The Dead Messenger is one of the many new Exotics introduced in The Witch Queen expansion of Destiny 2 and is strongly tied to the Cabal seasonal storyline for season 16. However, players will have to complete a few additional tasks before they can begin the Exotic mission for it.
Unlike the Parasite, which is a Heavy Grenade Launcher, the Dead Messenger slots nicely into the Power weapon slot and takes Special ammo. Here's how players can get their hands on the Dead Messenger, and what the requirements are for the mission in terms of power and quest completion in Destiny 2.
How To Unlock The Vox Obscura Exotic Mission
In order to get the Dead Messenger, players need to unlock a quest given to the guardians be Empress Caiatl herself, known as Vox Obscura. This mission is different from the Parasite mission, in the sense that it can be repeated on a weekly basis for Pinnacle rewards by killing champions, similar to Harbinger and Presage from season 15.
First, complete Operation Elbrius in the H.E.L.M. and receive a message from Caiatl, asking the guardian for help in dealing with Cabal insurgents on Mars. At this stage, a new activity icon will become available for players in the Throne World tab, marked as the Vox Obscura mission.
How To Complete The Mission: Vox Obscura
Before jumping head first into Vox Obscura, players should try to be as close to the recommended Power Level of 1550 as possible. Though the quest itself is relatively short compared to last season's Exotic missions, the enemies will be incredibly tough for underleveled players. Void builds are encouraged for all classes, as well as high Resilience and Recovery stats.
Vox Obscura doesn't contain elaborate mechanics, but rather relies on completing goals within a set time against an assault of enemies. Here's what players will need to do, in order:
- Enter the Hangar: Kill the enemies outside the hangar and walk down to the hangar door to hack it.
- Steal one of the Interceptor vehicles: Drive one of the vehicles and shoot the doors of the hangar to get out.
- Clear the Airfield: Players have 4:30 minutes to complete this. Defeat the first Goliath Tank just outside of the hangar the player came out of, as well as the Unstoppable Champion. Amanda Holliday will drop a Drake for the player to drive. Head to the Signal Towers and take down two more Goliath Tanks, as well as the three Signal Towers.
Players can drive their Interceptor or tank into Goliath Tanks for additional damage. To destroy the Signal Towers, shoot the generators in front of them, then the blue shields, and then finally the exposed insides of the towers. There are also yellow-bar Psions Spotters scattered around, which can be killed to halt the airstrikes that will chase after players.
- Enter the Bunker: Use a vehicle to shoot open the door of the bunker, and take down the Unstoppable Champion nearby.
- Get to the Control Room: Players have 10 minutes to complete the mission from here on. To open the control room doors, players will need to kill the three Psion Codewardens and hack the terminals next to them. These wardens are protected by Psion Commanders inside bubbles that need to be killed first. Beware of the fire in the corridor connecting the rooms, as well as Unstoppable Champions.
- Defeat Qabix: The final boss is inside the Control Room. Keep in mind the timer is still running at this point. Qabix is a Psion capable of detaining the player, and after a damage phase, he will be protected by a white shield held together by Psion Commanders on three sides of the room. Kill the Commanders to lower Qabix's shield.
- Loot the chest: At the top of the room, an entrance will open up. Hack the terminal, and an opulent chest will appear in a nearby room. This will reward the player with the Dead Messenger. An audio message from Caiatl will also play with some added lore. The audio log changes on a weekly basis, so players should come back and replay the mission.
The Dead Messenger Exotic Grenade Launcher
- Quick Launch: Faster projectiles, faster aim-down speed.
- High-Velocity Rounds: Light and quick projectiles, better reload speed.
- The Fundamentals: Cycle through Arc, Solar, and Void elements.
- Short-Action Stock: Good handling.
- Trinary Vision: Three waves of elemental energy is released upon impact on the ground.
The Dead Messenger is a unique Special ammo grenade launcher, which can take adopt any element, similar to the Hard Light auto rifle. By pressing R, players can use the reload key to swap between Void, Arc, and Solar elements.
So far, the Dead Messenger hasn't proven to be an important weapon in the meta, but it remains to be seen how it fares later on in endgame content. There's no catalyst available so far, but this guide will be updated once more information is released on it.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.