Exotic catalysts guide
Last updated: August 21, 2025
Exotic catalysts are upgrades to Exotic weapons that give them additional perks. They come in two flavors:
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Traditional catalysts require first finding the catalyst, then completing some kind of grind objective that shows up on the gun's Details page when you look in the Catalyst slot. This grind is usually "get 500 or 700 kills," though a few guns have unique requirements.
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Craftable catalysts just need to be found to be unlocked for crafting. They can be crafted onto a weapon after certain weapon level thresholds are reached. Some craftable exotics also have intrinsic upgrades that will improve their intrinsic perk.
This page covers ways to acquire the catalysts, not how to complete acquired catalysts.
Banshee quests
Banshee-44 will offer these quests as soon as you obtain the corresponding Exotic weapon. If he doesn't seem to have them, it's possible you've picked it up in the past or on a different character - check your Quests tab and the Abandoned Quests terminal in the Tower.
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Centrifuse Arc Auto Rifle | Pick up the quest "Higher Voltage" from Banshee-44. | |
| Cryosthesia 77K Stasis Sidearm | Pick up the quest "Stasis Trigger" from Banshee-44. | |
| Delicate Tomb Arc Fusion Rifle | Pick up the quest "The Form of Danger" from Banshee-44. | |
| Dragon's Breath Solar Rocket Launcher | Pick up the quest "An Old Flame" from Banshee-44. | |
| Duality Solar Shotgun | Pick up the quest "Walk the Line" from Banshee-44. | |
| Eriana's Vow Solar Special HC | Pick up the quest "The Vow" from Banshee-44. | |
| Ex Diris Arc Special GL | Pick up the quest "Grenade Logic" from Banshee-44. | |
| Grand Overture Arc Machine Gun | Pick up the quest "Heavy Does It" from Banshee-44. | |
| Lorentz Driver Void Special LFR | Pick up the quest "Revision 7.2.2" from Banshee-44. | |
| Quicksilver Storm Kinetic Auto Rifle | Pick up the quest "Any Data Port in a Storm" from Banshee-44. | |
| Symmetry Arc Scout Rifle | Pick up the quest "Symmetry Remastered" from Banshee-44. | |
| The Manticore Void Submachine Gun | Pick up the quest "Volantes Violentiam" from Banshee-44. | |
| Ticuu's Divination Solar Combat Bow | Pick up the quest "Points Piercing Forever" from Banshee-44. | |
| Trespasser Arc Sidearm | Pick up the quest "No Trespassing" from Banshee-44. | |
| Verglas Curve Stasis Combat Bow | Pick up the quest "Nock, Draw, Loose, Quiet" from Banshee-44. | |
| Witherhoard Kinetic Special GL | Pick up the quest "The Bank Job" from Banshee-44. | |
Exotic missions
These missions allow you to get catalysts and intrinsic upgrades for craftable Exotics.
Pinnacle Ops
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Choir of One Void Special Auto | Complete Encore Pinnacle Op with an A rank or higher (3x for all Catalysts and Intrinsics) | |
| Slayer's Fang Void Shotgun | Complete Kell's Fall Pinnacle Op with an A or higher (3x for all three Catalysts). This is supposed to also give you all three intrinsics but appears to be bugged right now. | |
| Whisper of the Worm Solar Heavy Sniper | Complete The Whisper Pinnacle Op with an A or higher. | |
| Wish-Keeper Strand Combat Bow | Complete Starcrossed Pinnacle Op with an A or higher. | |
Exotic rotator
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Dead Man's Tale Kinetic Scout Rifle | Complete Presage on Expert (3x for all three Catalysts and Intrinsics). | |
| Dead Messenger Void Special GL | Complete Vox Obscura on Expert (3x for all three Catalysts and Intrinsics). | |
| Revision Zero Kinetic Pulse Rifle | Complete Operation: Seraph's Shield on Expert (3x for all three Catalysts and Intrinsics). | |
| Vexcalibur Void Glaive | Complete Avalon on Expert (3x for all three Catalysts and Intrinsics). | |
Rewards Pass
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Alethonym Stasis Primary GL | Collected when you reach Rank 90 on the Rewards Pass. | |
| Lodestar Arc Primary Trace | Collected when you reach Rank 90 on the Rewards Pass. | |
| New Land Beyond Kinetic Sniper Rifle | Collected when you reach Rank 90 on the Rewards Pass. | |
| Red Death Reformed Solar Pulse Rifle | Collected when you reach Rank 90 on the Rewards Pass. | |
| Third Iteration Void Scout Rifle | Collected when you reach Rank 90 on the Rewards Pass. | |
Other sources
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Ergo Sum Kinetic Special Sword | Complete "Excision" on Grandmaster. | |
| Forerunner Kinetic Special Sidearm | Acquire the Anomalous Access Card from Xur in his treasure room to start the Magnum Opus II quest. | |
| Gjallarhorn Solar Rocket Launcher | Complete a puzzle in the Grasp of Avarice dungeon. | |
| Graviton Spike Arc Hand Cannon | Edge of Fate post-campaign quests. | |
| Leviathan's Breath Void Heavy Bow | Defeat a powerful combatant with Leviathan's Breath. | |
| No Time to Explain Kinetic Pulse Rifle | Complete the Beyond Light campaign. | |
| Osteo Striga Kinetic Submachine Gun | Acquire during The Witch Queen's campaign. | |
| Outbreak Perfected Kinetic Pulse Rifle | Complete Zero Hour questline from Ada-1 for Catalysts, then solve a puzzle in Zero Hour for intrinsic upgrades. | |
