Destiny 2: How to Unlock Weapon Patterns

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Penned by Brett Moss

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 Ashley Johnson

It can be hard to get a weapon with good stat rolls in Destiny 2. Thankfully, The Witch Queen expansion brought weapon crafting to the table, allowing you to pick the perks your weapons get. No more relying on RNG! Before you can craft, however, you’ll need to unlock weapon patterns. In today’s article, we’ll cover how to unlock weapon patterns in Destiny 2. We’ll also include tips on where to get them and how to mastercraft your weapons after you’ve made them.

Let’s get started!

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What Are Weapon Patterns?

Weapon patterns are the base requirement to unlocking crafting a weapon in Destiny 2. If you want to craft a weapon, you’ll first need to extract its pattern. To get started with this, just go through the main questline for The Witch Queen.

Eventually, you’ll receive a version of your desired weapon that has a red border around it. This means the weapon is either craftable or will give crafting materials upon use. Not all red border weapons are craftable, so it’s good to check by hovering over the weapon in your menu. Ones that can be crafted will helpfully say, “A pattern can be extracted.” If not, it will say, “A pattern cannot be extracted.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done from here. Nearly every weapon in Destiny 2 will require five patterns to craft, meaning you’ll need to get five red border versions. To check how much progress you’ve made toward unlocking a craftable weapon, check the Patterns & Catalysts category under the “Triumphs” section of your menu.

Getting Started with Weapon Crafting

We’ve already published a guide that explains how weapon crafting works in-depth, so we’ll keep it brief this time. Every weapon you want to craft requires you to unlock its pattern, then collect enough crafting materials. More information on all of that can be found in the guide linked above.

How to Unlock Weapon Patterns

As we mentioned above, you’ll gain the ability extract weapon patterns by going through The Witch Queen‘s main storyline. If you want more details, here’s a brief list of all the starter quests that ultimately lead to unlocking weapon patterns in Destiny 2:

• “Foundry Resonance”
• “The Shaping: Extraction”
• “Reshaping the Enigma”
• “Foundry Shaping”

These quests are designed with the intention of teaching players how to craft weapons, so we highly recommend starting there if you aren’t familiar with the process yet. These quests all also give some patterns, either as a reward or during the quests themselves.

Where to Get All Weapon Patterns in Destiny 2

In this section, we’ll list every weapon that can currently be crafted (as of Season 19) and tell you where you can farm their patterns in Destiny 2.

We’ll keep the descriptions here brief and only state the general methods of unlocking each pattern. There might be some extra methods not listed here, but these are the best ways to unlock each weapon pattern.

Auto Rifles

• Come to Pass: The Wellspring: Attack (when Golmag is the boss)
• Sweet Sorrow: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Firefight: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Ammit AR2: “Foundry Resonance” quest

Bows

• Fel Taradiddle: The Wellspring: Attack (when Bor’gong is the boss)
• Under Your Skin: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Tripwire Canary: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Hand Cannons

• Austringer: Opulent Chests on the Derelict Leviathan and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Zaouli’s Bane: King’s Fall raid
• Posterity: Deep Stone Crypt raid
• IKELOS_HC_v1.0.3: Resonance Stem locations and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Pulse Rifles

• Insidious: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Piece of Mind: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Syncopation-53: “The Shaping: Extraction:” quest
• BxR-55 Battler: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard
• Smite of Merain: King’s Fall raid
• Revision Zero: “The Hidden Shape” quest
• Disparity: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Scout Rifles

• Pointed Inquiry: Throne World activities
• Tears of Contrition: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Doom of Chelchis: King’s Fall raid
• Tarnished Mettle: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.
• Trustee: Deep Stone Crypt raid

Sidearms

• Empirical Evidence: Throne World activities
• Drang (Baroque): Opulent Chests on the Derelict Leviathan and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Brigand’s Law: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.

Submachine Guns

• Osteo Striga: Completing the Witch Queen campaign
• Submission: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Forensic Nightmare: Throne World activities
• CALUS Mini-Tool: Opulent Chests on the Derelict Leviathan and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Blood Feud: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.
• IKELOS_SMG_v.1.0.3: Resonance Stem locations and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Fusion Rifles

• Deliverance: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Likely Suspect: Throne World activities
• The Epicurean: Duality dungeon
• Midha’s Reckoning: King’s Fall raid

Glaives

• Edge of Concurrence/Action/Intent: Completing quests at the Evidence Board at the Enclave
• The Enigma: “Reshaping the Enigma” quest
• Lubrae’s Ruin: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Nezarec’s Whisper: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Judgment of Kelgorath: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Grenade Launchers

• Forbarance: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Explosive Personality: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Pardon Our Dust: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard

Shotguns

• Ragnhild-D: “Reshaping the Enigma” quest
• Without Remorse: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Wastelander M5: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard
• No Reprieve: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.
• Heritage: Deep Stone Crypt raid
• IKELOS_SG_v1.0.3: Resonance Stem locations and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Sniper Rifles

• Father’s Sins: The Wellspring: Defend (when Zeerik is the boss)
• Thoughtless: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Beloved: Opulent Chests on the Derelict Leviathan and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Defiance of Yasmin: King’s Fall raid
• Succession: Deep Stone Crypt raid
• IKELOS_SR_v1.0.3: Resonance Stem locations and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Trace Rifles

• Hollow Denial: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.
• Retraced Path: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard
• Path of Least Resistance: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Heavy Grenade Launchers

• Tarnation: The Wellspring: Defend (when Vezuul is the boss)

Linear Fusion Rifles

• Cataclysmic: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Taipan-4fr: “Foundry Shaping” quest
• Sailspy Pitchglass: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.
• Fire and Forget: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Machine Guns

• Recurrent Impact: PsiOps Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the War Table at the H.E.L.M.
• Fixed Odds: Duality dungeon
• Qullim’s Terminus: King’s Fall raid
• Planck’s Stride: Ketchcrash and engram focusing at the Star Chart at the H.E.L.M.
• Commemoration: Deep Stone Crypt raid
• Retrofit Escapade: Heist Battlegrounds and engram focusing at the Exo Frame at the H.E.L.M.

Rocket Launchers

• Red Herring: Throne World activities
• Palmyra-B: “Reshaping the Enigma” quest
• Bump in the Night: Nightmare Containment and engram focusing at the Crown of Sorrow at the H.E.L.M.

Swords

• Half-Truths: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard
• The Other Half: Dares of Eternity and unlocking the chest at Xur’s Treasure Hoard
• Bequest: Deep Stone Crypt raid

How to Masterwork Crafted Weapons

Before we end our guide, we want to cover how to masterwork your weapon in Destiny 2. It’d be a pity to unlock all those weapon patterns and not get the full mileage out of them!

Masterworking a crafted weapon is pretty simple, but it isn’t explained well in-game. All you have to do is put two enhanced perks on the weapon (each will required 1 Ascendant Alloy) and equip one of the frames that gives a stat boost. The frame is located on the left side on the shaping menu, and the perks are in the middle. A memento is not required to Masterwork a crafted weapon.

Once you have your crafted weapon masterworked, there’s not much else to do other than use it! By this point, you’ll hopefully have the perks you want, so there’s no more grinding to do unless you want to get a memento or level the weapon up further. Most weapons will not require more than Level 18 for any of their perks, so that’s about the level you should shoot for before returning to the Enclave.

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