Destiny 2 Barrow Dyad Exotic Quest Guide: How To Start It And Get The Catalyst (2025)

By Cheri Faulkner on February 16, 2025 at 7:26AM PST

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Ah, Bungie. Every so often the Destiny 2 developer will surprise Guardians globally by subtly launching a mission or quietly adding secrets to the game. This time around, the Barrow Dyad Exotic mission has been added to the game with the weekly reset, and no prior warning at all.

Luckily, we've figured out how to locate the new Derealize Exotic mission, how to start it, and we have a step-by-step guide on how you can get your hands on the bizarre-looking SMG.

We also have some details regarding unlocking intrinsic perks and the catalyst, as well as if you're stuck on the Dyadic Ascension quest's Step 5, which involves the Moment of Clarity upgrade--in short, you're going to have to wait for now.

Nether Blights

If you've been playing Destiny 2 Episode Heresy already, you'll be familiar with the Nether activity. Formerly, we thought that you'd need to reload it until you spawn at the Trenchway or Hall of Souls, but it seems that you can start the Exotic quest from any landing zone in the Nether; you just might have a bit more of a search on your hands before you can trigger the quest steps. If you don't find the Blight in the described areas in our guide, you will need to close and reload the activity, as it seems to be down to RNG whether it spawns or not.

You'll want to look for a large Taken Blight. Following some hidden platforms, jump up into it, and look for a plate on the floor after you teleport. If you're struggling to find the route, take out your Ghost and the platforms will briefly show.

The Hall of Souls

To find the Blight in the Hall of Souls, run to the center platform where this area's boss usually spawns. Head through the hall with the statues until you're facing the King's Fall raid opening area, known as the Hall of the Statues. Don't cross the bridge; instead, look up and to the right attached to the large pillar. It'll appear like our image above. If it's not there, close and reload the activity.

The Trenchways

The Blight in the Trenchways is the easiest one to find. From the spawn area, head straight towards the Tormentor that's participating in the ritual near the columns. You should be able to see the Blight almost immediately after spawning, again it's up a large pillar with invisible platforms leading the way.

The Mausoleum

From the spawn in the Mausoleum, turn around and jump the platforms to the next level. The Blight will be near the wall. In our experience, this is the Blight that spawns the least often, so we'd probably recommend just reloading the activity if you find yourself in the Mausoleum.

Symbols and Fragments

You'll then see a symbol along with a message appearing on your HUD to the lower left. In our case, it said "Something whispers to the right..." Step off the plate in the same direction that this message tells you to and you'll be teleported out. You'll see a Taken Osseous Fragment in a stone bowl: collect it.

Scotopic Rune

After this, visit the Slab inside Eris's Flat in the Lost City and purchase and activate the Scotopic Rune upgrade. This is a tier three Runic Enhancement. After activating it, you'll be given The Taken Path quest with the next step tasking you with finding something the Hive have hidden in Sorrow's Harbor.

Lost Sector Blights

Head to the K1 Revelation Lost Sector in Sorrow's Harbor. There, you'll see a Blight leading to a plate, similar to the one from the Nether. Again, take note of the symbol, follow its direction, and kill the Taken that spawn before collecting the fragment. Repeat this process in the Forgotten Shore Lost Sector, Veles Labyrinth. The Blight will be in the maze area.

Curse Quests

After completing the two Lost Sectors, return to the Slab in the Last City. This will trigger the start of three "curse" quests--the Curse of Endurance, the Curse of Urgency, and the Curse of Revenge all need to be broken. These are located in the Altars of Sorrow, the Hallowed Grove, and the Nightmare Hunt: Pride respectively. In each area you will find a Taken Relic. Killing enemies will extend the timer that it shows. Once an area opens up allowing you to do so, dunk the Taken Relic.

After doing this, you'll need to head back into the Nether activity again. In each area, similar to the King's Fall raid, there will be a Hive statue that you need to interact with. This will spawn a mini-boss. After defeating it, another Taken Osseous Fragment will be yours to collect. Only after completing all of the steps will you begin the Exotic quest itself, named Derealize.

Derealize Quest

The mission is fairly straight-forward: You'll face off against some Tormentors and other Dread faction enemies while pursuing a commander. Then, when you reach a large arena, you'll repeat some of the steps you needed to unlock the mission and deal with more curses using a Taken Relic. After empowering the curse with the Relic, the mini-boss can be damaged. Repeat the process to take down the boss and enter another phase of seeking out Blights which contain symbols.

Follow the short jumping puzzle and claim the Corrupted Fragment. Follow another, longer jumping puzzle until you eventually find the final boss. Derealize is an extremely lore-heavy quest, so we won't spoil anything here, but pay attention if that's your thing. The Barrow Dyad Exotic is a guaranteed drop when you finish Derealize.

After completing it once, another quest begins which allows you to get intrinsic upgrades for Barrow Dyad. Take note that you need to be at least rank nine at the Slab for this to be achievable. You'll also need to locate and secure more Fragments, but these can easily be found in the Nether activity.

Barrow Dyad Exotic SMG

The Barrow Dyad Exotic SMG is a strange-looking weapon. Shaped like a disc, the weapon has the Panic Response Exotic perk which means it generates Blight as it deals damage. When it's not firing, Blight depletes, and the weapon's magazine is gradually refilled. Reloading it converts stored Blight into Blighted Seekers which track enemies and cause huge amounts of damage.