| Ruinous Effigy Void Trace Rifle | Defeat a combatant with Ruinous Effigy's Transmutation sphere. | |
| Sleeper Simulant Solar Linear Fusion Rifle | Supposedly drops from Nightfall Strikes, but might also drop from harder Portal activities now? | |
| Sturm Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Nessus strikes. Anecdata: maybe a higher chance of dropping if you have Sturm and the original Drang (bought from Banshee) equipped. | |
| Telesto Void Fusion Rifle | Complete Lost Sectors on Legend or Master difficulty. | |
| Tessellation Kinetic Fusion Rifle | This one's weird because it was a preorder bonus for The Final Shape, but appears it can be picked up in one of two places: the Quest Archive at the Tower, or Shaw Han in the Cosmodrome. May require TFS campaign completion. | |
| The Navigator Strand Trace Rifle | Secret encounter in Ghosts of the Deep. | |
Random drops
Portal Ops
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Ace of Spades Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Ager's Scepter Stasis Trace Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Arbalest Kinetic Special LFR | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Bad Juju Kinetic Pulse Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Black Talon Void Sword | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Coldheart Arc Trace Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Deathbringer Void Rocket Launcher | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Final Warning Strand Sidearm | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Graviton Lance Void Pulse Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Hard Light Void Auto Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Hawkmoon Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Izanagi's Burden Kinetic Sniper Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Jötunn Solar Fusion Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Le Monarque Void Combat Bow | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Lord of Wolves Solar Shotgun | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Lumina Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Malfeasance Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Merciless Solar Fusion Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Monte Carlo Kinetic Auto Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Polaris Lance Solar Scout Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Prometheus Lens Solar Trace Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Rat King Kinetic Sidearm | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Riskrunner Arc Submachine Gun | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Salvation's Grip Stasis Heavy GL | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Skyburner's Oath Solar Scout Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Sunshot Solar Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Sweet Business Kinetic Auto Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| The Fourth Horseman Arc Shotgun | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| The Huckleberry Kinetic Submachine Gun | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| The Prospector Arc Heavy GL | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| The Queenbreaker Arc Linear Fusion Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| The Wardcliff Coil Arc Rocket Launcher | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Thorn Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Thunderlord Arc Machine Gun | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Traveler's Chosen Kinetic Sidearm | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Trinity Ghoul Arc Combat Bow | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Two-Tailed Fox Void Rocket Launcher | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
| Wicked Implement Stasis Scout Rifle | Random drop from Portal Ops. | |
Crucible
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| MIDA Multi-Tool Kinetic Scout Rifle | Random drop from Crucible Ops in the Portal. | |
| SUROS Regime Kinetic Auto Rifle | Random drop from Crucible Ops in the Portal. | |
| The Colony Void Heavy GL | Random drop from Crucible Ops in the Portal. | |
| The Jade Rabbit Kinetic Scout Rifle | Random drop from Crucible Ops in the Portal. | |
| Vigilance Wing Kinetic Pulse Rifle | Random drop from Crucible Ops in the Portal. | |
World drops
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Borealis Void Sniper Rifle | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| Cerberus+1 Kinetic Auto Rifle | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| Crimson Kinetic Hand Cannon | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| D.A.R.C.I. Arc Heavy Sniper | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| Fighting Lion Void Primary GL | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| Tractor Cannon Void Heavy Shotgun | Random drop from any enemy. | |
| Worldline Zero Arc Sword | Random drop from any enemy. | |
Currently unavailable
| Exotic | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Barrow-Dyad Strand Submachine Gun | Likely to return as a Pinnacle Op mission in the near future. | |
| Tommy's Matchbook Solar Auto Rifle | Listed in Year 8 Known Issues on Bungie's site. | |