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The Witch Queen expansion of Destiny 2 saw the release of another season, Season of the Risen, and with it a brand-new seasonal weapon. Grand Overture was the main reward for The Witch Queen era's first season, and at the time of its release, it was a nice novelty that was sort of forgotten and overshadowed by some Legendary heavy weapons.
Although Grand Overture isn't a majorly powerful heavy weapon, its ability to launch powerful Arc missiles sets it apart from the rest of the heavy weapon Exotics. Now that Arc 3.0 is out as well in Destiny 2, this machine gun is one of the more interesting options to go for when it comes to ad-clearing heavy weapons. Players looking for something a little different but still quite powerful, with great Arc synergy, shouldn't look further than Grand Overture. Here's how players can get its Catalyst and how that Catalyst majorly improves its features.
How To Get The Grand Overture Exotic Machine Gun
Grand Overture was introduced at the same time as The Witch Queen expansion was released for Destiny 2. It was the season pass reward for Season of the Risen, and those with the paid pass were able to unlock it right out of the gates. Players who completed their season pass during season 16 will likely have this machine gun somewhere in the depths of their Vault.
For players who didn't play during season 16, they'll need to buy this weapon from the Monument to Lost Lights Exotic kiosk at the Tower. The following resources are required to unlock it:
- 1 Exotic Cipher
- 100,000 Glimmer
- 200 Legendary Shards
- 1 Ascendant Shard
How To Get The Grand Overture Catalyst
Almost as soon as players get their hands on Grand Overture, Banshee-44 will want to speak with them. The gunsmith offers an Exotic quest called "Heavy Does It" which will reward players with the Grand Overture machine gun Catalyst at the end. Players unable to find this quest might need to check their quest archive for any abandoned quests, as it might still be sitting there from a few seasons ago. Like most Catalyst quests, "Heavy Does It" comes in three steps.
Step 1: Players don't need to use the Grand Overture if they don't wish to in order to complete the initial step of the quest. For Cabal enemies, they can head to the Castellum or complete the Duality dungeon for easy progress. The EDZ also has many locations with Cabal enemies.
- Defeat 50 Cabal enemies
- Score 50 Power weapon kills
- Rapidly defeat 15 enemies
Step 2: This step requires players to earn kills with Grand Overture and progress from playlist activities such as Vanguard Strikes, Crucible, and Gambit. Wins and higher difficulty strikes like Nightfall strikes will reward the player with more progress on their calibration.
Step 3: Return to the Tower and speak with Banshee-44. The gunsmith will reward the player with the Grand Overture Catalyst.
The Catalyst now needs to be upgraded before it can be slotted in. The estimated number of kills is around 400 defeated targets. For heavy weapons, the best farming spot is the Shuro-Chi encounter in the Last Wish raid. Grab a bunch of rally banners and head to the checkpoint to unlock the Catalyst.
What The Catalyst Does
Once the Catalyst is fully upgraded and slotted in, players will gain a stat boost to the Grand Overture, as well as additional features. The machine gun will now have increased handling and stability, both stats earning a +20 point buff respectively, which is nothing to scoff at.
Moreover, the Grand Overture now has the ability to blind targets with its explosive missiles, and targets affected by the missile's damage will also detonate.
Is The Grand Overture Catalyst Worth It?
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For a while, the Grand Overture was just a cool, niche little machine gun. However, the Season of the Plunder has completely changed that. Grand Overture not only benefits from the strength that machine guns have in general following the buffs to machine gun damage against rank-and-file enemies and bosses, but it also enjoys from the strength that Arc weapons have this season.
Its missile damage works well with the Font of Might mod in Arc 3.0 builds that boost Arc damage. Moreover, the fact that it blinds and explodes targets makes it brilliant for most Arc 3.0 builds which rely on blinding and explosions. It has a nice synergy with current seasonal builds and mods, even though it was released into the game several months too early.
That said, Grand Overture is not a major DPS weapon. It can be great for ad-clearing and for Master Ketchcrash in season 18, but likely won't be something players will pick up in truly endgame PVE such as Master raids or Grandmaster Nightfalls. That said, it definitely holds its own even in regular raid modes and dungeons when boss damage isn't necessarily needed, so players with some extra time on their hands should consider grinding out its catalyst.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia.