Destiny 2 Xenophage Quest Guide

Destiny 2 has seen a lot of updates and changes since it was released in 2017. Bungie has now shifted development significantly and has even switched up the format — moving to a free-to-play model. But one thing that has remained the same is the regularity of content drops and special themed events.

While there have been many events over the last four years, the Festival of the Lost was one of the best. It introduced a variety of new items and quests but also a secret mission. This Exotic quest takes place across a variety of locations, including the four K1 Lost Sectors on the Moon. Completing it will reward players with the Xenophage Exotic machine gun.

But how to get the Xenophage, exactly? The secret mission can be a little tricky, so players should follow these Xenophage quest steps.

The basic steps for Destiny 2’s Xenophage quest

These are the basic steps to get the Exotic weapon, although they aren’t a puzzle solver for the Xenophage quest.

Find the statues in Sorrow’s Harbor near the pyramid to start the quest

Find and light each of the six plates in Anchor of Light

Complete the puzzles at the end of the K1 Lost Sectors on the Moon. This includes: the K1 Revelation Lost Sector, the K1 Communion Lost Sector, the K1 Logistics Lost Sector, and the K1 Crew Quarters Lost Sector

Enter the Pit of Heresy dungeon and find a number of hidden items to reach the final boss location

Defeat Volmar the Tempted in the secret room

Return to Eris to collect your reward

How to begin Destiny 2’s Xenophage quest

Unlike many other quests in Destiny 2, starting this one is not straightforward. Players will have to travel to the Moon and reach Sorrow’s Harbor. At this point, they must enter the tower and follow the winding path inside going north. Eventually, you will come across a glowing lantern on the floor. Just past that light is a hidden tunnel that will lead to a pyramid flanked by four statues.

To begin the Xenophage quest, players have to interact with these four statues. While several different codes work, the easiest is to interact with the statues in an anti-clockwise direction. Begin with the statue closest on the right and move around so that the last statue lit up is the closest on the left. Once this has been done correctly, a prompt will appear on screen and a chest will spawn on the balcony. Opening this chest begins the quest proper in the form of The Journey.

Completing The Journey at the Anchor of Light

In order to continue with the quest, players must then travel to the Anchor of Light. In the northwest of the map are some large yellow buildings. Around this area is a small tower that has a ball of light inside. This orb needs to be placed in six different lecterns hidden around the area. The lecterns need to be lit in a specific order and within a time limit of 60 seconds per lectern. Players can get a good idea of where each lectern is using the map below, courtesy of Reddit user Dopmeister. The only difficult step is likely to be the fourth lectern. It is located in the nearby tower on the third floor.

After successfully lighting the six lecterns, the game will announce “You are ready to emerge from the dark.” It will also provide a new objective on the map. Head to this location and place the light orb in the requested spot. After doing so, the next stage of the quest will begin.

Solving the four Path Fragment Puzzles from the Pathfinder

The Pathfinder mission sees players having to travel to the Lost Sector of the Moon. Here, it is necessary to play through each of the four Lost Sectors as normal. However, at the end of each location is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Essentially, players must shoot the grid of symbols, shown below, in order to get all of the grid to match the symbol above.

The following solutions should work for each of the four locations. Just shoot the symbol listed below in the correct order as shown. Getting any step wrong can make it tough to solve afterward. In most cases, it is simpler to just run through the appropriate Lost Sector again to reset the puzzle.

K1 Revelation — Right middle, left middle, middle, middle, left middle, top middle, bottom middle, middle

K1 Logistics — Top left, bottom left, middle, middle right

K1 Communion — Bottom left, bottom right, top middle, top middle

K1 Crew Quarters — Top right, middle left, middle, bottom middle, bottom right, bottom right, bottom middle, bottom middle

Completing each puzzle successfully will give the player a Path Fragment. Collect all four and the next stage of the quest becomes available.

Navigating the Pit of Heresy

The next stage of the quest involves the Pit of Heresy dungeon and steps for “Path Uncovered” and “Path’s End.” The Pit of Heresy is a location from the year three content drop in Destiny 2. If it is not already unlocked, players will need to complete a short series of quests for Eris. Once these are complete it is possible to enter the dungeon. Just a small distance inside will be a selection of doors, with one hiding a secret switch. To find this door simply look at the door in the top left that has a slightly different design than the others.

Go through the door and drop down onto the left side cliffs near the second encounter with the Pariah Ogre. Continue along the path until a large plate is visible. Standing on this plate will cause three platforms to appear. Carefully jump on each of the platforms to reach a glowing orb. Return through the same path and submerge the orb of light into a door that has fire pits. This will then open to the secret boss — Volmar the Tempted.

Beating Volmar the Tempted at the end of the quest

The most difficult part of the quest is to defeat the witch known as Volmar the Tempted. The room before the boss has four symbols that relate to different elemental effects. These are Void, Kinetic, Arc, and Solar. In order to damage Volmar, players must dunk the orb in the correct area. The game will assign a random buff each round where the orb should go. This will then make Volmar vulnerable to attacks of that elemental effect. So if the arc buff is active, only Thunderous attacks will damage the boss.

Upon defeating Volmar the Tempted, players can return to Eris at any time. It is not even necessary to complete the rest of the Pit of Heresy dungeon. Eris will then give players the Xenophage Exotic which can be redeemed for the fancy machine gun.

Now that you’ve completed our Xenophage guide, you’re ready to complete the quest!