk the Relic back near where it was initially collected. The Quest in Sorrow's Harbor is the most straightforward, allowing players to nab the Relic, eliminate foes in the Altars of Sorrow event, and then dunk with ease. Heading into the Nightmare Hunt, Guardians will find that the Relic does not charge until after the Nightmare of Fikrul is defeated. Finally, in the Hallowed Grove, players will charge the Relic before it can be dunked at the end of the Lost Sector once the boss is defeated.

Calling to power

Each Quest has a final step that requires players to venture back into The Nether. In the activity, Guardians will be on the lookout for Hive statues with which they can interact. Each will summon a miniboss and will reward another Taken Osseous Fragment back at the statue once the foe is downed. 

• The statue for the Curse of Endurance Quest can be found in the Hall of Souls. It is between the entrance and a passageway on the right-hand side after appearing in the area. 
• The statue for the Curse of Urgency is in the Trenchway, in the large section with hidden platforms. It's tucked against the wall between the middle and left passages.
• The statue for the Curse of Revenge is in The Mausoleum. Players can find it in the lower area of the zone, just before the boss area. The statue is in a nook behind one of the big tentacles, so search thoroughly.

Once all three Quests are complete, Guardians will get an update on The Taken Path. The Exotic Quest will instruct players to head into the new Derealize Exotic mission, obtain one more Taken Osseous Fragment, and acquire the Barrow-Dyad.

The weapon itself will be found at the end of the Exotic mission. Once The Taken Path Quest is complete, players will get an unnamed Quest in its place. The Quest informs Guardians to head back to Eris' flat in The Last City and visit the Shaping Slab. There, players will earn the Dyadic Ascension Quest, which allows players to enhance the Exotic weapon further.

The post How to get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

A new Exotic mission is hitting Destiny 2 a bit sooner than most players expected. The Derealize Exotic mission is here, arriving after only a week into Episode: Heresy. But the mission won't give up its secrets or rewards easily -- and opening its doors is a whole other matter.

Destiny 2 has fallen into some comfortable habits, but it's refreshing to see Episode: Heresy shake some of those up. Exotic missions typically launch toward the end of a Season or Episode, as seen with Encore in Episode: Echo and the Kell's Fall Exotic mission in Episode: Revenant. 

That's not the case with Drealize, as players won't have to wait to jump into the new outing. That said, Guardians must accomplish some steps and prerequisites before the Exotic mission becomes available.

How to unlock the Derealize Exotic mission

Before players can attempt the Exotic mission for Episode: Heresy, they'll have to unlock it first. The process is a bit involved, requiring most of the completion of the Quest that unlocks the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG. Guardians must complete several tasks that will send them to the Moon, Earth, and into The Nether.

First and foremost, players must complete Step 14 of the Episode: Heresy narrative Quest: "Act I: Echoed Warnings." Once at that milestone, players can begin the process to unlock an Exotic Quest called "The Taken Path." This Quest is the key to earning the Barrow-Dyad and details the steps required to open access to the Derealize Exotic mission.

Into the Dreadnaught

Immediately after starting the Exotic mission, players will find themselves in The Mausoleum portion of the Dreadnaught, in front of a group of Dread led by a Subjugator. Moving forward will cause the Subjugator to flee and prompt the Dread enemies to attack. Simultaneously, Taken Blights in the area will turn into large eyes that debuff players with Suffocating Terror. After the first wave of foes is defeated, another wave accompanied by a Tormenter will appear.

After taking out the Tormenter and Dread backup, the Fireteam can advance up the hills ahead, minding the eyeball in the sky. There is another Tormenter awaiting players at the top of the hill, so it's best to lure it back down to the area players first appeared in. Once that other Tormenter is dealt with, players can fully advance up the hill to encounter a considerable force of Dread.

This is a good place for the Fireteam to use any roaming Supers or other tricks they have up their sleeve. Bolt Charge and Ionic Trace Arc builds can really cut through the crowd here. Once enough Dread fall, a Strand Subjugator will appear as a boss for this opening section. Blast it down with Supers and heavy weapons, and then clean up any lingering forces. A portal will take players forward.

