Last Updated on October 17, 2022
One of the best parts of a new expansion in Destiny 2 is that several new exotics are released into the game. This article will describe how to get the Dead Messenger exotic Grenade Launcher in Destiny 2.
Dead Messenger is both a unique and powerful grenade launcher. It fires one shot prior to needing to be reloaded, but when the projectile hits the ground, it sends three waves of energy out that damage enemies similar to Psions, the Cabal enemy. The best part about this weapon is that you are able to cycle the weapons damage type between Arc, Solar and Void simply by holding the reload button. This combination of perks/traits makes this a fantastic weapon for your energy slot. Unlocking this mission to get this gun takes only a few hours from the start of The Witch Queen expansion, but completing the mission can be difficult.
How To Get Dead Messenger Exotic
After completing the opening portion of the Witch Queen expansion and being given an introduction into Weapon Crafting (follow the link for our guide), you’ll speak to Ikora in the Enclave and she will give you a quest that requires completion of The Investigation mission and a quest called Rising Tensions. Rising Tensions is a quick quest that requires you to go to The H.E.L.M. (located just above the Tower on the Director screen), where you’ll speak with Empress Caiatl via Hologram. The quest progresses to having you unlock and complete runs of the seasonal PsiOps 3 player matchmade activity. After quickly finishing this quest, you receive the Operation Elbrus quest. This quest is time-gated, meaning you can only complete the first 7 steps of the Quest at the time of writing. Once this is completed, you unlock the Kill The Messenger Exotic Quest.
Completing this one step Quest will reward you with Dead Messenger. Vox Obscura will now be a selectable node in Savathun’s Throne World destination as shown below.
As noted in the picture above, all players in the fireteam must have the quest progressed to this point before they are able to enter the mission.
Vox Obscura Mission
This mission is not overly difficult. It’s much easier than Grandmaster Nightfalls, or Master versions of raids, but it will cause frustration. If you find yourself needing assistance, reach out to me via the info at the bottom of this article and I’d be happy to help! My fireteam and I attempted this mission around Power Level 1525, and I think it took us 3-4 attempts before we were able to complete it. This is a timed mission, requiring both vehicle usage as well as fighting in corridors and being able to stay alive and deal damage effectively. The first part of the mission involves quickly emptying an area on the Destiny 1 version of Mars, and then entering a Drake Tank, killing multiple interceptors as well as two Goliath tanks, and then using vehicle fire to kill the generators and panels on three towers…all in 4 minutes and 30 seconds. While this sounds intimidating, being closer to the recommended Power Level and seeing the layout 2-3 times makes this time constraint much more reasonable.
The next portion of the level is a race through corridors, killing Psions in bubbles that are CodeWardens x3, and then defeating the big boss Qabix, Insurgent…all in 10 minutes. Honestly, this portion was much simpler than the previous section for us. Remember to always be pushing forward, we found that sticking together as a fireteam worked better than trying to divide and conquer.
After defeating the boss, you’ll enter a treasure room that gives off similar vibes to the now sunset Leviathan raid and raid lairs. Maybe this is a hint of future content/setting? Here you will find your chest which contains the Dead Messenger exotic. Prepare for your exotic slot to be filled by this weapon for the foreseeable future. We know that this mission has a higher difficulty level version that is not yet available and assume that this will unlock the Catalyst to this weapon similar to The Presage exotic quest from Beyond Light. I will update this article as more information becomes available.
I hope that this guide has been helpful. Be sure to reach out on Twitter with any questions, or send me a Bungie Friend Request so we can play together! I also host a weekly podcast with my fireteam, Conqueror’s Corner, available on Spotify, iTunes, and other podcast services if you’d like to learn more.