How to get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 has a new Exotic SMG called Barrow-Dyad that you can earn by completing The Taken Path quest that was released in Episode Heresy.

Whenever there’s a new Exotic Weapon up for grabs, it’s no surprise that Guardians are so keen to get it. This time around, Bungie has added a Strand SMG that generates Blight, auto reloads, fires heatseeking ammunition, and is craftable, allowing you to use whatever barrel, magazine, and catalyst you want.

However, before any of that, you’ll first need to unlock it, so here’s how to get Barrow-Dyad and complete The Taken exotic quest.

How to unlock the Barrow-Dyad in Destiny 2

To get the new Exotic SMG, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Load into The Nether: Explore activity.
2. Search the three main areas for a Taken Portal. Enter the portal and stand on the pressure plate in front of you. Look at the Hive Rune and move in the direction the game tells you.
3. Collect the item to obtain the ‘Taken Osseous Fragment’.
4. Go to Eris Morn’s apartment and interact with the Shaping Slab to begin the Exotic quest.
5. Purchase and equip ‘Scotopic Rune’ from the Shaping Slab.
6. Go to the K1 Revelation lost sector on The Moon to find another pressure plate. Repeat the steps from before and defeat the Taken that spawn to collect a second fragment.
7. Once again, repeat this for the Veles Labyrinth lost sector in the Cosmodrome.
8. Return to the Slab to begin three quests: Curse of Endurance, Curse of Revenge, and Curse of Urgency.
9. Complete these quests. They each require you to go to the listed area or activity, collect a Taken relic, defeat combatants, and then dunk the relic to destroy it.
10. Load into The Nether: Explore again and search around for three Hive statues – one in each area. For each statue, interact with it, kill the miniboss that spawns, and collect the fragment.
11. After collecting all three fragments, leave The Nether and complete the Exotic Mission “Derealize” to unlock Barrow-Dyad.

Dexerto

We’ve broken down each of these steps to help you figure out the specifics. If you find yourself getting lost or confused, check out the detailed section below for more information and some visual aids.

Finding the Taken Portal

To begin your journey, load into The Nether: Explore activity. After spawning in, you’ll want to begin searching for a Taken Portal that will teleport you to a secret room.

The exact location of this portal varies from run to run and can appear in any of the Dreadnought’s patrol zones, so you’ll have to look around and keep an eye out. The image below shows what the portal looks like so you know what you’re looking for.

Dexerto

Once you’ve found the Taken Portal, jump into it to be teleported to a secret room. In the room, step onto the lone pressure plate and look directly at the Hive Rune in front of you.

The game will tell you which direction to move, do as it says to spawn in an item that you can collect to receive the ‘Taken Osseous Fragment’. This Hive Rune mechanic is repeated multiple times throughout this quest, so consider this a tutorial of how it works.

Starting ‘The Taken Path’ Exotic quest

With the fragment in hand, fast travel to The Last City and head over to Eris’ apartment. Once inside, interact with the Shaping Slab (seasonal vendor) to begin The Taken Path exotic quest.

The first step of the quest involves purchasing and equipping the Scotopic Rune upgrade from the Shaping Slab. Doing so costs 150 Sigil Shards, so you may need to go away and farm this currency if you don’t have enough. It’s easy to earn, as it can be found by looting chests in The Nether.

Dexerto

Exploring lost sectors

With the Scotopic Rune upgrade equipped, you’ll now need to delve into a few lost sectors. To start with, head over to The Moon and go to the K1 Revelation lost sector in Sorrow’s Harbor.

Enter and continue through this lost sector until you reach a pressure plate, similar to the one seen earlier. Once again, step in the direction the Hive Rune tells you to until a group of Taken combatants spawn. Defeat these combatants, and the boss will drop a second fragment, which you’ll want to collect.

Repeat these exact same steps for the Veles Labyrinth lost sector, found in the Forgotten Shore area of the Cosmodrome. For this one, the pressure plate is tucked away in the opening maze section, so you’ll need to search around to find it.

