Until The Witch Queen, finding the perfect weapon was the luck of the draw. Guardians would relentlessly tackle activities and flay millions of enemies in the hopes of getting the best available gun. Thankfully, Bungie have sought to make targeted grinds easier with each season, and it all culminates with weapon crafting in Destiny 2's most recent expansion.
Here's everything you need to know about weapon crafting, how to level up weapons, and what's needed to make the best weapons possible in The Witch Queen expansion.
How do I craft weapons in The Witch Queen?
Upon the release of The Witch Queen, all new weapons added to the season will be available to craft through the Enclave on Mars. To gain access to the Enclave, players must complete the first mission of The Witch Queen's campaign and also complete the quest that follows. Shortly after completing these two quests, which are free for everyone, you will be able to start crafting weapons that you have unlocked the Pattern, think blueprints, for.
How do I find Patterns in The Witch Queen?
Patterns can be obtained through a variety of means throughout The Witch Queen. With 42 new legendary weapons being added to the Enclave this expansion, it would be impossible to list them all individually. Although, with that being said, the vast majority of weapons will be unlocked by finding a weapon in the world that has the Deepsight Resonance perk and getting kills or completing activities with the weapon equipped. Others require quest or activity completion to find their patterns.
What is Deepsight and Deepsight Resonance?
Deepsight is the new ability introduced in The Witch Queen. When players have unlocked Deepsight after completing the first two missions of The Witch Queen's campaign and forging a Glaive, they will be able to find weapons throughout Destiny 2 with something known as Deepsight Resonance.
Deepsight Resonance is a weapon-specific bounty that can be found on randomly rolled world weapons after gaining the Deepsight ability. These weapons offer crafting resources upon completing the bounty and, in some cases, will provide the pattern to create the weapon in the Enclave, also known as Shaping a weapon.
After initially shaping a weapon, you can then level it up to unlock new perks and tweak the weapon, which is called Reshaping, at the cost of the resources gained from completing Deepsight Resonance bounties on weapons.
Where do I find weapon crafting resources and what are they?
While crafting weapons is exciting, this whole process doesn't just happen for free. With the introduction of Weapon Crafting, there will be several new resources required in the creation of each weapon. There are two types of materials; Alloys and Resonant Elements. Within these two categories, there are a variety of different variations. The list of resources follows:
| Resource Name | Obtained by | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Resonant Alloys | Dismantling Legendary Weapons and as rewards | Shaping and Reshaping Frames |
| Ascendant Alloys | Purchased from Banshee-44 or the Cryptarch weekly for 400 Legendary Shards or from weekly Campaign missions or Throne World Offensives | Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
| Ruinous Elements | Completing Deepsight Resonance bounties | Damage related Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
| Neutral Element | Completing Deepsight Resonance bounties | Weapon Frames, Magazines, and Traits |
| Adroit Elements | Completing Deepsight Resonance bounties | Weapon Performance related Specific Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
| Mutable Elements | Completing Deepsight Resonance bounties | Ability boosting related Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
| Energetic Elements | Completing Deepsight Resonance bounties | Ammo or Reload related Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
| Drowned Elements | Completing Raid-Exclusive Deepsight Resonance bounties | Raid based Enhanced Traits and Exotic Weapon Crafting |
To unlock these elements, players must complete Deepsight Resonance bounties on weapons and select one of two rewards that offer different Resonant Elements based on the Traits available on the weapon - which just so happen to match up with their use in Shaping/Reshaping.
How do I level up my guns and unlock new perks?
Once you have settled on a weapon, it's Bungie's intention that you start to bond with this weapon. Seeing as you can adapt all four traits, the weapon frame, and even its elemental damage, there will be a great deal of investment in forging the weapon that's right for you.
To support that, all crafted weapons will have a level. These levels will continue to grow the more activities you complete and enemies you kill. As you continue to level your weapon, it is said that you will start to harness your weapon's true power and unlock improved versions of existing traits. Depending on the weapon, this could happen at level 6 or level 20. Thus, the number of activities completed and enemies killed will be unique to each weapon.
