All Exotic Catalysts and Masterwork Upgrades in Destiny 2
Where to find all Exotic Catalysts and how to complete the Masterwork in Destiny 2.
Unlocking Exotic Catalysts in Destiny 2 is what gets most players out of bed every day. Each Catalyst, when completed, upgrades an Exotic to a Masterwork version, increasing its power through some stat boost or by introducing a new perk, and causing it to generate Orbs of Light on multi-kills. Players who want to increase the potency of their favorite Exotic weapons will want to begin tracking down and completing the many Exotic Catalysts in Destiny 2.
Last updated on June 30, 2021 at 12:40 AM PT.
All Exotic Catalysts Masterwork Upgrades
Exotic Catalysts can drop from numerous locations in Destiny 2, though each Catalyst has its own specific drop location. Catalysts can drop from general content like Patrols, Strikes, Nightfalls, and Heroic Adventures, from multiplayer content like Quickplay Crucible and Competitive Crucible, as well as from end-game activities like the many raids. The best option is to find one you want, and then farm the activity until the Catalyst drops.
Note: With the release of Beyond Light, several Exotic Catalyst sources will be removed. If you do not unlock them before Beyond Light, you will not be able to unlock them until Bungie changes their drop source.
Use the table below to learn what Exotic weapons have Catalysts, what the Catalyst does to the weapon, where to find the Catalyst, and how to upgrade it to Masterwork.
| Weapon | Catalyst Effect | Where to find Catalyst | How to upgrade Masterwork |
| Ace of Spades | Firefly does more damage while Memento Mori is active. | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 500 kills |
| Anarchy | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Arbalest | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Bad Juju | Unending Curse (Extends the duration of String of Curses) | 45 Tributes in the Tribute Hall or complete Playlist activities. | 700 kills |
| Bastion | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Black Talon | Blocking attacks increases damage of Crow's Wings | Heroic Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible matches | 500 kills |
| Borealis | +20 Reload Speed | Kill PVE enemies | 150 Arc, Solar, and Void kills |
| Cerberus+1 | Hold reload to swap to a tighter, close-ranged spread. | Kill PVE enemies | 500 kills |
| The Chaperone | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Cloudstrike | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Coldheart | +20 Stability +20 Reload Speed |
Heroic Strike & Nightfall bosses | 300 kills |
| The Colony | +10 Magazine Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Complete Crucible matches | 500 kills |
| Crimson | +20 Range | Kill PVE enemies | 300 precision kills |
| Cryosthesia 77K | Cold Efficiency (Shattering a frozen target refills this weapon's magazine from reserves) | Complete the Stasis Trigger quest | 700 kills |
| D.A.R.C.I. | +20 Stability | Kill PVE enemies | 300 precision kills |
| Dead Man's Tale | Dark-Forged Trigger (Increased hipfire rate of fire and removes hipfire accuracy penalties) | Complete Presage mission then At Your Fingertips quest | Kills with Dead Man's Tale and/or collecting Hidden Caches' in Presage. |
| Deathbringer | Dead Weight (Increases how quickly Dark Descent reaches its full potential) | Heroic Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible matches | 400 kills |
| Devil's Ruin | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Divinity | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Duality | +2 Magazine +20 Range |
Complete Walk the Line quest | 400 kills |
| Eriana's Vow | +9 Magazine Auto-Loading Holster |
Collected from Banshee-44 after completing a bounty or recieving a rank-up package. | Complete Gambit matches, Crucible, Vex Offensive, and Strikes while using Eriana's Vow 700 kills |
| Eyes of Tomorrow | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Fighting Lion | +30 Reload Speed Chimera (After this weapon fires, equipped Kinetic and Power weapons gain a brief period of increased handling and accuracy) |
Rewarded during the Festival of the Lost OR killing PVE enemies | 1000 kills and bounties |
| The Fourth Horseman | Adds an additional round to the magazine and increases reload speed | Legendary Lost Sectors and Seraph Tower Public Events | 400 kills |
| Graviton Lance | +20 Range +15 Aim Assist Hidden Hand (Better target acquisition) |
Heroic Strikes & Crucible matches | 500 kills and 1,000 kills with the Cosmology perk |
| Hard Light | +25 Stability | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 1,000 kills |
| Hawkmoon | Hunter's Trance (Increased magazine size. Grants increased handling, reload speed, and weapon range based on number of stacks of Paracausal Charge) | Complete the Harbinger mission then Bird of Prey quest | 700 kills |
| Heir Apparent | Legion's Bulwark (Increases the Arc Shield's durability and partially reloads the magazine if it is destroyed) | Complete the Competitive Catalyst quest during Guardian Games | 700 kills |
| The Huckleberry | Kills with this weapon now reload the entire magazine. | Complete Playlist activities | 500 kills |
| Izanagi's Burden | Damage bonus with 4x Honed Edge | Complete Playlist activities | 500 kills |
| The Jade Rabbit | +30 Stability | Crucible wins | 250 kills in Crucible |
| Jötunn | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| The Lament | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| The Last Word | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Legend of Acrius | +40 Reload Speed Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Prestige Leviathan raid | 500 kills |
| Leviathan's Breath | +5 Reserve ammo | Kills with Leviathan's Breath | 1500 kills Defeating high-tier Wrathborn increases completion rate |
| Lord of Wolves | Increases reload speed while Release the Wolves is active, and increases stability when it is not. | Complete Crucible matches | 500 kills |
| Lumina | Resonant Virtue (2 Nobel rounds per kill) | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | Heal 250 allies with Noble rounds |
| Malfeasance | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Merciless | +40 Range +40 Stability |
Heroic Strike & Nightfall bosses | 500 kills |