After clearing Veles Labyrinth and defeating another Taken boss, you’ll collect a third fragment and then want to head back to the Shaping Slab in The Last City.

The three Curse quests

Interact with the Shaping Slab, and you’ll be given three new quests: Curse of Endurance, Curse of Revenge, and Curse of Urgency.

For each of these quests, you’ll need to head to the listed activity on The Moon, collect the Taken relic, use the relic to defeat enemies, and then dunk it in the nearby deposit to destroy it. This process is simple enough and can be completed by following the in-game quest markers.

Once all three of these quests are completed, you have nearly finished the prep work to unlock Barrowed-Dyad. The last step is to go back into The Nether and look around for three Hive statues, with there being one in each of the Dreadnaught’s patrol areas.

Look around The Nether to find these statues, interact with them, and kill the boss that spawns. The message “To the victor, an offering, should appear in chat, indicating that you can now interact with the statue again to give it an offering to receive another Taken Osseous Fragment.

You’ll need to repeat this process for all three statues, requiring you to progress through the activity to reach other areas. After doing so, you’ll immediately unlock the Exotic mission “Derealize” – the final hurdle between you and the Exotic SMG.

Exotic Mission “Derealize”

The preparation work is done, and it’s time to complete the final step. You will now have unlocked Derealize, an Exotic mission that can be started from The Last City.

This may seem daunting at first, but this is actually one of the easiest Exotic missions Bungie has released in a long time. During testing, we had no issues completing this solo and even managed to go deathless on a blind run, so you should be fine.

Dexerto

Most of the mission works like a boss gauntlet of sorts. You will be progressing through The Dreadnaught and defeating a mix of Tormentors and Subjagators, with each getting gradually more difficult. At the same time, these areas are add-dense, so be sure to use a loadout that offers a nice balance of add-clear and boss damage.

Your first real challenge will be Vrhiisk, Seeker of Power. For this fight, damage him to end the phase, defeat the six Blight Sentinels, beat the Taken Conduits, accept the curse they drop, charge up the curse by getting final blows, and finally dunk it in the nearby deposit. Repeat this process twice to progress the encounter.

Eventually, Vrhiisk will teleport you into a small room where you can finish him off. Afterward, a Hive Rune with a series of symbols above will appear. Like before, you’ll want to move in the direction the game says, but this time only if the Hive Rune shown matches the ones seen above. If not, stand still and allow the ‘No Escape’ timer to expire.

Dexerto

Repeat the above steps until all four symbols disappear. If done correctly, you’ll be teleported to a platforming sequence. You’ll want to progress ahead by using the central platforms and holes in the side walls to get around. As a general rule, if you get lost or don’t know where to go, look up. There’s a lot of vertical platforming here that’s easy to miss if you don’t look around.

Continue through this area using parkour to your advantage. For the first area, you just need to platform around, but the second area requires you to destroy three crystals to open up the path. Otherwise, it’s business as usual and should be simple enough to figure out.

After clearing the platforming segment and using a Rally Banner, you are on the very last step. Simply walk forward and interact with the Exotic SMG on the table in front of you to get both it and its crafting pattern. Congratulations, you have unlocked Barrow-Dyad!

Although you can technically leave immediately, we recommend beating the final boss – Xir-Kuur – that follows to save yourself some time in the future. This closing encounter involves two mirror bosses that change places between phases. All you have to do is defeat them both while staying alive.

There’s not too many mechanics required here, but at the very end you’ll need to exit the room and capture the Hive Plate where the Rally Banner was to close the door and seal the Taken beast. This will complete the mission, and you can loot the chest to finish.

Now that you’ve got your hands on Barrow-Dyad, you’ll want to check out the Best PvE Weapons and Best PvP Weapons to figure out what to pair with it. By using these recommended guns, you will be able to conquer anything Destiny 2 has to offer.