A Rising Chorus Act 2 - Destiny 2 Guide - IGN (2024)

A Rising Chorus continues into Act 2, and with it comes another 28-step quest chain. This quest chain will see you engage with the new Battlegrounds, as well as some other Echoes Activities, before returning to Failsafe.

Click the links below to jump to:

• A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 1
• A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 2
• A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 3

A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 1

To begin, you'll have to talk to Ikora Rey in the Tower. You may have a few dialogue sequences to go through with her (I did, as well as a cutscene, but I have not spoken to Ikora in a while).

Eventually, she'll give you the 'A Rising Chorus: Act II' quest, informing you to head to Nessus to complete the Battleground: Delve activity; it can be found at the left of the Nessus map.

As you’re progressing through Delve, be absolutely sure to pick up every piece of radiolaria you find because if you do you’ll get a ton more drops at the end.

After completing the opening section, jumping into the pit and teleporting through the teleporter, move to the left and smash the first hammer in this Battleground to spawn a ton of that radiolaria you want.

The radiolaria does take a second so just let it spawn in and grab it all up. It will be clearly marked on your map.

After finishing the next section and dropping through the portal under the floor, follow the pathway until you see an oval opening you can drop down.

If you head to the far left you’ll find the second hammer charge which… you guessed it… spawns a bunch of radiolaria.

Pick it all up and be sure you dunk it either at the end of the mission - if you’re impatient and just want your loot ASAP - or you can also turn it in at the H.E.L.M. where your rewards are somewhat increased meaning you may get an extra drop or two.

Head to the H.E.L.M. to chat with Failsafe and begin your Act 2 quest with this vendor. Failsafe will tell you to collect 'Code Mutations'.

How to Get Code Mutations

You can get Code Mutations anywhere there are Radiolaria drops from a seasonal activity, but we recommend obtaining them from the Breach Executable activity. When you hit the Planetary Pistons, Radiolite will spawn. Pick this up, and this will grant you the Vex Code Mutations you need, as you can see as a drop on the right-hand side of the screen in the picture below.

Once you do this, you will be beckoned to the H.E.L.M. by Failsafe, and you'll have the option to upgrade Failsafe. Do this, and talk to her.

She'll then instruct you to complete the Battleground: Conduit activity which can be found on Nessus in the same spot where the previous Battleground node was.

The first Hammer on Conduit is just after your first battle where you're trying to get through this big circular door.

The second Hammer is just before the final boss. Both of these are very hard to miss as they pop up on your radar and are directly in your path.

Then return to Failsafe in the H.E.L.M., where you will wrap up this week's quest.

Specimen: NES004 Walkthrough

This quest will unlock a 100% XP boost for wearing the seasonal armor. That means, with the 30% buff for wearing a cloak and one other piece of armor. for every seasonal activity you complete, you’ll now receive a 130% XP boost on top of all the boosts you’ve received on the seasons pass already. That’s a good deal.

• Step 1: Open Chests - I found that this was completed fastest by just doing the Arena Breach Executable activity, but any seasonal activity with a chest at the end should suffice.

• Step 2: Echo Gear Focused - Just spend engrams one at a time at Failsafe to unlock a few armor pieces. Armor focusing only costs 1 engram so it’s the cheapest way to complete this and you’ll want your other engrams for later.

• Step 3: Secure Extracted Date in the Breach Executable activity and fight your way through Echoes Battlegrounds. It seems to indicate you need to do both, but this was completed for me after running a single Battleground: Echoes mission.

• Step 4: Pick up your reward at Failsafe.

• Step 5: Put the reward in your display case.

A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 2

To begin, Failsafe will have some news for you after being briefed on the 'Echo of Command'. She will inform you that she needs you to go find some Radiolite. These can be found in either the Breach Executable or Seasonal Battleground playlists seen on the left of the H.E.L.M. map in the image below.

While completing a run of either of these activities, it is recommended that you put a Wombo Detector mod on your Ghost in order to see the Radiolite spawns a little easier. This is made clear in the image below, where I can see lots of Radiolite thanks to the markers above them.

One or two hits of a Planetary Piston should spawn enough Radiolite to complete this step; for reference, here is what a Planetary Piston looks like.

Once you have completed this step, complete the activity you're in for some loot, and then head back to Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. Here, she'll tell you to deploy some nanobots you have on Nessus in the Chamber of Stone, as seen below.

Mark this spot on your map and follow the waypoint until you reach this portal-

Once through, continue through the cave, and eventually, you'll enter the Chamber of Stone load zone. In here, you'll find some Compelled Vex, as well as spots to deploy your nanobots. The first two can be seen right as you enter the first room.

The final three are found in the second room. Some more Compelled Vex will spawn, so take care of them and then deploy your nanobots again. One is found to the left of the entrance, one is in the back middle of the room, dead ahead of where you enter, and the final one is to the right behind a rock.

Note the 'Near Objective' buff on the left side of my screen. If you have this buff, that means you're close to one of the spots where you can deploy the nanobots.

