The fourth expansion for Destiny 2, Shadowkeep, has launched, and with the new expansion we have a slew of Exotics for players to track down and gain possession of. This Destiny 2 Shadowkeep Exotics guide will provide you with all the relevant information: The Exotics, information on said Exotics, where to find them, how to get them, and what, in our opinion, are the best Exotic Catalysts!
Destiny 2 Shadowkeep Exotics
First and foremost, Exotics are now a given for every expansion – they’ve been present for all expansions preceding this one. These Exotics can be unique weapons and gears, many of them are part of the base expansion pack, whereas others are only available to those with the Season of the Undying Pass.
Exotic Weapons
The list below will detail each and every one of them, elucidating also their perks.
Ancient Gospel (Weapon)
A powerful hand cannon with a 140 Rounds-Per-Minute Rating; with a clip size of 10 bullets and a high impact rating, it is a must have for anyone looking to tear their enemies apart!
Perk: It’s not yet known what the perk is for this weapon.
Deathbringer (Weapon)
An awesome, if not impractical looking, rocket launcher! Well, it doesn’t actually fire rockets, rather it fires projectiles that can be remotely detonated! What makes this such a devastating weapon to have are the perks.
Perks:
- Dark Deliverance: Remotely detonated projectiles drop void orbs on enemies.
- Dark Descent: Contingent on how far the void orb falls, the detonation caused by it will be more powerful.
Divinity (Weapon)
A trace rifle whose beam damages enemy, but what really sets it apart is the fact that if you’re able to keep the beam on an enemy long enough, then a field will surround the enemy and will continuously drain them of their life.
Perks:
- Judgement: Continuous damage done to an enemy will result in a field enveloping them, consistently draining them of their HP.
- Penance: Those who are being afflicted with the effects of Judgement, if sustained for long enough, will be hit with a burst of damage.
Erianna’s Vow (Weapon)
A Season Pass exclusive weapon, a hand cannon similar to the Ancient Gospel, however it boasts greater fire power; although if you shoot too fast, there is a miniscule chance of you catching on fire. Yikes.
Perks:
- Looks Can Kill: Fire Special Shield Piercing Ammo at your enemies; also comes with a nifty scope.
- Death at First Glance: If your opening shot is made while looking down the sight, then you’ll deal extra damage.
Stats:
- Magazine Size 6
- Max Rounds 20
- RPM 90
$MACHINEGUN.NAME$ (Weapon)
This bad boy can kill SO many enemies! Seriously, if you ever need firepower, then this is the gun you want!
Perks:
- Pyrotoxin Rounds: You can fire high-powered explosive ammunition.
Leviathan’s Breath (Weapon)
A heavy bow that has immense attack speed and damage output, making it perfect for anyone familiar with bows in games, and anyone wishing to deal a large amount of damage on anyone who dare oppose them.
Perks:
- Big-Game Hunter: Fires a heavy bolt that will stagger unshielded enemies; useful against unstoppable champions.
- Leviathan’s Sigh: When the bow is fully drawn, it will release a concussive blast, knocking away any enemies nearby.
Zealot’s Reward: (Weapon)
Though it bears similarities with the Ancient Gospel, it is, in fact, a fusion rifle. With strong handling, reload speed, and impact, it somewhat makes up for the fact that it’s absolutely unstable.
Perks: The perks are not known at this time.
Monte Carlo: (Weapon)
Resembling a bayonet, this ivory white weapon emphasizes melee damage more than anything else – you’ll understand once you see its perks.
Perks:
- Monte Carlo Method: Your melee cooldown is reduced when you do damage with this weapon; with each kill, your chances of fully charging your melee attacks are increased.
- Markov Chain: With every kill (melee or not) this weapon’s damage is increased; melee kills also grant you more ammo.
Exotic Armor
Following list contains all exotic armor pieces in the game:
Assassin’s Cowl (Armor)
An armor piece exclusive to the Hunter, and as the name implies, this particular gear is about enhancing your stealth capabilities.
Perks:
- Vanishing Execution: If you defeat a Guardian with a melee attack, or defeat a combatant with a finisher, you’ll be granted temporary invisibility and a portion of your health and shield will be restored.
