In Destiny 2, Pain and Gain will likely be the first new Exotic quest players encounter after starting Shadowkeep. You acquire it by speaking to the sedentary gunsmith: Banshee-44. He mentions he has a weapon frame that needs tuning, since its “pain matrix” is borked. That sounds ominous… And, honestly, the first step of this Exotic quest isn’t much of a pain at all! You just have to do some things you were probably going to hit anyway. Now let’s take a look at the Pain and Gain in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep.
NOTE: We’ve just started up the latest Destiny 2 expansion ourselves and our rushing to get through it as quickly as possible. For now, though, that means we don’t have all the information we would like. We’ll continue updating this guide (and all our other Destiny coverage) as we uncover more steps. After which we will remove this disclaimer and leave you with the finished product. Until then, enjoy!
Joy in Suffering – Pain and Gain Destiny 2 Exotic Quest Step
The first step of the Destiny Pain and Gain quest isn’t all that bad. You just need to hit up some everyday activities. For old players, this is likely a trifle! For those that are just joining us in Destiny 2 via the Shadowkeep expansion, here’s a more thorough breakdown of the three steps.
The first activity listed on the Pain and Gain quest is to finish a Lost Sector in the EDZ. That’s “European Dead Zone” for the uninitiated. Even more bluntly, this just means “Earth.” And in Destiny 2 Lost Sectors are just a fancy phrase for very short dungeons that take about five minutes to complete. They don’t award much, but are often tied to completing missions (e.g. the Pain and Gain Exotic quest).
“Guardian—we can make this shooter shoot, but you’ll need to put yourself in harm’s way so we can synchronize its functions.” —A note from Banshee-44
One of the easiest EDZ Lost Sectors to access is Terminus East. It’s right next to the EDZ hub zone, Trostland, and quite simple to spot. Just head a few meters northeast of the church (where you can speak to Devrim Kay). The entrance to Terminus East is an abandoned transit station leading underground. Simply proceed through it, kill the boss at the end, and open the chest. Problem solved! Any other EDZ Lost Sector will do just as well, of course, but this one is simple to access.
The next step in this Destiny 2 Pain and Gain Exotic quest is to complete a Heroic public event. This is slightly trickier than just running a Lost Sector. It requires you to both wait for a random activity to trigger and to perform special actions that shift it to “Heroic.”
More Destiny 2 & Shadowkeep:
- Destiny 2 Exit Strategy Guide – How to Get the Gambit Ritual Weapon
- Destiny 2 Randy’s Throwing Knife Guide – How to Get the Crucible Ritual Weapon
- Destiny 2 Exotic Catalyst Guide: How to Find & Unlock Exotic Catalysts
If you’ve played enough to access the Tangled Shore, the “Cryo-Pod Defenders” public event is one of the easiest to make Heroic. It also requires minimal travel time. Just wait in the starting area of the Tangled Shore (near where Spider resides) and wait for the Cryo Pod to spawn. Then shoot the vents on the side to spawn freezing orbs. Pick these up and throw them at the public event boss. After that, you just need to stand next to him to finish the event! The Witches’ Ritual event on Titan is also very low-impact. Once it begins, just stand in the circles within the room, then shoot the crystals you can see floating in the air. After that it’s just a matter of killing the boss!
Last, but certainly not least, is to complete a Nightfall Strike. These are specially modified, much harder versions of the normal three-player Strikes you access from the Vanguard playlist. There is no matchmaking, so you might need to get some friends. If you have the power level required, however, the Lake of Shadows is available in this week’s rotation. We recommend this one (or the lower-level Strike “The Ordeal” if power is an issue). Lake of Shadows is just extremely easy to cheese, as you can kill the final boss almost immediately after it spawns by spamming Supers and Heavy Weapons.
Risk/Reward – Pain and Gain Destiny 2 Exotic Quest Step
Now you’ll need to head to Earth for the Risk/Reward mission. Completing this will reward you with your new weapon! Just return to Banshee-44 to claim Riskrunner and its catalyst!
“All we need now are some Arc conductors. Take this Ether key. It’s Hunter tech. Was a gift. Should get you to a stash ‘near a gap’ in the old Cosmodrome.
“Track down and defeat Fallen Captains. Their Ether profiles will activate the key. And, hey… If you see my friend—or his chicken—tell him not to be a stranger.” —A note from Banshee-44