Vrhiisk, Seeker of Power

The Taken portal players ventured through leads to that area of The Nether containing portals that weave together the Dreadnaught. The one players are looking for is across the way, leading to the Trenchway. Venturing into the area, Guardians will stumble upon the Taken and Dread fighting each other. Heading into the fight, players can mop up both sides and then press forward.

The first major boss encounter is ahead against Vrhiisk, Seeker of Power. The Stasis Subjugator will throw up a shield almost immediately. Guardians must destroy the Blights littering the battlefield to get the shield down, which requires jumping through a few hoops. First, Vrhiisk will summon six Taken Blight Sentinels that must be dealt with. They typically stay toward the back of the arena but can move around. 

Once the Sentinels are eliminated, Taken Conduit Ogres will start appearing. Once these minibosses go down, they drop a Taken Relic that can be charged by destroying Taken enemies. After enough Taken are fed to the Relic, Guardians will get a notification that it is charged, and the debuff timer at the top of the screen will disappear. The Relic can now be taken to the top of a marked Blight to destroy it. 

After a Blight is destroyed, Guardians will become Torn Between Dimensions, like during the Oryx fight in the King's Fall Raid. The screen will become black and white, so there's no mistaking when it happens. Now, players need to collect another Taken Relic and recharge it to similarly destroy another Blight just like the previous one. The only difference is that players will use the ethereal platforms littering the arena to reach the higher Blight.

With both Blights destroyed on the left side, the boss will become vulnerable again. Players can lean into it with everything before it raises its shield again at half health. From there, things will play out exactly as they just did for the left Blights but for the right side of the arena. When both right-side Blights are similarly destroyed, the boss will flee, but it's taking players with it.

Guardians will find themselves in a small, circular arena somewhat reminiscent of the room where the first Taken Osseous Fragment was found. From here, it's a cage match against Vrhiisk and some Taken cronies. If you still have any Supers or Heavy ammo, now is the time to use it. 

The final Fragment

Once the boss is defeated, a Hive Rune plate on the wall provides an exit. Or at least it should, but this plate is a bit more complicated to work than the previous ones encountered. Guardians will have to move in the direction indicated by the arrow on the ground in front of the plate after a symbol appears on it. A timer at work also ensures players are shifted to a new area every few seconds, making it easy to enter incorrect inputs.

The movements players will have to do in order are right, up, down, and left, but inputs are only accepted if Guardians are standing on a plate asking for that input. To avoid wrong inputs, which will reset the sequence, players simply remain still on the plate. A timer will shift Guardians to a new area and a new plate every ten seconds, so it's just a matter of patience.

A short platforming segment will take players high up into the peeling chiton of the Dreadnaught. After a jump to the other side of the massive area, the final Taken Osseous Fragment will be claimed. A nearby Blight is destroyed after grabbing the Fragment, and players can head down into the previously blocked hole in the column of the ship.

Find the artifact

Following a long drop, Guardians will emerge in an orange-tinged area. Platforming is required to maneuver directly vertically and then in a linear path while avoiding explosions of Taken energy. Eventually, players will arrive in an area with a couple of enemies and several Hive tunnels in the walls. Start with a tunnel opposite the side from which you entered the area and head as far down as possible until a dead end is reached. Exit the tunnels and clear the enemies out of the following structure in the middle.

A shield blocks the actual way ahead, so first, the Fireteam will need to take a quick detour back to the left side but accessed from a tunnel as close to the next shield as possible. At the bottom of the chasm here, a purple Hive crystal is waiting to be broken. Two more crystals are waiting on the other side. One is below one of the lowest accessible platforms by a spike trap, and another is about level with the Hive shield wall halfway down the passage.