Phoenix Cradle: (Armor)
These golden boots aren’t of much use to you as they are to your allies. The type of armor you’ll want if you’re a team player.
Perks:
- Beacons of Empowerment: Sun Warriors last for a longer period of time; Sun Warriors are granted to whichever ally passes through your Sunspots.
Stormdancer’s Brace: (Armor)
This is the one piece of gear that you definitely want – why? Because it has the potential of helping you take out entire teams – hordes of enemies!
Perks:
- Ascending Amplitude: With every kill that can be attributed to Stormtrance, the damage dealt by that technique is increased. There’s no cap on it.
How to Get Exotics
You wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that it’s no easy feat, but worry not, for the following is a Shadowkeep Exotic Weapons and Armor Locations guide, and it will walk you through on how you will get each exotic weapon and armor.
Divinity (Weapon) – Salvation Raid
To attain this weapon, you’ll need to complete a series of arduous tasks; they’ll be time-consuming and even difficult, but it’ll be worth it to get your hands on this weapon.
- Locate and kill Vex Minotaurs on the Moon.
- You must analyze three Vex Cores.
- You must collect 120 Sol Divisive Parts in order to repair the Decryption Core.
- You must empower the Core with the aid of Nightmare Essence; go collect as much as you can for this task.
- Although unclear, it seems to complete this whole endeavor, you must complete the Garden of Salvation Raid.
That should do it, and you ought to be rewarded with the Divinity Exotic Weapon!
Deathbringer (Weapon) – A Death of Nightmares
I’d like to preface this by saying that we’re not absolutely certain that you’ll be rewarded with the Deathbringer for completing this quest, so take it with a grain of salt. However, do complete the quest just for the sake of completing it.
- Eris will tell you to go to the Circle of Bones – do so when instructed.
- In the Circle of Bones, look for a Silent Skull and take it to Eris.
- Near Hellmouth, in Lost Sector K1 Revelation in Sorrow’s Harbor, complete public events.
- On the Moon, kill a wandering Bone Collector (Acquire 1 Festering Bone, 1 Ritualistic Bone, and the Bone Collector’s Marrow).
- Complete the Scarlet Keep Strike, and kill Sulmakta, the High Conductor.
- Kill 700 normal enemies, 110 Elites and Minibosses, and 50 Guardians. Doing this on the Moon will be expeditious.
- Return to the Circle of Bones and defeat Aria and Deathsinger, Ir Airam. Grab the Skull and return once more to Eris to complete the quest.
Leviathan’s Breath (Weapon) – The Back Way
The quest centers on Banshee’s-44 Shop, particularly a bow… not much of a stretch to think that the reward for this quest will be the Leviathan’s Breath.
- Locate Banshee’s shop in the Tower.
- Once inside the shop, look for a display case with a bow inside; it’ll be locked. Return to Banshee and talk to him.
- Complete Gambit Matches in order to rebuild the code needed to attain the bow. Gambit Prime and Nightfall matches is a more difficult but precipitous way of going at this.
- Get 75 Precision Kills with bows, specifically targeting Vex and Cabals.
- Head on down to Earth in order to complete the Arms Dealer Strike.
- Return to Banshee and acquire biometric authentication from him.
- Return to the display case and unlock it.
Monte Carlo (Weapon)
This one is interesting as there’s no specific Exotic Quest that you must complete to obtain this; neither can you buy it from Xur. Rather, it is most likely going to come into your possession through random world drops.
You can also get the Monte Carlo through Exotic Engrams. These can be obtained by completing certain activities – the method that has the highest chance of getting you this weapon is to go and complete the Garden of Salvation.
How to Get Assassin’s Cowl (Armor)
Similar to the Monte Carlo, there are multiple ways that can help you obtain this Exotic Armor. Completing ‘Nightfall the Ordeal’ is likely to reward you with many Exotic pieces of equipment, but there’s not a 100% such that you will acquire the Assassin’s Cowl.
Much like the Monte Carlo, you can either hope for some fortuitous RNG and get a lucky world drop or go out of your way to collect Exotic Engrams and hopefully get the Armor. Finally, you can complete the Garden of Salvation (this area has nothing but Exotic Chests, increasing your chances of obtaining what you desire).
