How to complete the Derealize Exotic mission in Destiny 2

A new Exotic mission is hitting Destiny 2 a bit sooner than most players expected. The Derealize Exotic mission is here, arriving after only a week into Episode: Heresy. But the mission won’t give up its secrets or rewards easily — and opening its doors is a whole other matter.

Destiny 2 has fallen into some comfortable habits, but it’s refreshing to see Episode: Heresy shake some of those up. Exotic missions typically launch toward the end of a Season or Episode, as seen with Encore in Episode: Echo and the Kell’s Fall Exotic mission in Episode: Revenant. 

That’s not the case with Drealize, as players won’t have to wait to jump into the new outing. That said, Guardians must accomplish some steps and prerequisites before the Exotic mission becomes available.

How to unlock the Derealize Exotic mission

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Before players can attempt the Exotic mission for Episode: Heresy, they’ll have to unlock it first. The process is a bit involved, requiring most of the completion of the Quest that unlocks the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG. Guardians must complete several tasks that will send them to the Moon, Earth, and into The Nether.

First and foremost, players must complete Step 14 of the Episode: Heresy narrative Quest: “Act I: Echoed Warnings.” Once at that milestone, players can begin the process to unlock an Exotic Quest called “The Taken Path.” This Quest is the key to earning the Barrow-Dyad and details the steps required to open access to the Derealize Exotic mission.

Into the Dreadnaught

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Immediately after starting the Exotic mission, players will find themselves in front of a group of Dread led by a Subjugator. Moving forward will cause the Subjugator to flee and prompt the Dread enemies to attack. Simultaneously, Taken Blights in the area will turn into large eyes that debuff players with Suffocating Terror. After the first wave of foes is defeated, another wave accompanied by a Tormenter will appear.

After taking out the Tormenter and Dread backup, the Fireteam can advance up the hills ahead, minding the eyeball in the sky. There is another Tormenter awaiting players at the top of the hill, so it’s best to lure it back down to the area players first appeared in. Once that other Tormenter is dealt with, players can fully advance up the hill to encounter a considerable force of Dread.

This is a good place for the Fireteam to use any roaming Supers or other tricks they have up their sleeve. Bolt Charge and Ionic Trace Arc builds can really cut through the crowd here. Once enough Dread fall, a Strand Subjugator will appear as a boss for this opening section. Blast it down with Supers and heavy weapons, and then clean up any lingering forces. A portal will take players forward.

Vrhiisk, Seeker of Power

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The Taken portal players ventured through leads to the Dreadnaught, specifically to that area containing even more portals. The one players are looking for is across the way, leading to the Trenchway. Venturing into the area, Guardians will stumble upon the Taken and Dread fighting each other. Heading into the fight, players can mop up both sides and then press forward.

The first major boss encounter is ahead against Vrhiisk, Seeker of Power. The Stasis Subjugator will throw up a shield almost immediately. Guardians must destroy the Blights littering the battlefield to get the shield down, which requires jumping through a few hoops. First, Vrhiisk will summon six Taken Blight Sentinels that must be dealt with. They typically stay toward the back of the arena but can move around. 

Once the Sentinels are eliminated, Taken Conduit Ogres will start appearing. Once these minibosses go down, they drop a Taken Relic that can be charged by destroying Taken enemies. After enough Taken are fed to the Relic, Guardians will get a notification that it is charged, and the debuff timer at the top of the screen will disappear. The Relic can now be taken to the top of a marked Blight to destroy it. 

Screenshot by Destructoid

After a Blight is destroyed, Guardians will become Torn Between Dimensions, like during the Oryx fight in the King’s Fall Raid. The screen will become black and white, so there’s no mistaking when it happens. Now, players need to collect another Taken Relic and recharge it to similarly destroy it like the previous one. The only difference is that players will use the ethereal platforms littering the arena to reach the higher Blight.