Ahead is a bit more platforming through Taken explosions and spike traps, but that's nothing new at this point. A vast cable will lead players forward, and then Taken Blight balls can be used as platforms to continue venturing upward. A Hive ritual circle stands before an open door at the top of the area, but it can't be interacted with just yet. Head through the doors for a Rally Flag location and the final encounter.

Xir-Kuur, both Taken and Not-Taken

Entering the arena, Guardians will find the Barrow-Dyad on a table across the room. As soon as the weapon is collected, the Fireteam will become Torn Between Dimensions. Taken Blights will appear in the arena, but no enemies yet. So, players can take their time eliminating each Blight that spawned. Once that happens, the boss, Xir-Kuur, will appear both as a Taken and Not-Taken variant.

Only one version of the boss will be damageable at a time, and it is always easy to tell. If those giant eyes show up debuffing with Suffocating Terror, players must attack the Not-Taken boss. Alternatively, when players get the Torn Between Dimensions debuff and their screens turn black and white, it's time to attack Xir-Kuur, Taken. Guardians won't have to deal with Suffocating Terror while they are Torn, but they will have to destroy three Blights before the debuff is lost and Xir-Kuur, Not-Taken becomes vulnerable.

After going back and forth between the two bosses, the Fireteam will eventually defeat Xir-Kuur, Not-Taken first. When this happens, players will be alerted over comms that they must evacuate the room and activate the Hive ritual circle on the other side of the door. Doing so will seal the remaining boss in the chamber, acting as a prison. So, the remainder of the fight is a desperate attempt to close off the area before the boss can charge through.

When the door seals shut, the encounter and the Exotic mission come to a close. A chest will appear to reward players for their efforts, and The Taken Path Quest will reach its conclusion.

The post How to complete the Derealize Exotic mission in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 had its latest Dungeon race, but PlayStation players, in particular, got the short end of the stick. Unexpected PSN outages plagued the experience, leading to instances where some players couldn't attempt Contest mode at all. Bungie has addressed the situation, announcing that Contest mode will return another weekend.

The Sundered Doctrine Dungeon was released on Friday, February 7, kicking off Destiny 2's second-ever Dungeon race. Like a Raid race, the last two Dungeons have been released with a Contest mode, massively increasing difficulty and offering some sweet rewards to the brave Fireteams who overcome its challenge. However, PlayStation players didn't have as easy of an experience, with lengthy interruptions draining away precious time.

Bungie offers another Contest mode weekend

Just taking a look at the comments on social media and sites like Reddit, it was clear that players weren't happy about the PSN outage. On the day of the Dungeon release, one Redditor commented, "Multiple people have been told by customer support that this "maintenance" which wasn't scheduled, could last anywhere from 24-48 hours, justice for the psn community[.]" 

The commenter wasn't the only one, with many PlayStation players sharing similar sentiments. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Bungie to acknowledge the situation. One day after the Sundered Doctrine release, Bungie posted on Bluesky, saying, "Due to issues affecting PlayStation players' ability to sign in to Destiny 2, we are planning an additional Sundered Doctrine Contest Mode weekend for all platforms. Specific dates and times will be announced at a later date."

The studio clarified that the race itself would be unaffected but that players would simply have another chance to take a crack at Contest mode. That means, if players want, they can attempt a clear for the coveted Emblem and a guaranteed Dungeon Exotic, Finality's Auger.

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Sigil Shards are among the new resources added to Destiny 2 for Episode: Heresy, helping to make delves into The Nether more manageable and control potential rewards. However, Sigil Shards aren't explained very well to players, and you'll want to know how to make the most out of the currency.

Destiny 2 will often feature specific resources or currencies tied to an Episode or Season. For Episode: Heresy, that has been Metastasized Essentia scattered around the Dreadnaught, Essence of Desire, best earned from refining Metastasized Essentia, and Sigil Shards. However, after earning the resources themselves, even more important is that players know what to do with them.

Where do Sigil Shards come from?

Guardians can earn Sigil Shards just by playing the game during Episode: Heresy, but there are some strategies that are proving more fruitful than others. There is always the chance that a defeated enemy will drop a black Taken orb. If players destroy it, three pickups will spring forth, each rewarding two or three Sigil Shards.