Stormdancer’s Brace (Armor)
You’re not gonna like this but… there’s no surefire way of getting this Armor. Much like the previous two items, you’ll simply have to hope for world drops that serendipitously give you exactly what you want; or you can go to the Garden of Salvation and try your luck with the Exotic Chests present there.
Phoenix Cradle (Armor)
Seems the developers REALLY didn’t want to let anyone getting these pieces of armor easily, because once more we have an Exotic Gear that can’t be obtained through a quest. We must rely on providence to bless us with fortunate RNG: A random drop, or an Exotic Chest in the Garden of Salvation that is benevolent enough.
Something Else – Pain and Gain
Another Exotic Quest courtesy of Banshee. The funny thing is, we don’t exactly know what the reward for this quest will be, but seeing as it is an Exotic Quest, it’s more than likely that we’ll get one of the Exotic Weapons.
- Finish a Lost Sector in the European Dead Zone (EDZ) AKA Earth. We recommend completing the Lost Terminus Sector – easy to find and easy to complete.
- Complete a Heroic Public Event; wait for an event to occur and perform in a way that shifts your actions towards the ‘Heroic’.
- Complete a Nightfall Strike.
This will complete the quest and get you your reward… whatever it may be!
And that’s everything there is to sa – What? There’s even more?! Darn right there is!
Exotic Catalysts
You see, the developers didn’t think it enough, just offering us some Exotics, no, they thought that we deserved to be rewarded further for our efforts; we have available to us Catalysts, an item that allows you to upgrade and evolve your Exotic equipment to significantly buff it and make it even more powerful!
You can get your fidgety hands on these Catalysts in a plethora of ways, and the following, an Exotic Catalysts guide, will help you know what you’re looking for, why you should get it, and what exactly you need to do in order to possess it.
Borealis Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Reload Speed
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies; keep killing until you find it.
- How to Upgrade: 150 Arc Kills, Solar Kills, and Void Kills.
Coldheart Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Stability and Reload Speed
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Heroic Strike and Nightfall Bosses
- How to Upgrade: 300 Kills.
Colony Catalyst
- Perk: Increased ammo reserves (+10 Magazine)
- How to Get: Randomly dropped in Crucible Matches
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills.
Crimson Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Range
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies
- How to Upgrade: 300 Precision Kills
A.R.C.I Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Stability
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies
- How to Upgrade: 300 Precision Kills
Fighting Lion Catalyst
- Perk: +30 Reload Speed
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies
- How to Upgrade: Many Kills
Graviton Lance Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Range, +15 Aim Assist, and greater Target Acquisition
- How to Get: Faction Rallies, or randomly dropped by PvE or PVP Enemies
- How to Upgrade: 1000 Kills with the Cosmology Perk
Huckleberry Catalyst
- Perk: Ambitious Assassin’s Perk
- How to Get: Randomly dropped in Heroic Adventures
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills
Izanagi’s Burden Catalyst
- Perk: Holding down reload consumes more ammo, setting up a powerful, single fire shot
- How to Get: Upgrade Chalice of Opulence, and complete Heroic Menagerie – the Catalyst will randomly drop
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills
Jade Rabbit Catalyst
- Perk: +30 Stability
- How to Get: Randomly dropped after Crucible victories
- How to Upgrade: 250 Kills in Crucible
Legend of Acrius Catalyst
- Perk: Ammo Reserves increased; +40 Reload Speed
- How to Get: Randomly dropped in Prestige Leviathan Raid
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills
Merciless Catalyst
- Perk: +40 Range and Stability
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by defeating Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills
MIDA Multi-Tool Catalyst
- Perk: Reload Speed increased, contingent to Precision Kills
- How to Get: Randomly dropped after Competitive Crucible victories
- How to Upgrade: Precision Kills in Crucible
Outbreak Perfected Catalyst
- Perk: Additional Nanite Damage; enemies who die because of SIV A Nanites will spread it to other enemies
- How to Get: Complete Heroic Zero Hour Mission
- How to Upgrade: Farm up 500 SIV A Particulate, and get precision kills with them
Polaris Lance Catalyst
- Perk: Precision Kills cause an Elemental damage explosion
- How to Get: Complete Nascent Dawn Quest
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills total, 50 of which must be with the Perfect Fifth Perk
Prometheus Lens Catalyst
- Perk: 20+ Stability and Handling
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: 300 Kills
Riskrunner Catalyst
- Perk: +30 Range
- How to Get: Pain and Gain Exotic Quest
- How to Upgrade: 300 Kills, and 300 Chain Lightning Kills
Skyburner’s Oath Catalyst
- Perk: +30 Range
- How to Get: Randomly dropped after completing Leviathan Raid
- How to Upgrade: 1000 Cabal Kills
Sleeper Simulant Catalyst
- Perk: +75 Charge Time
- How to Get: Randomly dropped in Prestige Spire of Stars Raid Lair
- How to Upgrade: Used all Escalation Protocol Weapons to have 4000 combined Kills
Sturm Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Range, +40 Handling
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by enemies on Nessus
- How to Upgrade: Equip Sturm and Drang, and get 500 Kills with each weapon.
