How to Get Exotic Gear in Destiny 2: A Comprehensive Guide
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Exotic gear in Destiny 2 represents some of the most powerful and sought-after items in the game. These pieces, distinguished by their unique perks and abilities, can significantly enhance your Guardian’s capabilities and playstyle. Acquiring them, however, can sometimes feel like a treasure hunt. This guide will provide a comprehensive look at all the ways you can obtain exotic weapons and armor in Destiny 2.
The most direct answer to how to get exotic gear is that they can be obtained through a variety of activities, vendors, and challenges throughout the game. These include:
- Decrypting Exotic Engrams: These rare engrams contain a random exotic item.
- Random Rewards: Exotics can drop as rewards from various activities like Public Events, chests, Crucible matches, and other game modes.
- Special Vendors: Xur, Agent of the Nine, is a weekend vendor who sells exotic items for Legendary Shards and Exotic Ciphers.
- Specific Quests and Missions: Completing particular quests or missions can reward you with unique exotic gear.
- Season Pass Unlocks: Some exotic gear is exclusive to each season’s pass.
- Solo Lost Sectors: Higher difficulty versions of these can drop exotic armor.
- Nightfalls: Especially when double loot weeks are active, high-difficulty Nightfalls offer a great chance at exotic armor and Masterwork materials.
These options offer players a variety of pathways to build their collection. Let’s explore these routes in more detail to help you optimize your grind for exotics!
Farming Exotic Armor
Exotic armor pieces are vital for optimizing builds and significantly impacting gameplay. Here’s how to efficiently farm for them:
Nightfalls: The Gold Standard
Nightfall: The Ordeal activities are one of the most efficient ways to obtain exotic armor, especially at higher difficulty levels. The higher the difficulty, the greater the chance of an exotic drop. During weeks with double loot bonuses, the drop rates dramatically increase, making them ideal for farming. These also offer Masterwork materials and unique Nightfall weapons, making it a highly rewarding activity. If you do not own any DLCs, this will be one of the best routes for you to acquire exotics.
Solo Lost Sectors: A Challenging Alternative
Solo Lost Sectors also provide a reasonable path for acquiring exotic armor, provided you can manage the challenging gameplay. The specific pieces that are available from them vary daily, so you’ll need to pay attention to the specific loot rotation. This method is a great option for players that prefer a solitary experience.
Understanding Drop Rates
It’s crucial to remember that exotic drop rates, especially for armor, aren’t guaranteed. The RNG (Random Number Generation) system means that sometimes you might get lucky and find exotics immediately, while other times, you might need to run activities multiple times before one drops. Perseverance and a structured approach are key to success.
Getting Free Exotics in Destiny 2
For new players or those sticking with the free-to-play version of Destiny 2, certain exotics are obtainable without needing to purchase DLCs. You can identify these by their symbols in the Collections tab:
- Red War (square arch)
- Curse of Osiris (eye in a diamond box)
- Warmind (winged diamond).
Additionally, specific weapons like Monte Carlo and Lord of Wolves are free-to-play. Here’s a list of free exotic weapons:
- Tractor Cannon
- The Huckleberry
- Arbalest
- Riskrunner
- Monte Carlo
- Hard Light
- Sturm
- Legend of Acrius
These options provide newcomers with a taste of the power exotics can offer, encouraging further exploration of the game.
The Best Ways to Get Exotic Weapons
Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 often redefine your combat capabilities with their unique perks. These are the primary ways to collect them:
Xur: Agent of the Nine
Xur is the most straightforward route to getting exotic weapons. He appears each weekend, starting Friday at 12 PM EST to Tuesday at 12 PM EST, at a randomly selected location. You can buy weapons and exotic engrams from Xur using Legendary Shards and Exotic Ciphers.
Exotic Missions
Some of the most rewarding (and difficult) experiences are the exotic missions. These specially designed missions usually reward you with a specific exotic weapon after completion, often with a challenging story and gameplay involved.
