Every now and again, Bungie will add in secret Exotic missions as a surprise for players to discover in Destiny 2. This includes missions for Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected, which are unfortunately not in the game anymore. During Year 4, players got the Presage mission with Dead Man's Tale as the reward at the end.
After a long period of time, a brand-new secret Exotic mission has finally arrived. At the start of week two of Season 20, players noticed something had changed in the Gulch of the EDZ. Here is how players can complete the new Exotic quest called Avalon and claim Vexcalibur for themselves.
How to Start Avalon
Before Destiny 2 players can start Avalon, they will need to gain access to the mission first. Go to the Gulch. Scattered in this area are small Vex cubes that are blue. There are six in total and when one is picked up, a buff with a 30-second timer will appear in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. Having Strand equipped is recommended, as it makes it easier to grab the one that is hovering above the street sign. When a Vex cube is picked up, the timer will go back up to 30 seconds.
Once all six of the Vex cubes have been picked up within the timer, look up in the sky for a Vex visual effect. It is hard to miss. Go toward that to spot a cave entrance. Inside this cave is a non-hostile Harpy with a blue light for an eye. Interact with this Harpy to start a new Exotic Quest called Avalon.
How to Beat Avalon
Just like with many recent Exotic missions, Avalon is a long mission with no checkpoints that will require players to stay on their toes. Bringing a fire team is recommended, as this mission is difficult and tedious when solo. The first step is to go through a platforming section where players will need to follow the river of radiolaria down to find a small crevice that they can walk through. Follow this path and jump down the hole to reach the first encounter of this mission.
Players will enter an area with a rally point, a bunch of constantly respawning Vex, and a terminal in the middle of the platform. Periodically a square, triangle, and diamond appear. Look around the room for a series of symbols. From top to bottom is the order in which players must shoot symbols when they appear. For example, if Destiny 2 players see a string of diamond, diamond, and square, then they must shoot the symbols in that order as they appear. Players will only get to shoot one simple at a time, so don't try to hit two at once.
This will need to be repeated three times to open the path forward. Watch out for the constantly spawning Hobgoblins on the platforms as well. Osteo Striga is very useful for this encounter, as is any kind of weapon that does Void damage. Keep moving forward and shoot symbols as indicated by the patterns hidden throughout the area. Eventually a Wyvern called a Digital Variant Tracker will appear. Kill it and the way forward will open.
How to Beat Data Nullifier
There will be a brief platforming section before the next encounter. For the second encounter, players will not need to worry about shooting symbols. Instead, they will have to kill Vex and quickly gather data fragments that they drop. Data fragments look like little purple triangles similar to Motes in Gambit. Pay attention to how many data fragments are required by looking at the objective on the screen. Once all fragments needed have been gathered, interact with the conflux in the middle of the room to drop into a hole. Stay there until the Deletion Protocol is finished.
Repeat this process until the Hydra teleports in and attacks. A lot of Vex spawn throughout this encounter, so make sure to have a good add clear weapon (or two) equipped. When the Hydra reaches 50% health, players will need to repeat the data fragment gathering process until the Hydra attacks again. Kill it and move on to the next platforming section. It isn't much further until players reach the final encounter of this mission.
How to Beat Brakion
Long time Destiny 2 players may recognize the giant Hobgoblin boss that stands between them and completing this quest. Brakion was once the boss of a Strike called the Pyramidion, which was removed from the game several years ago. Brakion is a long and unforgiving fight, so be prepared. While there are three phases to this encounter, if players die they go all the way back to the first phase.
The first phase is pretty straight forward. Damage Brakion while killing the neverending wave of Vex. Try not to stay in line of sight of Brakion for too long, as his weapon does a lot of damage. Once Brakion reaches 66% health, he will retreat. Go through the portal behind him to begin the second phase.
Phase two is easily the longest and most time-consuming part of the entire mission. Brakion is protected by a giant firewall, and the only way to bring it down is with the code mechanic from the first encounter. Before that however, players will need to kill the Hydra that spawns to make the terminal spawn. Then, look down the triangle platforms on both the far left and right sides of the arena. Below one of these platforms is the series of symbols needed to bring down Brakion's firewall.
Watch out for the Cyclops that spawns to the left and right of Brakion. Trying to ignore them can result in instant death. Before destroying the last symbol in the sequence, try to pick off some of the Harpies. The reason for this is that when the damage phase begins, all the Harpies will move and simultaneously shoot at players. Since the firewall only stays down for 30 seconds, it is best to try and do as much damage as possible and that can be tricky if players have to be constantly dodging the lasers from the Harpies.
Repeat this process until Brakion reaches 33%. He will teleport away once again. Go through the portal that was behind him to begin the final phase. While there are no mechanics or puzzles here, Brakion will relentlessly chase players and there is very little cover. On top of that, Minotaurs will spawn and add more chaos to the arena. Keep dealing with adds while running away from the boss. When it is safe, damage Brakion until he dies.
After the boss dies, claim the object floating in the air nearby the pillar of Radiolaria that is rising up. This will complete the mission and the quest will proceed to the next step. Go to the War Table at the H.E.L.M. to turn in the quest and claim Vexcalibur.
Destiny 2 is available now on Epic Games Store, PS4, PS5, Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
