In Destiny 2’s latest weekly reset, developer Bungie added a surprise hidden Exotic mission to its science fantasy looter shooter: //NODE.OVRD.AVALON// (or simply “Avalon” to keep things simple). Its arrival is one of the biggest shadow drops Destiny 2 players have had in a long while, but like many of the game’s hidden levels, the process of both starting and completing it is more complicated than standard activities such as strikes.
Fear not though, Guardian, because we’ve completed the Avalon mission ourselves and can walk you through everything you need to know. In this guide, we’ll go over how to start the mission, as well as how to beat it and claim the new Exotic weapon Vexcalibur.
Destiny 2: How to start the Avalon Exotic mission
Image 1 of 6
Before you can complete the Avalon Exotic mission and claim Vexcalibur, you’ll need to know how to start it since you can’t launch it right away. Thankfully, the process isn’t difficult, though it’ll take you a few minutes to do.
First, travel to The Gulch landing zone in the EDZ. If you look around this location, you’ll notice some strange Vex nodes emitting strange beeping sounds. Once you find one, run or jump near it and you’ll get an Access Code buff, with which one fragment of a six-part code will be displayed. To get the full Access Code, you’ll need to find all six Vex nodes scattered throughout The Gulch. Note that you only have 25 seconds to reach another node after touching one; if you can’t find another node before the timer runs out, you have to start over.
We’ve included the location of all six of the Vex nodes in the image gallery above. Most of the nodes are pretty easy to spot, but there’s one on The Gulch’s eastern high ground (the third picture) that’s well hidden behind some logs and vegetation.
Image 1 of 2
No that you have the code, you’ll be able to start the mission. To do so, travel along The Gulch’s southeastern road and keep an eye out for a cave entrance located next to a large floodlight. Once you see it, enter the cave and jump up to the ledge in the back of it, at which point a previously blocked path will open. Next, jump down the nearby hole. You’ll see a non-hostile Vex Harpy — a unit controlled by Asher Mir, who was assimilated into the Vex Network at the end of Season of Arrivals — here; interact with the Harpy to begin the mission.
Destiny 2 Vexcalibur quest: Enter the Access Codes
At the start of the mission, you’ll need to navigate through the outer edge of the Vex Network and look for a way to infiltrate it. At first, this involves killing the occasional Vex enemy, simple platforming and looking for small openings you can fit through (the one in the image above is very easy to miss). Eventually, though, you’ll reach an open area with a Rally Banner marker and lots of Vex, marking the start of the mission’s first encounter.
Image 1 of 2
In this encounter, your goal is to input the correct access codes by destroying the three-dimensional shapes next to the Vex pillar at the center of the arena. To find out what order you need to shoot the shapes in, look around for a column of holographic shapes. Once you find it, memorize its top-to-bottom order and destroy the shapes around the pillar in the same order. Note that the shapes will refresh every few seconds or when you destroy one of them, so don’t get too trigger happy or you might accidentally destroy an incorrect shape, causing the code to change. Once you do this three times, the nearby energy wall will dissipate and you can progress forward. Repeat this process in the following room and then kill all of the Vex there to clear the first encounter.
You’ll be attacked by a lot of enemies while you’re trying to enter the correct access codes, so bring your best ad clear weapons and a good roaming Super. If you own the new Lightfall DLC, using one of the best Destiny 2 Strand builds is a particularly good idea since the subclass excels at crowd control.
Destiny 2 Vexcalibur quest: Data Nullifer boss fight
After following some guiding holographic projections of Asher Mir and doing more platforming, you’ll find yourself in a circular arena with a blocked opening in the center. This is where the second encounter begins, in which you’re tasked with collecting data, surviving deletion protocols, and defeating the Data Nullifier boss enemy.
Once the encounter starts, a 30-second timer will appear that indicates when a deletion protocol will begin and kill everything in the arena, including you. To avoid this, kill 10 of the “Dataholder (Corrupt)” Vex in the room and collect the data fragments they drop (they look like purple Gambit motes). Once you have all 10 of these fragments, interact with the conflux near the blocked opening to unlock it and drop inside. Stay here until the deletion protocol begins, at which point the opening will seal again, protecting you while the Vex above are wiped out. Enter the portal that appears and repeat this process until the Data Nullifer boss appears.
Fighting the Data Nullifier boss is fairly straightforward, as it’s just a very tanky Vex Hydra. With that said, it’s supported by tons of Vex mobs, so kill as many ads as possible and then lay into the boss with your Heavy weapon and Super before more respawn. Note that once you get the Data Nullifier to about two-thirds of its health, it will disappear and you’ll have to do the data collecting mechanic a few more times. The final deletion protocol requires you to get 12 data fragments instead of 10, so be prepared to kill a few extra Vex when you see this prompt.
The Data Nullifier will then reappear and can be killed, which marks the end of the encounter. The second engagement with the boss works the same way as the first one does, so as long as you stay on top of the ads and get in chunks of damage whenever you can, you’ll emerge victorious.
Destiny 2 Vexcalibur quest: Brakion boss fight
After a bit more platforming, you’ll reach the final boss of the Avalon mission: Brakion. Destiny 2 veterans will remember Brakion as the Vex that corrupted Asher Mir with Vex technology and the boss of The Pyramidion, a strike that’s no longer in the game. Brakion is back, though, and it’s time to take it down once again.
The first stage of the fight is simple, as all you have to do is damage Brakion between its teleportations around the arena. If you’re having trouble avoiding Brakion’s sniper shots, make sure you move to stay in pieces of cover whenever they shift around. Eventually, Brakion will retreat to a new arena, kicking off phase two of the battle.
In phase two, Brakion is protected by an impenetrable shield wall that you can only break by doing the access code mechanic from the mission’s first encounter. Note that you can find the correct order to shoot the shapes around the room’s central pillar in at the back left and right of the arena. You get 30 seconds to do damage to Brakion once you input the right access code, but you’ll have to do it again if you don’t manage to knock the boss down to one-third of its health. Brakion also respawns two Vex Cyclops and other units each time he’s able to put his shield back up, so damage him as much as possible in each damage phase.
Once you get Brakion to one-third of its health, phase three will begin. The boss will become extremely aggressive and chase you around the room, and will be supported by explosive Fanatic Vex units. To survive this part of the fight and finish Brakion off, run around the room while killing Fanatics, stopping to do some damage every time there aren’t any near you and you have some distance between yourself and Brakion. Eventually, you’ll take the massive Hobgoblin down, and when you do, you’ll be presented with the frame of the Vexcalibur Exotic Glaive. You can then take it to the H.E.L.M., where you’ll be able to get Vexcalibur from the War Table.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, Windows PCs, and PlayStation systems. In it, you’ll take the fight to Emperor Calus, unlock Strand and its Aspects and Fragments, and more. The expansion also includes access to Season 20, which you’ll need to play the Avalon mission and acquire Vexcalibur.