Fishing
Yes, you heard right! Fishing in Destiny 2 can also yield exotic weapons, along with other rewards. It’s a less direct method, but fun and a bit less intense than grinding harder content.
The Importance of Exotics
Exotic weapons and armor are not just collectable items. They are essential to creating optimized builds that can significantly enhance your performance in all aspects of the game. Whether you’re tackling challenging Grandmaster Nightfalls, engaging in intense Crucible matches, or exploring new content, having the right exotic gear will give you a significant advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about acquiring exotic gear in Destiny 2, to address some finer points and help you better understand the nuances:
1. Can I get exotics without owning DLCs?
Yes, all exotics from the base game, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind are available to everyone regardless of purchased expansions. Note that some specific exotics, especially those tied to Lost Sectors, are locked behind specific expansions.
2. What is the secret exotic quest in Destiny 2?
The current secret exotic is the Wicked Implement, a stasis scout rifle obtained by completing a timed exotic mission.
3. What is the best exotic armor for Grandmaster Nightfalls?
Some of the best include: Cenotaph Mask (Warlock), Star-Eater Scales (Hunter), Abeyant Leap (Titan), Osmiomancy Gloves (Warlock), Orpheus Rig (Hunter), Heart of Inmost Light (Titan), Phoenix Protocol (Warlock), and Omnioculus (Hunter).
4. How do I get the Vexcalibur exotic?
Vexcalibur is a craftable exotic Void glaive obtained by completing a small puzzle in the Gulch area of the EDZ and then a related quest. This is a seasonal reward.
5. Are exotics always better than legendaries?
Not always. Exotics are specialized tools with unique perks, while legendary items are more general-purpose. Exotics aren’t always “better” but are unique and often a better fit for a specific build.
6. How do I buy exotic engrams from Xur?
You can buy one Exotic Engram each week for one Exotic Cipher, and a second for 97 Legendary Shards.
7. What is the most time-efficient way to get exotic armor?
Farming high-difficulty Nightfall: The Ordeal activities, especially during double loot weeks, is the most time-efficient way to obtain exotics.
8. Can you buy specific exotic armor?
While you cannot directly buy specific pieces, websites and communities like Overgear may offer services where they help you acquire your desired exotic armor through gameplay.
9. Can you equip multiple exotic armor pieces?
No. In Destiny 2, you can only equip one exotic weapon and one exotic armor piece at a time.
10. Is Destiny 2 worth playing without purchasing DLCs?
Yes, the base game is worth playing and exploring, but the game can feel limiting once newer DLCs are released. You won’t have access to all of the content or exotics without the expansion.
11. Do I need Witch Queen for Osmiomancy Gloves?
Yes, you need the related DLC to access exotics from Lost Sectors, meaning you need Witch Queen for Osmiomancy Gloves.
12. What is the first exotic weapon players can get?
Riskrunner is the first exotic that new Guardians can obtain by picking up the quest from Shaw Han in the Cosmodrome.
13. What are some of the strongest exotic weapons in Destiny 2?
Some top-tier exotic weapons include: Gjallarhorn, Ager’s Scepter, Divinity, Wish-Ender, and Leviathan’s Breath.
14. What is the rarest exotic in Destiny 2?
The current rarest weapon is Whistler’s Whim, a Trials bow added in Season of Plunder.
15. How many exotic armor pieces are there in Destiny 2?
There are multiple unique exotic armor pieces in Destiny 2, with at least one for each class, totaling over one hundred different exotics.
Conclusion
Acquiring exotic gear in Destiny 2 requires time, strategy, and a bit of luck. By engaging in a variety of activities, understanding the various methods, and taking advantage of weekly events and vendor rotations, you’ll be well on your way to building a formidable collection of exotic weapons and armor. Keep exploring, keep grinding, and may your exotic drops be plentiful!