Thankfully, it's easy to earn Sigil Shards while tackling other Heresy tasks. The Nether, for example, provides Sigil Shards from all chests. Players can earn even more if they get the Rune that rewards Sigil Shards from Metastasized Essentia nodes encountered during the activity. Of course, that's all in addition to the Sigil Shard orbs occasionally dropped by enemies.

Sigil Shard farming

As of this writing, there is an incredibly easy way to farm Sigil Shards. Best of all, it doesn't require an unreasonable time investment. That said, it's unclear if this is an intended interaction in-game or if it's a bug that Guardians can take advantage of while active.

If players head to the enemy-rich Altars of Sorrow Public Event on the Moon, there should be no problem amassing piles of Sigil Shards. So long as Guardians are using a weapon with good AOE potential, like an Indebted Kindness with Voltshot, or even some ability spam with a new Bolt Charge Arc build, there will be no shortage of Sigil Shard orbs littering the battlefield. After the phase or event ends, players can go around shooting the orbs and collecting all of the Shards.

The only downside to this method is that players can only carry 300 Sigil Shards at a given time. In the grand scheme of things, a stack of 300 isn't that much. So, Guardians must spend the resource almost as quickly as they amass it.

What are Sigil Stones for?

Whenever Guardians collect Sigil Stones, it translates to XP gains for Mastery of Resolve reputation ranks. In addition to vendor XP, players can also use Sigil Stones for Runic Enhancement and the Tome of Want.

Runic Enhancement allows you to spend Sigil Stones on Runes that can be equipped through the Shaping Slab or via altars at the start of The Nether runs. The costs of Runes can vary, with the selections increasing in price from right to left. While these Runes only work in The Nether, each offers worthwhile buffs, like the Tier 3 Healing Rune, making Healing Orbs more effective. That can be pretty handy in the new activity with limited healing options.

Alternatively, players can use Sigil Shards to focus specific rewards through the Tome of Want. As players participate in Episode: Heresy, they'll occasionally collect items called Crumbing Scriptures to be used in the Tome of Want. These Scriptures allow players to choose a specific reward through the Tome, but finding Scriptures isn't guaranteed. After Guardians complete the "Tome of Want: A Primer" Quest, 100 Sigil Shards can be used if a Crumbling Scripture isn't available.

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Did you know that Destiny 2: Heresy has a pretty darn foolproof system for spotting secrets no matter where you are? This might not have been a big deal in seasons prior, but The Nether activity has oodles of secret chests and whatnot, which means you'll be hunting for those.

For better or for worse, The Nether is the crux of Destiny 2: Heresy. It's not that the rest of the seasonal offers are bad (quite the opposite, in fact), but Nether is such a stellar experience almost across the board that you'll probably be spending hours upon hours prowling through the Dreadnaught. Much of it's got to do with chasing loot, naturally, and the good news is that Nether is loaded with goodies. The bad news is that the majority of them are tied to secret chests, and you need to know how to chase those down. Fret not, though, because I've got a trick for you: relying on your Ghost!

How to find all the secrets and chests in The Nether activity in Destiny 2

Pull out your Ghost! No, really, it's that simple: you just need to pull the ol' Ghost out, and if you're reasonably close to a secret chest, Ghost will turn in its general direction. Better yet, even if you're not actually having your Ghost out to look for secrets, you're going to get a Ghost icon in the upper right corner of your HUD whenever you're close to a scannable/lootable goodie.

You can build upon this feature, too: use the Wombo Detector Ghost mod at all times. It allows you to detect resource drops and loot caches within 50 meters of where you stand, automatically marking them on your HUD as soon as you're in range. Note that this will also help you stack up on Metastisized Essentia and the Essence of Desire, which is particularly handy.

The small downside to this feature is that the secret loot chests, for example, do not despawn. This means they'll remain on your HUD even after you've looted them, making them a royal pain to keep track of during a prolonged Nether run.

