When Beyond Light was released in 2020, Bungie introduced the Destiny Content Vault (DCV), a system where older Destiny 2 content was regularly removed from the game to make way for new areas. As of this writing, areas like Mercury, Titan, Io, and more are no longer accessible, nor are the quests that originally took place in these locations. However, you can still get the old Exotics from many of these quests, thanks to a feature Bungie added to Destiny 2 called the Monument to Lost Lights.
The Monument to Lost Lights is a Terminal found in the Tower in the Vault access area. Interacting with it brings up a screen that presents players with a list of older Destiny 2 expansions. Selecting one of these will display a list of old Exotic weapons (and Pinnacle weapons) associated with that expansion. Purchasing an Exotic weapon requires several resources: a considerable amount of Glimmer (at least 100,000), an Exotic Cipher (obtained from Xur through a weekly quest), Legendary Shards, and some number of Ascendant Shards. Purchasing a weapon associated with a Raid also costs Spoils of Triumph.
Additionally, purchasing weapons from an older Destiny 2 expansion requires that you own that expansion. In the case of Forsaken, you must either own the expansion or the Forsaken Pack, which replaced the now-unavailable expansion in 2022.
In addition to purchasing old Exotics, you can also use the Monument to Lost Lights to acquire old Pinnacle and seasonal ritual weapons. It’s important to note that many of these weapons are sunset, meaning that they cannot be infused beyond a certain Power level and thus aren’t of much use outside of situations where Power doesn’t matter, like the Crucible. You can tell if a weapon is sunset if its expansion/season icon in the top left corner is grayed out.
So, which old Destiny 2 Exotics should you prioritize grabbing? If you’re a brand new player and primarily play PVE, then as of this writing, Witherhoard is likely your best bet. As a Special grenade launcher that’s one of Destiny 2‘s few damage-over-time weapons, Witherhoard has been a fantastic Exotic for years and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Other solid picks are Outbreak Perfected, Ruinous Effigy, and Izanagi’s Burden. You might also want to check out the legendary weapon Salvager’s Salvo. For PVP, consider Lorentz Driver, Ace of Spades, and again, Witherhoard, as well as the legendary weapons Felwinter’s Lie and Reckless Endangerment.
