‘The Taken Path’ Exotic quest walkthrough in Destiny 2

“The Taken Path” Exotic quest in Destiny 2 will guide you through multiple complex steps and an Exotic mission to get you the Barrow-Dyad SMG added in Destiny 2: Heresy. Like most of Heresy, the quest is filled with secrets for you to uncover and unravel, and you’ll need to figure it all out if you want your fancy new gun.

To start your journey to get Barrow-Dyad, you’ll first need to collect “The Taken Path” quest, which comes from a secret Blight hidden inside The Nether activity.

In this Destiny 2 guide, we’ll give you a full walkthrough of “The Taken Path” Exotic quest, including all of its steps, so you can finally collect your Barrow-Dyad Exotic submachine gun.

‘The Taken Path’ Exotic quest steps in Destiny 2

Finding the secret Blight in the Dreadnaught is a bit tricky, but you need to do it in order to start “The Taken Path.” You can read all about to find the Taken Blight and start the quest in our guide on how to get Barrow-Dyad, but the gist is that you need to A) get lucky enough to spawn into an instance of The Nether with a secret Taken Blight, B) get sucked into that Taken Blight by getting close to it, and C) solve a puzzle inside the Blight.

Once you’ve collected your first Taken Osseous Fragment from solving the secret Taken Blight puzzle, return to the Shaping Slab in Eris’ apartment to get “The Taken Path.”

There are several steps to completing this quest:

1. Unlock and equip the Scotopic Rune
2. Complete the puzzle in the K1 Revelation Lost Sector
3. Complete the puzzle in the Veles Labyrinth Lost Sector
4. Return to the Shaping Slab
5. Break the Taken Curses by using and destroying the Taken relic in Altars of Sorrow, the Hallowed Grove Lost Sector, and Nightmare Hunt: Pride
6. Acquire Taken Osseous Fragments from Thrall statues in The Nether
7. Complete the Derealize Exotic mission

How to equip the Scotopic Rune

Before you’re able to do anything with this quest, you first need to unlock and equip the Scotopic Rune, which is a tier 2 Runic Enhancement. This means you’ll need to level up your reputation with the Shaping Slab enough to have access to enough power to slot in a tier 2 rune, as well as purchase the Scotopic Rune with 150 Sigil Shards. 

If you need reputation, Sigil Shards, or both, just play a few rounds of The Nether.

Reveal the secret in Sorrow’s Harbor

Once you’ve unlocked and equipped the Scotopic Rune, head to Sorrow’s Harbor and enter the K1 Revelation Lost Sector. Once inside, all of the enemies will despawn. Proceed until you find a bubble of Taken Energy.

Destroy the Blight on top of it to reveal another rune and plate puzzle, similar to the one you had to complete to get the quest in the first place. Stand on the plate, look at the rune for a symbol to appear, and then walk backward. This will restart the Lost Sector with Taken enemies. Kill them all and collect the Taken Osseous Fragment that the boss drops.

Reveal the Secret in the Forgotten Shore

Fly to the Cosmodrome and start the Veles Labyrinth Lost Sector in the Forgotten Shore. Go into the Thrall maze and you’ll find another Taken Blight rune puzzle. Repeat what you did in K1 Revelation, but this time walk forward when you see the symbol.

This will teleport you to another rune puzzle later in the Lost Sector. Stand on the plate, look at the rune and walk left. You’ll get teleported again to yet another puzzle. This time walk back and you’ll be sent to the end of the Lost Sector. Do the Lost Sector backward — looking for different paths through the Thrall maze — until you kill yet another powerful Taken and pick up another Taken Osseous Fragment.

Break the Taken Curses

Once you’ve cleared the two Lost Sector parts of the quest, return to the Whispering Slab in Eris’ apartment. Here you’ll be told to break several Taken Curses and get three corresponding quests to complete: the Curse of Endurance, Curse of Urgency, and Curse of Revenge.

Curse of Endurance

For this curse, head back to Sorrow’s Harbor. Grab the Taken relic from the middle of the map and use it to kill Hive in the Altars of Sorrow activity. Once it’s fully charged — it’ll inform you that it now has increased power and you’ll get a map icon pointing you toward a Taken Blight — dunk it into the orb in the middle of the map to destroy it.

Curse of Urgency

Head to the Hallowed Grove Lost Sector in the EDZ, in The Sludge area. Pick up the Taken relic inside, kill enemies with it, and dunk it into the orb at the end of the Lost Sector once you have enough kills.

Curse of Revenge

Complete the “Nightmare Hunt: Pride” mission on the Moon and get to the boss fight at the end. Pick up the Taken relic and use it to kill the boss and the enemies in the arena. Once it’s charged up, dunk it into the orb in the corner to destroy it.

Find three Taken Osseous Fragments in The Nether

After you’ve completed the first steps of all three curse quests, head into a private “explore” lobby of The Nether. Here, you’ll need to find three Thrall statues in the three main areas of the map: Trenchway, Hall of Souls, and the Mausoleum. Just play through a normal Nether and you should hit all three. If you get the rare fourth area, simply reload a new Nether until you get the area you’re missing.

Once you interact with each statue, a powerful Taken enemy will spawn nearby. Kill it and return to the Thrall statue to pick up another Taken Osseous Fragment. After you’ve gotten the fragment from all three Thrall statues, you’ll be able to launch the Derealize Exotic mission.

Here’s how to find the Thrall statue in each area:

Hall of Souls

Head to the main arena where you fight the boss Subjugator. Go up the steps to the portal area, under the Blight. Jump out and left. Land on the platforms and look ahead. You should see a gate with Taken Energy covering it. To the left of the gate, on a nearby platform, you’ll find the Thrall statue.

Interact with it to “Call to Power.” Kill the Taken Wizard that spawns behind you and pick up the Taken Osseous Fragment.

Trenchway

From the inside of the Trenchway, look toward the doors that will lead you to the outer area. Head down the path toward where you’ll eventually fight the Tormentor, but hang on the left side of the inner area. In the darkness, you’ll find a Thrall statue.

Interact with it to “Call to Power.” Kill the Taken Wizard that spawns behind you and pick up the Taken Osseous Fragment.

The Mausoleum

Head down to the blue tentacle trench inside the Mausoleum, but stick close to the main area, not the boss zone. You’ll find the Thrall statue tucked behind the large tentacle on the left.

Interact with it to “Call to Power.” Kill the Taken Wizard that spawns behind you and pick up the Taken Osseous Fragment.

With all but one of the Taken Osseous Fragments now in your possession, the game will prompt you to take on the “Derealize” Exotic mission, which is filled with nasty jumping puzzles and a tricky puzzle.