The Best Dungeons & Quests in Destiny 2
Destiny gets its fair share of slack, sometimes deservedly but mostly unjustified I find. The userbase is, ummm, "passionate" and occasionally they take the game for granted.
Bungie's Destiny universe has been in a pretty good place for a while now, and the type of endgame content that keeps it fresh and exciting - aside from raids - has been the incredible work put into dungeons and quests. Bonus points for the hidden ones!
Let's take a look at some of the most memorable content in Destiny 2.
Pit of Heresy - Dungeon
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Released during the Shadowkeep expansion, Pit of Heresy has you back on the Moon spelunking your way through the vast Hive caves. In terms of difficulty this slots below Shattered Throne, more than likely due to your character having a higher power level going in, compared to the harder hitting Taken in the Shattered Throne. The dungeon has some Alak-Hul vibes from the great Sunless Cell mission of D1.
Highlight: Running for your life with two unstoppable Orges behind you.
Zero Hour - Exotic Quest
![This is the last thing you see before you die]()
This exotic quest rewarded you with D1's fan-favourite gun Outbreak Prime, this time under the name Outbreak Perfected (and with a sweet catalyst, too!) You kick off finding this mission by scanning a device on The Rig on Titan. From there you run a few Lost Sectors, and finally visit The Farm to start the quest.
The actual quest has you going back to the ruins of the Tower from the first game, chasing down the boss, Siriks, who has stolen the gun from a vault. This is a timed mission, so efficiency is key, particularly at the boss fight. A proper load-out will make or break your run. This was a great quest for a few reasons, such as the nostalgia of revisiting the Tower (albeit in its ruinous state) as well as reacquiring a fun weapon from the original game. The rewards you receive for completing these missions should be just as important as the quality of the missions themselves. Sadly, Titan was one of Bungie's vaulted planets, which means this mission is no longer available to run.
Highlight: Running for your life (again), this time when you encounter TR3-VR (aka Trevor)
The Shattered Throne - Dungeon
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Ah yes, The Shattered Throne. It's probably the closest to a raid, or even a raid lair in terms of scope and (at the time) difficulty. Available every third week in The Dreaming City when the corruption is at its strongest, you make your way below the Blind Well to find the portal entrance to The Shattered Throne. The Taken enemies are pretty difficult with Taken Psions that enjoy multiplying, and the Taken Captains with their bubbles and sniper shots.
The atmosphere is dark and heavy, the encounters are perfectly balanced, and the platforming is top-notch. Some players complain about platforming in an FPS game like Destiny, but if you just want to shoot things there's always Call of Duty waiting. Platforming is a part of Destiny, and the Shattered Throne is a great example.
Highlight: The final boss battle. The hive wizard herself is the easy part. Trying to damage her while 3 giant Hive Knights stalk you within a fairly limited space is the challenge.
Presage - Exotic Quest
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The most recent quest in Destiny 2 is also one of its best. Your mission is to investigate an abandoned ship, with the possibility of finding a captured Guardian. The reward is a very good scout rifle, but the journey to get there is even better.
What sets this apart from other quests is its very non-linear path. You must explore the ship through cracks and crevices, platforming, and light puzzle work. There really never is a distinct marker telling you where to go, and for that we applaud Bungie for respecting the player. To top everything off, the game has a light Dead Space vibe to it that was a pleasure to experience. The quest should have been a little longer, and the boss battle a little tougher, but these are nitpicks more than anything. Looking forward to the next one Bungie has up their sleeve.
Highlight: 2 words. Trash. Compactor.
Prophecy - Dungeon
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The Prophecy dungeon is what happens when the art department is given free rein. Heavy on the retro/outrun vibes, Prophecy is both eye candy and a challenge. With this being a dungeon you are not under a timer, and therefore are able to slow your pace to absorb your surroundings.
Another high water mark in dungeon level design.
Highlight: Sparrow Ribbon Race! (as seen in the image above)
The Whisper - Exotic Quest
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While I try not to rank this list, it's tough to argue Whisper of the Worm as pinnacle content Bungie has put out to date.
Let's start with how very hidden this quest was to find. You would have to engage in a Public Event on Io, and during the public event you had to spot a hiding Taken Knight in one of 2 spots near the Public Event and chase and destroy him before he escapes. Doing so opens a portal to start the mission.
Let's talk about the reward. Destiny 1 players will remember the legendary exotic sniper rifle Black Spindle. Upon completion of this quest you are rewarded with the new version of the Black Spindle called Whisper of the Worm. Its perk is "White Nail," giving you higher precision damage. Rapidly landing three precision hits will refill the magazine. Essentially unlimited ammo should all your shots hit the mark. On top of the that, its catalyst "Whispered Breathing" made this the DPS champion for a time. Hardscoping without firing for a brief moment granted bonus range and damage output.
Let's talk about the level design. Anyone who does not enjoy platforming need not apply. This took many runs to master yet never frustrating. Every misstep corrected on the next attempt until the inevitable flawless run. Very low tolerance for mistakes meant your movement had to be near-perfect, but the level design was so well-done that it was never a chore. In addition, the quest was under a timer, which meant you had 20 minutes to traverse through the dungeon and defeat the 3 bosses at the end. The final encounter is a hectic, flurry mess of bullets, revives, and Axion Darts. The soundtrack is also great, with "They Grow Louder" and "Echoes" as the stand-outs.
The planet Io was also a casualty of Bungie's content vault, meaning - like Zero Hour - it is no longer available to run. At lest there's YouTube, for those of you who did not experience it at the time. Here is fan-favourite power user Esoterickk soloing it without firing his gun.
