Many fans of Destiny 2 have noticed that completing quests relating to some of the older exotic catalysts is now unreasonably difficult. This appears to be related to Bungie’s practice of temporarily removing or “vaulting” content from earlier expansions and seasons.
Destiny 2 has always billed itself as combining elements of a first-person shooter with an MMORPG and part and parcel of that experience is having difficult endgame content with rare and exciting rewards. Since Destiny 1 was first released in 2014, collecting iconic exotics like the game-defining Gjallarhorn rocket launcher has been central to the play experience and appeal of the series. Most players, however, would prefer that those rewards come from feats of skill rather than a feat of patience. This is perhaps best exemplified by raid exotics, from the Vault of Glass’ Vex Mythoclast to Root of Nightmare’s Continued Finality. Obtaining these exotic weapons would not only require completing the most difficult PvE content in the game but also an element of luck that the weapon would drop in the first place.
As observed by GamerNumber16 on Reddit, players trying to complete the catalysts for Leviathan’s Breath and the Ruinous Effigy will find themselves needing to either obtain an astonishing 5,000 kills with these weapons, or speed up that process via killing Wrathborn and Eyes of Savathun respectively. However, Eyes of Savathun haven’t been available since the Season of Arrivals in 2020, and the “Wrathborn” found in Mars Battlegrounds inexplicably don’t count for speeding up the progress of Leviathan’s Breath. This leaves players wishing to complete these catalysts with one of Destiny 2‘s longest grinds as their only option.
Destiny 2 is a game that has an impressive lifespan, first released in 2017 the game has received regular updates and five major expansions, and 21 seasons. With 6 years of content in Destiny 2 alone, Bungie has adopted a system where it rotates the content in and out of circulation, with seasonal content often disappearing entirely when the next full expansion is released. This creates a problem where for some older exotics, unlocking the catalyst all but requires access to content that is no longer available. This is what has happened for weapon catalyst quests for the Ruinous Effigy and the Leviathan’s Breath.
Many fans are calling for these long grinds to be addressed by Bungie, as Leelow45 points out, “It’s weird to have some of the catalysts be locked behind a quest AND kills with the weapon, while others, including newly added ones, just require the kills.” Even when exotics were originally obtained through content that has been vaulted, such as the Dead Man’s Tale and the widely praised Presage mission, the weapon was later made obtainable through Xur. Bungie has addressed similar issues before, often by auto-completing quest steps. Many players and aspiring collectors hope that fixes will come for the Leviathan and Ruinous Effigy catalysts and other quests like them.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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