Swords have been in a really good spot in Destiny 2 for a while now. If you want a boss dead quick, a sword is your fastest avenue to victory. Fallen Guillotine used to be the best sword around, but there’s a new kid in town. The Lament is quite possibly the highest DPS weapon in Destiny 2: Beyond Light at the moment, so you should really get your hands on it.
Not only that, it’s a Buster Sword with a chain. You get to live out your Final Fantasy 7 slash Warhammer 40K fantasies at the same time. How cool is that?
But as with all powerful Exotic weapons, getting The Lament is a journey. Prepare yourself with this handy guide so you won’t have to spend an Exotic Cipher later in the year.
What’s So Great About The Lament?
Damage. Lots and lots of damage. Damage so massive that it’s obscene. This is the new king of DPS in Destiny 2, and every Guardian needs to have The Lament in their arsenals.
To get the maximum possible damage out of The Lament, you’ll need to learn how to get this chainsword’s motor running. Using the same command that would cause a normal sword to guard will instead cause The Lament’s chain to start whirring. You’ll see a red glow surround your character and hear a distinctive chainsaw noise.
Now that you’ve got your chainsword whirring, it’s time to perform The Lament’s combo. It’s important to remember that you cannot simply hammer your attack buttons and expect to perform this combo as The Lament requires a deliberate pace. Hit four light attacks followed up by a heavy attack and you’ll see damage numbers that you wouldn’t believe possible.
On top of that, The Lament also has intrinsic Anti-Barrier properties whenever you perform this charged attack combo.
How To Find The Lament
First, pick up the Exotic Quest “Lost Lament” from Banshee-44 in The Tower, which became available after the World First run through the Deep Stone Crypt raid. It’s an 11-part quest, so don’t expect to grab this thing in a few minutes of game time.
Step 1: Find Three Dead Exos
There are actually nine dead Exos scattered across Europa, but you only need to find three of them to progress Lost Lament. You can find all nine locations here and complete a triumph while you’re at it. Each dead Exo has their own story to tell of the horrible experiments that took place at the Braytech Exoscience Facility, so getting all nine of them will give you a clearer picture of the Exos’ history.
There’s a dead Exo in each of the three Lost Sectors on Europa and they’re pretty hard to miss. Find ‘em and we’re on to the next step.
Step 2: Find The Giant Exo Head
Well, this is not exactly how I’d want my artificial intelligence to last for all eternity, but Clovis Bray was a special kinda guy. His AI is held at the bottom of the Exoscience Facility, which can now be accessed from a door on the right side of the entrance of the facility. It’s a straight shot down to the giant head, so don’t worry about getting lost.
Step 3: Kill Vex With Swords
Clovis’s AI needs sword data, so it’s time to go kill some Vex using a sword. There are Vex all over Europa, so this shouldn’t be too hard. The Bunker E15 and Perdition lost sectors are both full of Vex, including the Minotaurs, Hydras, and Cyclops that also must be killed as part of the quest.
Kill 100 Vex and 20 Minotaurs/Hydras/Cyclops with swords to advance to the next step.
Step 4: Do All Three Empire Hunts
If you’ve already unlocked the Empire Hunts and done each of them, then you’ll skip this step and move onto the next. If not, you’ll need to have finished the entire Beyond Light questline and the subsequent post-Beyond Light quest before Empire Hunts get unlocked. Once done, speak to Variks and pick up each of the Empire Hunts for Herealways Pieces. Knock ‘em all out to move to step five.
Step 5: Complete Exo Challenge
Once again, you’ll need to have finished all of Beyond Light and it’s post-campaign quest to get access to the Exo Challenges. Variks will hand out the first one which is a mission called “Old Secrets, New Challenges.” This first Exo Challenge requires you to hop up a mountain in freezing temperatures, keeping yourself warm at bonfires scattered across the path.
Once done, you’ll be able to access the three rotating weekly Exo Challenges straight from your map and even get a Pinnacle-tier reward each time you do.
Step 6: Defeat Vex With Finishers
Head back to either the Perdition or Bunker E15 Lost Sectors and start finishing Vex. You’ll need to finish 60 Vex to proceed to the next step. Yes it’s tedious, but you’ll be able to bang this step out in one or two runs through either Lost Sector.
Step 7: Find The Blade Pieces
The description makes it seem like you have to take your time searching through The Glassway Strike, but you really don’t. The blade pieces drop from the final boss of The Glassway–all you gotta do is walk over and pick ‘em up.
Step 8: Return To Banshee-44
We’re not done, but we’re getting close. Return with those blade pieces and listen to Banshee’s story. Then head back to Europa for the next step.
Step 9: Find The Lament’s Blueprints In The Abandoned Bunker
The abandoned bunker in question is the E15 Lost Sector, and the blueprints are inside the final chest at the end of the Lost Sector. Head back to E15 for possibly the third time to move on to the penultimate step.
Step 10: Reforging the Past
Reforging The Past is a new mission that becomes available right outside the E15 Lost Sector. Walk on over to get started.
The first part of the mission has you grab a tank to ride all the way to the Braytech Exocience Facility in Cadmus Ridge. Don’t get too excited–this tank doesn’t have any guns or anything, although you can certainly use it to run down any Vex you come across.
Clear out the Vex, then head inside to rescue Clovis Bray’s AI. He’ll give you The Lament to use to clear out the Vex incursion, so make sure your Exotic slot is free to accept this precious gift. None of the enemies you fight will need you to use The Lament’s charged combo, but you might as well practice now that you have it.
Clear out the Vex once again and then head back to Banshee-44 for one more story.
Step 11: Return To Banshee-44
Turns out, Banshee-44 used to be Clovis Bray, but he’d forgotten thanks to all those reboots. The Lament used to belong to him, but he tells you to keep it. He says he might go visit the Clovis AI someday. You can then go back down to talk to the Clovis AI to hear what the two might talk about.
Congratulations! You now have what is very likely the highest-damage weapon in Destiny 2. Use it well.
