Destiny 2 Xenophage quest: How to complete The Journey and Pathfinder puzzle steps
How to get the Shadowkeep exotic machine gun.
Destiny 2's Xenophage is an Exotic quest for those who have purchased Year 3 expansion Shadowkeep.
Released on weekly reset on October 29th, 2019 alongside Festival of the Lost, starting this machine gun works a little differently to most quests - so you might need a pointer of where to look.
However, like the recent Season of the Undying exclusive Leviathan's Breath, earning the Xenophage is shorter than most Exotic quests, and the bulk of it can be completed solo before having to delve into the Moon's Pit of Heresy dungeon.
On this page:
- How to get Xenophage in Destiny 2 in brief
- How to get start the Xenophage quest in Destiny 2
- How to complete The Journey's Emergence step in Destiny 2
- How to solve Pathfinder's four Path Fragment puzzles
- Where to find the Descent 'Path Uncovered' and 'Path's End' step in the Xenophage quest
- How to defeat Volar, The Tempted to finish the Xenophage quest
How to get Xenophage in Destiny 2 in brief
Here's a quick rundown of the steps needed to obtain Xenophage :
- Interact with the statues near the Pyramid to start the quest
- Light the six plates in Anchor of Light
- Complete the four puzzles at the end of the K1 Lost Sectors on the Moon
- Find the hidden switch within the Pit of Heresy dungeon
- Find the hidden orb later in the Pit of Heresy dungeon to open a secret room
- Defeat the secret boss, Volmar, the Tempted
- Return to Eris
Once the above steps have been completed, Xenophage is all yours.
How to get start the Xenophage quest in Destiny 2
To begin the Xenophage quest, head to Shadowkeep's Moon destination. You'll want to head to the area next to the Pyramid, except the portal by Eris isn't around to take you there - so you have to get there on foot.
To do this, head to the Sorrow's Harbour area, then go north through the gates of the keep.
There is a path on the left at the end of this area - take it.
Continue along it until you reach the Enduring Abyss area.
Now go just a little further down the corridor, until you see a lantern of sorts on the ground.
Just beyond it, and up and right in the wall, is a path you can take. Leap up and take it.
Continue going and you'll reach the area the portal would take you to.
Now, to start the Xenophage quest, locate the four statues to the sides - two on the left and two on the right.
You can now interact with them with the 'Emerge from the Dark' prompt, lighting it up. The aim is to light all four.
Though it could be random, we interacted with them in an anti-clockwise fashion, the closest one right first, then furthest right, then round furthest left then closest left.
Whether it works for you or not, continue interacting with them until all four light up. Doing so will see a message saying 'You have emerged from the dark - claim your path!' appear on screen, and cause a chest to spawn.
Open the chest to receive the start of the Xenophage quest The Journey, the first step of which is named Emergence.
How to complete The Journey's Emergence step in Destiny 2
Head to the Anchor of Light on the Moon, then head to the north-west where you'll find some yellow buildings, including one with a large radio tower:
Directly south of that is a smaller one with a doorway facing it:
Inside, you'll find the following orb location:
You need to dunk this in six locations in the surrounding area, one after another. You have one minute between each dunk before the orb disappears. We recommend scoping out the locations before hand, so you know exactly where to go. You should have plenty of time if you know where you're going first!
The locations are as follows:
1. In the same room as you pick up the orb:
2. Leave this building and head north, following the path round to the more open area, where there's the orange building in the distance. On the hill directly to the left, you'll a large fallen radio tower leaning against the hill. Underneath where it leans is the next orb deposit point.
3. Look south so you are facing the large saucer-like building in the middle of the area. Opposite that on the ground is a small yellow building. The next location is inside.
4. Head back to the north-west part of Anchor of Light to where the large radio tower is. You need to climb up the tower (approach from the south / facing the building where you found the orb) and when you go one level up, it's on the north side, on the outer edge.
5. Look north to see more yellow buildings on the ground. There's a ramp leading up to the one on the right. At the top of that is the next location.
6. Head back to the other area where the giant saucer building is, and the location is right on top.
Now to finish, you need to head back one final time towards the radio tower. There will be a waypoint on your screen at the edge of a raised path when you get close.
Activating this will then give you the Pathfinder quest step.
How to solve Pathfinder's four Path Fragment puzzles
Next, you have to visit all four Moon K1 Lost Sectors and solve a puzzle. These appear at the end, so complete the Lost Sector as usual, then find the puzzle as you take the route leading out.
To solve it, shooting a panel will change those around it, and you have to keep going until they all match the standalone icon above the grid.
There are multiple ways to do these, but these should work for you (thanks Sipder on reddit for helping with some of the following solutions):
K1 Communion (Anchor of Light)
- Bottom left
- Bottom right
- Centre top
- Centre top
K1 Logistics (Archer's Line)
- Top left
- Bottom left
- Centre right
- Centre
Swapping the last two round (Centre then Centre right) also works.
K1 Revelation (Sorrow's Harbour)
- Centre right
- Centre left
- Centre
- Centre
- Centre left
- Centre top
- Centre bottom
- Centre
K1 Crew Quarters (Hellmouth)
- Top right
- Centre left
- Centre
- Centre bottom
- Bottom right
- Bottom right
- Centre bottom
- Centre bottom
If you get any wrong as you input, you can try and work out the solution yourself from where you left off. That said, these are tough puzzles, so it might be easier to re-run the Lost Sector to reset the puzzle and try again.
Complete each one - giving you a Path Fragment each time - so you then receive the Descent quest, with the 'Path Uncovered' step.
Where to find the Descent 'Path Uncovered' and 'Path's End' step in the Xenophage quest
Once that's done, it's time to take a trip to the Year 3 dungeon Pit of Heresy. If you haven't already, you need to unlock it first before you can start exploring.
First, you need to find a hidden switch. Complete the first encounter to come to an area with a wall of doors on either side of a path. You have to travel to an upper left door that's different to the others, where you'll find the switch inside.
Here is Fuzzy Bearbarian on YouTube showing the 'Path Uncovered' location:
Once you have done the 'Path Uncovered' step, continue Pit of Heresy until you reach the second encounter, then travel down the left side to come to a giant cavern on your left, glowing green with a giant rib cage below.
Continue along the edge of this path, down the lower path, to find a plate. Activating it reveals platforms to the side, with an orb you can collect it.
Take it back the way you came until you find a route on your right. There is a door here, which you can dunk the orb in. This will lead you to a hidden room with a secret boss.
Here is WoW Quests on YouTube to show where you need to go:
The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!
How to defeat Volar, The Tempted to finish the Xenophage quest
To defeat Volmar, The Tempted, you have to grab orbs and dunk them in locations related to the buff you have been given.
It's worth scoping out the room first to find their locations, but it's easy to work out where each goes, as there's an elemental effect relating to the buff - Thunderous is Arc, Abyss is Void, Fiery is Solar and Neutral is Kinetic (which is the only dunking spot with no real effect).
Once you have done that, you can then damage the boss. The buff you have also relates to the damage you can then dish out at this point.
Repeat this until the boss is done for. Here is Esoterickk with how the boss goes down (performed as a solo encounter):
Once the boss is complete, visit Eris to receive the Xenophage Exotic. You don't need to complete Pit of Heresy, so if you get stuck from here, the good news is at least you have done everything needed for this quest!