Destiny 2 Polaris Lance + Catalyst: How to get them

After being forgotten by the vast majority of Guardians for years, Polaris Lance is finally making waves in the meta. With newfound synergy with Solar subclasses, exotic armor, and seasonal artifact mods, this scout rifle has proven its worth, even rivaling the fan-favorite Sunshot.

In this article, we’ll cover how to obtain Polaris Lance, its Exotic Catalyst, and how good it currently is.

Name: Polaris Lance

Type: Scout Rifle Archetype: Exotic

Ammo: Primary Element: Solar

Craftable: No Released: Season 3

Source: Exotic Kiosk Requires: Free-to-Play

How to get the Polaris Lance Catalyst

Polaris Lance’s catalyst can drop at the end of any Vanguard Op, Crucible, or Gambit match.

The catalyst adds Dragonfly to Polaris Lance. While it fits Polaris Lance’s identity perfectly, the scout rifle doesn’t really need it. Dragonfly offers no additional build or subclass synergy, meaning this catalyst will solely provide an extra bit of damage upon getting precision kills.

After getting the catalyst to drop, you’ll need to get 500 kills with the weapon to upgrade it. Shuro Chi is, as always, the most popular place to farm these. That said, due to the somewhat mediocre effect the catalyst grants, grinding these kills out casually isn’t a bad idea.

Polaris Lance Catalyst, Destiny 2

How to get Polaris Lance

Polaris Lance is one of many exotic weapons featured at the Monument to Lost Lights.

After saving up one Exotic Cipher, 125,000 Glimmer, and one Ascendant Shard, visit the kiosk in The Tower to purchase the weapon directly.

How to get Polaris Lance, Destiny 2

How good is Polaris Lance

With the release of Lightfall, Polaris Lance’s exotic perk was altered to apply Scorch to targets affected by the explosion. 

• The Perfect Fifth: Precision hits return ammo to the mag. Landing 4 precision hits loads a delayed Solar explosive round for your next shot.

In PvE, this explosion causes 40 Scorch plus an additional 20 with Ember of Ashes equipped. However, the aforementioned change indirectly nerfed the weapon in The Crucible. While it could previously two-tap Guardians with The Perfect Fifth active, Polaris Lance now offers little more than feeling nice to use in PvP.

For these reasons, Polaris Lance is S-Tier in PvE and B-Tier in PvP.

Best Polaris Lance Build: Infinite Ignitions

Even if you’re not typically a fan of scout rifles, experimenting with Polaris Lance in Season of the Wish is something we couldn’t recommend more.

As stated earlier, Polaris Lance’s perk applies 60 Scorch while running Ember of Ashes. If you pair this with Kindling Trigger from this season’s artifact, you’ll reach the perfect 100 stacks, causing an ignition with every fifth precision hit.

Polaris Lance Build, Destiny 2

From here, the possibilities are endless. Running Flint Striker (also from the seasonal artifact) makes using Kindling Trigger easier, while Rays of Precision can cause further ignitions as well.

Ember of Eruption, Ember of Char, and Dawn Chorus are all also worth mentioning, each providing unique interactions that can create further depth to this powerful setup.

Before you go…

Are you looking for other top-tier Exotics worth chasing? We cover How to get Sunshot + Catalyst here.