| MIDA Multi-Tool | Outlaw (Precision kills greatly increase reload speed) | Competitive Crucible wins at Fabled Glory Rank. Guaranteed after Legend Glory Rank. | Defeat Crucible enemies with precision damage (with MIDA Multi-Tool) |
| Monte Carlo | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Le Monarque | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| No Time to Explain | Projectiles from Time-Slip shoot more frequently. | Complete Soon quest | 700 kills |
| One Thousand Voices | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Outbreak Perfected | Increases nanite damage. Enemies that die with nanites attached to them generate additional nanites. | Complete Zero Hour Heroic | Complete Zero Hour Heroic mission to get SIVA particulates. Use Void, Arc, and Solar configuration for bonus points. 500 Precision kills |
| Polaris Lance | Dragonfly (Precision kills create an elemental damage explosion) | Complete Nascent Dawn quest line or complete Playlist activities. | 500 kills and 50 kills with the Perfect Fifth perk |
| Prometheus Lens | +20 Stability +20 Handling |
Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 300 kills |
| The Prospector | +40 Blast Radius Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 500 kills |
| The Queenbreaker | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rat King | +20 Aim Assist +20 Recoil Direction Infestation (Improved aim assist and recoil direction. Refreshes health on Vermin invisibility trigger) |
Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 500 PVE kills with Fireteam using Rat King |
| Riskrunner | +30 Range | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses and the Pain and Gain Exotic quest | 300 kills and 300 lightning chain kills |
| Ruinous Effigy | Ruinous Effigy deals more damage against enemies damaged by Transmutation spheres | Unlocked after completing Ruinous Effigy's Growth questline or PVE kills | Kills with Transmutation spheres or destroy all Savathun's Eyes |
| Salvation's Grip | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Skyburner's Oath | +30 Range | Heroic Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible matches | 1,000 Cabal kills |
| Sleeper Simulant | +75 Charge Time Accelerated Coils (Speeds up weapon charge time) & Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Prestige Spire of Stars raid or complete Nightfall: The Ordeals | Kills with each Escalation Protocol weapon: 1,000 Sniper Rifle kills, 1,000 Shotgun kills, 2,000 Submachine Gun kills Open the Oracle chest in The Whisper 500 kills with Sleeper Simulant |
| Sturm | +20 Range +40 Handling |
Defeat enemies on Nessus | 500 kills with Sturm and 500 kills with Drang (Both guns equipped) |
| Sunshot | +20 Range +20 Stability |
Heroic Strikes & Crucible matches | 500 kills and 1,000 kills with Sun Blast perk |
| SUROS Regime | +50 Recoil Direction SUROS Ascendance (Increased chance for kills to regen health) |
Crucible wins | 300 Crucible kills |
| Sweet Business | Serious Busness (When this weapon is fully spun up, the flinch from incoming damage is greatly reduced) | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 250 multi-kills |
| Symmetry | Increases the maximum number of Dynamic Charge stacks. | Picked up from Banshee-44 as part of the quest, Symmetry Remastered | Complete the Symmetry Remastered quest 700 kills |
| Tarrabah | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Telesto | +60 Magazine Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Prestige Eater of Worlds raid or complete Legend & Master Lost Sectors | Complete all Lost Prophecy Verses for Brother Vance in the Lighthouse on Mercury or 300 kills |
| Thorn | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Thunderlord | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ticuu's Divination | Causality Quiver (Perfectly drawn arrows that detonate Sacred Flames increase arrow damage. Striking targets unaffected by Sacred Flame instead refreshes Causality Arrows) | Complete the Points Piercing Forever quest |
200 Calibration data generated |
| Tommy's Matchbook | While Ignition Trigger is active, your health recovers much faster. | Complete A Good Match quest | 700 kills |
| Tractor Cannon | +70 Magazine Deeper Pockets (Increased ammo reserves) |
Kill PVE enemies | 300 kills |
| Traveler's Chosen | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Trinity Ghoul | Lightning Rod perk activates on all Arc kills | Heroic Strikes & Nightfall bosses | 400 kills |
| Truth | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Two-Tailed Fox | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Vex Mythoclast | Calculated Balance (Higher stacks of Overcharge increase stability) | Interact with Vex plates and destroy Oracles in Vault of Glass. | 700 kills |
| Vigilance Wing | Full Auto Trigger System (Holding down the trigger will fire this weapon in full auto) | Crucible wins | 250 PVP kills and 5 Blood for Blood medals (avenge teammates) |
| The Wardcliff Coil | Pinpoint Guidance Module (Improved tracking on projectiles) | Heroic Strike & Nightfall bosses | 500 kills |
| Wavesplitter | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Whisper of the Worm | +30 Reload Speed Whispered Breathing (Aiming this weapon without firing for a brief moment grants bonus range and precision damage while it remains zoomed) |
Awarded after clearing The Whisper for the first time | Complete The Whisper and open chests in The Whisper to collect Blighted Essence |
| Wish-Ender | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Witherhoard | Increased handling and Auto-Loading Holster | Complete the quest, The Bank Job. | 400 kills |
| Worldline Zero | Another Dimension (Reduces the activision time of Tesseract) | Kills in PVE with a sword | Hit each Level 7 Escalation Protocol boss with Worldline Zero or 300 kills |
| Xenophage | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Some information courtesy of light.gg Destiny database.
There are still a few Exotic weapons that have yet to receive their Exotic Catalyst, so check back with us periodically as we update this list once new Catalysts are added to Destiny 2. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Destiny 2 Complete Strategy Guide for more comprehensive guides, information, and walkthroughs.
