Destiny 2 How to Get Exotic Engrams

Being some of the most sought-after items in the game, it’s only natural that chasing Exotics is an important part of the Destiny experience.

There are several ways to acquire Exotics in Destiny 2. Some are locked behind specific activities, such as Raids or specific quests, but most Exotics can be earned through Exotic engrams.

Exotic Engrams in Destiny 2

Exotic engrams are rare items you can earn after completing an activity and can then decrypt into an Exotic weapon or armor piece. Be aware that some Exotic engrams can be used for Exotic armor Focusing.

Exotic engrams are not entirely random. They feature a “bad luck” protection system that prioritizes items you haven’t earned before. This is how it works:

1. Exotic engrams will automatically decrypt into an Exotic weapon or armor you have never earned before
2. If you have already found every Exotic in the loot pool, Exotic Engrams will decrypt into a random Exotic armor piece with a random roll

By chasing Exotic engrams, you will eventually find the specific Exotic you want. If you’re looking for, say, Trinity Ghoul, each Exotic engram you find will bring you closer to finding it.

Exotic Engrams, Destiny 2

Exotic Engram rewards: Weapons

These are all the Exotic weapons you can acquire through Exotic engrams:

Exotic Engrams: Weapons

Art	Name	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	Black Talon	Sword	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Void	D › Worst	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Heavy	No
	Borealis	Sniper Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Void	D › Worst	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No
	Cerberus+1	Auto Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Kinetic	No
	Coldheart	Trace Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Arc	B › Average	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No
	Crimson	Hand Cannon	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	B › Average	PvP	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 2	Kinetic	No
	D.A.R.C.I.	Sniper Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Heavy	No
	Fighting Lion	Grenade Launcher	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Void	B › Average	PvP	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No
	Graviton Lance	Pulse Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Void	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No	Top-tier
	Hard Light	Auto Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Void	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No
	Lord of Wolves	Shotgun	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Solar	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Energy	No	Top-tier
	Merciless	Fusion Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Solar	A › Strong	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No	Top-tier
	Monte Carlo	Auto Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Shadowkeep Pack	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	B › Average	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Shadowkeep Pack	Season 8	Kinetic	No
	Prometheus Lens	Trace Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Solar	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 2	Energy	No
	Skyburner's Oath	Scout Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Solar	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No
	Sunshot	Hand Cannon	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Solar	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Energy	No	Top-tier
	SUROS Regime	Auto Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	B › Average	PvP	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 3	Kinetic	No
	Telesto	Fusion Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Void	B › Average	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 2	Energy	No
	The Colony	Grenade Launcher	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Void	D › Worst	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 2	Heavy	No
	The Huckleberry	Submachine Gun	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	B › Average	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 3	Kinetic	No
	The Jade Rabbit	Scout Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 2	Kinetic	No
	The Prospector	Grenade Launcher	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	D › Worst	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Heavy	No
	The Queenbreaker	Linear Fusion Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Heavy	No	Top-tier
	The Wardcliff Coil	Rocket Launcher	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	D › Worst	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Heavy	No
	Thunderlord	Machine Gun	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Arc	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Heavy	Arc	B › Average	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Heavy	No
	Tractor Cannon	Shotgun	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Void	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Heavy	No	Top-tier
	Trinity Ghoul	Combat Bow	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Arc	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Primary	Arc	S › Best	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Energy	No	Top-tier
	Two-Tailed Fox	Rocket Launcher	Exotic	Exotic	Heavy	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Void	C › Weak	-	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Heavy	No
	Vigilance Wing	Pulse Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Primary	Kinetic	Free-to-Play	Yes	Primary	Kinetic	D › Worst	PvP	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 1	Kinetic	No
	Wavesplitter	Trace Rifle	Exotic	Exotic	Special	Void	Free-to-Play	Yes	Special	Void	B › Average	PvE	Exotic Engram	No	Free-to-Play	Season 4	Energy	No

If you didn’t find a specific Exotic on this list, it is because it’s not part of the Exotic engrams loot pool and requires another acquisition method.

Exotic Engram rewards: Armor

These days, you can go to Master Rahool and focus your Exotic engrams into specific Exotic armor pieces. We cover how Exotic focusing works here.

Exotic Engram Decoding, Destiny 2

How to get Exotic Engrams: Farming Methods

There are several ways to obtain Exotic engrams in Destiny 2:

1. Claiming Exotic engrams from the Season Pass

The easier Exotics engrams available to you can be found in the Season Pass. Both the Paid and Free tracks of the Season Pass offer a handful of Exotic engrams. All you need do is earn the XP to unlock them before the season is over. There are 8 Exotic engrams in total, including both free and paid tracks.

2. Vendor rank resets

Ever since Bungie reworked the different Vendors in the Tower, they have now become a consistent, albeit grindy, method to acquire Exotic engrams. Gambit and Vanguard ranks are notoriously long and tiring to earn, but Crucible and Trials of Osiris are much faster to complete, especially when Bonus ranks weeks are active.

3. Farming Nightfall: The Ordeals

Technically, Exotic engrams randomly drop whenever you play the game, no matter the activity. That said, some activities do offer much higher chances to earn Exotics, namely Nightfall: The Ordeals. The higher the difficulty, the higher the chances to earn Exotics.

4. Visit Xûr every Friday

Finally, every weekend, Xûr offers 1 Exotic engram, 1 weapon, and 3 armor pieces (one per class). These are all from the Exotic Engram loot pool, and visiting Xûr every weekend will help you complete the collection significantly faster.

Your turn

Do you have any other good methods to farm Exotic engrams? Let us know in the comments!