All Destiny 2 Exotic Quests Ranked by Reward (+ How to Complete Them)

All Exotic Quests in Destiny 2 Beyond Light

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Human Made

Kody is our expert Destiny 2 and shooter genre writer. He lives in Oregon.

Exotic Armor and Weapons are some of the most exciting and rewarding pieces of gear to hunt down in Destiny 2. Plenty are random drops from difficult encounters, others are only attainable during specific events or seasons. Then there are the Exotics locked into Exotic Quests.

Exotic Quests are unique mission chains built around puzzles, progression, and even levels. Now, depending on the Exotic you earn and the difficulty and length of the mission, some are worth it and some are not. Not to worry — we’ve got you covered with a rundown of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2: Beyond Light.

All Exotic Quests in Destiny 2 Ranked by Reward

The following Destiny 2 Exotic Quests list ranks every Exotic Weapon available through a current questline. The goal is to provide an up-to-date resource on the most recent quests and rewards.

That said, this list doesn’t tell the whole story — some Exotic quests have been sunsetted and are no longer in the game. The good news? Their rewards are still available! To find out more about how to purchase vaulted Exotics from sunsetted Quests, jump to our rundown of Monument to Lost Lights.

With that out of the way, it’s time to get started.

1. The Voice on the Other Side

Reward: Dead Man’s Tale

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light + Season Pass
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Scout Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Cranial Spike

Dead Man’s Tale is one of the best rewards from this list of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2. Plus, the quest is lots of fun! This is mainly due to the atmospheric, puzzle-based Presage mission, which takes you through the deserted cruiser once helmed by the deposed Emperor Callus. The Exotic Scout Rifle itself is possibly the best in the game, with a two-shot reload system and the ability to roll random secondary perks alongside Cranial Spike. It’s truly the one Exotic Quest fully worth your time.

2. Beyond Light Campaign

Reward: No Time to Explain

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Pulse Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Rewind Again

No Time to Explain is the Exotic I often go back to in a pinch. It’s probably the easiest reward among out list of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2 — all you need to do is finish the Beyond Light campaign! Its Catalyst is also fairly simple to unlock, even if it’s a bit grindy. However, the Rewind Again Perk, which pops an additional stream of auto-targeting bullets after landing precision hits or kills, is one of the best perks around. It’s a fun and incredibly useful gun to run with that’s good for both DPS and long-range damage.

3. Lost Lament

Reward: The Lament

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Sword
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Banshee’s Wail

While the path to Lament is really long, it feels rewarding. Each task basically has you complete things you’re already doing, but with the added benefit of uncovering new deep-lore story elements. You meet the giant Exo head of Clovis Bray and get an incredibly powerful Sword that actually rewards you for blocking. What more could you want?

4. Blast From the Past

Reward: The Chaperone

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Shotgun
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Roadborn

Unlocking Chaperone is great if you’re a fan of PvP. All in all, the necessary kills in Crucible and Gambit are fairly simple to get, meaning that it barely takes any effort to unlock, and you end up with a rare shotgun type that rewards you for accuracy. It’s powerful, precise, and grants bonuses for capitalizing on those benefits. It honestly acts more like a beefy Hand Cannon, making it perfect for mid-range play.

5. What’s this? What’s this?

Reward: Divinity

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Trace Rifle
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Judgement

The Divinity Trace Rifle has maintained its position as one of the best rewards among all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2, as well as one of the most powerful weapons in the game as a whole. It’s also incredibly unique thanks to its Exotic Perk, which allows you to entrap enemies in an Arc bubble. Laying out damage in this state adds a damage buff to your weapon, which is basically like shooting fish in a barrel thanks to the continuous line of fire you can unleash.

The initial steps to unlock it are fairly straightforward — raid Lost Sectors, kill Vex, collect materials, etc. It only becomes complicated when you hit the stage that requires you to meet specific criteria in the Garden of Salvation Raid. It’s a great weapon, but be prepared for a challenge if you want to snag it.

6. The Journey + Path Uncovered + Path’s End

Reward: Xenophage

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Machine Gun
Weapon Slot: Heavy
Ammo Type: Power
Exotic Perk: Pyrotoxin Rounds

Like Presage, the quest to obtain the Xenophage Exotic Machine Gun is built around mystique and puzzle-solving. Unlike that mission, the puzzles here are ingrained in the locales brought in by the Shadowkeep expansion. It involves taking on difficult bosses, deciphering ruins, and taking on the Pit of Heresy Dungeon. It’s a lengthy but worthwhile mission that takes you through gameplay you’re likely already doing. And the Xenophage, which fires continuous explosive rounds, is worth the challenge.

7. Pain and Gain

Reward: Riskrunner

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Submachine Gun
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Arc Conductor

Riskrunner may be the easiest Exotic Quest in Destiny 2. All you need to do to unlock it is run through a Lost Sector in the EDZ, participate in a Public Event, and then complete a Nightfall Strike. This unlocks the second mission, which involves killing a Fallen Tank and some captains before finding Cayde’s cache with a framed picture of his pet chicken. This nets you the Exotic SMG and the Catalyst, which grants you increased Arc damage and resistance along with chain lightning. All in all, it makes for a fairly productive thirty minutes of gameplay.