Sunshot Catalyst
- Perk: +20 Range and Stability
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE and PvP enemies
- How to Upgrade: 1000 Kills with Sun Blast Perk
Sweet Business Catalyst
- Perk: Flinch from incoming damage is reduced when weapon is fully spun up
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE and PvP enemies
- How to Upgrade: 250 multi-kills
Telesto Catalyst
- Perk: Increased ammo reserves (+60 Magazine)
- How to Get: Prestige Eater of Worlds Raid Lair
- How to Upgrade: On Mercury, complete all Verses for Brother Vance in the Lighthouse
Tractor Cannon Catalyst
- Perk: Increased ammo reserves (+60 Magazine)
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies
- How to Upgrade: 300 Kills
Vigilance Wing Catalyst
- Perk: Full Auto-Trigger System
- How to Get: Randomly dropped after Crucible victories
- How to Upgrade: 250 Crucible Kills, and 5 Blood for Blood medals
Wardcliff Coil Catalyst
- Perk: Improved tracking on projectiles
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: 500 Kills
Whisper of the Worm Catalyst
- Perk: Zooming in but not firing will increase the range and precision damage
- How to Get: Awarded for completing the Whisper Mission
- How to Upgrade: Complete the Whisper Mission again, and open chests to collect Blighted Essence
Worldline Zero Catalyst
- Perk: Activation time for Tesserect Perk is reduced
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by PvE Enemies if killed with a sword
- How to Upgrade: Using Worldline Zero, reach Level 7 of each Escalation Boss Protocol
Prospector Catalyst
- Perk: Blast radius increased
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: Defeat enemies
Rat King Catalyst
- Perk: Increased Aim Assist, Recoil decreased
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: Defeat Enemies
Hard Light Catalyst
- Perk: Increased Stability
- How to Get: Randomly dropped by Nightfall and Heroic Strike Bosses
- How to Upgrade: Defeat Enemies
SUROS Regime Catalyst
- Perk: Gain health after every kill, and improved recoil
- How to Get: Randomly dropped after Crucible victories
- How to Upgrade: Defeat Enemies
And if you were wondering, here is the list of Best Exotic Catalysts, ones we believe will buff your weapons up the most!
Huckleberry: After the Well and Rally Barricade nerfs, this Catalyst will be one of the only few to make mob clearing an easy task rather than a fervent chore.
Sweet Business: You can reload by walking over the ammo, and without firing. Its PvE damage is staggering as well.
Crimson: Getting a damage boost, and you restore health with each kill, win-win.
Sunshot: With the increased magazine size, and the perks mentioned above, this is a dangerous Catalyst.
SUROS Regime: The Auto Rifle buffs, when in conjunction with this Catalyst, will have you regaining health with each kill.
Le Monarque: Powerful Bow buffs makes this a powerful weapon.
DARCI: Perfect for taking down bosses due to the 20% increase in damage.
Jade Rabbit: Based on enemy ranks, Scout Rifles get an 18-36% increase in damage.
Bad Juju: This, like Huckleberry, gets around the Well and Rally Barricade nerfs, and its String of Curses Perk makes it invaluable on top of it.
