Destiny 2 The Navigator + Catalyst: How to get them

by | May 14, 2025

The Navigator Exotic Trace rifle can drop after defeating the Ghost of the Deep final boss*. This Navigator is not only the first Strand Trace rifle to come out, it’s also one of the most powerful Dungeon exotics in Destiny 2. Today, we cover how powerful this Exotic is and tell you exactly how to get both Exotic weapon and catalyst.

*As part of Rite of the Nine, you can currently acquire The Navigator by completing a simple and easy quest! More on that below.

How to get The Navigator Exotic

The Navigator is one of the rewards you can choose from upon completion of the Ritual Initiation quest. This quest is extremely easy to complete, as it only requires a dungeon clear, no matter the difficulty (including the easiest Explorer mode!).

But Rite of the Nine is a limited-time event with rotation dungeons, which means you only have a couple of weeks to complete Ritual Initiation and claim your reward!

How to get Hierarchy of Needs screen Destiny 2

How to get The Navigator (Rite of the Nine), Destiny 2

Outside of Rite of the Nine, The Navigator can only drop from the Ghost of the Deep’s final boss. Considering that dungeons are relatively short and easier to organize than raids, you shouldn’t have too much trouble organizing this every week. You can find the entire Ghost of the Deep loot table here.

How to get The Navigator Catalyst

To acquire The Navigator Catalyst, you’ll need to find and activate three Hive Statues and then defeat the Lightbear Hives that we’ll spawn to protect them. This excellent video guide from Kimber Prime covers in detail how to acquire it. The Catalyst grants the following Exotic Trait:

  • Gordian Knot: Special reload and then fire to create a Grapple Tangle at the targeted point.

Once acquired, you’ll need 700 weapon kills to unlock it. Using typical farming methods, such as Shuro Chi or the opening section of Grasp of Avarice, will speed things along.

The Navigator drop rate

The Navigator is estimated to have a base drop rate of around 5%, based on community-driven data. Note that actual drop rates are unknown, as Bungie has never shared that information. Albeit drop rates for Raid and Dungeon exotics are abysmally low, completing Triumphs will increase dungeon exotic drop rates. In this case:

Triumph Rate Boost
Lore Collectibles Triumph (In Memoriam) +1
Master Mode Completion (Sovereign) +1
Full Flawless Clear (Deny Death) +1
Full Solo Clear (Alone in the Deep) +1
Full Solo Flawless Clear (King of the Deep) +2

Can you farm The Navigator?

You can absolutely farm The Navigator, but only when the Ghost of Deep dungeon is the weekly featured dungeonThis is the case for all dungeon Exotics, except for the latest released dungeon, which is not part of the weekly rotation. 

By the way, whenever Ghost of the Deep is the featured dungeon, you can also farm all of its Legendary weapons and armor at will, too.

The Navigator Exotic perks screen Destiny 2

The Navigator Exotic, Destiny 2

How good is The Navigator Dungeon Exotic?

The Navigator features unique Exotic traits that set it apart:

  • Protective Weave: Firing this weapon at an ally grants Woven Mail to the user and the target.
  • Weft Cutter: Dealing sustained damage severs the target.

The Navigator is a rather niche option. While it can serve as a supportive weapon by granting Woven Mail to allies and creating grapple points for very high niche DPS combos, it’s hard to say this weapon is genuinely strong. Overall, we consider The Navigator to be B-Tier.

B-tier for PvE B-tier for PvP 

Before you go…

Are you looking for other top-tier Exotics worth chasing? We cover How to get Buried Bloodline + Catalyst here. If you’re interested in other weapons from Ghost of the Deep, we cover the top Cold Comfort God Rolls here.

About The Author

Ric Molina
Ric Molina
I've been covering gaming since 2012, and some of my work has been featured by large brands, including MSN.com, Forbes, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. I've been obsessed with Destiny 2 (and now Diablo 4) for years now, and I hope to provide new and returning players with the guides and resources I wish I had when I first started.
More from Ric Molina
4 Comments
  1. huxley?

    I think you forgot to clean up your copy-paste job, you left the bit about conditional finality and Root in your article

    Reply
    • Ric Molina

      Fair comment and fair play here. Noted and corrected

      Reply
  2. hilArr

    You say The Navigator can be infinitely farmed then follow up by saying it cannot be…

    Reply
    • Ric Molina

      Typo on my end, I meant the dungeon was infinitely farmable, but only the legendaries. Post has been corrected accordingly.

      Reply
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