8. As the Crow Flies

Reward: Hawkmoon

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light + Season Pass
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Paracausal Shot

The introduction of Hawkmoon in Season of the Hunt was a surprise. This favorite from the original Destiny was long sought after by fans and didn’t disappoint with its reintroduction. Sure, it mainly has you tracking down glowing feathers, but it also includes a deep story of the rebirth of Prince Uldren as Crow. You could say this Hawkmoon Quest is the final layer that needed to be pulled away to fully make him a Guardian. Plus, for your part, you get an excellent Exotic Hand Cannon with a killer final shot.

9. Symphony of Death

Reward: Deathbringer

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Rocket Launcher
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: The Dark Descent

Deathbringer is possibly one of the coolest Rocket Launchers out there and one of the best weapon rewards from this list of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2. It’s great for end-game DPS due to the unique Void orb it fires, which breaks out into smaller targeted projectiles after detonating. The further away you land the shot, the more damage it does. Like others on this list, the main thrust of the Quest is to complete elements of the game. You need to finish Lost Sectors, kill Nightmares, and collect specific items from specific enemies. It takes a while to complete, but having such a unique weapon in our arsenal is worth the effort.

10. Campaign + Deep Stone Crypt Raid + Sabotage Quests

Reward: Cloudstrike

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Sniper Rifle
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Mortal Polarity

Any lightning-based weapon in Destiny 2 is worth your time. For Cloudstrike, it’s potentially even more useful, as it turns a highly accurate weapon class into something useful for crowd control. Land a headshot, and a sudden surge of electricity arcs out and fries nearby enemies. On top of that, this weapon is not all that hard to unlock until the last step.

The beginning just has you running through Varik’s Sabotage missions, completing an Exo Challenge, and killing enemies. At the end, you need to grind higher difficulty Empire Hunts and hope that it drops.

11. Campaign + Shattered Throne Dungeon

Reward: Wish-Ender

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Bow
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Queen’s Wrath

Unlocking this Exotic Bow requires you to complete the Shattered Throne Dungeon twice. However, it’s not just a straightforward completion, but a series of puzzles within the Dungeon itself that nets you this Exotic. In short, you have to track down orbs and carry them to an associated statue to trigger an event, where you then have to kill specific bosses. It’s not so difficult as to be frustrating and the puzzles aren’t so unique that they’re really worth exploring without a guide. Really, this weapon is good but only worth the effort if you want a quality bow that’s able to see enemies behind walls.

12. The Gambit

Reward: Malfeasance

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Explosive Shadow

Since Gambit launched with Forsaken, it’s only natural that at least one among all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2 would require you to play the mode. Initially, this quest was much more difficult to pop too, with the chance of spawning an Ascendant Primeval Servitor being surprisingly slim at the start. Once you defeat one, the quest is simply defeating a few powerful enemies, completing The Corrupted Strike, and playing more Gambit. The reward is decent, with the explosive shells being the best part. If it weren’t for how easy it is to acquire I’d recommend skipping, but you’ll likely stumble into completing it eventually.

13. A Stasis Prototype

Reward: Salvation’s Grip

Quest Available: Yes
Requires: Beyond Light
Reward Tier: D
Weapon Type: Grenade Launcher
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Cryocannon

I personally like Salvation’s Grip, but it’s not a great weapon when you consider the other rewards on this list of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2. Stasis as an elemental ability outside of your Subclass is just odd and leads to you needing to be stupidly accurate with a clunky Grenade Launcher. On top of that, the crystals don’t act like normal Stasis crystals, making it much harder to mesh abilities with your shots. If it weren’t required to unlock Stasis Aspects and if the quest steps weren’t basically part of other post-campaign steps, I’d easily say pass on this one.

What Is the Monument to Lost Lights?

As part of Bungie’s efforts to mitigate the bloat of an ever-expanding universe, many previous entries on our list of all Exotic Quests in Destiny 2 have been vaulted. This is either due to them being associated with old story content, locations consumed by the Darkness, or exclusive rewards for past seasons or Raids. And though most of the old Destiny 2 Exotic Quest rewards have disappeared into the Destiny Content Vault, a handful have not.

Instead, these Exotics are still acquirable, although without having to complete the necessary Exotic quest or Raid. Now, you can simply purchase them through the Monument to Lost Lights Exotic Archive from the Tower. Also known as the Exotics Kiosk, this vendor statue sits next to your Vault and offers weapons grouped into the expansions from a given year. As of now, you can purchase:

Nine weapons from Year 1 — The Red War
Eleven weapons from Year 2 — Forsaken
Ten weapons from Year 3 — Shadowkeep
Two weapons from Year 4 — Beyond Light

How to Purchase Exotic Weapons From the Monument to Lost Lights

Like most purchases from Vendors in Destiny 2, you’ll need to shell out a variety of different resources. However, these Exotics are fairly expensive and require far more standard and specialized resources than typical weapons. Here’s what you’ll need to snag one of these Exotics.

