Destiny 2: The Witch Queen season pass holders for Season of the Risen get to chase after the new Dead Messenger Exotic grenade launcher. Dead Messenger’s Intrinsic perk is called Trinary Vision. This one-shot grenade launcher’s projectiles release a line of three energy wave currents when it hits the ground. There’s also a perk, called The Fundamentals, that lets you switch between Arc, Solar, and Void, which makes it perfect for activities that require element-specific weapons.
Getting the Dead Messenger quest
If you completed the first mission in The Witch Queen campaign, you’re already on track for the quest. After speaking to Ikora at the Enclave, she’ll tell you to complete The Investigation mission along with the Rising Tensions quest–she’ll also hand you the Synaptic Spear, which is Season of the Risen’s artifact.
Rising Tensions has a few steps and goes by fairly quickly. One of the steps will ask you to meet with Cabal Empress Caiatl at Tower Hangar to see the cutscene setting up the new season–then head to the H.E.L.M. Players will need to play through the seasonal activity on the EDZ called PsiOps Battlegrounds to use the Synaptic Spear. The Synaptic Spear doesn’t show up until you enter the Mindscape, where the final fight takes place.
Picking up the Rising Tensions reward from the H.E.L.M. prompts the next quest called Operation Elbrus. After the first step, you’ll enter the PsiOps Battlegrounds through the H.E.L.M. to grab a Runic chest. The Runic chest shows up at the end of the activity, right beside the usual chest–this chest costs 500 Psychogenic Intel.
After a few other simple steps and speaking with Caiatl at the H.E.L.M., reaching Step 7 in the Operation Elbrus quest gives you the Kill the Messenger Exotic quest–this is where you’ll get Dead Messenger. Operation Elbrus branches into a different quest at this point.
Kill the Messenger quest
The quest will direct you to the Vox Obscura Exotic mission on Mars where a Psionic signal is trying to rattle the coalition between the Cabal and the Vanguard. Since there is no Mars destination, head to Savathun’s Throne World to launch the normal difficulty version of the Vox Obscura mission–this mission’s recommended power level is 1550, but players even 30 power levels below can jump in. Anyone who did the Legendary campaign and received their 1520 gear should be ready to go.
If a three-person Fireteam is planning on doing Vox Obscura, keep in mind that every person needs to have this mission unlocked. If other players who own Season 16 don’t have the Vox Obscura mission–well, here’s the perfect guide.
Vox Obscura Exotic mission
Vox Obscura brings back the good ole timed Exotic missions, which means that you will need to redo the entire mission if you don’t complete it in time. The mission takes place on the Destiny 1 Mars location, where you’ll need to make their way into the Cabal base. At least one player should have an Unstoppable pulse rifle or Unstoppable hand cannon.
You’ll then need to clear the Airfield in only 4 minutes and 30 seconds until orbital bombardment. It may seem like a generous amount for this part, but the 4 minutes and 30 seconds carry over into the next part of the mission so everyone needs to be as quick as possible.
The Interceptor in the Vox Obscura mission
Hop into the Interceptor and shoot the garage door. Cabal enemies will drop in front; just ram your Interceptor to take them all down and drive forward to the Goliath Tank. Beware of the Psion roaming around on the Martian desert on another Interceptor, it will immediately kill anyone.
For the Goliath Tank, a wild trick from previous Cabal activities comes in handy here. Drive the Interceptor directly into the Goliath and shoot–the tank will instantly break–and jump out out the Interceptor. There’s also an Unstoppable Incendior near the tank, but it can easily be taken down with a rocket launcher. The real pain here is the Scorpius turrets and the Cabal reinforcements that appear. Amanda Holliday will drop a Drake tank, use this tank to head over to the next area.
Eliminate Goliath Tanks
In the Scablands, you need to take down two more Goliaths in the time you have left–ramming the Interceptor is not recommended here because a Fireteam wiping at his part means starting the mission over again, but if you’re confident enough then go ahead.
The three signal towers and the Goliath tanks in the Scablands
However, that’s not the only objective here. After destroying the Goliaths, shoot the generators and the panels on the large signal towers to cancel the bombardment.
Panels on the signal towers
The area gets overwhelming with the Goliaths, rockets falling in from above, and smaller enemies. Constantly staying on the move helps reduce damage taken. Next, the mission will then say to blast open the bunker door with an Interceptor or Drake. If you need a new Drake or a new Interceptor, you can summon them from platforms near the Scabland entrance.
Race to the Control Room
There is an Unstoppable Champion above the doorway and Scorpius turrets. Entering the doorway triggers another timed objective, it starts at 10 minutes and counts down. The initial hallway will have a yellow bar Cabal enemy, an Unstoppable Champion, and Psions.
The Race to the Control Room area is divided into three rooms that all use the same mechanics–you should defeat the smaller Psion inside a bubble–reminiscent of the Leviathan raid where a quick melee does enough damage. This will take down the shield of the yellow bar Psion Codewarden; defeat the Codewarden and hack the machinery. Repeat this for the other two rooms.
Hack machinery after defeating the Psion Codewarden
There will be a ton of enemies outside and inside of the rooms and an Unstoppable Champion near the door that takes you to the boss fight. Finally, head to the Control Room through that big door to fight Qabix, Insurgent.
Defeat Qabix, Insurgent
Qabix, Insurgent needs to be defeated within the time left from the previous segment. This Psion boss’s health is divided into three phases–doing 1/3 damage to the Qabix’s health will give it an Immune shield. Once again, you need to melee or shoot the Psions in the bubbles to remove the boss’s shield. The three bubble Psions are on the left, right, and back of the map.
Deal damage to the boss after the shield goes down and prepare for the next phase after Qabix puts its shield back up. Do the same thing to take down the shield and defeat Qabix. Dealing damage to the boss–any heavy weapon works–isn’t as difficult as defeating the enemies constantly entering the room.
Psion Commander bubbles in the Control Room
Qabix has unique attacks that can be fatal. First, it casts a purple detainment bubble onto the Fireteam, but you can shoot the glowing spot on the bubble to break out. Around the second damage phase, Qabix throws out flaming cannon shots that track players, although those can be shot down its best to avoid them.
Lastly, head up to the Leviathan-inspired chest and grab the Dead Messenger. For the catalyst, you’ll have to complete the higher difficulty Vox Obscura mission. Also, Vox Obscura is a replayable mission and gives Pinnacle gear.
Season of the Risen has additional things to work towards besides PsiOps Battlegrounds and the Dead Messenger quest–there are new seasonal items and weekly challenges.
Source: Gamespot