Once you have deployed all five, Failsafe will mark another spot on Nessus you have to visit. The next area you'll have to visit is the Radiolarian spring in The Cistern, as seen below-

Spawn at The Cistern waypoint, and make your way across the big Radiolarian lake towards the objective marker. It will take you to a cavern beside the Radiolarian waterfall.

Head inside, and it'll take you to The Conflux Lost Sector. Clear out the enemies first, and then kill the Wyvern that spawns. You can then deploy the three nanobots you need to. The first two can be found on the left and right of the room, marked on screen by the objective marker, and the final one is near the back of the room by the Radiolarian pillar, as seen in the images below.

Once you have deployed the nanobots, you'll have to complete the Battleground: Core activity. This activity node can be found at the bottom of the Nessus area, below The Cistern.

Once you load in, you'll simply follow the objective marker down and round a massive Radiolarian pillar into a room with a few enemies. Among them will be a large Taken Centurion called an 'Essence Bearer', as well as some Taken Blights. To progress, you must kill the Essence Bearer and then throw the taken orbs it drops at the Taken Blights. It only takes one orb to destroy each blight, so be careful not to throw an orb at the same blight as your teammate. If you miss, don't worry; a Thrall will spawn, and they will drop an orb when killed, too.

When you progress into the next area, you'll have to do the same thing as before, but twice over, as there are now six Taken Blights to destroy in total; simply continue to clear out the enemies until all Blights are cleared so you can progress. Once clear, go through and drop down; this will take you to a small parkour section where a Planetary Piston will spawn.

Progress through the jumping puzzle (while grabbing some Radiolite while you're at it from the Planetary Piston spawn) and head into the next area. This circular room is slammed with ads, spawning two Wyverns at the end of the area; however, with three players, this shouldn't be too much hassle.

After this room comes the boss arena. Rally to the flag, drop down and clear out the enemies.

Upon destroying the crystal and starting the fight, shoot the boss until it reaches the first notch in its health (this is very early on). Once you do this, the boss will activate the deletion protocol red walls, and you'll have to continuously rotate through the arena as the walls move.

Once you progress a small bit, a 'System Override node' will become vulnerable. This is simply a Vex Cube that spawns behind you above a plate. Destroying it will activate the plate it is above and grant the 'System Override' buff, allowing you to deal massively increased damage to the boss, so save your Heavy Ammo and Supers for this spot.

Once the boss dies, you are finished and can collect your loot. Failsafe will also prompt you to return to the H.E.L.M., where she will tell you to head to the Watcher's Grave area on Nessus to locate a new research specimen.

Mark the spot on your map and head to the scan location. Here is what it looks like-

Interact with the node to scan the area, and Failsafe will tell you to scan another area down and to the left of where this scan took place, as you can see below.

Head down and interact with the next scan spot. This scan is above a Vex Goblin's body, and once scanned, you can collect the frog specimen that spawns from the Goblin. Once you have done this, you'll have to bring it back to Failsafe in the H.E.L.M.

Due to her infatuation with the frog, she accidentally divulges some information Ikora asked her not to, so you have to go see Ikora to discuss what Failsafe's plan was to locate The Conductor, where you'll learn that you may need to find Saint-14's old body to give Failsafe the data necessary to locate The Conductor, and with that cliffhanger, week 2 of A Rising Chorus: Act 2, comes to a close.

Specimen: NES005 Walkthrough

This quest will unlock Piston Hammer Recharging - Using the Piston Hammer will occasionally recharge itself instead of consuming a hammer charge.

• Step 1: Bufo Bites - Collect Iridescent Radilite to find nutritional clusters witin. Failsafe calls these clusters "Bufo Bites," and believes they mirror the animals natural food source.

  Collect within seasonal Echoes activities. We recommend Battlegrounds as the missions are shorter and you get the same amount as you would running Arena: Breach Executable.

• Step 2: Nessus Flora - Collect flora from Nessus to prepare a small terrarium in the H.E.L.M.

  Go to the Watcher's Grave and pick up the 7 Flors Specimens.

  See Also

  Destiny 2 The Witch Queen guide: Trust Goes Both Ways region and faction chest locations

• Step 3: Defeat Vex on Nessus to ensure a safe habitat 0/100.

  Kill Vex on Nessus. A good place to do this is in the lost sector at Artifact's Edge.

• Step 4: Speak with Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. to review her final specimen analysis report.
  
• Step 5: Place the Frog (Captain Jacobson) into his new home.

  Completing the NES005 quest will unlock
  Piston Hammer Efficiency: Using the Piston Hammer will occasionally recharge it, instead of consuming a hammer charge.

  Radiolite Learning-Analysis: Improves rewards from the Radiolite Bay: Glimmer, XP, Failsafe Reputation, Enhancement core (chance to earn up to 3), Enhancement Prism (rare)
  
  Secondary Engram Focusing: Unlocks focusing of Echo Engrams into the following Echo gear once added to your collection: Weapons: Aberrant Action, Corrasion.

