Destiny 2's newest expansion The Witch Queen introduced a brand-new weapon archetype: the glaive. What makes this weapon unique is its nature as a first-person melee weapon, which clearly sets it apart from swords. Moreover, it also has two firing modes: close-range melee and long-range projectile.
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The first glaive introduced also has a shield that players can use to block damage. With all these cool features in mind, and knowing the fact that glaives have a significant role in the seasonal artifact mods as well, players will want to get their hands on the weapon as quickly as possible. Here's how to get the glaive in Destiny 2.
Updated on March 17, 2022, by Anastasia Maillot: Now that the world's first raid race is over and the issues with Wellspring drop rates have been addressed, the exact way in which players can get their hands on Exotic glaives has been fully unveiled. Though glaives are still a bit of a debated topic among the community, many players consider them seasonal yet fun addition to the game. Exotic glaives, in particular, are something special, as they come with special effects that can significantly help teammates even slightly more difficult PVE content. Here's how players can get the Exotic glaives in Destiny 2.
Types Of Glaives
Bungie has teased different types of Glaives in the weeks leading to The Witch Queen expansion. While players will eventually be able to get their hands on Exotic glaives, the first Glaive they will earn is one they will craft themselves using a relic they discover on Savathun's ship during the starting mission of the Witch Queen campaign.
Once more information on Exotic glaives is known, this guide will be updated accordingly.
How To Get The Exotic Glaive
There are three Exotic glaives in Destiny 2, one for each subclass.
- Edge of Concurrence: Hunter glaive, deals lightning damage in a chain to a group of enemies.
- Edge of Intent: Warlock glaive, can spawn a turret that shoots healing bolts at nearby allies.
- Edge of Action: Titan glaive, can spawn a shield on a teammate or on the player.
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After completing the quest The Investigation, players will unlock the Evidence Board located on Mars, at the Enclave. Players will have to complete the following quests in order to gain access to the glaive crafting:
- Report: RESONANCE-COMP - Get three Resonant Runes to collect an Osmic Fragment.
- Report: ALTAR-REFLECT - Complete the Altar of Reflection quest.
- Report: SCORN-ORDER - Kill strong Scorn enemies and collect Marching Orders.
- Report: RELIC-DATA - Shape Red Herring, Empirical Evidence, Likely Suspect, Tarnation and Come To Pass weapons. Reshape a weapon and apply an Enhanced Trait to it.
- Report: STEPS-RETRACED - Collect Insight from champions from the weekly story mission.
- Report: PYRAMID-INSPECT - Complete the Preservation quest.
- Report: REVERSE-LURE - Final quest: Lure out Immaru at the Queen's Bailey. Defeat the enemies and return to the Enclave.
Tips On How To Complete RELIC-DATA Quest
This quest will be by far the longest in the player's journey to get their Exotic glaive. That's because players will have to shape five weapons at the Enclave, which requires players to first unlock the Pattern for each of them and then actually have the materials needed for shaping them.
Weapon | Pattern Unlocks Required | Drop Location |
|---|---|---|
Red Herring | 1 | Witch Queen campaign. |
Likely Suspect | 1 | Witch Queen campaign. |
Empirical Evidence | 1 | Witch Queen campaign. |
Tarnation | 2 | Wellspring activity. |
Come To Pass | 2 | Wellspring activity. |
Normal drops are not enough. Players will need the red-border Deepsight Resonance versions for all of these. Complete the Deepsight Resonance to extract the pattern, and head over to Mars to craft these weapons. Players should stockpile a few extra completed Deepsight Resonance weapons during this process in their Vault so that they have enough materials to craft all five of these weapons.
The Wellspring weapons are also on rotation, so players should keep an eye out for which weapon is currently rewarded from the activity. The weapon changes every day on reset.
In order to reshape and apply an Enhanced Trait, players should save their Ascendant Alloys. There are two sources for Ascendant Alloys:
- Master Rahool: Once a week, he will sell 1 Ascendant Alloy for 400 Glimmer.
