Destiny 2: Exotic Mission Rotator Guide and Loot Pool

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I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Ever since Bungie began reintroducing legacy content into Destiny 2, we’ve been getting more and more old stuff back each season. This season we got a new playlist activity which features previously-vaulted Exotic missions and their associated loot. In this article we’ll take a look at that playlist, the Exotic Mission Rotator, so you’ll know exactly what to expect before going into it. Let’s get started with what exactly it is in the first place.

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What is the Exotic Mission Rotator?

The Exotic Mission Rotator is a new playlist that allows you to play old missions. Over the years, many Exotic missions have been vaulted due to one of several reasons, but usually due to their original destination being vaulted as a whole. The Exotic Mission Rotator is Bungie’s way to bring back those missions, without having to make up a lore excuse for why those locations are back. Instead, these missions join other legacy content that has been brought back, but which remains lore-irrelevant. The Prophecy dungeon and Vault of Glass and King’s Fall raids are the other options in that tab, and it’s nice to see them joined by three new missions.

Simply put, the Exotic Mission Rotator allows you to play a specific Exotic mission each week. Each mission has its own loot pool and unique goals, so be sure to know ahead of time which you’re loading into.

What is the Exotic Mission Rotator Schedule?

Each week, only one of the three Exotic missions will be available. We know that the first week (the week this is being published), the featured mission is Presage. The other two missions will follow in the next two weeks, and they will probably continue rotating in their original order throughout the rest of this season. Once we know the full schedule, we’ll let you know. But for now, here’s a temporary schedule:

Exotic Mission Rotator Schedule (updating as we find out):

• August 22-29: Presage (Dead Man’s Tale)
• August 29 – September 5: TBA (either Vox Obscura or Operation: Seraph’s Shield)
• September 5-12: TBA (whichever hasn’t already been featured)
• Expect the schedule to continue this rotation for the rest of the season.

What Weapons are Available in the Exotic Mission Rotator?

Each of the three returning Exotic missions has their own set of loot. In addition to the Exotic originally connected to the quest, you can also find old seasonal weapons from them as well. Here are the loot pools for all three Exotic missions in the Exotic Mission Rotator!

Presage Weapons Loot

• Dead Man’s Tale (Exotic Scout Rifle)
• Season of the Haunted weapons
  • Tears of Contrition (Kinetic Scout Rifle)
  • Nezarec’s Whisper (Arc Glaive)
  • Hollow Denial (Void Trace Rifle)
  • Bump in the Night (Stasis Rocket Launcher)
  • Without Remorse (Solar Shotgun)
  • Firefight (Kinetic Auto Rifle)
• Season of the Haunted Opulent weapons
  • Austringer (Kinetic Hand Cannon)
  • Drang (Baroque) (Solar Sidearm)
  • Beloved (Solar Sniper Rifle)
  • CALUS Mini-Tool (Solar SMG)

Vox Obscura Weapons Loot

• Dead Messenger (Exotic Grenade Launcher)
• Season of the Risen weapons
  • Explosive Personality (Solar Grenade Launcher)
  • Recurrent Impact (Stasis Machine Gun)
  • Sweet Sorrow (Arc Auto Rifle)
  • Thoughtless (Stasis Sniper Rifle)
  • Piece of Mind (Kinetic Pulse Rifle)
  • Under Your Skin (Void Bow)

Operation: Seraph’s Shield Weapons Loot

• Revision Zero (Exotic Pulse Rifle)
• Season of the Seraph weapons
  • Disparity (Stasis Pulse Rifle)
  • Tripwire Canary (Arc Bow)
  • Judgment of Kelgorath (Solar Glaive)
  • Path of Least Resistance (Arc Trace Rifle)
  • Fire and Forget (Stasis Linear Fusion Rifle)
  • Retrofit Escapade (Void Machine Gun)
• IKELOS weapons
  • IKELOS_HC_v.1.0.3 (Void Hand Cannon)
  • IKELOS_SG_v1.0.3 (Solar Shotgun)
  • IKELOS_SR_v.1.0.3 (Solar Sniper Rifle)
  • IKELOS_SMG_v.1.0.3 (Arc SMG)

Best Weapons from the Exotic Mission Rotator

While all the weapons available from these missions might be worth checking out, there are some that stick out far above the rest. Here are our recommendations for the best weapons to farm from the Exotic Mission Rotator! (Not including the Exotics, because obviously those are all worth getting.)

Presage – Best Weapons to Farm

Presage gives us access to many of the Season of the Haunted weapons, which is great since they were some of the best in recent years. The seasonal activity from that season had a lot of good weapons to offer, but Hollow Denial and Nezarec’s Whisper have stood the test of time the best. There aren’t a ton of Void Trace Rifles or Arc Glaives, so both weapons have a clear reason for someone to use them. 

From the Opulent weapons pool, really all four are worth farming. Each of the Opulent weapons is a stand-out pick in either PVE or PVP. Austringer, Drang (Baroque), and Beloved are all S- or A-tier PVP weapons, and the CALUS Mini-Tool is arguably the best Solar SMG in the game.

Vox Obscura – Best Weapons to Farm

From the pool of Season of the Risen weapons, Under Your Skin is the best for high-end content. Its perk combo of Explosive Head and Archer’s Tempo is perfect for chipping away at powerful enemies in everything from Grandmaster strikes to Gambit matches. Unfortunately, none of the other weapons really stand out much. They’re all fine and perfectly usable, but they don’t contest Under Your Skin.

Operation: Seraph’s Shield – Best Weapons to Farm

This mission has a lot to offer if you want a lot of stuff to farm. The Season of the Seraph seasonal weapons are all pretty good, and Disparity, Path of Least Resistance, and Retrofit Escapade all have a claim to being best. Disparity is just a generally strong Stasis weapon with the Desperado / Rapid Hit god roll, Path to Least Resistance gets Voltshot, and Retrofit is just a monster. With Target Lock and Fourth Time’s the Charm, it’s a near-unstoppable machine gun.

Then there’s the IKELOS weapons, which were also reintroduced in Season of the Seraph. The IKELOS SMG is really the only one worth farming and using a lot, but it easily carries the group. For Arc builds, the IKELOS_SMG_v.1.0.3 is often the best overall weapon you can use.

What Armor Sets are Available from Each Exotic Mission?

There’s tons of loot up for grabs in these returning Exotic missions, including old seasonal armor sets. Here’s the armor loot table for all three missions!

• Presage: Eidolon Pursuant set
• Vox Obscura: Tusked Allegiance set
• Operation: Seraph’s Shield: Warmind’s Avatar set

Which Expansions are Required for the Exotic Mission Rotator

Unfortunately, you will need to own some expansions to access the Exotic Mission Rotator. Each Exotic mission will require you to own the expansion they were originally tied to. Here’s the list of which expansions will be required for each mission.

• Presage: Beyond Light
• Vox Obscura: The Witch Queen
• Operation: Seraph’s Shield: The Witch Queen

Join the High Ground

Thanks for checking out this article on the new Exotic Mission Rotator! It’s great having so many weapons back in a farmable form, so make sure to grab all the loot you want each week so you don’t have to wait on it to rotate back around. Good luck farming, and as always, make sure to keep the high ground!