What are Weapon Foundries and Origin Traits?
On top of customizing your weapons, Bungie has also introduced Weapon Foundries and Origin Traits.
Weapon Foundries are based on the literal manufacturer of the weapons you find in the world. In the Season of the Risen Suros, Omolon, Häkke, and Veist foundries will all be found in the World Loot Pool and three additional foundries, one for each core playlist (Gambit, Vanguard, and Crucible), will also be added. Each foundry will add unique perks that play into the lore of each Foundry.
Origin Traits will also offer a similar benefit to your weapons based on where you would acquire weapons. There are 14 total Origin Traits but, again, Bungie has only teased with just a few. While these buffs have different names, you can only have one active at any given time as they occupy the same slot on your weapon. Here's a full list of all the Weapon Foundry Traits and Origin Traits as well as what they do:
| Trait | Description | Found on |
|---|---|---|
| Alacrity (Origin Trait) | Gain increased reload, stability, aim assist, and range when you are the last living member of your fireteam or running solo. | Trials weapon rewards. |
| Hakke Breach Armaments (Weapon Foundry) | This weapon deals increased damage against vehicles, turrets, barricades, and Stasis crystals. | Hakke manufactured weapons. |
| Invader Tracker (Origin Trait) | Damaging the Invader with this weapon marks them for allies. | Gambit weapon rewards. |
| Land Tank (Weapon Foundry) | Final blows with this weapon grant increased Resilience and additional damage resistance from combatants. | Season 16 weapons. |
| Omolon Fluid Dynamics (Weapon Foundry) | This weapon has increased reload speed and stability for the top half of the magazine. | Omolon manufactured weapons. |
| One Quiet Moment (Origin Trait) | Grants increased reload speed when out of combat. | Crucible weapon rewards. |
| Psychohack (Weapon Foundry) | Sustained damage from this weapon lowers the target's damage output for a short duration. | Throne World manufactured weapons. |
| Skulking Wolf (Origin Trait) | During the Hunt, final blows with this weapon grant enhanced radar and remove you from opposing radar. | Iron Banner weapon rewards. |
| Stunning Recovery (Origin Trait) | Stunning a Champion partially refills your magazine, triggers health regeneration, and improves recovery for a short duration. | Nightfall weapon rewards. |
| Suros Synergy (Weapon Foundry) | Reloading grants this weapon bonus handling and reduces incoming flinch for a short time. | Suros manufactured weapons. |
| Vanguard's Vindication (Origin Trait) | Final blows with this weapon grant a small amount of health. | Vanguard playlist rewards. |
| Veist Stinger (Weapon Foundry) | Damaging an enemy with this weapon has a small chance to reload the magazine and increase movement speed while aiming down sights. Bows receive faster draw speed and swords receive faster charge rate while this perk is active. | Veist manufactured weapons. |
Bungie has also advised that, in time and over the course of multiple seasons, this list will continue to grow with more Origin Traits.
What are Mementos and how do you unlock them?
The final pieces of the puzzle are Mementos. Mementos are visual customizations to weapons that are purely cosmetic. You can unlock them from playing various activities. The only available Memento at launch will be through Gambit, but Bungie has stated there will also be Mementos for Trials of Osiris and Grandmaster Nightfall completions
As you can see, there will be an unfathomable amount of weapon combinations to sink your teeth into and making sure you get something that compliments your playstyle may take a little bit of effort and consideration. Ultimately, the proof will be in the bullet (or arrow) riddled pudding.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is expected to release on Feb. 22, 2022. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen preorders are available now.
Take back the Light
The upcoming Witch Queen expansion features the sinister Savathûn and her brood of Light-wielding Hive, which will undoubtedly prove to be the most challenging foes faced by Guardians yet. Players can expect tons of new loot, enemies, locations, and more.