- Weekly Campaign Mission: Higher difficulties drop Ascendant Alloys more frequently.
To be able to apply an Enhanced Trait, a weapon needs to be leveled up first. Players should use the Enigma glaive they first crafted at the beginning of the campaign as their go-to weapon to reshape and enhance during this quest, as using it frequently during the campaign will level it up quickly.
After unlocking one Exotic glaive, the remaining two patterns for the other two subclasses can only be unlocked by completing Wellspring activities. Therefore, players should complete this quest on their "main" or favorite subclass first.
How To Get The Enigma Glaive
In order to get the very first Legendary glaive, players will have to complete the first campaign mission of The Witch Queen. The story has players enter a strange vessel that has appeared on Mars. As they progress through the ship, they will eventually stumble upon a strange black relic hovering on a pedestal. Interact with it to pick it up.
Once players are returned to the surface of Mars at the end of the mission, they will be instructed to enter the weapon crafting area of the Enclave. Make sure all members of the fireteam are near the table to start the cutscene.
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Crafting The Enigma Glaive
From here, players are brought into the default first screen of weapon crafting. Players will have the choice between Shaping and Reshaping. Shaping allows players to craft new weapons from scratch while reshaping lets players modify some of their traits and perks. For now, choose the Shaping option.
Players should now choose the weapon they wish to Shape. More weapons will appear here as they discover more items to craft. For now, pick the Enigma Glaive.
The next screen allows players to choose all the Enigma's perks one after another. First, players need to pick a frame for their glaive. Currently, only the Adaptive Glaive frame is available, so players should pick that one for now.
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Next, players need to choose their Haft. The Enigma gives the choice between the Ballistic Tuning Haft and the Low-Impedance Haft:
- Ballistic Tuning Haft: Increase range, decrease shield duration. Great for dealing damage with the glaive.
- Low-Impedance Haft: Increase shield duration, slightly increase reload speed, but decreases range. Great for guardians who like using the shield feature.
Players can now choose their magazine type. The Enigma Glaive has two magazine types available at the start:
- Alloy Magazine: The glaive is reloaded faster when the magazine is empty.
- Extended Magazine: Huge magazine size increases, but slower reload speed.
The first Trait option for the Enigma only has one available. Choose it for now in order to move forward with the crafting process:
- Tilting At Windmills: When blocking with the shield, the player's movement speed is increased.
The second Trait option gives players a choice between Unrelenting and Kill Clip. This is a matter of pure preference and playstyle, though those who love doing damage will likely prefer Kill Clip, and players who love good sustain will see great value come out of Unrelenting.
- Unrelenting: Players trigger health regeneration when quickly defeating enemies. Powerful enemies are counted as multiple enemies. Great for players who want increased sustain.
- Kill Clip: Damage is increased when players reload after a kill. Great for players who prefer to deal damage.
There's also a Memento socket, but for now, players will be unable to add anything to it. At the far right, players can choose to Finalize Shape option to craft their brand-new Enigma Glaive.
Using The Enigma Glaive
The Enigma Glaive's primary fire can be activated with M1, while the shield is activated with M2 continuously pressed down. When the shield is active, a meter at the center of the player's screen slowly depletes. At close range, players can use melee attacks that require no Special ammo.
Enemies affected over time by the Glaive's melee attack will shine in red. This is due to the Enigma's intrinsic Psychohack Trait, which will appear on every player's Enigma Glaive. When players deal damage for a while with their Glaive, Psychohack becomes active and lowers the affected target's damage output. This makes the Glaive easier to play at close-range, even for players who might not have the best defensive abilities and stats.
All Enigma Glaives will also automatically be Power weapons requiring Special ammo, with a Void element specialization. They're great for shedding any Void shields, and fantastic for this season given all the buffs Void builds have received.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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