Barrow Dyad Intrinsic Perks and Catalysts

Barrow Dyad has a number of intrinsic perks and a catalyst, but unlocking them all will be time-gated. Bungie has clarified that when completing the Dyadic Ascension quest--which involves the Moment of Clarity upgrade--Step 5 cannot be completed until Act 2 of Heresy launches in March.

The Dyadic Ascension quest is progressed by furthering your journey along the Path of Resolve, and has seven total steps. After following the guide above and obtaining Barrow Dyad, pick up the Dyadic Ascension quest from the Slab. The quest tasks you with finding more Taken Osseous Fragments in the Nether. There are currently six available in each area. As the quest is currently time-gated, you only need to collect 12 Fragments right now. Due to the fact that there are 18 available, but only 12 required, we recommend only collecting 12 and leaving the rest for later. We did this by choosing two areas and collecting all of the Fragments from those areas, instead of trying to remember where we'd left some behind for later on.

The Hall of Souls Fragment locations

The Taken Fragments can be found in the Hall of Souls at the following locations:

From the Hall of Souls Spawn point, head immediately right and jump on to the platform to find the first Fragment.

From the first Fragment location, jump to the platform opposite, and continue down the left side of the hallway. Continue forward until you find a bridge to the right leading to a higher platform. Underneath that platform, there is a ledge you need to jump to and collect the second Fragment.

From there, jump back towards the bridge and follow the room's left wall from your current perspective. Soon, to your left you'll spot some columns. Jump on to the first one, and then to the platform on the left again to find the third Fragment.

From the third Fragment, jump to the next column and then to the platform on the left. Look down and to the right for another ledge with the fourth Fragment on it.

Find your way back up to the bridge above the platform with the fourth Fragment on it. Head through the passageway to the area that usually opens the King's Fall raid. Keep going through to the central passageway which usually has the King's Fall statues in to find the fifth Fragment in a dark recess on the left side.

From there, continue forward and through the passageways, past the large Blight. Underneath the platform, on the left is the final Fragment in the Hall of Souls.

The Trenchway Fragment locations

The Taken Fragments can be found in the Trenchway at the following locations:

Drop down and to the right from the spawn point. The Fragment is on a ledge to the right of the Taken wall.

Jump back up from that point, and head north-west up the staircase. Continue heading west, and jump up on to a ledge on the wall. Follow those ledges along, and the Taken Fragment is on the fourth ledge.

From there, jump down from the ledge and continue in the same direction. There is a hollowed out structure next to a large white wall. The third Taken Fragment is inside.

Turn back on yourself and head back towards the spawn area. Continue through the narrow, white corridor past the Dread enemies. Jump up on to the ledge that overlooks the crossing area. To your left is the fourth Fragment.

From the fourth Fragment, head across the crossing and to the left. Jump up the wall's structures and head back towards the center. Almost opposite the fourth Fragment is the fifth one, sitting on a triangular jutted-out ledge.

From here, jump down to the regular path, and head towards the left, as far as you can travel. Turn to face the opposite platforms and take out your Ghost to see some hidden platforms. Use these to cross to the other side. Attached to the back of a large, spiked rock formation is the final Fragment in the Trenchway.

The Mausoleum Fragment locations

The Taken Osseous Fragments can be found in the following locations in the Mausoleum:

From the Mausoleum spawn point, turn around and jump up on to the large rock formation. Jump down and to the right to find the first Fragment.

Turn back and follow the rocks back to the spawn point. Jump across the cavern, past the Taken enemies, and underneath the largest central platform. On the right is the second Fragment.

Continue to the larger, green central area. Jump up the structures in the center. The third Fragment is on the tallest structure.

Turn back towards spawn and follow the room to the left side. With the flying Dread enemies to your left, the fourth Fragment is under the large tentacle-like structure.

Continue in the same direction, and follow the rocks along the left side of the arena. With a large gap, on the right is an even bigger rock formation. Roughly in the middle of this is the fifth Fragment.

Continue in the same direction as before, but jump down towards the pools of Taken energy. The final Fragment is hidden on the side of the first big structure you'll see in the center, on its right side. You'll need to hug the wall of the structure to get the prompt to collect it if you can't see it. Due to its coloring, it blends in.

After collecting your 12 Taken Osseous Fragments, you'll receive Panic Response III, and the quest will progress to Step 5, which you cannot complete until Act 2 of Heresy. You'll need a Moment of Clarity upgrade from the Slab which isn't currently available.

In future weeks more quests will be released, including Dyadic Perfection and A Hammer's Path, which need progress along the Path of Ambition, and A Needle's Path, which needs further progress along the Path of Resolve. There's also A Silken Path, which needs Guardians to collect all of the Ravenous Wormspawn, and A Hundredfold Path, which needs you to collect all of the Tithing Wormspawn. This suggests there could be as many as six catalysts for Barrow Dyad. However, we can see from the Barrow Dyad crafting menu that the following intrinsic perks, traits, and their effects can be unlocked when acquiring catalysts:

• High-Impact Reserves Refit - Trait - Rounds at the end of the magazine deal more damage.
• Hatchling Refit - Trait - Precision final blows or rapidly defeating targets with this weapon spawns a Threadling at the target's location.
• One For All Refit - Trait - Hitting three separate targets increases damage for a moderate duration.
• Target Lock Refit - Trait Damage increases the longer this weapon remains on a target.

If you're seeking out some of the other new Destiny 2 Heresy weapons, including Exotics, we have a dedicated guide for that, too.

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