With only a few weeks left for Destiny 2's Season of the Hunt, Guardians have been searching for a means of obtaining duplicates of Hawkmoon, an Exotic Hand Cannon that can roll with random perks.
Bungie has finally delivered a means of target farming this fan-favorite Exotic. Thanks to the "Bird of Prey" quest from the Crow, Guardians can now complete a unique mission to obtain duplicate Hawkmoons. Known as "Harbinger," this mission combines the exhilarating aspects of Zero Hour and the "Let Loose Thy Talons" quest. Here's a complete guide to completing this difficult mission in Destiny 2's Season of the Hunt.
Birds Of A Feather
Obtaining random Hawkmoon rolls will require you to complete the "Harbinger" mission, not to be confused with the title. To unlock this mission, speak to the Crow in the Tangled Shore. He will have a quest in his inventory named "Bird of Prey" that you can claim. Start the quest, then head to the EDZ.
How To Start The Harbinger Mission
Travel to Trostland in the EDZ. When you spawn, head to the two-story building in the bottom right quadrant of Trostland. On the second floor, you will notice a wooden board on a wall that seems out of place.
This is the board in question:
Shooting it will cause the board to react, yet it will be impervious to everything except Hawkmoon. Equip it, then fire at the board to break it open. Crawl into the newfound space to find a panel on the wall. Interact with it to start the mission.
Harbinger: Modifiers
Harbinger is similar to the Whisper of the Worm and Zero Hour missions, one major difference being that Harbinger is not timed. Guardians will need to complete a short jumping section before fighting a gauntlet of minibosses. As with the "Let Loose Thy Talons" quest, the final fight involves defeating a Hive Knight boss near a shard of the Traveler.
Unlike Whisper and Zero Hour, Harbinger has modifiers. Here's what you'll be facing:
- Memory of a Golden Age: Incoming Solar and environmental damage increased.
- Match Game: Enemy shields are highly resistant to all unmatched elemental damage.
- Chaff: Rader is disabled.
- Empath: Enhanced radar. Take increased damage from melee.
- Champions: Unstoppable: Unstoppable Phalanxes will dot the level. Stagger them with an Unstoppable weapon to remove their damage resistance.
Despite having Empath active, Chaff disables your radar entirely. The memory of a Golden Age modifier does not boost your Solar damage output.
As for non-modifier aspects of this mission:
- Recommended Power Level: 1,270
- Faction: Taken
- Shields: Void (Acolytes), Solar (Taken Captains), Arc (Taken Phalanxes)
Harbinger: Recommended Loadout
It is highly recommended to find a fireteam before completing this mission. Every combat encounter has dozens of Taken Goblins, Acolytes, and either Knights or Wizards that deal absurd Solar damage. If you decide to tackle this mission alone, utilize the Protective Light Mod and have a means of healing during gunfights.
Most of the combat arenas in Harbinger lend towards medium engagement ranges. Hand Cannons, Pulse Rifles, and Sniper Rifles work well here. Hawkmoon does not need to be used to beat this mission. Enemy density will pressure players into cover, so it is highly recommended to have a Pathfinder Hunter or a Grace Warlock in your fireteam.
Subclass
- Hunter: Way of the Pathfinder for its smoke bombs and high-damage Super. Solo Hunters don't have any alternatives.
- Warlock: Attunement of Grace to heal mid-fight. Well of Radiance is especially useful for the last two combat encounters. Solo Warlocks can also use Attunement of Chaos with the Contraverse Hold Exotic gloves.
- Titan: Code of the Defender or Siegebreaker for the Ward of Dawn Super and Sunspots, respectively.
Weapons
- Any Void Primary: Acolytes swarm this mission, each equipped with a Void shield. Gnawing Hunger and Reckless Oracle are good options.
- Xenophage: Counters Taken Captains and Vandals during the "Survive" section. With the Wrath of Rasputin Mod, it can also generate Warmind Cells.
- The Long Shadow: Deals great damage from a distance. A roll with Triple Tap and Field Prep is recommended.
Mods
- Concussive Dampener: Makes fire pools and Phalanx projectiles deal 25% less damage. Stack two Concussive Dampeners for 40% damage resistance.
- Shield-Break Charge: An excellent way to earn Charged with Light stacks.
- Protective Light: Grants 50% damage resistance after your shields break. This is a must for solo flawless runs.
- Warmind Cell Mods: Warmind Cells are excellent for the final encounter. We cover the best Warmind Cell Mods here.
Navigating The Dam
Follow the linear path from the broken board. When you reach a narrow hallway, look to your right to find a slit in the wall. It will look like this:
Following that path will take you outside. A Taken Hobgoblin will be perched near a cliff that's near the dam. Take it down, then jump to the rock it was on. Facing the dam, a tree branch should be jutting out of the cliffside directly facing the dam.
Jump to that branch. You will now see the path to the Lake of Shadows Strike. Ignore those platforms. Instead, jump down to the base of the dam—not on the water, that will kill you.
Now that you're on the base of the dam, walk past the first trio of pipes. To the right of the third pipe is a small platform that you can jump onto.
If you can't make the jump, run up the sloped incline before jumping. Once on the platform, look right to find an open metal hatch perpendicular to the dam wall. Instead of jumping on top of the platform, jump under it to find an entryway.