(Warlock + Sunbracers FTW)
".....You Shall Drift. There is no Light here. You shall drown in the deep....."
Bungie's Destiny universe has been in a pretty good place for a while now, and the type of endgame content that keeps it fresh and exciting - aside from raids - has been the incredible work put into dungeons and quests. Bonus points for the hidden ones!
Let's take a look at some of the most memorable content in Destiny 2.
Pit of Heresy - Dungeon
Released during the Shadowkeep expansion, Pit of Heresy has you back on the Moon spelunking your way through the vast Hive caves. In terms of difficulty this slots below Shattered Throne, more than likely due to your character having a higher power level going in, compared to the harder hitting Taken in the Shattered Throne. The dungeon has some Alak-Hul vibes from the great Sunless Cell mission of D1.
Highlight: Running for your life with two unstoppable Orges behind you.
Zero Hour - Exotic Quest
This exotic quest rewarded you with D1's fan-favourite gun Outbreak Prime, this time under the name Outbreak Perfected (and with a sweet catalyst, too!) You kick off finding this mission by scanning a device on The Rig on Titan. From there you run a few Lost Sectors, and finally visit The Farm to start the quest.
The actual quest has you going back to the ruins of the Tower from the first game, chasing down the boss, Siriks, who has stolen the gun from a vault. This is a timed mission, so efficiency is key, particularly at the boss fight. A proper load-out will make or break your run. This was a great quest for a few reasons, such as the nostalgia of revisiting the Tower (albeit in its ruinous state) as well as reacquiring a fun weapon from the original game. The rewards you receive for completing these missions should be just as important as the quality of the missions themselves. Sadly, Titan was one of Bungie's vaulted planets, which means this mission is no longer available to run.
Highlight: Running for your life (again), this time when you encounter TR3-VR (aka Trevor)
The Shattered Throne - Dungeon
Ah yes, The Shattered Throne. It's probably the closest to a raid, or even a raid lair in terms of scope and (at the time) difficulty. Available every third week in The Dreaming City when the corruption is at its strongest, you make your way below the Blind Well to find the portal entrance to The Shattered Throne. The Taken enemies are pretty difficult with Taken Psions that enjoy multiplying, and the Taken Captains with their bubbles and sniper shots.
The atmosphere is dark and heavy, the encounters are perfectly balanced, and the platforming is top-notch. Some players complain about platforming in an FPS game like Destiny, but if you just want to shoot things there's always Call of Duty waiting. Platforming is a part of Destiny, and the Shattered Throne is a great example.
Highlight: The final boss battle. The hive wizard herself is the easy part. Trying to damage her while 3 giant Hive Knights stalk you within a fairly limited space is the challenge.
Presage - Exotic Quest
The most recent quest in Destiny 2 is also one of its best. Your mission is to investigate an abandoned ship, with the possibility of finding a captured Guardian. The reward is a very good scout rifle, but the journey to get there is even better.
What sets this apart from other quests is its very non-linear path. You must explore the ship through cracks and crevices, platforming, and light puzzle work. There really never is a distinct marker telling you where to go, and for that we applaud Bungie for respecting the player. To top everything off, the game has a light Dead Space vibe to it that was a pleasure to experience. The quest should have been a little longer, and the boss battle a little tougher, but these are nitpicks more than anything. Looking forward to the next one Bungie has up their sleeve.
Highlight: 2 words. Trash. Compactor.
Prophecy - Dungeon
The Prophecy dungeon is what happens when the art department is given free rein. Heavy on the retro/outrun vibes, Prophecy is both eye candy and a challenge. With this being a dungeon you are not under a timer, and therefore are able to slow your pace to absorb your surroundings.
Another high water mark in dungeon level design.
Highlight: Sparrow Ribbon Race! (as seen in the image above)
The Whisper - Exotic Quest
While I try not to rank this list, it's tough to argue Whisper of the Worm as pinnacle content Bungie has put out to date.
Let's start with how very hidden this quest was to find. You would have to engage in a Public Event on Io, and during the public event you had to spot a hiding Taken Knight in one of 2 spots near the Public Event and chase and destroy him before he escapes. Doing so opens a portal to start the mission.
Let's talk about the reward. Destiny 1 players will remember the legendary exotic sniper rifle Black Spindle. Upon completion of this quest you are rewarded with the new version of the Black Spindle called Whisper of the Worm. Its perk is "White Nail," giving you higher precision damage. Rapidly landing three precision hits will refill the magazine. Essentially unlimited ammo should all your shots hit the mark. On top of the that, its catalyst "Whispered Breathing" made this the DPS champion for a time. Hardscoping without firing for a brief moment granted bonus range and damage output.
Let's talk about the level design. Anyone who does not enjoy platforming need not apply. This took many runs to master yet never frustrating. Every misstep corrected on the next attempt until the inevitable flawless run. Very low tolerance for mistakes meant your movement had to be near-perfect, but the level design was so well-done that it was never a chore. In addition, the quest was under a timer, which meant you had 20 minutes to traverse through the dungeon and defeat the 3 bosses at the end. The final encounter is a hectic, flurry mess of bullets, revives, and Axion Darts. The soundtrack is also great, with "They Grow Louder" and "Echoes" as the stand-outs.
The planet Io was also a casualty of Bungie's content vault, meaning - like Zero Hour - it is no longer available to run. At lest there's YouTube, for those of you who did not experience it at the time. Here is fan-favourite power user Esoterickk soloing it without firing his gun.
(Warlock + Sunbracers FTW)
".....You Shall Drift. There is no Light here. You shall drown in the deep....."
