Destiny 2: Every Possible Way To Obtain Exotic Ciphers (2024)

Introduced in Seasons of Arrivals, Exotic Ciphers are a rare currency type that allows players to purchase Exotics from previous years in Destiny 2's lifespan. They can also be used to purchase an additional Fated Engram from Xur every week and, starting in The Final Shape, add Artifice sockets to Exotic armor.

Calling Exotic Ciphers important would be an understatement. Newer Guardians will spend these Ciphers as often as possible to stock up on Exotic weapons. Unfortunately, you can only carry a few at a time, so be sure to spend your Ciphers wisely. Let's go over every way that you can earn Exotic Ciphers in Destiny 2 and how best to spend them.

Updated May 26, 2024, by Charles Burgar: In The Final Shape, Guardians can use their spare Exotic Ciphers to add Artifice mod sockets onto their Exotic armor, making it much easier to create triple 100 stat builds. To help you make the strongest character possible, we've updated this guide to include all current sources of Exotic Ciphers. We also updated our recommendations on what to spend your Exotic Ciphers on as a New Light.

How To Obtain Exotic Ciphers

There are three sources of Exotic Ciphers in Destiny 2:

1. The Season Pass.
2. Xur's Xenology Quest.
3. Certain DLC Packs.

The most common source is the Season Pass, providing a total of three Exotic Ciphers to those who complete the entire pass. Once you've earned those, you'll be able to earn one Exotic Cipher each week through Xur's Xenology quest. Some seasonal quests and events might also award Exotic Ciphers, but these aren't evergreen rewards.

Additionally, some older DLC packs might offer Exotic Ciphers that may be redeemed on Exotic goods from that DLC only. For example, you gain three Forsaken Ciphers immediately upon purchasing the Forsaken Bundle, which lets you acquire any three Exotic weapons from the Forasken DLC right away. These ciphers may not be spent on other goods.

Riven's Wishes

See Also

How to get Exotic Ciphers in Destiny 2 (and what weapons to get)Destiny 2 how to get Exotic Ciphers and what you can use them for explainedHow to get Destiny Cipher Decoders and unlock Encrypted CachesDestiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains quest solutions, including how to solve pirate riddles

As of Season of the Wish, you can spend Wish Tokens earned from Riven's Wishes to acquire additional Exotic Ciphers. Each token grants one Exotic Cipher.

This source will be removed one The Final Shape releases.

Season Pass

The most common source of Exotic Ciphers is the Season Pass. Every season or episode comes with a season pass that awards one Exotic Cipher at Rank 55. This is tied to the free track, so you don't need to own the current season/episode to claim this. Simply reach Rank 55 and claim the cipher.

If you have been playing Destiny 2 for multiple content cycles, there's a good chance you have a few Exotic Ciphers from previous seasons you never claimed. You can install the "Season Pass Pass" browser extension for Chrome and Firefox to claim previous season pass rewards from the Bungie.net website. Click on the extension, select any previous season, reload the page, and claim your previous rewards.

Xur

Xur will have one quest every week named "Xenology." This quest tasks you with playing ritual activities in Destiny 2—Vanguard Ops, Crucible, and Gambit. Exotic missions complete Xenology the fastest, including The Whisper and Zero Hour. Complete the quest, speak to Xur, and you'll earn one Exotic Cipher.

Forsaken Ciphers

Purchasing the Forsaken Pack DLC for Destiny 2 will grant three Forsaken Ciphers. These Ciphers differ in that you can only use them on Exotics from the Forsaken expansion (labeled as "Year 2" in the Exotic Kiosk). Raid Exotics from that expansion will still require Spoils of Conquest. Once purchased, head to the Exotic Kiosk at the Tower to claim your Ciphers.

Should you own all Exotics from Forsaken, you can also convert these three Ciphers into Ascendant Shards at the Exotic Kiosk. You can purchase the following Exotics:

• Ace of Spades
• The Last Word
• Le Monarque
• Jotunn
• Izanagi's Burden
• Thorn
• Lumina
• Truth
• Bad Juju
• Anarchy
• Tarrabah
• Always on Time

Xenology Quest

Xur's Exotic Cipher quest, Xenology, only has one objective you need to complete:

• A Question: Complete strikes or win matches in Crucible or Gambit. Extra progress is awarded for more challenging activities and for succeeding with clanmates.

A Question

This objective requires 21 strike completions, Crucible wins, or Gambit wins. Playing with clanmates or completing tougher activities (Trials of Osiris or Nightfalls) will grant additional progress. Exotic missions also grant substantially more progress. We suggest farming the Exotic playlist to get this done as quickly as possible. Missions like The Whisper, Presage, and Opeartion: Seraph's Shield are the easiest to farm.

An Answer

When you've completed the quest objective, speak to Xur to obtain your Exotic Cipher. Be sure you aren't full on Exotic Ciphers. If you are, the quest won't grant an Exotic Cipher. Once you turn in the quest, swing by the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower to grab an Exotic you don't currently own.

What To Spend Exotic Ciphers On

Exotic Ciphers are hard to earn and can't be held in vast quantities. As a result, you'll want to spend them carefully whenever you get your hands on one. There are three ways to spend your Ciphers:

1. Exotics from the Exotic Kiosk.
2. Fated Engrams from Xur.
3. Adding an Artifice socket to Exotic armor (starting in Final Shape).

You can purchase one Fated Engram from Xur for some Legendary Shards, but you'll need an Exotic Cipher to purchase a second one. You can only do this once per week.

As for the Kiosk, there are quite a few Exotics to choose from. We'll give our recommendations for which Exotics are worth getting immediately:

• Leviathan's Breath: Counters Unstoppable Champions and deals excellent damage against Champions.
• Witherhoard: Works as good area-denial in PvP and passive DPS in PvE.
• Quicksilver Storm: One of the strongest PvE Primary weapons.
• Ace of Spades: Arguably the best Exotic Hand Cannon for newcomers. Excellent in PvE and PvP.
• Arbalest: A solid pick for Legend content. Breaks Barrier Champion shields and all elemental shield types.