The Black Armory is finally open to Guardians for the first time ever. And Destiny 2’s Black Armory expansion is all about finding weaponry and tech from the arsenal’s past, while using it to make some dope new guns. But Forges are not an activity you can jump into right away. They take some long-winded and grind-y quests to unlock.
Forges are fun, however. They’re wave-based activities where you kill specific enemies to throw batteries around — firing up the titular forges to make your own weapon. Buckle up and get ready to grind! It’s time to gain access to Destiny 2‘s newest endgame activity.
- Destiny 2 Mysterious Box Guide – How to Get the Lock and Key Exotic
- Destiny 2 Guide: The Best Ways to Get Enhancement Cores
- Destiny 2 Level Guide – Maximizing Your Power Level Quickly
Volundr Forge
At the beginning of the Black Armory endgame expansion, you must visit the Spider in the Tangled Shore. He will give you a Black Armory Badge that you can take back to the Annex in the Tower. It will give you access to the Black Armory itself. It’s an entirely new area in the Tower that we’ve never seen before.
Show off your badge to Ada-1, the Armory’s caretaker, and she will begrudgingly allow you access. This kicks off your quest to fire up the Forges for the first time in a very long time.
Ada-1 gives you a “Basic Machine Gun Frame.” This is used to power up a weapon that can be crafted in the Forge. It’s a gameplay loop that you should get used to, because you’ll do it quite a bit before we’re done.
First, head to the Outskirts or Gulch in the EDZ. There you will find a crate that spawns in periodically with a shield around it. To destroy the shield, shoot the little drone flying around it. Open the chest and grab a Weapon Core.
Now you need to collect 25 Compound Ether. Do so by shooting some Fallen (anywhere in the galaxy) and collect away.
Next up, you need to perform 15 Power Weapon multi-kills and 50 Hive kills using Power Weapons. You can do this with any Power Weapon against any Hive enemies. But by far the best place is any Escalation Protocol on Mars. Use an LMG, like Thunderlord, to make light work of this task.
After that, the next step is to kill 25 Powerful enemies with a Power Weapon. The quest step is referring to any enemies with yellow health bars. Again, you can do this just about anywhere. But the easiest method is to load the Leviathan Raid (no fireteam required) and use a long-range weapon, like Whisper of the Worm, to take down the dormant Cabal guards. Just load into the activity a few times to get the kills you need.
The final step (we promise) is to kill 20 Powerful enemies for “Radiant Seeds.” You can also do this on the Leviathan, but Powerful enemies are not guaranteed to drop seeds. Another solid bet is to play a Public Event that spawns a big boss at the end. They will drop 5-7 seeds apiece. You can even knock out bounties and/or weekly challenges while you work that way!
Now you can head back to Ada-1. She will give you access to the first Black Armory Forge: the Volundr Forge in the EDZ. That’s where the real fun begins… For now, though, let’s just focus on finding the next location.
Gofannon Forge
The Gofannon Forge is on Nessus and you need to get a lucky drop to kick off the quest that unlocks it. Just slaughter more Fallen enemies on the planetoid. Eventually one of them will drop something called “Stolen Black Armory Gear.” Take it to Ada-1 and she’ll give you your next step.
Now you need to kill 35 Fallen with precision kills. Head to a Lost Sector, like The Weep in Winding Cove, which is full of Fallen. Use accurate weapons (bows, hand cannons, scout rifles, etc.) and farm the baddies for headshots until they drop enough of the “Tainted Gear” you need.
Another visit to the Spider comes next. He will give you a step that requires two things: complete the Cryo-Pod Heroic Public Event in Thieves’ Landing, on the Tangled Shore, and get 75 melee kills against Fallen. Just run around the area punching Fallen for a while; then complete the event when it spawns nearby.