On a final note, make sure to give this technique a shot in the new Sundered Doctrine Dungeon, too. You never know: this feature used to be extremely popular back in the earlier years of Destiny 2's content roster, where Ghost would be able to scan various points of interest to deliver semi-hidden narrative context. It was great fun, as repetitive as it might've gotten in the end, and I'm thrilled to see a partial return to form for the feature.

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Destiny 2's economy of resources and collectibles is never-ending, changing in an instant with the release of new content. That's proven the case for Episode: Heresy, with many new resources added for Guardians to balance. Essence of Desire is one of those newcomers, but it requires some effort to earn lots.

With each new Episode (or Season), Destiny 2 often adds novel gameplay mechanics and progression systems to keep the game feeling fresh. With Heresy, that comes in the form of the Tome of Want and forrays into an activity players seem to like, The Nether. However, to use the Tome of Want and to open those locked chests in The Nether, Guardians will need plenty of Essence of Desire.

Where does Essence of Desire come from?

Thankfully, Essence of Desire isn't too hard to come by on its own. Players can earn Essence of Desire while participating in activities on The Nether, but the drip feed can be painfully slow. That said, there is another way to earn Essence of Desire, and you'll get a lot more for your troubles.

In Eris' Flat in The Last City, Guardians will find a Taken Altar just to the left of the entryway. You can only interact with the Altar if you hold ten or more Metastasized Essentia, and doing so will consume the resources. In return, players will get a bunch of loot, including 10 Essence of Desire.

The Taken Altar is the most lucrative way to earn Essence of Desire, but that also means you'll have to spend a lot of time in The Nether to accrue the 10 Metastasized Essentia needed per interaction. At least, in addition to the Essence of Desire, you'll also get some reprised Season of Arrivals weapons and some upgrade materials with each pull.

What is Essence of Desire used for?

As mentioned earlier, Essence of Desire is the key to several rewards in Episode: Heresy. Most notably, each time Guardians activate a ritual using the Tome of Want, it costs two Essence of Desire. The Tome helps you narrow potential rewards down, allowing the ability to focus specific weapons, armor, or resources.

In addition to the Tome, Essence also comes up whenever players find locked chests while exploring The Nether. Each of these locked chests similarly costs two Essence of Desire to unlock. Inside, Guardians will be rewarded with Sigil Shards and a guaranteed weapon drop.

While there's no requirement for players to stock up on Essence of Desire, they certainly help make The Nether all the more rewarding. Plus, if you're already engaging with Episode: Heresy anyway, you'll undoubtedly end up with some Essence of Desire to spend.

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If there's one thing Destiny 2 players are familiar with, it's collecting new resources as they enter the game. Episode: Heresy adds a trove of new currencies and collectibles to fret over. However, only one requires as much labor to earn as its name is difficult to pronounce: Metastisized Essentia.

Destiny 2 is always getting new forms of currencies and resources. Many of these items are specific to a Season (or Episode), acting as the grease between the gears of new activities or whatever pursuit Guardians are currently chasing. Metastisized Essentia is one of the new Heresy currencies, similar to the Radiolite resource from Episode: Echoes. While Metastisized Essentia can lead to even greater rewards during Heresy, Guardians must first set aside a tidy supply.

Where to find Metastisized Essentia

If players want to go out and farm a solid stack of Metastisized Essentia, the place to head is into The player-approved Nether activity. The new activity is a great way to earn rewards throughout this Episode, including new Heretical weapons, Sigil Stones, and, of course, Metastisized Essentia. Not to mention the Tome of Want, allowing players to direct their loot whilst in The Nether. Metastisized Essentia is strewn throughout the Dreadnaught while engaged in the activity and marked as a resource node by Ghosts if you use a Detector mod on your Ghost Shell.

Visually, Metastisized Essentia is a spiked white ball sitting atop black tentacles. Looking a little closer at the resource, you can see it's both riddled with eyes and apparently breathing. Interacting with the resource, Guardians will receive one or two Fleeting Metastisized Essentia and some Sigil Stones.

