Destiny 2: Festival of the Lost

Once again the Festival of the Lost has come to Destiny 2. There is plenty to find and do with solid things to chase after. With a desirable Pulse Rifle in the form of the Jurassic Green, and plenty of fun emotes, armor ornaments, shaders, and a sparrow we have a bit to go for this Festival of the Lost. There is also a new lore book to complete, the Book of the Forgotten! So, put on your Festival of the Lost Mask, AND LEAVE IT ON FOR THE WHOLE EVENT! Only wearing the mask will you get the unique Festival of the Lost rewards. There are plenty to be had during this event too. You'll need figurative tons of Candy and stacks of pages.

Grandma Eva has returned to the Tower. She's in her usual spot in the middle of the plaza with a more subdued set-up. She will be offering a quest, “Gone But Not Forgotten.” This works as a primer for the event as a whole. The Guardian will want to travel to any of the destinations available, the EDZ being recommended, to participate in 2 public events. Going into the Vanguard, Crucible, or Gambit playlists would also likely do the job as well. You need to participate in 2 events that will reward you with Spectral Pages. Ideally, you will want to gather 10-15 Spectral Pages, to be sure you can get the most out of this first run. After that, visit Eva to learn a little bit more before going into the new playlist for the Haunted Sectors.

The Haunted Sectors all follow the normal path for a Lost Sector, but with Glint telling a ghost story that happened in the Sector. The big difference normally kicks in around the mid-point of the Haunted Sector. There will be a ring of energy on the floor with a bouncing pumpkin hologram in it. Standing in it will summon the unique enemy of the event, a Headless One. These massive Knights have a black shroud over their normal head, making them look like the Headless Horseman, just done as a Hive Knight. They have 2 unique abilities as well. The first is they summon 2 Shields of Darkness, protecting themselves from a broader range of attacks. The second is they can call in a Poisonous Cloud we're used to seeing from Wizards. After a warm-up encounter with a Headless One, you will have 4 minutes to defeat up to 10 Headless Ones. Each Headless One you defeat, it will have 1 Spectral Page manifest. There is a hitch though. Fireteam member need to contribute damage for the kill to count for the page to manifest. Additionally if you are dead while the Headless One dies, its death likely won't count toward your total. After the timer runs down, a boss will appear in the Haunted Sector. After doing so much damage, a shield will appear around the boss to protect them. The Fireteam will need to find more rings that have manifested to summon additional Headless Ones. Defeating the Headless Ones adds more pages to your total, but they will also cause a number of glowing pumpkins to appear. Fireteam members need to grab these pumpkin heads and throw them at the Boss to break the shield around them and start a second damage phase. You will need to do this one more time to finish off the boss. The usual reward chest will then appear, giving out a number of engrams, Glimmer, and Candy! Finally, return to Eva Levante in the Tower and then visit the Book of the Forgotten. This Book is the key to the Lore Book that was added with the event. Interact with the book and turn in some of the Manifested Pages to unlock the entries for the 3 stories across Europa, Nessus, and the Moon. After that, you are cut loose once again to participate in all the activities available to you in Destiny 2.

There are presently 3 Haunted Sectors: K1 Revelations, Perdition, and the Carrion Pit. All offer a fun challenge but aren't too hard to just rush through, getting plenty of killings until you reach the Headless Ones. Even then, with Particle Deconstruction and a Fusion Rifle with Vorpal Weapon, they can be defeated somewhat easily.

Okay, a big thing to get plenty of are the Spectral and Manifested Pages. Each has a max stack of 75 and it takes 2, 3, 5, or 9 pages to unlock the Lore pages from the Book of the Forgotten. The Spectral Pages are found by completing any number of activities around the world in Destiny 2. Most people have been traveling to the EDZ and completing a large number of (Heroic) Public Events. This is still well regarded for its farming for its simplicity.

If you have a group however, there is a second method that works very well for a group (and can work for a solo as well). When starting, you want to equip a Fusion Rifle with Vorpal Weapon and give it Boss Spec. Be sure you also have Particle Deconstruction equipped in your Class Item. That is utilizing the Wrathborn Hunts from a few seasons ago. Be sure your Wrath Lure has at least 1 charge before beginning. It likely does, but it should be mentioned. The recommended Wrathborn hunt is Savek, configured with 2 Dormant mutations. Head to the marked Obelisk and start the Hunt. Melt the Servitor that appears so it vanishes. Follow its trail out to Four Horn Gulch and start the Hunt itself. Here, the method varies slightly depending on solo or with a group.

For the group of 2 or more. The person who set the Lure needs to just wait where the instance begins. The rest of the fireteam needs to go into the cave and complete the Wrathborn hunt. When the countdown timer starts, immediately have the person who set the lure exit the activity. You should get the Spectral Pages quickly from this. When play resumes, you will be by the marker to restart the Wrathborn Hunt! Just repeat until you max out the Spectral Pages.

For the solo player, it is a little more time consuming, but just as easy. Start the instance of the Wrathborn hunt. Once inside the hunt, immediately reset the Lure. This will refund the charge but not kick you from the instance. Complete the Wrathborn hunt as normal. You will get the Spectral Pages for your efforts. Just as a Solo player, you will need to reset to the beginning of the Hunt, returning to the Tangled Shore and having to chase down the Servitor each time. But by resetting your Lure as you start the Hunt itself, you are saving yourself a lot of time. A lot more than completing the hunt normally, expending the charge and having to rebuild it.

As for Candy, you will need a grand total of 27,300 pieces to buy everything for this event. The good news is EVERYTHING rewards Candy. Killing enemies, opening chests, completing strikes, defeating Guardians in Crucible/Gambit, etc. With a max stack of 9,999, you will not need to worry much about maxing out. Be sure to grab all the bounties you can from Eva Levante. The Weekly and Daily Bounties reward Candy. The Repeatable Bounties just give XP and Bright Dust. This is definitely a time to take advantage of all 3 possible characters.

With all that said. What are my thoughts on this year's Festival of the Lost? So far so good. I like the change from the Haunted Forest to the Haunted Lost Sectors. This is giving Glint some needed character development but also let's us see the humorous side of him as well. The dialogue between Glint, Ikora Rey, Petra Venj, and others is worth at least a chuckle. The stories Glint tells are your basic campfire style, but that is part of the appeal all the same. People are overall happy with the unique Jurassic Green Pulse Rifle that's come with the event. The dinosaur theme in general for this year's armor is greatly appreciated as well. With this set-up, it is a good time to pick up Destiny 2 and try it out. There's plenty to do about the game with just this extra bit of goodness added on top.

*Edit: Bungie announced they are imposing a limit to how many Spectral Pages you can get through Wrathborn hunts and the Lake of Shadows. Hope you got plenty of them during the time of plenty.