How To Get Exotic Class Items And Unlock Destiny 2’s Dual Destiny Mission

In Destiny 2: The Final Shape, players can now gain access to Exotic class items for the first time. While there have been head, chest, gauntlet, and leg Exotic armor pieces since Destiny 2 first launched in 2017, Exotic class items look set to shake up the status quo of the game alongside the new Prismatic subclass. Although they were not available right out of the gate, you can now begin obtaining and farming Exotic class items through a new repeatable–and as our Final Shape review notes, very excellent–mission, Dual Destiny. That comes complete with a tricky clock puzzle that requires the two players to cooperate closely.

What makes these special is that each one will have two random Exotic perks from a selection of existing Exotic armor perks. Even better, there’s a chance for your Exotic class item to have a perk that isn’t normally associated with your Guardian class. For example, Hunters can gain improved damage when surrounded with a Synthoceps perk, while Titans can ready their weapons quickly with an Ophidian perk.

While Bungie has done some balancing to ensure that things don’t go overboard, the potential to create finely tuned builds with these new Exotics is hard to resist. Here’s how you can get one of these Exotics when you venture into the Pale Heart of the Traveler. We’ve also got details on some changes to drop rates on Exotic class items that are set to be made in an early August 2024 patch.

How to get an Exotic class item in Destiny 2: The Final Shape

Getting your first Exotic class item is going to require some patience as it can be earned in a new Exotic mission. Now live, this mission does involve quite a bit of work just to unlock, and when you attempt to run it, you’re going to want make certain that you have a clear line of communication with your fireteam partner. This is where you’ll get the Hunter Exotic cloak Essentialism, Warlock Exotic Band Solipsism, and the Titan Exotic Mark Stoicism.

It’s worth pointing out that Exotic class item perks will only work when you have the Prismatic subclass equipped.

Complete Overthrow in three Pale Heart zones

To start your journey toward an Exotic class item, you’ll need to complete an Overthrow event in the following sections of the Pale Heart:

• The Blooming
• The Impasse
• The Landing

Defeat the secret bosses that spawn in after you complete an Overthrow event

Completing an Overthrow will clear almost all the enemies from that section for five minutes. A new boss–called a Secret Keeper of the Witch Queen–and a few minions will then spawn in at a specific location, and you’ll have to race to their position and quickly defeat them. Don’t worry, they aren’t too tough at all, although they might not spawn at their location the first time you complete an Overthrow. This appears to be a bug, according to player reports, so you’ll just need to replay an Overthrow until they appear on the map again.

• The Blooming — On the eastern side of the location, inside of the purple cave
• The Impasse — At the south-west part of the map, close to where Taken enemies usually gather
• The Landing — Near the Lost Sector in the south-east part of the map, inside the cave

Return to the Blooming

In this central part of the Pale Heart, look for a pale green beam of light in the sky–not the beam of light for the Excision mission–and head toward it. In a new room that is now unlocked, you’ll receive the “Savathun’s Envoy” buff. Head into the next room where you’ll face a small army of enemies.

A Subjugator will eventually show up at one of the two Black Fleet cruxes, and you’ll need to kill it to get either a Light or Darkness orb. Run back to the room where you received your Savathun’s Envoy buff, place it on the correct plate, and run back to defeat the second Subjugator so that you can get the corresponding orb. With that done, a node for the mission will be unlocked on your map so you don’t have to do this again.

Begin the Dual Destiny Exotic mission

For this Exotic mission, you have to have one other Guardian with you. You can’t solo it and you can’t do it in a three-person fireteam, as this activity is designed for a tag team of Guardians. This is a timed activity, and completing sections will extend the countdown. Your first task is to escape the room, and this part is dependent on your equipped subclass. A player with a Light subclass will have the “Light Aligned” buff, and a player with a Darkness subclass will have the “Darkness Aligned” buff. If you’re both using Prismatic subclasses, these roles will be randomly assigned.

You’ll then need to stand on the correct plates to bring down the barrier. The Light-aligned player stands on the Light plate, and the Darkness-aligned player stands on the Dark plate.