Exotic Cipher x 1

Exotic Ciphers are the rarest material simply due to you only being able to hold one at a time per character. They’re also only unlockable by running the weekly quest from Xur (which simply involves racking up points) or leveling up your Season Pass to almost the maximum tier. To really try to rack these up, claim your Cipher from Xur and finish up his weekly quest. If you have enough materials, you can easily make two purchases in a single week.

Ascendant Shards x 1-2

Ascendant Shards are used to Masterwork Armor, making them honestly more valuable than the Cipher. They also don’t have a straightforward way to unlock them. Yes, you can level up your Season Pass to Tier 94 and earn three in the process, but other than that, you simply have to run high-level Nightfalls or go flawless in Trials. Even those aren’t always a guaranteed drop in most cases.

Then you have to decide if you really want to spend these hard-earned Shards on Exotic Weapons or to Masterwork. It’s a frustrating predicament that can really deter you from making a purchase at the Exotic Kiosk.

Planetary Resources x 150-250

Planetary resources are specific crafting materials associated with each planet. You’ll earn these through bounties, patrols, public events, missions and can even find them scattered around each planet. These are not difficult to find and more than likely you have plenty in your inventory. If you need to grind for more, check out our handy planetary resources farming guide for tips and locations.

Glimmer x 125,000

Glimmer is another common currency that you’ll earn just by playing the game. The only catch here is that this is a lot of Glimmer for a single item. Make sure you get close to maxing out your inventory if possible to ensure you have enough for other purchases and upgrades before pulling the trigger. If needed, you can even buy Glimmer from Spider in The Tangled Shore in exchange for some of those random planetary materials you have.

Spoils of Conquest x 240

Spoils of Conquest are materials connected to Exotic Weapons once locked behind defeating Raid bosses. Of course, to earn this currency, you have to run and complete Raid encounters in any of the available Raids. You can earn them within the Raid by finding secret chests, completing multiple encounters, and running Raid challenges.

You’ll earn three per encounter on your first run and five on any subsequent runs. If you find all of the available chests, you’ll net yourself an additional 20 Spoils of Conquest. All in all, it’s a grindy way to earn this currency and it can take upwards of ten runs to earn enough to make a purchase.

Exotic Kiosk: Previous Quest Rewards

Here are all of the current Exotic Weapons you can purchase from the Exotic Kiosk. These are ranked similarly to how we listed out all active Exotics obtained through Quests. We also didn’t do a deep dive into the weapon and the original quest structure, but be sure to let us know if that would be something you’d like to see at some point. Keep in mind, if they’re associated with an expansion you’ll still need to own it to purchase the weapon.

1. Ace of Spades

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: S
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Memento Mori

2. Sleeper Simulant

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Linear Fusion Rifle
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Explosive Shadow

3. Sturm

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Accomplice

4. MIDA Multi-Tool

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Scout Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: MIDA Multi-Tool

5. The Last Word

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Fan Fire

6. Thorn

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Mark of the Devourer

7. Izanagi’s Burden

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Sniper Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Honed Edge

8. Polaris Lance

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Scout Rifle
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: The Perfect Fifth

9. Whisper of the Worm

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Sniper Rifle
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: White Nail

10. Le Monarque

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: A
Weapon Type: Combat Bow
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Poison Arrows

11. Traveler’s Chosen

Quest Available: No
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Sidearm
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Gathering Light

12. Rat King

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Sidearm
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Rat Pack

13. Jötunn

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Fusion Rifle
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Charge Shot

14. Outbreak Perfected

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Pulse Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: The Corruption Spreads

15. Legend of Acrius

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Shotgun
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Shock Blast

16. Ruinous Effigy

Quest Available: No
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: B
Weapon Type: Trace Rifle
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Transmutation

17. Bad Juju

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: C
Weapon Type: Pulse Rifle
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: String of Curses

18. The Fourth Horseman

Quest Available: No
Requires: Shadowkeep
Reward Tier: C
Weapon Type: Shotgun
Weapon Slot: Energy
Ammo Type: Special
Exotic Perk: Thunderer

19. Lumina

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: C
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Weapon Slot: Kinetic
Ammo Type: Primary
Exotic Perk: Noble Rounds

20. Truth

Quest Available: No
Requires: Forsaken
Reward Tier: C
Weapon Type: Rocket Launcher
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Prototype Trueseeker

21. Worldline Zero

Quest Available: No
Requires: Destiny 2
Reward Tier: D
Weapon Type: Sword
Weapon Slot: Power
Ammo Type: Heavy
Exotic Perk: Tesseract

Become a High Grounder

Quests are some of the most interesting and rewarding content in Destiny 2. Hopefully, this guide to all Exotics Quests in Destiny 2 has helped you narrow down which ones to complete first and how to round out your collection with the Exotics Kiosk. Be sure to let your Fireteam know how to track down that one elusive Exotic weapon by sharing this article on your favorite social channels. And be sure to sign up for our newsletter for the latest on Destiny 2.

Happy gaming!