Last Updated on October 16, 2022
Destiny 2: Beyond Light has bestowed upon its fans Cloudstrike — an all-new powerful Exotic Sniper Rifle. After finishing the main campaign, players can further pursue missions to reveal Europa’s treasured secrets through Variks’ Sabotage and the sidequests revolving around the Empire Hunt.
The only difference between this Exotic and The Lament and The Eyes of Tomorrow exotics released alongside it is that it’s not obtainable by any specific Exotic quest. You’ll have to go through multiple quest-like steps to get even just a chance to get this shiny new rifle in your hands.
Fortunately, this guide will share all you need to know to obtain this powerful new sniper rifle.
How To Get Cloudstrike? A 5-Part Checklist
Cloudstrike is obtainable by doing these steps:
- Finish all of Variks’ post-campaign quests.
- Complete the quest: Old Secrets, New Challenges
- Complete the quest: A Hard Rain Falls
- Complete Variks’ Sabotage: European Explorer 1 & 2
- Grind For Drops in Empire Hunts in Eclipsed Locations
It will take you beating the main campaign and hours of grinding to obtain the Cloudstrike, but it’s a chance many avid players are willing to take.
If you’re unsure where to start, here’s how to do it, in detail:
1) Finish all of Variks’ post-campaign quests
Yes, you can only obtain Cloudstrike after beating the main campaign. After beating the main campaign, you’ll be tasked to defeat challenges assigned to you by Variks The Loyal. You’ll have to beat them until you unlock the Sabotage quests — which is the page you’ll turn back to on your journey towards acquiring the Cloudstrike.
To get this, complete the various quests and bounties around Europa. Then, once available, you can buy it off Variks for 40 Herealways pieces. While this place is this mission where you can unlock Cloudstrike, you’ll need to have changeable difficulty to get the Cloudstrike loot. Otherwise, beating the mission over and over again won’t drop this Exotic rifle.
2) Complete the quest: Old Secrets, New Challenges
Once you’ve successfully finished the Deep Stone Crypt raid, you’ll unlock the next quest opportunity, Old Secrets, New Challenges. Follow the instructions requested in the quest and find the location on the map to start the specific Exo Challenge. You’ll have to kill enemies, finish bounties, perform public events, and kill other high-value targets to complete this mission.
Once you’re done, go back to the quest giver Variks and move on to the next step.
3) Complete the quest: A Hard Rain Falls
The Exo Stranger will give the “A Hard Rain Falls” quest to players — and you’ll need to complete it to unlock Cloudstrike. Accept it and venture out into the Eclipsed Zone on Europa. The location on the map will be different each time, but you’ll know when you find it when you come across the zone labeled “Eclipsed Zone.”
Finish the quests within the Eclipsed Zone. They’ll typically include killing enemies and completing patrol missions. You can also do the Heroic Public Event at this time. Once you’re done, talk to the Exo Stranger. This will unlock the last set of Sabotage missions under Variks.
4) Complete Variks’ Sabotage: European Explorer 1 & 2
So you’ve just closed the books for the A Hard Rain Falls mission and the Old Secrets, New Challenges. Great!
To unlock the Elective Difficulty Empire Hunts — you’ll have to complete the European Explorer quests 1 and 2. The only way to defeat them is in order, so you’ll have to beat the first European Explorer mission before unlocking the second.
Once you’ve completed each mission, you can unlock the Empire Hunts map with Elective Difficulty, granting you the opportunity to farm for Cloudstrike.
European Explorer 1
This mission is relatively easy to finish. Activate this mission quest by talking to Variks under the “Sabotage” tab. Once activated, head on over to any location in Europa and kill the following:
- 50 Enemies with Kinetic Weapons
- 50 Enemies with Energy Weapons
- 25 Enemies with Power Weapons
Once you’re done with that, talk to Variks and he’ll give you the remaining Europa weapons. You can also unlock the European Explorer 2 mission following after.
European Explorer 2
This one is trickier. At its core, you have to kill 30 yellow-bar enemies in different Empire Hunts. The level of difficulty’s similar to Nightfall Strike and Nightmare Hunts on the Moon.
You can choose to play it like normal and grind your way to 30 kills, or you can do the Dark Priestess quest available from Variks. Doing the latter will have you kill 8 powerful or yellow-bar enemies through the quickest mission possible at the expense of more Herealways Pieces spent. Restart the mission accordingly and go to Variks once you’re done with your quota.
5) Grind For Drops in Empire Hunts in Eclipsed Locations
Phew! You’ve made it through the mission-fest after some long, gruesome hours and now have Elective Difficulty Empire Hunts on your map. But don’t take a breather just yet. Now the final grindfest begins: and the timestamp is one of an uncertain quality.
If you can, find a Fireteam to accompany you in this quest to find the elusive Cloudstrike. Though, you can do this solo as well. Choose from any difficulty — Adept, Hero, Legendary, or Master. Run through this mission as fast as you can (you don’t have to beat enemies, just the main boss).
If you get the Cloudstrike drop in the mission complete screen, congratulations! If not, rinse and repeat. Clear your schedule — this may take up to two hours or more for your entire squad to acquire the gun.
What is Cloudstrike in Destiny 2?
The Cloudstrike gun is an Exotic Arc sniper rifle that hurls powerful electrical bolts down to enemies, thanks to its Intrinsic Perk, Mortal Polarity. Its main benefit is how it excels in crowd control; which other rifles fail to excel in.
You can take down multiple enemies with a single bullet in Crucible and PvE modes when you land a precision shot. Another perk it has is Stormbringer, which does powerful damage against bosses if you hit multiple precise shots.
The Cloudstrike’s other perks include:
- Columnn 1: Barrel – Fluted Barrel – Ultra-light barrel.
- Column 2: Magazine – Alloy Magazine – Quick reloads when the magazine has no ammo.
- Column 3: Trait – Stormbringer – Rapid precision hits whip up a lightning storm where impacted.
- Column 4: Stock – Hand-Laid Stock – This weapon controls recoil better.
Play Destiny 2 on PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One now.
Table of Contents