After collecting Fleeting Metastisized Essentia, it's technically still not in the player's possession. The resource must be refined into regular Metastisized Essentia by looting the final chest in each zone. Of course, that chest is guarded by a boss who appears after Guardians clear three minor objectives.

In addition to the Metastisized Essentia readily available in The Nether, players can also get a supply of the resource from Eris' flat in The Last City. On one side of the room is the Shaping Slab, the Episode's main reputation vendor. Metastisized Essentia is a reward available on that reputation reward track.

How to use Metastisized Essentia

Metastisized Essentia is only valuable to players in clusters of 10, as that's how the resource is exchanged back at Eris' flat. Opposite the Shaping Slab, right near the doorway, there's a Taken Altar hungry for Metastisized Essentia. 

For every 10 of the resources turned into the Altar, Guardians will get a trove of rewards. 

• Essence of Desire x 10
• Enhancement Cores
• Enhancement Prisms
• Reprised Season of Arrivals weapons
• Episode: Heresy reputation

While it doesn't appear that Metastisized Essentia is used for any Heresy systems itself, it is worth depositing what's had in between runs through The Nether. Guardians will assuredly be amassing the resource as they interact with the Episode, so it's worth converting it into some potential usable rewards.

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Most players would agree: guns are pretty darn important for Destiny 2. It may come as a surprise to some of the newer players, then, that the pinnacle of utility in the game was an Outlaw/Rampage combo for a while. Chris Proctor worked hard to change that, and succeeded.

It's hard to put into words just how straightforward and downright boring the Perk meta was for Destiny 2 earlier on, truly. Up until Shadowkeep or so, the only thing you really wanted on your gun was a potent reload perk and a reasonable damage perk, and that was it. When Chris Proctor took over weapons design and features back in 2019, however, this all changed, and so it's sad to hear that he's leaving Bungie for good. "In two weeks I'll be living in another country, and in four weeks I'll post an update from a new role," said Proctor over on LinkedIn.

Chris Proctor is leaving Bungie, moving to a different country

"Working at Bungie at all is the job of a lifetime, sandbox design even moreso, let alone owning Destiny weapons for 5 years and ending up as Sandbox Craft Lead at a studio with a legendary grasp of core gameplay," said Proctor in his announcement. "It's been a humbling experience, and the time of biggest growth in my career (and I reached 23 years in games, 20 as a designer this year). I can't recommend Bungie highly enough as a place to do amazing work with some of the most skilled game devs in the industry."

Often cited as one of the most personable and beloved Bungie employees among the Destiny 2 community members, Proctor made a name for himself by making guns genuinely interesting and engaging to use. And while it's true enough that you do still want them to reload faster and dish out more damage, it'd be silly to pretend Bungie hadn't made strides over the past couple of years. Predictably, the community is saddened by the fact that Proctor is moving on.

Proctor hasn't provided any information on what his next project might be, but he did say that he's about to embark on a "huge, international [move]," and that "it's an exciting time" for him.

Under Proctor's leadership, Bungie began introducing extremely potent and satisfying crowd control Perks such as Voltshot. To say nothing of Reconstruction, Bait & Switch, or Explosive Light, just to list a few. Though I'm certain Bungie would've improved things to some extent even without Proctor, the man knew his stuff, and it'll be interesting to see how Destiny 2's meta changes now that he's gone.

The post The man who fixed Destiny 2’s weapon roster is leaving Bungie appeared first on Destructoid.

The wait for the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon won't be long, and it will be an integral part of the Destiny 2: Heresy content.

Bungie has officially revealed the new dungeon, but not many details are available from the developers. There will be a race taking place as well, and the dungeon will also feature a few exotics as available rewards if the rumors are to be believed.

Let's take a look at how you can participate in the dungeon to earn the rewards.

