Destiny 2 Alien Gear loves giving players secret missions and Lightfall isn’t ending that tradition. If you go into the EDZ and land in The Gulch, you can see a series of Vex nodes floating around and spewing out some kind of message. Collecting these is the first step in a new quest to obtain the exotic glaive, Vexcalibur. Here’s how to get it:
First collect all six Vex nodes
There are six of these nodes scattered around the Gulch and you must collect them all under a time limit. Luckily for us, the time limit is very forgiving to start with and collecting subsequent nodes adds time on top of that. Here’s what it says to find all six nodes:
This node is located just below the Broken Highway near the Lost Sector in the south.
Along The Gulch’s southeastern border, a clearing of dilapidated trees hides this node.
On the cliff north of the Broken Highway, you can see this node on some abandoned cable equipment.
You can see this node, as well as the one on the right, smack in the middle of The Gulch near the Cabal patrol and the Down Lands tank.
Here’s a clear picture of the node on the right, hanging between some trees to the northwest.
And finally a node high in the sky between highway signs near the northeast exit of the Gulch.
Go into the simulated cave and collect the alien mission
After collecting all six nodes, you will need to go to a nearby cave that has been expanded for exploration. Climb to the top of the Busted-Up Highway that covers a Vex Node and face southeast, where you’ll see a cliff with a path to follow. Take in a cave with strange looking wax fields and simulated bits of the environment – go through them and fall into the hole at the end of that path. At the bottom, you’ll find a Vex Harpy with a mission to give. Start it when you’re ready to go, but fair warning, this quest can be a little nerve-wracking without the help of at least one other player.
Completion “//NODE.OVRD.AVALON//”
This mission will take players into the VEX network, allowing them to become familiar with VEX intrusion zones throughout Neptune, as well as Season of the Splicer. Mithrax will be on communications the entire time, explaining what is going on in the mission. Several parts of it are centered around platforming so get comfortable with that jump. Otherwise, look for green lights in the environment as well as projections of a certain character from vanilla Destiny 2 to guide you around some of the more maze-like constructions in the Vex Network. Proceed through the mission until you are eventually dropped into a giant vat of radiolarian fluid (otherwise known as “wax milk”) past the mission’s first rally banner and into the Darkness Zone . Here you will be introduced to the head mechanic of the mission.
Once you reach the platform with all the Vex, you’ll see a spire in the middle of the arena that is in constant flux and has Vex-style figures appearing around it. You’re looking for a holographic pattern in the environment that shows the shapes and the order in which you want to shoot them from top to bottom.
You must input these patterns three times in order to collapse the spire and open the gate ahead, where you should expect heavy resistance from the Minotaur and Cyclops. Make your way past them and you’ll encounter another one of these peaks. You are trying to do the same thing here that you did in the previous room. Rinse and repeat until you finally get to the end of this Darkness Zone and move on to the next part of the mission, a platforming puzzle.
The biggest obstacle in this section is crawling along an inclined path that has blocks jutting out from the wall. Naturally, these make you fall into the abyss again and again. As long as you play it slow and keep pressing against the blocks until they move back, showing the way forward, you should be able to get through them with relative ease. Once you’ve accomplished that, it’s on to the next rally banner and the first real boss fight of the mission.
Take the elevator into the arena and you’ll be surrounded by Vex to get out. Start fighting and the game will immediately instruct you to collect data and take shelter as a countdown pops up. Headless Vex called Dataholders (corrupted) will appear in heaps and your goal here is to kill them and get their data which will appear as purple triangles similar to Gambit Motes. Also similar to Gambit, you want to pick a certain number of these according to what the game tells you and deposit them into the wax conflux (a white data column) in the middle of the arena. The goal is to do this before the countdown so that the ground around the conflux disappears and you can safely sit in the hole to avoid being dropped from the Vex network, which is instant death. Wait for the timer, which will wipe out the enemies above, drop into the teleporter at the bottom of the hole and do it again. On the third cycle, a hydra called the Data Nullifier will appear and you’ll want to damage it until the tick on its HP bar is about 60%, at which point it will disappear and you’ll have to collect it. More data and shelter again. In the third round, you will be able to hurt him once again and by this point, you will be able to cleanly kill him and move on with the mission.
From here you’re looking for a platform in the arena that has no portal and a circular pedestal, as the way down and out of it is a passageway to the next part of the mission and part of another platform. Jump down into the chasm where you saw the Wyvern, the Asher Projection and proceed along the narrow walkway to the platform on your left. The theme of this part is mostly going down; You’ll want to keep an eye on the way down and down. As long as you’re seeing missing Asher projections, you’re on the right track. There’s what looks like a ramp with a small outcrop to stand on, which will lead you up to a giant cylinder opening below you, onto which you’ll naturally long jump to start the final battle. Jump into the portal at the end of the path to enter the final area where you will face the variant stalker Brakion, the Repurposed Mind, in a multi-stage battle.
Bracian Battle
The first phase of the fight is pretty cut and dry: deal damage to Brekion during the clearing add. Brakion will teleport between the three ends of the vague triangular area, so keep your eye on him so he doesn’t overpower you. At around 60% of its health, the Bracion will retreat, opening a portal to follow it through, but first remove any excess for ammo if you need it.
In the next stage, Brakion will be in a cage that he can shoot from and another pinnacle with a pattern to shoot from will appear in the middle of the room. The patterns, which used to be found on the walls, will now be under transparent pieces of ground on the left and right sides of the arena. Start on the left pattern and input the code to make the cage collapse, opening Brakion up for damage. Between the stages of inputting code, the biggest immediate problem to deal with is the many enemies that spawn the Harpies, including Cyclops and a Hydra. Repeat this pattern on the left side and it should be enough to force the bracion to retreat once again for the final step.
Brakion’s final stage is also simple, but don’t let your guard down just yet. There are fewer spawns to add, but minotaurs still spawn in this last room and can kill you very quickly. Additionally, Brakion will now chase you down and hurt you with several of his old moves, as well as a new stomp. Once again, be careful in this room, use cover cleverly, and keep an eye on him while you burn the brecion. Soon, you’ll get a kill, at which point Vexcalibur will appear and you can pick it up. You mission is accomplished, but there’s one more step to discover before you can fully enjoy your fun new toy.
return to helm
Head back to the HELM and present your findings at the War Table to fully unlock Vexcalibur for use and you’re done!
Reward: Vexcalibur Exotic Glaive
The Vexcalibur glaive is an energy weapon, meaning it takes up your secondary slot and uses special ammo. Its intrinsic attribute is the M1R distribution matrix, a nod to its creator, and makes it so that blocking damage with the glaive’s shield gradually gives you and your nearby allies zero overshield.
For more on Destiny 2, check out our Lightfall and Defense Hub weatherIncluding guides on how to get other new exotics like ultimatum edge and another alien glaive, winterbite,
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