Destiny 2 – How to Get Exotics

In Bungie’s free-to-play MMO shooter, Destiny 2, the main grind is collecting powerful Exotics to increase your power level. While some loot is much rarer than others, the process for obtaining the good stuff is generally the same. So, whether you’re a new player or just need some tips on collecting the best gear there is, we’re here to walk you through it. In this guide, we’ll explain the three main ways of how to get exotics in Destiny 2.

How to get exotics in Destiny 2:

• Lost Sector
• PvE Activities
• PvP Activities

Lost Sectors

This has been the go-to exotic farm for experienced players for a while now. It’s effectively taken the place of the Three of Coins that was removed at the start of Forsaken. 

Unlike the Three of Coins, though, there’s a caveat here. You can only farm Legendary and Master Lost Sectors for exotic armor. Neither rotation offers weapon drops, at least for now, 

However, Lost Sectors more than make up for that in its drop rates. You can get several pieces of exotic armor during a day of farming, far more than other possible exotic dropping activities offer. 

You also get the benefit of knowing exactly what slot you’re farming from, so there’s no getting chest drops when you’re farming for legs. 

Now, this is easily the best exotic farm in the entire game right now, but it’s only really accessible to endgame players. While you might be able to farm Legendary Sectors before hitting the light cap, you’re not going to be able to effectively take advantage of Master Lost Sectors, meaning you’re subjected to lower drop rates. 

Even still, Legendary Lost Sectors are still the best option you have for farming exotics, so don’t be afraid to do them if you can’t handle the Master variant. 

PvE Activities

Aside from Lost Sectors, the only options you have for exotic drops are general PvE and PvE activities. 

On the PvE side of things, you have Nightfalls, Strikes, Raids, and seasonal activities like Override. 

All three of these have tiny exotic drop rates compared to Lost Sectors. However, you can combine your exotic farming with these activities with any bounties or quests you have. 

You can effectively multitask if you make endgame PvE activities your go-to source of exotics. However, you’re not going to see the same kind of results you would with Lost Sectors. 

PvP Activities

So, you’ve got Lost Sectors, Nightfalls, and Raids. All three of those PvE activities are your best bet for getting consistent exotic drops. 

PvP doesn’t offer anywhere near the same kind of range. All PvP players have is the Crucible, along with Trials when it’s active, and the Iron Banner. Given that two of these three are rotational, that leaves the Crucible as the sole source of PvP engrams. 

Unfortunately, you’re dealing with the same drop rates here as you do with Strikes, meaning you’re not going to see much of that yellow goodness on the daily. It is your only consistent PvP exotic farming method, though, so PvP players don’t have much of a choice.

Remember to check out and bookmark our Xur location guide so you’ll have no problems finding your favorite Exotics merchant every week.