A Rising Chorus: Act 2 Week 3

Step 23 of 28

• Meet Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. to discuss her theory of how to locate the Conductor.

Step 24 of 28

• Explore the Sunken Cavern on Nessus and defeat the Vex who holds the code Failsafe requires.
• Vex code obtained
• At failsafe be sure to pick up the quest item in her Research bay inventory.
• Be sure to put on your seasonal cloak!
• Go to Watchers Grave, follow the waypoint, and kill the minotaur boss there.

Step 25 of 28

• A message awaits you in the H.E.L.M.
• Go to the H.E.L.M.

Step 26 of 28

• Enter the Vex network with Saint-14 in Mission: Shell on Nessus.

Step 27 of 28

• Speak to Saint-14 in the Tower Hangar

Step 28 of 28

• Episode: Echoes Act II complete. Failsafe will contact you when Act III begins.
  

Aberrant Action Solar Sidearm

The real star of the show for Act 2 is Aberrant Action which is now part of the loot pool at the Helm.

Ideally, you want to get Aberrant Action with Heal Clip and Incandescent.

Heal Clip will instantly heal you after a kill and Incandescent will apply the Solar effect Scorch to nearby enemies. And in practice, this side arm slaps.

A Rising Chorus Act 2: Week 3

To start this week, you'll have to visit Failsafe in the H.E.L.M., where she'll provide some details of her plan to stop the Conductor and how she needs you to obtain a Vex Code from a specific Vex enemy within the Hallows area on Nessus, as seen below.

Tip: When you land on Nessus, make sure to click on the circle to mark it on your map so you can easily see where to go.

First, spawn into the Watcher's Grave area and head slightly to the left and back, going up the slope, following the grey marker on the screen. Continue to progress until you reach the Hallows and a rocky area that leads down into a Vex-like structure, as you can see below.

Head into the cave, and you'll enter the Sunkern Cavern load zone. Run through this area and you'll reach a massive cliff, and you'll have a short parkour section to get through.

Once you reach the bottom, clear out the nearby enemies and head to the central area where most of the enemies have congregated. There will be a yellow-bar Minotaur that you'll have to kill, but don't worry, they aren't tanky.

Upon defeating the Compelled Minotaur, you'll receive the drop you need. Your quest will update to say that a message awaits you in the H.E.L.M., so head back to hear what Saint-14, Osiris, and Failsafe have to say.

Saint-14 is on board with the plan to revisit his old grave through some convincing from Ikora, despite Osiris's protests. Once the conversation has finished, you'll have to complete the Mission: Shell objective found on Nessus, as seen below.

Upon starting the mission, you'll have to head to the centre and jump down the hole in the middle. Once you land, you'll have to do some parkour to get to the objective marker.

Once you reach the central island, there will be three shielded Minotaurs that will quickly become aggressive and lose their shields. Simply take them out, and you'll enter a Respawning Restricted phase. Interact with the Conflux on the island to get started.

Waves of enemies will come at you, spawning from a few different directions, to the front, behind you, and to your right, with the final wave including some Fanatics and two orange-bar Wyverns that spawn, so be careful. Once all enemies are dead, head through the portal on the right of the room.

Once you head through the portal, you'll enter a corridor very reminiscent of the Infinite Forest. You'll come out at Saint-14's original tomb. Approach the body and interact with it to summon Osiris and Saint-14.

Saint-14 will relive his final moments in the Infinite Forest and, in doing so, obtains the necessary information for Failsafe to locate the Conductor. Failsafe will send you the coordinates and warns you that the Vex are ready to ambush you and that you'll have a Vex Boss to kill. Make sure to swap to a damaging weapon like a Grenade Launcher, as there is a Rally Flag you can place for some ammo.

To your left and right, there will be platforms you can jump to, but be careful; they will sometimes phase out of reality, requiring you to jump to a different piece of cover. Once you reach the final notch in his health, he'll teleport back to where he spawned, and all the cover will disappear. Thankfully, there is a lower ledge you can partially hide on if you need to quickly recover some hp, as seen below.

Once you've defeated the boss, head up the several flights of stairs and into a more open, grassy area. Approach the two Goblins in the lake, and the mission will come to a close, putting you into a cutscene.

Once the cutscene is finished, you'll be put into the Tower, where you'll have to talk to Saint-14. Upon doing so, Act 2 of the Echoes Episode comes to a close as the final quest step tells us that Failsafe will contact us when Act 3 commences.

Specimen ID: NES006

• Once discovered you need to return to the H.E.L.M and talk with Failsafe to begin the quest.

Step 1 of 5

• Sidearm or Auto Rifle final Blows

Step 2 of 5

• Arc or Solar final blows

Step 3 of 5

• Generate orbs of Power

Step 4 of 5

• Speak with Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. to review her final specimen analysis report.

Step 5 of 5

• Travel to the H.E.L.M. and place the Assimilated Torch Hammer in your specimen collection.