Find Balance

As you work your way through the room that has opened up, you’ll find yourself in a new section with two pedestals. Enemies will spawn in, and several of them can only be defeated by the Light player or the Darkness player. These enemies drop a Mote of Light when killed, and if you have it, you’ll see a pedestal light up with a symbol. The other player above you can then shoot the cruxes with that specific symbol above them, as they will be unable to see the symbols in the room below them.

Once you’ve completed this task, you’ll then be teleported to a new room and you’ll switch roles. The second room has three pedestals to link up, and once complete, you’ll teleport to the third and final room where you’ll have to link up four pedestals.

Explore the Anomaly

This next section isn’t too complex, but it will test your platforming skills. Move across the level, step on Light and Darkness plates, avoid the traps, and watch out for some tough enemies.

How to complete the clock puzzle

Get ready for a fight, as this section is crawling with enemies and several Tormentors. Whoever lands the final blow on a Tormentor will get the buff “Harmonic Sundering” for 30 seconds. Both players will see a ring of cruxes beaming lines of Darkness energy toward the center. Sort of like a reverse-clock, as there are cruxes lined up at the hour marks. This is where communication becomes vital. The player without the buff should indicate which of these cruxes has a line connected to it. The player with the buff should shoot the three of those that they also see connected with a line.

If done correctly, you’ll receive the message “Light and Darkness surge, destabilizing an Obelisk.”

Mastery of Balance boss fight and clock puzzle

In the next room, you’ll take on two bosses. When you knock Expector Selin’s shield down to 60%, it’ll become immune to damage and a series of three symbols will appear above its head. One Guardian can read them out, and the other can destroy them in order from top to bottom. You can now start damaging the Subjugator until it only has one-third of its health left, becomes immune, and a second boss, Expector Yemiq spawns in.

You can follow the same strategy for Yemiq, and once it has a third of its health left, it’s time to focus on one of the two clock dials on either side of the room. Each clock will have a series of four beams that change every couple of seconds, and you’ll need to find which of these cruxes you both have active at the same time. Both players need to shoot the same crux at the same time during this specific configuration to drop the shields on both Expectors. You’ll eventually be able to defeat both bosses.

Claim your reward

This final part is a big surprise given the collaborative nature of this event, as each player has to pick a side in the room that opens up. That’s right, it’s time for some PvP or negotiation, as you can choose to either “prepare for battle” or “choose peace” when you’re teleported back into the final encounter room. If you choose to fight, both players will start the final encounter with an overshield, and Savathun will goad the victorious Guardian to crush the Ghost of their fallen partner. It’s all a trick–of course–and both players can pick up their new Exotic class item, which will have random perks assigned to it.

How to farm Exotic class items in Destiny 2: The Final Shape

With the mission complete, you can now farm the mission for new random rolls. There is a rare chance to get an Exotic class item whenever you open a chest inside the Pale Heart as well, and in Overthrows.

Farming Exotic class items has proven to be a slow process since launch, prompting some complaints from fans. In response, Bungie has announced plans to make changes to Exotic class item drop rates in a patch set for early August. For starters, Dual Destiny will now have a weekly challenge tied to it, allowing you to get an extra Exotic class item once per week on each of your characters.

In addition to that, the following tweaks are being made to where and when you can get the item when exploring the Pale Heart and completing Overthrows:

• Increasing chances for drops when opening Overthrow chests.
  • As you open chests tied Overthrow activities, your chances will increase.
  • Higher tiered chests give bigger increases to drop chances.
  • This should decrease the amount of time it takes (on average) to get an Exotic Class Item, but we’ll be watching the feedback and tuning further if necessary.
• Reducing chances from unrelated Pale Heart chests in freeroam to encourage Overthrow participation.
• Increased chance stored up from Overthrow chests apply to Lost Sectors and Co-Op missions that take place in the Pale Heart.

Hunter Exotic class item perks

Titan Exotic class item perks

Warlock Exotic class item perks

Every Exotic Weapon and Armor In Destiny 2: The Final Shape (So Far)

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