How to participate in the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon in Destiny 2

The Sundered Doctrine Dungeon will be available on February 7, 2025, starting at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST, and it will be set in Rhulk's Pyramid Ship (Savathun's Throne World). You can find the node for it just beside the large Vow of the Disciple Raid node above the Miasma.

For the first 48 hours, a Contest Mode will be available, which is going to be the ultimate test for the players.

To participate, you'll have to find a fireteam with three players. You'll also need to own The Final Shape Dungeon Key and finish The Drowning Labyrinth quest. During the contest mode, power will be capped at 1995 power, and you'll be facing a new enemy faction called the Dread. As usual, the dungeon will have its boss battles as well, and there's an exclusive set of rewards for the team winning the race.

Based on the datamined information and online rumors, here are the rewards available as part of the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon.

• Trace Rifle
• Scout Rifle
• Hand Cannon
• Shotgun
• New title named Delver
• Three new emblems

Best tips and tricks for Sundered Doctrine Dungeon

The Sundered Doctrine Dungeon is going to be a difficult task, and the Contest Mode is expected to be a stern test. You'll be facing endgame enemies, while your power will be capped. Even if you're not part of the race, clearing all the objectives and tasks can be a huge challenge. Here are some tips you can remember to improve your chances of success.

• Complete the Bounties that will allow you to unlock artifact perks early.
• Try to get a high-stat armor to improve your survivability.
• Collect upgrade materials.
• Prepare different loadouts.

If you're not planning to participate in the race, it will be useful to check out a few strategies other players are taking to clear the raid. You should also play with other experienced players and communicate well as a team. This will improve your chances of success and help you to unlock all the available rewards.

The post How to start the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon in Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been a while since there was a reason for players to get excited about a trace rifle in Destiny 2. However, the new Lodestar Exotic trace rifle from Episode: Heresy might be just the thing to rekindle that old love with the weapon type.

Destiny 2's trace rifles had a bit of a heyday up into the Lightfall era. Back then, it was much easier to generate heavy ammo bricks when using two special ammo weapons. Trace rifles fit nicely as the "primary" special weapon, featuring large reserves. Those days wouldn't stick around forever, though, and the guns fell by the wayside when Bungie retuned heavy ammo drops. Now, with a primary ammo trace rifle on the table, it might harken back to those old times.

Where does the Lodestar come from?

The Lodestar Exotic trace rifle is a reward that's exclusive to Episode: Heresy's Season Pass. That said, players don't necessarily need to purchase the Episode itself to access the new weapon; it's available on the free reward track at Rank 40. So, as long as you're participating in Destiny 2 during Episode: Heresy, you shouldn't have a problem acquiring the weapon.

If players did shell out for Episode: Heresy or bought the annual pass version of The Final Shape, the Lodestar will be available to claim immediately from the Season Pass. Further into the premium track, the Artificial Sun Ornament is also available once Guardians reach Rank 100.

Once Heresy is over, the Lodestar will likely be available for purchase through the Monument to Lost Lights in The Tower. While Bungie hasn't explicitly confirmed this, it has happened to countless other Exotic weapons earned through the Season Pass.

What does the Lodestar do?

The Lodestar is very different from the trace rifles players are familiar with. On the surface, one reason is that the gun uses primary ammo, essentially making it infinite. Looking deeper, the Exotic also has some peculiar behaviors that might take a little getting used to.

When Guardians aim down the sights of the Lodestar, instead of emitting a solid beam like other trace rifles, it will behave more like a pulse rifle. The bursts of energy have their place, though, as they increase damage and detonate Blinding explosions on Arc-debuffed enemies. Additionally, once players deal enough Arc damage while using the Lodestar, they can perform an alternate reload to imbue the weapon with Jolt while firing from the hip.

The Lodestar should work nicely with any number of Arc builds in this Episode, especially with the Artifact Perks that rely on Arc debuffs like Jolt. Lodestar may be hitting far above its weight class during Heresy because of its Arc focus, but even after, it'll still allow players to relive the glory days of running double special weapons.

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