With both Blights destroyed on the left side, the boss will become vulnerable again. Players can lean into it with everything before it raises its shield again at half health. From there, things will play out exactly as they just did for the left Blights but for the right side of the arena. When both right-side Blights are similarly destroyed, the boss will flee, but it’s taking players with it.

Guardians will find themselves in a small, circular arena somewhat reminiscent of the room where the first Taken Osseous Fragment was found. From here, it’s a cage match against Vrhiisk and some Taken cronies. If you still have any Supers or Heavy ammo, now is the time to use it. 

The final Fragment

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Once the boss is defeated, a Hive Rune plate on the wall provides an exit. Or at least it should, but this plate is a bit more complicated to work than the previous ones encountered. Guardians will have to move in the direction indicated by the arrow on the ground in front of the plate after a symbol appears on it. A timer at work also ensures players are shifted to a new area every few seconds, making it easy to enter incorrect inputs.

The movements players will have to do in order are right, up, down, and left, but inputs are only accepted if Guardians are standing on a plate asking for that input. To avoid wrong inputs, which will reset the sequence, players simply remain still on the plate. A timer will shift Guardians to a new area and a new plate every ten seconds, so it’s just a matter of patience.

A short platforming segment will take players high up into the peeling chiton of the Dreadnaught. After a jump to the other side of the massive area, the final Taken Osseous Fragment will be claimed. A nearby Blight is destroyed after grabbing the Fragment, and players can head down into the previously blocked hole in the column of the ship.

Find the artifact

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Following a long drop, Guardians will emerge in an orange-tinged area. Platforming is required to maneuver directly vertically and then in a linear path while avoiding explosions of Taken energy. Eventually, players will arrive in an area with a couple of enemies and several Hive tunnels in the walls. Start with a tunnel opposite the side from which you entered the area and head as far down as possible until a dead end is reached. Exit the tunnels and clear the enemies out of the following structure in the middle.

A shield blocks the actual way ahead, so first, the Fireteam will need to take a quick detour back to the left side but accessed from a tunnel as close to the next shield as possible. At the bottom of the chasm here, a purple Hive crystal is waiting to be broken. Two more crystals are waiting on the other side. One is below one of the lowest accessible platforms by a spike trap, and another is about level with the Hive shield wall halfway down the passage.

Ahead is a bit more platforming through Taken explosions and spike traps, but that’s nothing new at this point. A vast cable will lead players forward, and then Taken Blight balls can be used as platforms to continue venturing upward. A Hive ritual circle stands before an open door at the top of the area, but it can’t be interacted with just yet. Head through the doors for a Rally Flag location and the final encounter.

Xir-Kuur, both Taken and Not-Taken

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Entering the arena, Guardians will find the Barrow-Dyad on a table across the room. As soon as the weapon is collected, the Fireteam will become Torn Between Dimensions. Taken Blights will appear in the arena, but no enemies yet. So, players can take their time eliminating each Blight that spawned. Once that happens, the boss, Xir-Kuur, will appear both as a Taken and Not-Taken variant.

Only one version of the boss will be damageable at a time, and it is always easy to tell. If those giant eyes show up debuffing with Suffocating Terror, players must attack the Not-Taken boss. Alternatively, when players get the Torn Between Dimensions debuff and their screens turn black and white, it’s time to attack Xir-Kuur, Taken. Guardians won’t have to deal with Suffocating Terror while they are Torn, but they will have to destroy three Blights before the debuff is lost and Xir-Kuur, Not-Taken becomes vulnerable.

After going back and forth between the two bosses, the Fireteam will eventually defeat Xir-Kuur, Not-Taken first. When this happens, players will be alerted over comms that they must evacuate the room and activate the Hive ritual circle on the other side of the door. Doing so will seal the remaining boss in the chamber, acting as a prison. So, the remainder of the fight is a desperate attempt to close off the area before the boss can charge through.

When the door seals shut, the encounter and the Exotic mission come to a close. A chest will appear to reward players for their efforts, and The Taken Path Quest will reach its conclusion.

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