Run through the short sewer to reach the lower floor of the dam. When you jump up from the sewer, turn right to enter the first combat room.
Hunt The Emissaries
Three Taken minibosses must be slain to progress. There is a Taken Wizard, Phalanx, and Captain that must be killed in sequence. Upon entering the room, hang left to fight the Wizard miniboss. A swarm of Taken Goblins will accompany her. Kill the Goblins so she doesn't become invulnerable, then use a Void weapon to strip her shields. Xenophage and other Heavy weapons devastate her health bar.
Whenever a boss reaches half of their health, they will teleport to the floor above you. One of the doors in the room will then be guarded by either a Vandal or Phalanx. That guard denotes the correct room. Kill the guard, destroy the Blight guarding the entryway, then proceed through the corridor to finish the boss off.
Wizard
She will travel directly above where you fought her. Jump up to the nearby metal platform, kill the Vandal, then proceed through the hall. She can be found beside a small band of Taken Goblins. Once dead, travel to the left of the room to find an exit.
Phalanx
The Phalanx will be to the right of where you first fought the Wizard. He will spawn multiple projectiles while Goblins make him invulnerable. As before, take down the Goblins before stripping his Arc shield.
Damaging the Phalanx will cause the door at the other end of the turbine to grow a blight. Destroy the blight and accompanying Phalanx guard. Taken Psions will patrol the second boss room, so be ready to take down a horde of Taken. If you wait to kill the Psions, they will multiply at a rapid pace. Finish the boss and all Taken inside before proceeding. The end of the room loops back to the final miniboss.
Captain
Once again, travel to the right of where you fought the Wizard and Phalanx. This Captain uses Solar Shields and is accompanied by Taken Goblins. Bring the Captain to half health to have him retreat.
Backtrack to the other side of the room, keeping an eye out for a Taken Vandal on a platform overlooking the room. Destroy the door near the Vandal to reveal the path. When you reach the circular room, head to the room on your right to find the Captain.
Before you leave the circular room, head to the top floor to find a feather lying on a box. You will receive three Paracasual Feathers for grabbing it.
With all three minibosses dead, double back to the entrance of this encounter. A waypoint will guide you to the next room. If the waypoint isn't visible, pull out your Ghost. The next encounter will be in a large, circular room similar to the Lake of Shadows final boss room.
Survive
Before you start this encounter, equip a weapon with Unstoppable rounds. There will be three Unstoppable Phalanxes this encounter, two of which will spawn together.
Start the encounter by dropping down to the circular floor in the center of the arena. Two waves of Taken Thralls and Wizards will spawn. A third wave will spawn once these enemies are dead, causing multiple Taken Vandals and an Unstoppable Phalanx to spawn. Immediately take care of the Vandals, using Xenophage or a Sniper Rifle to kill them quickly. Before you kill the Unstoppable Champion, look for a major Phalanx at one end of the room. After defeating the major, kill the Champion.
One more wave will spawn soon after these enemies are dead, this time spawning two Unstoppable Phalanxes and a Taken Captain. Kill every enemy to finish the encounter. Make sure to loot the chest in the center to obtain seven Paracasual Feathers. The exit to this encounter is at the top part of the room.
Reach The Shard
A portal will take you to the Hallowed Rift, the same area that you first found Hawkmoon at. The path to the shard is the same as before; follow the platforms up from the first room to reach the next section. Once there, follow the pipe along a dilapidated wall to reach a linear path.
Four Paracasual Feathers can be found in this area. A box under a metal overhang has a feather you can grab. For clarity, the area looks like this:
Grab it to receive four feathers. From there, follow the path guarded by Taken Hobgoblins to reach the shard. Guarding the entrance will be an Unstoppable Phalanx and a normal Taken Phalanx. Kill both to reach the shard.
Drive Savathun Out
Equip a Void Primary weapon before attempting this final encounter. There are no Unstoppable Champions here, so you can replace your Unstoppable weapon with a Void Primary if need be.
You must defeat the Taken Knight boss to finish this level. He will become invulnerable once it reaches around two-thirds of its total health, spawning a wave of Taken Acolytes in his stead. Use your Heavy weapon or a Sniper Rifle to damage the Knight from a distance. Once it leaves, travel to the back of the room to find cover. Pick off the Acolytes with a Void weapon as fast as possible. The longer the Acolytes stay alive, the more Acolyte Eyes that spawn. Killing enough of them will spawn Taken Knights with Solar shields. Xenophage will make short work of them.
Defeating every Acolyte and Knight will spawn the boss once again. He will disappear once more when he reaches the last third of his health. Taken Goblins will now begin to spawn alongside the Acolytes and Knights. Defeat all of them to spawn the boss one last time. Finish off the last third of its health bar to complete this mission. To receive your randomly-rolled Hawkmoon, open the chest that spawns beside the Traveler Shard. Completing this mission for the first time grants two Hawkmoons and Hawkmoon's Exotic Catalyst.
Should you wish to brave this level again, you can do so by queuing the "Harbinger" mission from the EDZ Director. Note that this mission only grants Hawkmoon on your first completion each week.