To make the Cryo-Pod event Heroic, you must shoot the smoking vents on the sides of the pod whenever the electric field becomes active. Doing so will spawn a ball that you then throw at the boss to freeze it in place. You have to throw three balls to kick off Heroic mode. At which point, the objective shifts to “defending” the frozen fugitive for a few minutes while waves of enemies throw themselves onto your bullets.
The next step is a mission called “Scourge of the Armory.” It involves heading to various Lost Sectors in the EDZ. Grab a friend or two and play it out, because it’s a 620 recommended Power level activity.
Once that’s done, head to Nessus. The next step requires you to kill a high-value target. Wait around in the Exodus Black section of the map for the target to spawn (you’ll get a notification on the bottom-left of the screen when it does) and kill it fast. For some reason, you only get credit for killing it if you land the final shot when playing solo. It’s a yellow health bar Captain.
Huzzah! You finally located the Forge. It’s just… not quite ready yet. Head to the Gofannon Forge, accessible from Artifact’s Edge, and clear out the enemies in there.
Now you’re ready to return to Ada-1. She will give you a “Basic Sniper Rifle Frame.” You have to Power it up just like with the Volundr frames before it. The weapon core chest will spawn in either Artifact’s Edge or The Hallows. You need 25 Fallen kills again.
You can finish these final steps in the entrance to the Leviathan again, because you need 25 precision kills using a sniper — plus five Powerful enemy kills and 10 multi-kills with a sniper. Pick off the Cabal from a distance, just like before.
Return to Ada-1 once more and the Gofannon Forge will be yours to access. Take a break, take a breath, and then get ready for the longest unlocking quest yet.
Izanami Forge
Grab a drink, a snack, and call off work, because this next quest takes about three hours to complete — minimum.
The third Forge is also on Nessus; head there once again and start slaying Vex. One of them will drop a Vex Transponder, which tasks you with killing 100 more Vex.
Once they’re dead, head to the Hallows and complete a Heroic Spire Integration public event. To do so, stand on the three platforms that appear, flanking the main spire in the middle of the area, and power them up fully.
Hopefully you’re still in the Vex-killing mood, because the next step is killing 20 Minotaurs. Just continue doing Spire Integration public events. They spawn both in the Hallows and around the Exodus Black. A good four or five Minotaurs should spawn with each event. While waiting for the events to restart, you can finish the Artifact’s Edge Lost Sector called The Orrery. It has a Minotaur boss at the end.
After finishing a mission called “Rekindle the Flames,” and visiting Ada-1 in the Tower, you will receive a “Broken Izanami Igniter.” And, you guessed it, you need to power it up!
First, finish three specific public events: Glimmer Extraction, Hive Witches Ritual, and Spire Integration. Glimmer Extraction is found all over the EDZ (in the Gulch, the Sludge, Trostland, and Firebase Hades) as well as on Nessus. The Witches Ritual is easy to find on the Rig on Titan, as well as on Mars. You should know where Spire Integration events spawn by now, but here’s a reminder; you can easily find it in the Hallows on Nessus.
The next step includes three tasks. To gather Blended Ether, get precision kills on Fallen. For Condensed Blights, go to Io and head into the Aphix Conduit Lost Sector. There’s one you can destroy there. Exit and re-enter the Lost Sector five times to complete the step. Finally, collecting Radiolarian Vapor requires you to complete a jumping-heavy mission on Nessus, near The Cistern.
Once that’s done, fire up the Volundr Forge and complete an ignition. Then head back to Ada-1. She will send you on an advanced version of the Insight Terminus Strike. After finishing that, it’s finally time to head to the Izanami Forge on Nessus and finally reignite it.
Once the Forge is back on, return to Ada-1 one last time. She will give access to the Forge (for real this time) and a bow frame that you can power up.
Congratulations, Guardian! This trial of attrition is finally over. We promise it was worth it, too; the Forge weapons can roll with some really nasty stat packages and perks. You really should spend the time grinding them out to get a weapon that suits you best.
